TWENTY-SEVEN
The next morning, Avery kicked Jae out of bed to help make breakfast for the group. Or he wasn’t getting anything to eat. He whined and complained, but Avery felt he was just playing with her.
She cracked the first egg on the skillet when Ker came into the kitchen.
“Just got off the phone with Tor,” he said.
“Tor?” Jae sounded worried to her.
“Yeah,” Ker continued. “He went down to check out the UFO sighting and just got back to the castle. He’s on his way here now.”
“Here?” Avery asked. “Tor is your oldest brother, right? Why’s he coming here?”
“I guess he has some news to tell us. Hopefully some of our kind have found their way here,” Ker said.
“It’d be nice if a female elder was one of them,” Jae commented.
“Why’s that?” Ker asked.
Jae kissed Avery on the head then said, “Because elder females have the ability to remove a mark.”
Ker sucked in a breath. “You wouldn’t—” His eyes darted to her and back to Jae. She saw Jae flash Ker a sharp look.
“Why?” she asked. “What does that mean?” She looked at Ker. His eyes were as round as the oranges on the counter, but his mouth remained tightly closed. She turned to Jae. “What happens when a mark is removed? Tell me.” The agitation of being kept in the dark was starting to come through in her voice.
Jae kissed her on the head again. “It doesn’t mean anything except you and I will be together until we both reach the ripe old age of…one hundred or whatever.”
She didn’t like the sound of that, nor the vibes she was getting from the brothers. “Nice answer, Jae,” she said, “but try again. The truth this time.”
He set toast on a plate and buttered it. “It just means I become human. And only love you. There’ll be no mark to make me love anyone else.”
That didn’t sound that bad. She looked at Ker. Anger radiated from him.
“Tell her the rest,” his brother demanded.
Jae huffed and frowned at Ker. “Yes,” she said, “tell me the rest.” Jae didn’t respond, but stared down at the bread on the plate.
“The rest,” Ker said, “is that his dragon would die, making him completely human which means he’ll die in fifty years or so.”
“What?!” Avery about came unglued. “No way in hell am I letting you kill your dragon. Are you crazy?”
“Avery, love, we’ll always be together then. You asked last night about me going on after you. This is the answer.”
“It ain’t no answer for me,” she hollered. “I will not be the reason your brothers lose you. Your species is too precious to do something like that.” She shook her head vehemently. “You guys are the last of your kind as far as you know. That’s like killing off an endangered species on purpose!”
Jae put his hands on her arms. “But, Avery, it’s the only way to make sure Hannah goes to Ker.”
His sibling raised his hands and backed away from the counter. “Don’t drag me into this. Hannah’s nice and all, but I don’t want her. And probably never will.”
Another gasp from the kitchen entrance snagged all their attention. Hannah stood there, tears in her eyes. Avery felt her friend’s heart being crushed. Without a word, Hannah hurried to the front door and ran outside.
Avery dropped the spatula on a spoon rest. “Way to go, guys. Can you be anymore assholes than that?” She slipped her boots on and grabbed her and Hannah’s coats. Outside, she followed the tracks in the snow. Good thing for the easy trail, she was not an outdoor survival person at all. She was city girl, through and through.
“Hannah!” she called. “Wait up. You need your coat.” Currently, the wind wasn’t blowing and the sun was bright, so it didn’t feel that bad out. But she knew that was one perception that killed. The body could only be in subfreezing weather for so long. “Hannah!”
Avery heard crying and followed the sound. Her heart was breaking for her friend. Avery wanted Jae and maybe Hannah did, too. Both girls had marks, so each belonged to one brother.
Hannah sat on a downed log, her face in her hands. Avery draped the woman’s coat over her shoulders to keep her warm.
“I’m sorry you heard Ker’s words. He didn’t mean it as it sounded.” Avery didn’t know what else to say. They were in a holding pattern until more information became available—namely two dragon tattoos.
“Yes, he did,” Hannah said. “But it’s okay. I don’t want him either, I don’t think.” She sniffled. “He’s cute and nice, but not the man of my dreams, by any means.” Avery remembered Hannah saying she dreamed of Jae. “And neither is Jae, for that matter.”
“What do you mean? Jae isn’t everything you want?” Avery asked, confused. He was damn ideal to her.
Hannah shook her head. “No. I want someone who shares my passion with healing children and finding cures for diseases. I want someone who will go with me around the world to make things better for those in dire medical need.”
Well, that made a lot of sense to Avery, but maybe Hannah would have to change to conform to what the brothers wanted or needed. She wondered if the other brothers’ mates had similar likes or if they were opposites.
“I don’t know what say, Hannah. All this is new to me to. I just know I love Jae.” Yes. It was true. She loved the man and all his quirks.
What did she tell Hannah, though? Her aggravation over this whole mate thing was reaching a high point. She was about over it all.
The light outside started to wane. It was too early for it to get dark. Was a cloud covering the sun? She shielded her eyes with her hand and looked up. What the hell was she seeing? It sure wasn’t a cloud. Not a white one, anyway. A really bad feeling churned her stomach.
“I don’t think that’s good,” Hannah said. They hurried toward the edge of the tree line next to the cabin, still staring at the sky. As the “cloud” got closer, Avery saw movement within it.
It wasn’t just a dark cloud, but a cloud made up of hundreds of dragons, headed straight for the cabin.