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Tears burned my eyes.

“Och,” Fergus said softly. “None of that now.” He reached for me.

Instinct kicked in, and I scrambled back before I could stop myself. My long skirts twisted around my legs, exposing my ankles and calves.

At once, two sets of male eyes focused there. Bram stood.

I tried to scuttle back even more, but my bunched up gown prevented it. “You don’t want me,” I blurted. “I’m just a half-breed.”

“Hardly an impediment,” Fergus said. “So are we.”

“But…” I frowned. “You’re dragons.”

“Aye, and there hasn’t been a full-blooded dragon born in over a thousand years.”

Of course, I thought, feeling stupid. There were no female dragons left. Because they think vampires killed them. My heart sped up again.

Bram’s dark brows pulled together. “You cannae fear us, Halina.”

It took me a second to untangle his accent, which was thick but strangely…appealing. They both spoke in a lilting sort of way that sounded almost like music.

But he was wrong about my fear. Half-breed or not, I had every reason to be afraid. There was nothing kind or gentle about dragons. My father was one of the most renowned warriors in the world, and even he feared them.

Using my palms, I inched backwards ever so slightly.

“I wouldn’t,” Fergus said softly. “Unless you’d like us to bind you again.”

I froze. Talking. I had to keep them talking. I licked my lips. “If you’re not full-blooded dragons, then what are you?” Oh gods, maybe their other halves were something even more terrifying.

“Our mothers were werewolves,” Bram said, “but dragon blood runs true. We inherit little maternal DNA.”

“Probably because every dragon has two fathers,” Fergus said.

My gut clenched at the reminder of how they bred their women. Never had I been so desperate to channel. To simply will myself somewhere else. I bit the inside of my cheek so I wouldn’t beg for mercy. Side by side, they were an intimidating sight, both of them so tall I had to tip my head back to meet their eyes. I wasn’t sure where to look, so I found myself darting my gaze back and forth between them, waiting for one to make a move.

“Enough about us for now,” Bram said, something in his face letting me know he wasn’t fooled by my attempt to distract them. “You said Ludovic is dying.” A dark eyebrow went up. “I’m interested to know what malady is capable of striking down a millennia-old Blooded prince. And be honest, lass. We can scent lies just as easily as we can scent our mates.”

I forced myself to hold his gaze even as anxiety prickled over my skin. If Bram was familiar with my father, then he was probably aware of the scandals that plagued Krovnosta on a regular basis. “He seduced the wife of Prince Sergey of Sevolod. Prince Sergey retaliated by sending an assassin. Her skin was coated with Black Settanis.”

Bram and Fergus exchanged a look, and I knew from their expressions that Grigory had told the truth about the poison.

“My father will die without the tears,” I said. “And…”

“And?” Fergus prompted.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I’ll die if I return to Krovnosta without them.”

Both men tensed, an eerie alertness settling over them. It was inhuman. Almost reptilian. And I suddenly understood what Bram meant when he said dragon blood ran true.

The hair on my nape lifted.

His voice was soft—cordial, even—but there was no mistaking the steel underneath it. Flames danced in his eyes, and he curled his hands into fists. “Someone threatened you?”

“M-My uncle,” I managed, unable to look away from the twin fires in his pupils. Maybe it was my imagination, but he seemed to vibrate with fury.

Fergus put a hand on Bram’s shoulder and murmured something in a language that sounded like a more lyrical version of their accented English.

Some of the awful tension lifted, and then Bram gave a short nod.