With less work to worry about, it gave me time to appreciate the beautiful things in life, like the orange sunset. I noticed how the trees around us caught the orange only around their rims during this time of day, and how their shadows weren’t actually gray, but a deep, bluish purple.

I was walking alone, in front of the outbuilding. We’d just finished dinner—which was better than most things they served on the council—and the men were still joking and bickering.

Gaius and Kael were back, too. That made me happy. But then I thought about Rylan. What was he doing? Was he locking himself in his study, surrounded by the messes he created? I wanted him to be next to me as well. If I had been able to stay, then maybe I could have slowly broken down his walls. I might have been able to figure out a way to show the people in the palace I wasn’t the curse they thought me. But we’d failed, and I couldn’t be with Rylan.

“All done?” Micah asked, walking up beside me.

I nodded. My eyes searched through the warm clouds. The military was no longer practicing, and ceased to form winged silhouettes in the sky. A sense of serene peacefulness calmed me. It was the peace of acceptance. “Guess I’m finally leaving those pesky documents behind.”

“I’m sorry it had to be this way.”

“I’m not. Maybe this was what I needed.”

“This?”

“Losing everything again. Made me realize that it wasn’t that I couldn’t make myself good enough, it’s that the people around me weren’t, and now that I have you guys, I can be all right.” I grinned sheepishly. “That perhaps sounds a bit narcissistic. But maybe it’s okay to be a little every so often. I have to love myself by finding people who love me for me, and not people who want to spend time with me because of an image of myself I created.” I looked up at him and flashed a grateful smile. The birds chirped in the background, playing a tune that fluttered as my heart did.

It wasn’t what I wanted, but I could accept this.

But Rylan…

I wanted to be better not for myself, but for him. So that I didn’t have to leave him alone anymore. The palace, despite the beauty of its architecture, and the way it was forcefully built around nature, could feel cold sometimes. At least Kael and Gaius would still be there for him.

“You’re really coming with me?” I asked Micah.

“Will you let me?”

“Are you sure about this? It won’t be easy. You won’t be the prince all the servants are pining to serve anymore. Gisiroth might provide us with lodgings, but it’s definitely not the high life you’re used to here.”

He shrugged and pulled me closer to him. I let myself sink into his sweetness. “I’ll manage.” Silence lingered between us as we soaked in the golden sky. “What do you think they’re going to do to you? Gisiroth’s going to want to test your powers.”

I bit my tongue. “I’m not sure. But you’ll be there for it. I think with that, I’ll be able to handle it.”

“I’m coming along too,” Kael said, striding toward us from behind.

I spun and looked at him, seeing the cheeky grin plastered on his face. “What?”

“The palace is getting boring anyway. I’ll tag along with you guys, and maybe once that new place gets boring, we can ride to farther places, escaping from Father’s watch. We’ll explore the cold regions to the far east, beyond Beyesteria, or maybe even over the Black Ocean. Adventure and danger.” His eyes sparkled with excitement.

I found myself laughing at his childlike wonder. “Nobody crosses the Black Ocean. The ancient witches used portals of the old to cross them.”

“What are we going to eat?” Micah asked.

“We’re dragons,” Kael said. “We can hunt.”

“You’ve never hunted a day in your life.”

“Actually, I have. I often go past Gaean’s pit to get myself some dinner. You’re always mucking about within the palace’s walls. You should try it sometime. It’s better than those drawings and numbers you’re always drowning yourself in.”

“Hunting? Around Gaean’s pit? I’d never thought of that… I mean, dinner’s always available back home.”

“This lifestyle’s probably suppressing your dragon instincts too much. Your beast will have a blast.”

“Can we bring Frederick along?” I asked. “I’m not sure about your cooking. I don’t want to eat raw meat with bits of charcoal around them.”

Micah grimaced. “It’s different. The sound of having Frederick laughing on my dragon’s back isn’t as appealing as hearing you do the same.”

“You should let him try sometime. He’s always talking about how dreamy the lot of you are.”

Micah squinted. “And that’s supposed to convince us how?”

Kael chuckled. “Do you think the same, Sera?”

“What?” I pressed my lips together, feeling my pulse heighten.

“What do you think about us?” Kael strode around Micah and looked at me.

“You can be assholes sometimes.” I tried not to look at him, because when he studied me like that, I couldn’t quite trust how my body reacted. “Gorgeous assholes,” I muttered, blushing.

Micah hugged me tighter. “Give Sera a break.” There was something possessive about the way he held me—like he didn’t want Kael in. “She’s been through a lot.”

“Just some teasing.” Kael dropped down to the ground, crossed his legs, and craned his head up. He closed his eyes and released a deep sigh. “It’ll be different. Different isn’t exactly bad. It’ll be the three of us. We’ll invite Gaius in sometime, and when this thing dies down, maybe Rylan can come along. We can still be together somehow.”

