Page 15 of Marked Dragon

He’d expected me to tell Drake that he’d alerted me. Uther didn’t trust me, either, and that, somehow, made me like him more.

Jaw twitching, Drake gazed at the bed.

My dragon stirred. I didn’t like him looking at my sister, especially when she was in bed. I placed a hand on his chest and managed to only push him back gently.

His nostrils flared, and he glared at me.

That had been my intent. Blood rushed in my ears, but I held back the anger. “I thought we needed to meet the king.” I’d do almost anything to get him away from her. She’d already experienced too much terror.

“Don’t push me again,” he warned, his expression turning to stone. He gripped my arm, his fingers digging into my skin, and yanked me toward the hallway.

Eva gasped as I moved my feet, regaining my balance.

He picked up speed, and I had to run to keep up with him. No doubt he wanted to make sure I understood who was in control.

As we passed Uther, his lips mashed into a disapproving line. However, when we entered the living room where Falkor and Ladon stood, they had the opposite sort of expression—both of them smirked. After what I’d done to Falkor last night, I’d made an enemy, but I couldn’t find it in me to care.

Drake made a beeline out the back door and onto the terrace lawn. With each step, my heels sank into the soft earth, making it hard to keep up. A stitch formed in my side, but I pushed through, eager to get to wherever the hell he was taking me. The two guards followed closely behind, Falkor snickering from time to time at my discomfort.

As we rounded the yard toward the main house’s terrace, the scent of sausage and eggs filled the air, followed by the clanging of plates. My stomach growled.

I counted four guards stationed near the tree line. Two ladies dressed in maid outfits stood off to one side of a round glass table with four chairs around it. A muscular man, who resembled both Drake and Thorn, was seated in the spot that overlooked the backyard. I knew this was the king, and the gorgeous woman next to him had to be Drake’s mother.

The king had salt-and-pepper hair and a mostly gray, short beard. He appeared to be in his fifties, and he was just as large as Thorn. His midnight black eyes focused on me, and he reached over to take the woman’s hand.

Drake continued to head straight to them, his face and demeanor transforming as he changed into a person I didn’t recognize. He smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes, and slowed down, wrapping an arm around my waist as if to help me over the grass.

The woman smiled back sadly. Her striking baby blue eyes were breathtaking and held a kindness I hadn’t expected. A breeze lifted strands of her dark chocolate-brown hair and settled them on the shoulders of her white, sweetheart-cut dress.

Releasing me, Drake hurried a few steps ahead and pulled out the open chair next to the queen. My throat hurt as I slid onto the seat, unsure of what was to come.

As soon as I sat, the breeze picked up again, and the queen’s eyes widened. She jumped to her feet and stumbled away from me.

CHAPTERSIX

The queen’sabrupt movement jarred the table, and the coffee in her full mug splashed over the rim. She clutched her chest, breathing raggedly.

The king climbed to his feet. “What’s wrong?”

Falkor and Ladon fanned out on the terrace, searching for signs of danger.

I didn’t hear anything other than birds chirping. Her reaction must have something to do with me. My vision blurred.

“I thought you said she was human,” the queen gasped.

Blood running cold, I took a hollow breath. Out of every scenario I’d anticipated, I hadn’t contemplated this.

The two guards relaxed as they moved into positions at opposite ends of the terrace.

Brow furrowing, the king settled his attention back on me, and he sniffed the air. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Drake. “She is supposed to be human. What thehellis this? There’s only one way this is possible.”

The king didn’t seem to know that Thorn had captured me. Even though Drake had admitted that he was behind the kidnapping of Thorn’s parents, I had assumed the king had been made aware of it.

Drake’s eyes darkened until I couldn’t distinguish his irises from his pupils, but his expression remained indifferent instead of his usual cruel, stony appearance. He rolled his shoulders back and took the seat next to mine. “She is Peter’s stepdaughter, not his actual blood.”

Crossing his arms,the king lifted his chin. “Yes, Iknowthat. I saw her, her siblings and her mother, in Peter’s building several times when I met with him, and all four were human.”

A long-forgotten memory flashed through my mind. I was thirteen and waiting with my mother and the twins in the lobby. A man I’d heard called Mr. Hale had come out with my stepfather, looking identical to the way he did today, as if he hadn’t aged a day, but that wasn’t what struck a chord with me now. It was the way I remembered him staring at me and the twins with longing.

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