Page 1 of Heart of Fire (Royal Ice Dragons #3)

HANNA

In the morning, before I knew Dare disappeared, I had woken up happy.

I’d snuggled between Kaelan and Thorne. Kaelan’s arm was curled around my waist. My shoulder was nestled on Thorne’s, one of my legs thrown over his body. The three of us fit together like one unlikely puzzle.

As I lay there, I thought that even though hell was stalking us…in the form of Kaelan’s father, Edric…I felt as if I were right where I was supposed to be. Growing up, I’d always been loved. Protected. Adored.

But for the first time, I was needed .

I carefully climbed out from between the two of them. The sun was falling in a thin slant of golden light through the break in the curtains. I couldn’t believe we’d slept so long, and I leaned against the glass, letting the curtains fall behind me like a cocoon so the light wouldn’t wake them. There would be enough trouble today…if my men weren’t the trouble themselves. I’d let them rest while they could.

We were staying in a farmhouse on a small holding while we decided our next course of action.

Outside in the early morning air, Azora and Jaia were gathering eggs from the farmer’s coop and carrying them in their gathered-up tunics. Several chickens strutted around their legs suspiciously.

One of the chickens pecked Jaia’s calf, and she jumped, spilling the eggs into the grass. When Azora threw back her head and laughed, Jaia went over and gently collected the eggs she dropped…before she tackled Azora to the ground. The two of them landed in the soft grass, wrestling and tickling each other. Then their movements slowed. They seemed no longer to care about the chickens that clucked disapprovingly as they gazed at each other.

I stepped back out of the window and let the curtains close. They needed their privacy. Instead, I pulled on my tunic and leggings and went into the hall, feeling naked without my sword when I knew we’d face danger again soon.

Thorne stirred, reaching across the mattress, as I tried to close the door softly. I wondered if he and Kaelan would end up spooning, each of them convinced they were reaching for me. The thought made me smile.

Dare had been acting so strangely last night, right before we went to bed. I glanced at his closed door, not wanting to disturb him. Then I rejected that first generous impulse: Dare had been beastly to me at times, so I should enjoy disturbing his sleep. I banged my knuckles against his door.

He didn’t answer. The lack of a response wasn’t wildly surprising to me, given Dare being…Dare.

And since I was also myself, I swung the door open with only a second’s hesitation.

I expected to see Dare sleeping with his head cradled on one muscular arm. Perhaps in sleep, he wouldn’t have his usual sarcastic smirk written across his lips.

But the bed was empty. It was made neatly, with a patchwork quilt drawn over the pillow. It was untouched from how all the beds had been when the farmers showed them to us, before they bowed and left for another cottage.

Did Dare even know how to make a bed after all his time in the palace? Had he slept there last night?

Had he been taken?

My heart was racing in my chest as I went down the hall, and my bare feet pounded on the stairs. I was out in the dew soaked grass before I realized what I was doing. Azora and Jaia were walking arm in arm back toward the house, and they looked at me, their faces mirroring my alarm.

“Have you seen Dare?” I tried for a casual tone. Maybe my alarm was unnecessary.

“Looking for Dare so…early?” Jaia asked archly.

“He’s not in his room, and it doesn’t look like he slept there last night.”

Jaia couldn’t hide her smirk at the fact I’d been in his room, but when Azora gave her a worried look, Jaia’s lips straightened.

“I’ll check our wards,” Azora said. “No one should’ve gotten in the perimeter without waking us.”

She took off for the rough hewn wooden fence around the yard at a run.

Jaia and I followed her. I didn’t feel quite as frantic now that my fears were shared.

“The wards have been taken down.” Azora was crouched on her heels, studying the ward runes marked in the dirt. “Actually…just this one. And it was put back in place after.”

“Only five of us know how to place those runes,” Jaia said. “Dare and I put them in place last night while you all were…occupied.”

She didn’t manage to keep her amused judgment out of her tone.

“How are you not worried about Dare?” I demanded, glancing out at the vast rolling green fields and trying to imagine Dare strolling away in the middle of the night. “Where would he have gone?”

Jaia shrugged. “He gets angry and storms off sometimes.”

“What would he be angry about?” I demanded.

Jaia stared at me as if I had suddenly been beset by a plague of stupidity.

