Chapter 11
Lyrian stared nervously at the big, dark car that pulled into the driveway.
What would Brad’s brother think of her? What would he think of Anarian?
And most importantly, would he agree to help them?
The man who climbed out of the car looked so much like Brad it was uncanny. Their faces were so similar, Lyrian wasn’t sure she could tell them apart.
But unlike Brad, who wore a button up shirt with a collar, Nate wore a casual grey t-shirt. His hair was more untidy, more rumpled than the always neat Brad.
And for some reason, when he smiled, it had no effect on Lyrian whatsoever.
The smile Brad gave though, when he saw his brother step out of the car, made her stomach do flip flops. He seemed so happy, so carefree.
Something he certainly hadn’t been with her last night.
Oh, he’d tried to hide it. Tried to be cheerful and happy, and play with Anarian, but she could see that he was hurting. All because of her.
She never would have imagined, back when he’d visited the first time, that they’d end up here. Of course, because of that, it hadn’t occurred to her to explain the whole story to him.
If she’d known it would come back to bite her now, she would have told him everything.
Or maybe she wouldn’t have slept with him at all.
It was all too hard, and right now, she needed to focus on finding her brothers. Maybe once that was taken care of, she’d be able to figure this out.
Or maybe it would be too late, and she’d just have to accept what she had.
“So this is the mysterious Lyrian.”
Brad’s brother walked up the stairs, Brad just a step behind him.
Nate smiled at her, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. Instead, he seemed to be searching her face, as though looking for something in it.
What was wrong?
Lyrian began to feel a little uncomfortable.
“Yes, this is Lyrian.” Brad’s voice was a little short too. Probably because he didn’t want to answer questions about their relationship right now. But it didn’t help Lyrian feel any better.
He didn’t seem to notice that his brother was acting weird.
“And this is Anarian?” Nate stared down at the baby, then across at Brad, as though comparing them.
It hit her what he was doing.
She was so surprised she blurted it out before thinking. “You don’t think she’s Brad’s baby.”
To his credit, as soon as she said the words, Nate’s face reddened, and he immediately stammered an apology. “No, that’s not it at all…” He trailed off.
Brad was looking just as upset as she was, Lyrian was relieved to notice. “Why on earth would you doubt that?” he demanded. He put an arm around Lyrian’s shoulders, and she was grateful for the support.
Grateful that it was automatic, even after the last few days.
“It’s not…” Nate trailed off. He looked from Brad to Lyrian and back again. “How about we go inside, and I’ll explain.”
Explain what? What was his brother up to? Lyrian felt uneasy.
“Oh, wait. The dogs. I’d better let them out of the car.”
Nate turned and headed back down the stairs towards the car. First he opened the back, and out jumped Luna.
Any bad feelings Lyrian had almost disappeared at that. “You had Luna!”
Nate scooped a puppy out of the back seat, and walked back up the stairs. “Yes, I arrived here yesterday morning and found her all alone. I couldn’t leave her here. I figured you guys must have left in quite a hurry to forget her.”
There was no judging attached to his statement, but it made Lyrian feel bad anyway. She shouldn’t have forgotten about Luna.
It shouldn’t have been up to Nate to rescue her, especially not since he apparently already had a puppy of his own. A very cute puppy too.
He set the pup down on the ground, and she looked around at the three people watching her. Lyrian braced herself for the barking. Luna had barked like crazy when she’d first seen her, even in human form, but the little puppy barely reacted. She sniffed Brad’s feet, then Lyrian’s, then wandered back to Nate.
It was almost as if she’d smelled a dragon before.
Lyrian glanced up at Nate, only to find him regarding her with the same suspicion.
What was going on?
“Let’s go inside and have that chat,” Brad said pointedly.
Lyrian followed him inside, but she made sure to take a seat at the table as far from Nate as she could. If he weren’t Brad’s brother, if he didn’t look so like him, she’d be asking him to leave about now.
“So what’s going on?” Brad asked, raising an eyebrow at his brother.
Nate looked at him for a minute, then at Lyrian. “How about you tell me what’s going on? What happened that night?”
It was obvious he was avoiding the question.
Brad must be able to see it too. But he let it slide.
“We were attacked,” he said quietly.
“By what?”
He didn’t say by who. It had to be because he knew. Lyrian could only think of two possible ways he might know about dragons, and she was pretty sure that if he’d met one of her brothers, they’d be here with him.
She leaned forwards across the table, not even caring that her eyes transformed into dragon eyes as she glared at him. “I don’t care that you’re Brad’s brother, if you lead her to us, I’ll…”
“Woah,” Brad said, putting a hand on her arm. “How about you let him explain before you jump to conclusions, Lyrian.”
“No, she’s right,” Nate said, his voice soft. “I almost did lead her to both of you. I had no idea…” his voice trailed off, and suddenly he looked tired and defeated. And a little sad.
He’d been taken in by the Trima dragon.
Staring into his eyes, Lyrian suspected he’d been taken in in more ways than one.
She almost felt sorry for him.
Or she would have, if the dogs didn’t suddenly start barking.
If she didn’t hear a flap of wings.
If she didn’t smell Trima dragon.
The sharp, tangy, slightly burnt smell stung her nostrils, and set her adrenaline racing.
Nate had deceived them. Distracted them while the Trima dragon got close enough.
Lyrian sucked in her breath.
There was no avoiding this battle any longer. She was going to have to deal with the other dragon if she was to have any hope of finding her brothers. If she was going to be able to raise Anarian in peace. This dragon needed to go.
She hesitated only a moment before handing Anarian to Brad.
He stared at her, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide.
“Don’t trust him,” she said shortly.
Then she headed to the front door, beginning the transformation as she went.