Page 15

Damian

F or the second time in a short span, I was woken in the middle of the night by someone at my door.

The outburst of anger was swiftly pushed aside by skyrocketing suspicion. Whoever was knocking this time wasn’t the sovereign. The visitor wore metal, which couldn’t be covered by the heavy-handed hammering.

Whoever was at my door wore armored gauntlets. The only people in the palace who dressed that way were the guards.

On high alert with every sense opened up to its fullest, I stepped into the main gathering room, eyeing the door as it jumped in its frame under another furious barrage.

“Do people normally wake you up in the middle of the night like this?” a voice asked from near my elbow.

“No,” I told Aurora, who stayed back by her room’s entryway as I stepped forward.

“Who is it?” she wanted to know.

“It had better be the guards,” I growled over yet another door-shaking pounding. “And they better have a damn good reason, whatever it is.”

I slid fully between Aurora and the door.

“Stay here,” I added.

The need to protect her burned my insides. Each step away only added to the sense that I was doing wrong. That I should be with her.

I tried to calm my dragon. But it refused. Instead, it demanded further concessions, further protection. Scales appeared around my head and down my body like a wave, covering every inch of skin. Flame wrapped around my arms, curling into a bright ball in my open fist.

Reaching the door in full battle mode, I went to open it when the voice on the other side finally spoke, identifying themselves.

“Open up!” Jair announced. “By order of the sovereign.”

I flung the door open and stared at the head of the sovereign’s personal guard.

The guards, arrayed in a loose horseshoe around my doorway, immediately tightened up formation at the sight of me ready for a fight. Even Jair recoiled slightly, surprised by the apparition greeting him.

“Easy,” he said, holding up a hand, calming me and his guards. “Damian, it’s me. Jair.”

“I know that,” I growled, my voice taking on a deeper basso tone as more of my dragon was channeled through me upon seeing the entire guard team awaiting me and their reaction. “What I am not aware of is why you’re here at my door in the middle of the night. With an entire squad behind you …”

I let the sentence trail off, making very clear my distaste for his actions.

“We’re not here for you. So, knock it off,” Jair said, several flames dancing across his own eyes.

Not here for me?

That could only mean one thing. I didn’t say anything, but Jair must’ve noticed my slight shifting of weight to block the door and what was behind it from his view. My dragon was coiled in my head, ready to be unleashed and do whatever it took to protect Aurora.

Forcing myself to relax slightly, I took some control back from the beast. She wasn’t my mate. There was no need for it to be acting this way about her. Regardless of my newfound respect for her, I had to recall that Jair was there on the orders of the sovereign herself.

“Why does the sovereign require her presence in the middle of the night?” I growled suspiciously, unable to fully put aside the need to protect her. My dragon was too intense.

Jair rolled his eyes. “Damian, don’t stand there and pretend like either of us knows her mind. We are her servants and do as ordered. You’re just like me in that. Her business is her business.”

“If she is being accused of breaking the law, Jair, that is my purview, as per the sovereign. I am the magistrate. The law is my duty to enforce.”

“Drop the whole battle-mode, will you?” Jair asked.

I looked at his squad of palace guards.

Recognizing my point, Jair dismissed his men, ordering them to take up posts farther down the hallway.

Once they were gone, I put the scales and fire away, though I didn’t allow myself to fully relax.

“I’m not authorized to tell you this myself,” Jair said quietly, looking past me to make sure Aurora wasn’t close enough to hear. “But another scepter has gone missing.”

“And you think to come here and insult me over it?” I said, even while my mind exploded with the news.

“Insult you? About the human?” Jair’s eyes widened.

“ Aurora is under my watch now. I am responsible for her actions. Accusing her of theft implies that I’ve not been faithful in discharging those duties.”

Jair thought quickly. “Have you kept eyes on her?”

“Yes. Did I not just say as much?”

“Every second, of every minute, of every hour?” he pushed.

I had to admire his dedication, even as I questioned my own decision. By defying him, I was, in effect, defying my sovereign. The head of state, ruler of the Dragon Isles.

Was Aurora really worth such actions? More to the point, why ?

“Yes,” I answered at last.

“Even,” Jair said, leaning in now, “during the time you’ve slept this night?”

I stared at him. The commander of the sovereign’s personal guard stared right back. She hadn’t picked a pushover for this command.

Slowly, I turned, finding Aurora where I’d left her, across the open area near the hallway to her room. “Did you sneak out tonight while I was asleep and steal something?”

“No,” Aurora said firmly and confidently. “I was sound asleep. That is, until I was woken up by someone pounding rudely at the door a few minutes ago.”

I turned back to Jair and smiled. “It was not her.”

Jair shrugged. “You act like I care whether she did it or not, Damian. Seriously, I was told to come fetch her. So, I came to fetch her. What difference does it make?”

I looked him up and down, including the full suit of armor he wore, along with the six men he had in the hallway. “It makes all the difference,” I growled, my implication clear. “And you know it.”

“And if I’d shown up alone and asked you to bring her with us to see the sovereign, you would have agreed?”

“Not in chains,” I said. “But yes, we would have come with you.”

Jair nodded. “Very well. You have my apologies, Magistrate. Now that you know the situation, would you please escort the human to see the sovereign?”

“I will bring Aurora, yes.” I closed the door and looked at her. “Better get dressed. We’ve got a meeting to attend.”

She didn’t return to her room. Instead, she stayed there, looking at me with those damnable green eyes, the ones that were making me do things I’d never done before.

“What?” I grumbled, not ready to deal with another problem. If she resisted at this point, I would just throw her over my shoulder and take her.

“Thank you.” She tugged on a tiny lock of hair, then let it go abruptly as she clued in to what she was doing.

“For what?”

“Believing me like that. Automatically and without question. I … didn’t expect that from you,” she admitted softly. “And I was wrong. So, thank you.”

She glanced up at me one more time, hints of green glimmering through her eyelashes, then she went to change.

I wanted to roar in frustration. What the hell was going on? How did this woman have such a hold over me?

And more importantly … what was I going to do about it?