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Aurora

“P ack your bags.”

I sat up in alarm as Damian barged through the door unexpectedly. He’d told me not to expect him until later in the evening, so I’d settled down on the couch with a book from his personal library. I wanted to learn more about the culture on the island and—

His words finally registered in my brain, scattering all my thoughts.

“My bags?” I said, echoing as shock spread across my body. “You’re kicking me out? Why? What did I do wrong?”

Damian came to a skidding halt in his passage across the common room.

“I thought things between us were …” I trailed off, unable to complete my sentence.

Was that it, then? I’d served my purpose to Damian. He’d taken me to bed, and now I was no longer of any use to him. Were the hours we’d lain in bed all night nothing now that the hunt was over?

The alarm on Damian’s face was followed quickly by both his hands coming up, motioning for me to stop.

“No, no, no,” he said, shaking his head. “That’s not what I meant at all!”

I got to my feet, arms crossed, hands tucked into my sides. I was sure I was broadcasting my insecurity, but it couldn’t be helped. I was insecure.

Damian crossed the distance between us in two long strides. His hands wrapped around my shoulders, his fingers pressing into my shoulder blades, a vivid reminder of just how much smaller I was.

“Listen to me,” he growled, ducking his head so he could stare into my eyes. “And listen well. You’re staying with me. I don’t want you to be anywhere else. Where I go, you go.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure,” he said firmly, his eyes never wavering, those misty gray circles utterly focused on me.

I shivered at his intensity. He’d never acted this way before, never been quite so possessive . Except perhaps during our passion the night before, but that could be explained away as part of the act. This was different. This was real.

And it was unexpected. I fought down the goosebumps threatening to pimple my skin as I replayed the memory in my mind.

“What did you mean? Why do I have to leave?” I asked, desperate for any excuse to change the subject.

Suddenly, I wasn’t sure I was ready to talk about it with him. I needed more time. Time to figure out what it all meant.

“You don’t have to leave. Not alone. We’re going somewhere.” He stood up straight, squeezing my shoulders. “On a trip.”

“A vacation?”

“No, I wish.” He looked unhappy. “A work trip. To one of the outer isles.”

The outer isles. I didn’t know much about them, but in the few weeks I’d lived among dragons, I’d picked up that the dragon nation was composed of several different islands. The palace and most of the population was on the biggest of these, but there were several smaller outlying ones as well.

“Why to those?” I asked. From what I could tell, they were quite rural, pastoral in nature, though some towns did exist. “Are we in trouble? Did you get in trouble because of the gala and me?”

“No,” he said, smiling so hard his eyes crinkled at the corners. “Not at all. Oddly enough, nobody’s mentioned that. Which I should be more concerned about, but at the moment, there are more pressing things to consider. Such as the missing scepters. Which is why we’re being sent there. To guard one of them.”

My eyebrows rose. “We’re being sent as guards?”

He chuckled. “As feisty as you are, Rory, only I’m being sent as a guard. In fact, the sovereign is sending teams to guard the remaining scepters. She’s also sending some of her own people, including myself, to act as backup.”

“And you’re taking me with you?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t leave you here on your own.”

“Right.” I licked my lips. “And leaving me here, in the palace, surrounded by guards, is something you consider more dangerous than this mission? To guard something, several of which have already been stolen using violence?”

“First, I won’t let anything happen to you,” he rumbled, flames briefly dancing in the deeps of his eyes. “Ever. You have my word. You also won’t be on guard duty. You’ll be nearby but out of harm’s way if an attack does come.”

“I guess …”

“You’ll be safe. The sovereign is sending enough guards to ensure any attack is thwarted. The scepters will be kept safe. They must be,” he said. “The shield must stay up.”

“Could they bring it down if they get another one?”

Damian shrugged, discomfort bunching up his brow. “I don’t know,” he admitted softly. “Maybe? All I know is they must not be allowed to succeed. If the shield comes down …”

“My people will use nuclear weapons,” I said, fully aware of this point by now. “Are you certain those will even work? You dragons seem pretty impervious to everything that’s thrown at you.”

Damian grunted. “The explosion would be bad enough. But some would survive, I have no doubt, at the edges, or underground. It’s the radiation that—”

He broke off suddenly, the uncomfortable frown intensifying dramatically as he looked away. I stared at him, understanding dawning on me. Damian had inadvertently told me a major weakness of dragons. Radiation was something they actively feared.

My father would kill for that information.

“Are you okay?” Damian asked. “You look ill. Though I mean no offense.”

I waved off his concern. “Just disgusted with myself,” I said. “My first thought was how badly my father would want that information.”

Shame burned at my cheeks.

“Aurora.”

“You don’t have to worry about it,” I said, stepping forward so I could rest my head on his chest, listening to his heart beat steadily. “Your secret is safe with me, Damian. I’m not going to reveal it. I couldn’t. Not now.”

All at once, it was too much.

“Learning of my father’s true nature. His betrayal. Being exiled from my own people to become a dragon concubine. Meeting Damian.”

My shoulders shook, and a choked sob was the only sound in the room. It was followed quickly by a second.

“Rory?” Damien said uncertainly. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Hold me,” I managed to get out as the dam broke, an onslaught of tears following the emotions overwhelming me.

Then he was there. Thick, powerful arms wrapping around me, pulling me in tighter.

“ Always ,” he growled in my ear. “I am here for you.”

Hearing the depths to which he meant that statement just made me cry harder. I quickly soaked his shirt, apologizing for it through muffled sobs. Damian simply stroked my hair and told me it was only a shirt, that all was going to be okay. That he had me.

“Whatever it is,” he whispered as I clung to him tightly, “it’s going to be okay.”

“I-I know,” I stammered through the haze of tears.

“Then why are you crying?” he asked, kissing the top of my head gently.

I took a deep breath, a wave of exhaustion following the pummeling of a good cry. “Because it’s been a lot, Damian. I might not understand it. I might not get it, but when you say it’s going to be okay, it feels like the truth. But my life has changed dramatically in less than a month. Lots of emotions, and I haven’t really had time to process it all.”

“You seem to be doing so now,” he observed, giving me a squeeze with both arms.

“A bit at a time,” I admitted, swiping at my eyes. “But it’s scary.”

“What’s scary?”

“Lots of things. But mainly the sense of belonging that grows stronger in me every day I’m here. With you and your people. As if this is where I was meant to be. I never knew I was missing something, but now? Now, I can see all along that I was. I’m beginning to like it here.”

“Good,” he said, gathering me into his arms to give a big bear hug.

I barely felt it, though. It wasn’t just here that I liked. It was him. That didn’t scare me, though. The fear coalesced into one single thought.

The word like wasn’t the first one to enter my head when I thought of Damian …