Yeah… together… under this orange sky. It was pretty nice—

A thought lit in me.

“Holy Aereala!”

I jolted out of Micah’s arms. Their blue eyes shot toward me.

“What’s wrong?” Kael asked.

“The spell. I know why it didn’t work.” The answer was right there. I’d been too concerned about the words themselves, instead of how the spells were cast. “I know why those seeds turned orange.”

“What are you talking about?” Micah said.

I darted toward the outbuilding, not bothering to take a moment to gather myself. My mind raced, too quickly for me to catch up. I shoved the door open, seeing Frederick sleeping with one of my romance novels over his head, snoring loudly, and Gaius having a second helping of dinner—the men had managed to clear out my pantry with their monstrous appetites.

I scampered up to our list of spells and fished for our hoard of soul beads.

Gaius dropped the bone he was licking and peered at me. “Sera?”

Kael strode in. “I think she’s finally lost it.”

“No, it’s not that,” I said. “I got it. I think I have the answer.” I arranged the seeds and the pieces of paper on the table. “We can solve this.”

“Okay, what’s your grand plan?” Kael asked, leaning against the doorframe. Their attention was locked on me.

My heart pounded so hard that I heard its beating in my eardrums. “Micah and I managed to make some progress that day, when you passed us the original spell from Rylan. At first I thought it had something to do with the spell we used—that we somehow managed to create one that worked despite all the other failures. But that wasn’t it.” I was panting because of how flustered the excitement made me. “What are the factors that determine how strong a spell can be?”

Gaius folded his arms and leaned back into his chair. “The spell itself, and how many souls it’s able to use and needs.”

“There’s one more.” It wasn’t often talked about, but people used it to determine whether one could be a witch or a warlock. After that, they didn’t think twice about it. “Affinity to the art.” I looked at the seeds. “What if… what if two people using a spell at the same time made it stronger, amplifying it?” I could sense the promise of this new idea bristling at my fingertips. This would work. It had to. “Our bodies are all attuned to magic. If we combined our affinities, together, then maybe any of the spell combinations, or even just the right one, would activate.”

“You want us to cast the spell at the same time?” Micah asked, worry in his tone. He paced toward me.

“Yes,” I replied.

“No,” Gaius said.

I shot a glance at him. “What? Why not?”

“I remember the last time we tried that.”

Micah shook his head. “My dragon side doesn’t often come up, but it did when we both used our powers. I’m not sure how or why it happens, but it’s too hard to hold back. We shouldn’t risk it.”

“It’s worth it to solve a problem concerning the nation,” I said. “If we make this work, it’s going to save lives. Feed people.”

Micah’s eyes burrowed into me. “You don’t know the thoughts I had when I looked at you in that state.”

“What thoughts?” I asked.

“It was like an overwhelming voice. And the only thing I could focus on was to take you.”

It felt like my heart had stopped. “I…” Heat warmed my cheeks. I tried to ignore the way they looked at me with a primal hunger, and said, “It’s still worth a shot. Just one of you will have to test out the spell with me. And the others can hold that person back.”

Gaius leaned back, shooting me a wary glance. “I don’t like the sound of this.”

Kael shrugged. “I can handle it.”

“What if you slip up?” Micah snapped. “We could do something to Sera we might not be able to take back. Ever.”

“Please,” I said. “This is my last idea. My last shot at getting back into the council. We have to try it.” I gave all of them a pleading look, hoping they’d understand. “Even if it doesn’t work, at least we’ll know that we’ve tried every single thing we could think of, and we can take our loss in peace.”

Micah swept his hair back and breathed out a heavy sigh. “I’ll do it. I’ll cast the spell with Sera.”

“I can,” Gaius said.

Micah said, “No, it’s better if I do. You’re a little too brash. Plus, Kael and you will have an easier time holding me back.” His jaw flexed. “I hate to admit it, but you two are probably stronger than I am.”

“Are you sure about this, Sera?” Kael asked. “What if something goes wrong and we can’t stop him?”

I curled my hands into fists, trying to amass a little more courage. “You will. And even if you fail…”

I might be okay with that.

That was when Frederick’s snore rose in a crescendo, before ending in a loud snort. He sprang from the couch, flinging the romance novel to the ground. “Cauliflower!” he shouted. He took in a few large breaths before turning our direction. “Gaean’s balls, I thought I was about to get skewered by a vegetable. Wait. What did I miss? Why do the four of you look all serious?”

I gathered the papers in my hands. “Let’s do it,” I said, trying to calm the swirling in my stomach.

* * *

The orange glow had left the sky, leaving behind a twinkling of stars. There weren’t many stars up. The bright lights of Raynea drowned them out.

