Page 26 of Dragon Rivals of New York (Dragons of New York #3)

Chapter 26

Sora

F inley flies to the top of the empire state building with me on her back. She shifted into a dragon easily enough, but her flying isn’t as smooth as Jethro or Kyro, and her landing is even choppier. I tumble off and scrape my knee, a small problem in light of everything else tonight.

“Sorry,” she says. “Still getting used to this.”

I laugh, because what else am I supposed to do? My best friend is a dragon!

“You’ve been a dragon for just a few days. I think I can forgive you for not getting the landing perfect.”

I toss her the blanket we stole off Jethro’s bed, and she wraps it around herself so she’s not sitting naked at the top of the empire state building. Yeah, how is this my life now ?

“Alright, so, you want to talk about it?”

I shake my head. “I really don’t. The hordes are going to attack to get their temples back. I know that’s what Midas and Adrianna will do, and I understand it. But I hate the thought that people might die so I can get dicked down by two men for the rest of my life.”

“Speaking of dick…” Finley wiggles her eyebrows. “Want to talk about that?”

I giggle like one of my first graders. Sitting here with her, making inappropriate comments, I feel feel ten times lighter than I have all day. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

“Hey, I told you about the theater.” She smirks with a dreamy look on her face. Finley’s always been free with her sexuality. More comfortable with what she wants.

I envy her that.

Trying to channel my inner Finley, I drop my voice low and whisper, “All I’m going to say is we went to a sex club.”

My cheeks burn like I just stuck my face too close to the oven.

“You went to The Black Wing?!” She leans in excitedly. “I’ve been begging Cyrus to take me. What was it like?”

“Incredible.” I’m certain I’m the one looking dreamy-eyed now. Just thinking about being tied up like that has me all tingly.

“Oh, I know that look. It was better than incredible.”

“It really was,” I whisper the confession.

“Okay, definitely making Cyrus take me there as soon as all of this is over.”

“Right… once all of this is over.” And I’m a dragon. In a relationship that can never be broken, stronger than marriage, with two men. Two fucking amazing men. But still… two men with their own needs and wants, that I’ll have to balance with my own. I really should have called an emergency session with my therapist. Although, how on earth would I talk to her about all this? I wonder if there are any dragon therapists in the horde.

Finley puts her arm around me. “This is going to work out, Sora. I just know it.”

“How do you know?”

“I have faith.”

“In the goddess? ” I don’t know why I say goddess like a secret, or maybe like a curse, a word I’m trying to hide.

Finley shrugs. “Maybe. I don’t know. I do think there’s something more than us out there. Something or someone that brought me to Cyrus and you to your men.”

“Ha! There’s no way in hell my parents would believe God wants me to be with two men.”

“Why not? Didn’t David and Solomon and all those other patriarchs have multiple wives? What’s so different about it?”

“Huh, I never thought of that.”

“Who’s to say there’s only one way of being in a committed, healthy relationship?”

“You’re coming with me when I tell my parents.”

She laughs, the sound swallowed quickly by the night. “Come on, let's get back so you can fly yourself next time we go out. You’re gonna love it.”

I think I will. And not just being a dragon. I think I’m going to love being in a relationship with Jethro and Kyro. I’m still scared. But I trust them more than I trusted Manny after years of dating. My gut tells me this is right.

We spend a few more minutes laughing and plotting all the places we'll go once I can fly, then we head back to my men.

When we land at Jethro’s place, there are two dragons I don’t recognize on the balcony with Jethro and Kyro.

“We’ve secured the Silver Temple,” one of them says with a slight bow to Finley. Sometimes it’s easy to forget my friend is essentially a princess in this world .

“Midas and Adrianna are already there,” Kyro says. “They want us to be quick.”

“Can I change first?” When it was just going to be the three of us, I didn’t care much about what I was wearing, but now that others are joining us at the temple, I feel suddenly self-conscious.

“It won’t matter, lovely,” Jethro is already stripping out of his clothes.

Right. I guess I won’t be in these sweats long anyway.

Kyro rides with me on Jethro’s back, while Finley, Cyrus, and the two other dragons flank us on either side. We all stay alert, and quiet, in case the Ruby Diamond Horde tries anything else.

The flight is fast, but it feels long. By the time we land, I'm more than ready for all of this to be over. Ready to move on from the decision and start figuring out this new life with my two mates.

Back on the ground, Jethro and Kyro take my hands in theirs and we enter the temple together. Unlike Finley’s transformation, the crowd that’s gathered remains in their dragon forms. Some stay outside as guards, others come in with us. Even Midas, Jeslyn, Finley, and Cyrus don’t shift. Only Adrianna changes into her human form .

There’s an urgency, a solemn tension in the air as we walk to the pools. Without speaking, my men help me out of my sweatpants and t-shirt. I thought I’d be embarrassed, the way I felt when Finley stood naked in this same spot, but I’m not. Instead, I feel… excited. And more than a little turned on. Guess I have more of an exhibitionist kink than a voyeur kink.

“Do you understand the choice you’re making?” Adrianna asks.

“I do,” I say, grateful I saw Finley’s transformation only a few days ago. I get the impression there are typically preparations to this that we’re skipping, but the ceremony of it seems the same. And having just witnessed it, I feel at least a little prepared.

“Do you vow to abide by the rulings of this throne and the laws of our horde until death, on penalty of death?”

Adrianna works quickly through the rest of the questions. Each time, I answer the same way. “I do.”

“Kyro, do you acknowledge Sora as your mate?”

“I do.”

“Jethro, do you?”

“I do.”

“Do you each pledge your loyalty and love to each other and to this horde until death, and on penalty of death?”

“We do,” we all three say.

“You may enter the pool.” She looks around. “Quickly.”

Holding hands, we step into the swirl of silver and red liquid.

And scream.