Page 60 of Marked Dragon

Fifteen miles from the last paved road, Vlad pulled into a driveway. Before the vehicles were turned off, the front door of the white ranch house had opened, and an older man and woman rushed onto the wooden porch.

Vlad got out of the Suburban. “Mom. Dad. We need your help.”

“You’re alive,” the man said, his voice quivering. He was close to seven feet tall with gray hair and a matching beard with a few hints of brown. He took a step toward Vlad but stopped when Thorn climbed out of the car.

“My baby boy.” The woman’s voice shook as tears trickled from her slate-gray eyes. Her hair was ashy blonde, several shades lighter than her son’s. As she passed her husband, Vlad’s father grabbed her arm.

The warmth vanished from his cobalt eyes. He glared at Thorn then flicked his attention to Vlad. “What have you done?”

CHAPTERNINETEEN

My heart stopped.Vlad’s parents recognized Thorn…but how? He’d been in hiding since he was six, and the only reason the royals knew what he looked like was because he’d shown up to save me.

“I can explain.” Vlad lifted a hand. “But it would be better if you let us into the house before others see us.”

His dad’s body coiled, but his mom rushed over and hugged Vlad.

A lump formed in my throat. There was no way he was going to let us in. I clenched my hands, jumped out of the Suburban, then marched around the hood, ready to aid Vlad.

“Aiden.” Vlad’s mother pulled back and placed a hand on his father’s forearm. “He’s our son, and we’ve both missed him dearly. We can at least hear him out.”

Huffing, Aiden scanned the area behind us. Pain flashed in his eyes. “Fine.” He patted his mate’s arm before dropping his hand and schooling his face into a stern expression. “But all of you get in here. The last thing we need is someone from the thunder seeing you without warning.”

“Agreed.” Vlad swirled a finger around, indicating we needed to move.

As Thorn hurried past me, his arm brushed mine, and the jolt surged through my body. Every touch from him was like a high I never wanted to come down from.

My siblings climbed out of the car, and my attention landed on Elliott. As expected, the Nintendo Switch bulged from his pocket. No wonder he wore baggy jeans. How else could he carry around his electronics?

I snapped my fingers and gestured to the game. “Leave it in the car.”

“What?” Elliott lurched back and stuck out his bottom lip. “But they’ll be talking, and I’ll get bored.”

Sometimes, it was hard to remember he was considered an adult. I lifted my head. “Boredom helps creativity. It’s healthy to be bored from time to time.” Mom had often told me that whenever I’d complain. One day, when I was a toddler, I’d gotten so bored that I must have driven her to her breaking point. At the time, we’d been tight on money, so she’d decided to splurge and buy some finger paints, starting my love of painting.

Elliott and Eva never learned that love because Peter had bought them all kinds of gadgets to keep them entertained.

His irises darkened with hurt. “Now you sound like Mom.”

My heart panged, and I smiled sadly. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Hurry up,” Aiden rasped as he held open the front door.

I couldn’t blame him for his uneasiness. If he knew who Thorn was, he knew he was inviting trouble into his home.

Vlad held out his hand, and Cassidy hurried to him as Thorn dashed to the driver’s side back door to monitor Peter. My stepfather climbed out, and they glared at each other as we headed to the house.

Head hanging, Aiden sighed. “Dammit, Alina. They also brought humans. I should’ve listened to my gut.”

“You did.” Alina brushed a hand over his shoulder before stepping into the house. “You just needed me to guide you.”

Vlad and Cassidy paused in front of the door, and Aiden blew a raspberry as he stepped to the side, allowing our group to enter.

One by one, we walked into the house, Thorn and I taking up the rear.

We stepped into the living room. It was large enough to hold all thirteen of us, but only two hunter green couches faced each other in the middle of the room. A black coffee table sat in the center with an open laptop on it. The walls were off-white, and a beige carpet ran everywhere I could see. The house must have been built in the eighties because it had popcorn ceilings.

Thorn walked behind a couch, and Peter went to a corner of the room. I stopped close by, so I could keep an eye on him.

---