We’d shifted a table out in the open. Seeds lay on top of it, lit by an oil lamp. Micah had suggested we do this outside in case things got too violent, and Kael had easily lifted the furniture and transported it.

“This is insane,” Gaius said. “It could easily go awry. And then… Sera, you don’t want to regret this.”

“I’m okay,” I said.

We’d explained the idea to Frederick, and he’d decided to stay inside, watching from the small window of the outbuilding. He didn’t want to end up getting clawed by one of the princes should their dragon sides go out of control.

“No point dallying,” I said. “Let’s do this.”

The yellow light of the lantern and the blue glow from the soul beads made the written spell legible in the darkness of the night. Micah had it memorized already, despite it being an entire paragraph of gibberish to me, so he didn’t need to look.

I clenched my teeth together, before speaking the spell. We both had our hands up, and our voices synchronized, curling around each other.

I heard the growling beside me, and the strange jolt of wanting zipping through my soul, but ignored them. I focused on channeling all the power into our experiment. The beads drained, forming a blinding burst of light and encompassing the pile of seeds. A thrumming sounded around us as the soul magic pulsed, spinning around the seeds.

“It’s working,” I said. Kael and Gaius were holding Micah back. I could feel tension tight under my skin. Their grunts echoed from behind.

“Micah, listen to me—” Gaius said.

A snarl, then a snap.

I wasn’t sure where to look. I ought to have paid attention to Micah—he wanted to pounce at me, after all—but the magic had turned into the colors of the rainbow, and it enthralled me.

And then it exploded in red. That couldn’t mean…

I squinted, seeing that the experiment had failed.

Again.

I banged my fists against the table, sending some of the empty beads sprawling onto the grass. “I was certain it’d work!”

Now it wasn’t Micah they had to hold back, but me, because I wanted to flip the table. These consistent failed attempts made me violent in ways that scared me.

Gaius hugged me, kissing my cheek, which did little to settle the storm in me. “It definitely was stronger than the first time we tried,” Gaius said.

I spun to Kael and Micah, seeing that Micah had settled. He was panting, and his wings had spread from his back.

“Let’s try again,” Micah said.

“You sure, brother?” Kael said. “You look spent.”

“I can do this one more time.”

Gaius picked up the soul beads I’d flung on the ground and placed them back on the table. “We’re almost out of souls. We have one last attempt. One. And we have to make sure it works.”

“And what do you suggest?” I asked. I was already at my wits’ end.

“Maybe you and Micah weren’t enough.”

A moment of understanding stilled between us.

Kael groaned. “You want me to fight both you and Micah off? At the same time? Are you crazy? And I thought I was the one with a few screws loose.”

Gaius stiffened. “You can handle it.”

“Uh, I’m not sure I can. Maybe if Rylan were around…”

“He’s not coming,” Gaius said. “And we don’t have any time left to try and convince him. We have to do this.”

Kael dragged his hands over his face. “Sera, what do you think?”

I thought this might end up with me getting ripped to shreds, but as always, I was curious. “I trust you, Kael.”

“Can all of you stop trusting me this much?” Kael said. “Because I certainly don’t. Remember that time when you managed to pull off my pants?”

“We won’t be thinking straight,” Micah said. “I’m so blinded by… by urges that I don’t think I’ll be able to fight properly. So you’ll have that to your advantage.”

Kael sighed. He drew his daggers. He probably saw the doubt in my expression, because he said, “I’ll try not to hurt them too much, but with this, I’ll have to be serious.”

“All right,” I said.

Gaius cracked his knuckles. “Let’s do this.”

I had half the spell memorized, but looked at my reference just in case. Gaius and Micah didn’t seem to need it.

My stomach churned as the words left my mouth. This could all go horribly wrong. Tension prickled my skin as magic swirled around us and poured over the seeds.

I didn’t dare look at them as their guttural sounds began to reverberate around me.

“Get out of the way!” Kael pushed me, and I fell next to the table, knocking my ribcage against it. I winced as a sharp ache shot up my torso.

Kael stood between me, Gaius, and Micah. He lunged at them, pushing them down with his arms and forcing them to the ground. He let out a yell and tossed Micah as far as he could. White wings spread out from Kael’s back as he attacked.

But Kael couldn’t deal with two of them that easily, and he had left Gaius unguarded.

“Gaius…” I said, as he stalked toward me. I backed away, feeling a lump in my throat. Gaius’s eyes had shifted into slits and his talons were lengthened. My heart lurched as I looked at his new claws. If that pierced my skin…

I thought I saw blood spraying from Micah. I yelped, shocked that Kael had gone that far.

But I had no time to worry about Micah, because it looked like Gaius was about to skewer me alive. I didn’t even have time to blink, and he was on top of me, his weight pressing down on my legs.