“He always comes back,” Azora added, but she looked troubled. “Eventually.”

I headed for the house.

I didn’t mean to slam the door open to the bedroom, but Thorne and Kaelan both immediately rolled out of bed and to their feet, reaching for their weapons.

“Dare’s gone,” I said.

Kaelan sheathed his sword, frowning. “Is that all?”

“I’m sure he’s fine.” Thorne dropped his sword on the bed, then began to yank on his trousers. “I’ll fly out and find him.”

“Jaia said sometimes he storms off.” My voice sounded false, as if I were trying to convince myself. Kaelan gave me a look as if he had heard it too. “And Azora said he took a ward down sometime last night?—”

“That stupid bastard.” Kaelan’s emotions immediately flipped to fury. He was still shirtless, and his tension rippled through the powerful muscle of his shoulders, the hard planes of his abdomen.

“And then put it back in place,” I finished, despite his interruption.

Kaelan nodded, appeased. “It’s one thing for him to run off yet again, but not for him to put you into danger.”

I sighed and rubbed my hand across my face. “I care about him . I don’t care about being in danger.”

“I’m keenly aware,” Kaelan said dryly. “That trait of yours doesn’t keep me up at night at all.”

To Thorne, I said, “I’ll go with you.”

Thorne glanced at Kaelan, who crossed his arms over his broad chest before he told me, “The hell you will.”

I could not bear Kaelan being Kaelan today. “You’re annoying.”

“Be annoyed,” he responded without hesitation. “But Edric knows you’re precious to me. He’ll target any of the five of you that he can, but I’m sure there’s no one he wants more than you, Hanna.”

A sense of warmth warred with my irritation. “Then Thorne shouldn’t go either.”

Thorne shook his head. “I’m going. I’ve healed, I’m fine.”

“Because you’re worried about him, or because you want me to feel better?” I asked.

Thorne returned a deadpan stare that told me he was not going to answer that question. I threw my hands up in exasperation. Gods forbid we talk about feelings .

“Dare will come back,” Kaelan told me. “He always does.”

“I’m going out,” Thorne said firmly, dropping a kiss in my hair before he left.

“You would have been wise to let me go with him,” I told Kaelan. “I am going to be unbearable until Dare returns.”

“How lucky for us both, then, that I absolutely relish being annoyed by you.” His tone was mild, his lips curling up at the edges in a maddening, lazy way that tempted me to either kiss him or slap him.

* * *

Thorne came back hours later. I spent the time pacing anxiously and, indeed, annoying Kaelan.

Kaelan had been writing letters to secure the promise of various potential allies, and since I wanted us all to survive very much, I’d finally decided to leave him alone to work. He had looked disappointed, and then he had commanded me not to leave the wards.

“I’m not stupid,” I had reminded Kaelan.

“Never,” he agreed. “But sometimes, you are afflicted with an excessive amount of loyalty.”

I’d slammed my door on the way out to the porch, more tempted than ever to fly off to find Dare myself, but I wasn’t the one who had any idea where to find him.

I never saw Thorne’s dragon cutting across the sky. We had to be careful to stay out of sight until Kaelan was ready for a full out war. But then he was there, walking across the field, his wings still folding back into his body as if he had just shifted. In one arm, he held a book.

I glanced past him, already knowing there was no one there.

He held his arm out for an embrace even before he said, “He’s long gone. But he left a message. He’s fine. Safe.”

I found that hard to believe. “What’s the message?”

I closed the distance between us, and he hugged me hard. He felt so solid and safe as he cupped the back of my head with one massive hand and planted a kiss to the top of my head.

“He’s working for Kaelan, and he doesn’t want us to worry.” His hand wrapped around mine as the two of us made our way back to the house. It was a comforting weight between us as he shouldered open the door and held it for me.

Kaelan sat at the kitchen table, resolutely continuing to write his letters while Jaia and Azora moved around him, preparing for our departure. Azora looked up, her eyes alight with hope.

Thorne shook his head in response, wrapping his arms around me before he said, “I didn’t find him.”

“Then he doesn’t want to be found.” Kaelan kept writing his letter; his long, deft fingers moved swiftly across the page, shaping unusually beautiful handwriting. But of course he’d had a prince’s education. “Stop worrying about him.”

“I’m not just going to stop worrying about him,” I huffed in exasperation, twisting around in Thorne’s arms to give Kaelan a glare.

Kaelan sealed the letter with an enchantment and deposited it on top of a stack of others before he rose, seeming to take up the entirety of the kitchen with his massive frame as he stretched.

“And why is that?” Jaia asked innocently from where she was cooking over the fire. The scent of roasted, sugar-and-cinnamon soaked apples and fresh baked bread filled the air tantalizingly.

I knew what she was implying, but I asked sharply, “You’re not going to worry? He’s your friend!” Then, before she could answer, my own impatience took over. “What’s his message?”

“At least he had that much sense,” Kaelan muttered, his voice full of relief no matter how much he had pretended not to care.

Thorne pulled a letter out from between the pages of the book and handed it to me. I opened it to see a few brief lines of Dare’s angular scrawl. “He’s going to the villages to rally support from the peasants for your rebellion.”

There wasn’t much more than that in Dare’s letter.

All—I’m going back to my roots, per our discussion. H—don’t be dramatic.

I frowned down at the page.

Thorne handed the book to me. “And this is from your sister.”

“How?” I clutched the book to my chest; I could’ve sworn it carried the fresh, green scent of home.

“The book arrived at the palace after we…departed. A friend at the palace thought you would want it and forwarded it along. We have a magical dropbox that we use. So, I discovered it when I found Dare’s letter.” Thorne’s lips tightened. “We need to move. Before our location is discovered.”

“I’m cooking hand pies for the road. We need to get underway in the morning…at least now we all agree we’ve stayed too long.” Jaia shot a meaningful look at Thorne, who didn’t look at all apologetic about keeping us here to try to assuage my feelings.

“But then how will Dare find us?” I chewed my lower lip. “It’s not like you have the bond like you and Thorne. My sister’s men can all communicate! Why can’t you?”

Kaelan scoffed, crossing his arms as he leaned against the stone fireplace. Jaia shooed him, apparently possessive of her cooking space, but he didn’t seem to notice. “We’re a different breed of dragons,” he said, as if they were obviously superior in every other facet.

“And you’re all fucking terrible at talking about anything,” I filled in. “Caldren and Jaik have a tattooed rune that allows them to communicate, and then Zehr can talk to everyone through Honor?—”

Kaelan didn’t try to hide his irritation. “I don’t want anyone else in my head. It’s bad enough hearing Thorne’s voice.”

“You’re being ridiculous,” I said in exasperation. I opened the cover of the book my sister had sent, wondering why she felt I needed this book right now.

Dear Hanna,

Lynx ginned up the most exciting new bit of magic. I can write to you in this book, and as soon as you open it, my letter will be there—no more waiting for notes to make it across the sea. You can write back to me as well, and I will be able to read it instantly.

After all, I’m sure the lack of letters from you is due to logistics, and not a sudden disinterest in your sisterly responsibility to let me know you are alive and well and have not yet murdered your husband.

It seems strange to say you may be safer in the Ice Kingdom, but we are dealing with a bout of a new plague here that makes me very nervous after the Scourge. So, I may be able to be thankful you’re away…as long as I receive word from you regularly.

Briden and Lysander are dying to write to you. I hope it’ll help with their abysmal handwriting, although I know they just want to share their mischief with their adoring aunt. Please write back so I can allow them to incriminate themselves.

Love once we’d dispatched an enchanted book to Dare through their magical drop system, we wouldn’t have to rely on it anymore. At least we could check in each day. There was no way I’d ever sleep without knowing he was still alive and well—at least, as well as Dare could be.

Soon, we were all sitting down to a meal of cold meats, fresh-baked bread, and savory, roasted vegetables. Somehow, Azora had found some wine, which was sweet and cold and probably not all that helpful for keeping up our strength.

Kaelan slung his arm behind my chair as if he needed to keep me close. And Thorne rested his hand lightly on my thigh as if he didn’t even notice his need to touch me, though I was keenly aware of his fingers resting high on my thigh.

The flames crackled warmly in the fire, casting my friends’ shadows on the wall as we kept laughing and bantering, and the little borrowed farmhouse felt cozy and safe.

But, without Dare, it also felt lonely.

And I knew that we didn’t have long to stay in this sweet warmth.