The rumbling from his chest vibrated through my body. He hadn’t hurt me with his talons. Instead, he rested his hands beside my face and studied me with his yellow eyes. Even in this form, and in the throes of dragon lust, Gaius was still Gaius, and his hard-lined face shone in the moonlight. He was handsome, even when this terrifying, and the scent of rough earth still emanated from him.

And then he made to tear my robes off.

I hadn’t shared any sexual experiences with any men. I didn’t want my first time—

Kael stopped Gaius before the worst happened. My robes, even though a little ripped, were still intact when Gaius flew from me. He hit the ground at a strange angle with a crack. But it didn’t seem to faze him, and he got up swiftly.

Where was Micah?

I darted my gaze around, searching for him, and saw him lying flat in the distance. Aereala’s teats, what did Kael do to him? I pulled myself to my feet and rushed to Micah, still hearing magic whirring in the background, and the sounds of the two hidrae princes battling it out.

“Micah, can you hear me?” I bent down next to him. A large gash ran through his body, from his lower abdomen to the top right of his chest. He had been knocked unconscious. I needed a rag—something—to stop the bleeding. I tore off my sleeve, which had already been half ripped by Gaius, and pressed it over Micah’s wound. The white of my makeshift rag was stained with crimson. It was deeper than the shade of Micah’s hair.

“Chill,” Kael said, coming up behind me, his breath heavy. “It’ll stitch up in an hour.”

“Kael? Where’s Gaius?”

“Lying over there. He’s come to his senses but he needs to have a breather.” Kael slumped to the ground. Sweat beaded over his temple. “That really was a huge mess.” He swept his hair back, sighing loudly.

“Are you sure Micah’s going to be fine?” I’d probably die from a wound like that.

“He will. He was going to tear my head off. I couldn’t be gentle about it. It won’t even leave a mark.”

I grabbed Micah’s arm and tried to lift him up. He was as heavy as a boulder. I couldn’t even make him budge. “A little help?”

“Just leave him there.”

I flashed Kael a look.

Kael groaned. “I’m spent, but whatever.” He got on his feet, moved toward his brother, then threw Micah over his shoulder, letting the blood drip down his own torso.

“Not like that!” I reached out, wanting to stop Kael but not quite knowing how.

“You’re worrying too much.”

He strolled back to the outbuilding. I trailed after him.

Kael kicked the door open.

A wide-eyed Frederick greeted us.

“Trouble cropped up, didn’t it?” Frederick said as we entered the building. He’d made popcorn and was crunching on it. We had kernels for him to pop?

Kael set Micah down on my bed. I couldn’t stop worrying. Kael said he’d be fine, but Micah looked like he was about to drop dead. I fetched an empty bucket, filled it with water, and proceeded to bend down next to Micah and wipe him off.

“I told you to relax,” Kael grumbled.

Gaius entered. “Guys? Sera? You’ll want to see this.”

I turned toward him.

He was carrying a huge sapling in his hand. It hadn’t been potted yet, and a healthy system of roots dangled from its bottom. Tiny branches and green leaves sprouted from its stem. Gaius summoned fire from his hands and hovered it over a leaf. The embers danced over the leaf, but when he removed the flames, they remained as pristine and unharmed as before.

My jaw slackened with shock. I threw the towel into the bucket and strode up to Gaius. “It worked?”

“And we’ve got a whole bag of seeds worth of these plants.”

I threw my hands around him and drew him into a big, wet kiss. I couldn’t contain myself. I didn’t care that Gaius had blood dripping from his temple—damn Kael for being so rough with his brothers, but I supposed he didn’t have a choice, and Gaius didn’t seem the least bit bothered.

It finally worked!

If I could dance without looking like a total fool, I would have done a happy dance right there and then.

Kael pushed me away and kissed his brother on the cheek.

Gaius peered up at Kael, stunned. “You’ve never done that before.”

“Sorry,” Kael said, wiping his mouth. “My mind got fogged up from all that excitement. I think that was meant for Sera.”

Frederick interrupted, “Okay, when is my turn? I need me some of that brotherly love.” He had his arms out and was ready to receive.

I gave Frederick a hug so he didn’t feel left out, though he still looked disappointed that the princes didn’t kiss him. Tough luck with that. I was too possessive, and the princes didn’t seem keen.

“What the hell?” Micah said, sitting up. He let out a groan. My gaze lingered over his torso, which was still covered in blood, but as Kael predicted, it was already stitching up.

I sped to his side. “How are you feeling?”

“Like a mountain just crashed into me. Did you really have to be that rough, Kael?” He rubbed the back of his head.

Kael nodded. “Yes, yes I did. And I’m not going to apologize, because I did warn the three of you.”

My attention went back at the sapling. I took it from Gaius. I smiled so hard that my cheeks hurt.

We’d finally done it. I could show this to the council and Gisiroth tomorrow, and I wouldn’t have to leave anymore.