Fingers scrabbling for a hold, Alexis held her breath, her head spinning. She was clinging precariously over the edge of the southern side of the Vat Room deposits, having come up from the lower levels to grab something from her locker when she’d been met with the sight of dragons descending from the heavens.

Dragons!

While it was known that they existed (and controlled most of the wealth of the whole world between themselves), no one ever saw dragons in their shifted form. It was a topic of gleeful speculation, why the mythical creatures were so shy with their animal side while many of them were known party hounds and public figures otherwise, but coming face to face with one (well, four!) had Alexis forgetting all about the intricacies of their inner lives and descending straight into good old sensible panic.

Frankly, she didn’t currently possess the breath or the nerves to be sufficiently in awe of them. The only reasonable thing she could think of doing when she’d seen them descending was to jump out of their way, which had her almost crashing into the priceless urns below. Between that, and the absolutely ludicrous conversation the men had, she was sort of preoccupied.

It was only when the first of them took back to the skies that Alexis dared take a breath, though relaxation wasn’t in the cards yet. The slight moment of distraction afforded her a slipped toe, almost falling once more and at the very least producing an indignant screech.

When a strong hand suddenly reached down and then unceremoniously yanked her up from her precarious position, her heart was beating so hard in her chest that she thought it would pop right out.

“Who are you?” her nameless savior demanded, standing before her, big and broad and frankly far too intense.

“Alexis Davies,” she blurted out without thinking, smacking a hand over her mouth immediately after.

If nothing else, it gave her an opportunity to stare, dumbstruck, at the glowering male in front of her. Well, she got to crane her neck to stare at him, anyway. Almost a foot taller, dressed in an absolutely immaculate suit of Italian make (there was something so specific about Italian tailoring, you can always tell), he looked like he’d stepped right off the cover of a magazine. Those dark eyes and stern jawline only added to the appeal.

It took a moment too long for Alexis to realize that he had, in fact, stepped off the proverbial cover of a magazine. A person couldn’t live in Crete for two years without knowing of the exploits and successes of its three greatest sons, the Calders.

“Alexis Davies, you were eavesdropping,” he said, eyes narrowing.

Was It her imagination playing tricks on her, or did his eyes glow, swirling gold?

Spirits be, Alexis, get with the program! He’s one of them!

“You’re a dragon,” she said flatly, dumbfounded – an emotion she was getting mighty sick of that day.

“Which has nothing to do with this. You were spying.”

The flustered snort of a laugh that Alexis produced was neither ladylike nor elegant, but it fit the situation just fine, in her opinion.

“Spying? How can I spy on a squadron of dragons falling down on my head? I’m working, Mister, and I don’t need that kind of treatment.”

With a huff, and with a very prominent burning to her cheeks that she hoped the darkness would hide, she moved to turn her back on him and march off in directions unspecified. That same strong hand on her shoulder made quick work of her plans, though, spinning her around.

“Don’t walk away from me,” he growled, his voice so low and… well, commanding that it was hard to argue with his logic.

Wait.

“You don’t own me,” she quipped back, shrugging his hand off of her.

The man – Galen, she decided, after rummaging in her memories for what she knew of the Calders, shipping magnates and internationally known billionaires – looked at his hand for a moment as if she’d struck him, but not in a bad way. If that was even a thing.

In fact, she would have not minded at all to stand around there for a little while longer, just admiring him. Even in the relative lack of light, the only illumination coming from the stars above and the faint flicker of streetlights far on the main road, she couldn’t help but be enthralled by the shadows crossing his face, accenting his strong features.

He almost had a kind of pull on her, like an invisible hand was pulling her toward him and she was eager to explore what that meant.

Stop, she reminded herself, jolting out of her wistful thoughts. He’s a dragon. An aggressive one, at that! Get your head on straight.

But who knew dragons were this devastatingly handsome?

“No, I may not own you,” he started, and it almost sounded to Alexis like he added the word ‘yet’ to the end of his statement. “But you are on the grounds of my-…” Another pause, a distinct look of discomfort on his features.

Alexis straightened up, digesting what she’d heard before. Burials? Sacred grounds?

He doesn’t want Knossos changed either, she thought feverishly, a plan so ludicrous she could hardly twist it into words coming to her mind.

“Your ancestors,” she finished for him tentatively, but just speaking the words gave her confidence. “You don’t want Knossos to be ‘restored’ either, do you?”

Alexis bit her lip, feeling the heat of possibility pooling in the pit of her stomach. She wasn’t sure what she could do about it, but here stood another person, far more powerful than she, who could make it stop. Even if he was a dragon.

“No,” he responded, eyes trained on her, the flame of an eternal fire seeming to glow behind them. “What do you know of it? Why are you here, Miss Davies?”

“I work here,” she said, pushing her shoulders back and trying to stand as sure and firm as she could, despite being stared down by a man who looked equal parts convinced she shouldn’t be there, and equal parts as if he would never allow her to leave. “I like working late. I’m an archaeologist.”

“Are there others?” Galen asked, glancing around as if looking for Alexis’ hidden troupe of spying archaeologists, ready to spring on him as a flock of nuisances.

“No. It’s just me,” she said, not clarifying that the man who was to blame for much of Galen’s current ire had left perhaps half an hour before they arrived. “No one else.”

Stop babbling.

“And I think I should be going now,” she added, her head spinning a little from the full weight of what had just transpired.

Between Joshua’s news, almost getting squashed by dragons, finding out that Knossos held some specific meaning to dragons – she knew all of those mosaics couldn’t be of dolphins! They looked nothing like dolphins before they were painted over! – and coming face to face with who had to be the most devastating man in the world, she was feeling a little weak in the knees. Maybe she could sit down, think things over, have a nice cup of tea, come up with a rational plan that didn’t…

“We’ve already discussed this,” Galen said, that throaty grumble back in his tone. “You’re not going anywhere until you tell me what you heard.”

Alexis was about to open her mouth and protest, as she was about to do, but the words died on her tongue as she heard a voice in her head. Instinctively, her eyes snapped off of Galen’s to search the sky, as did his, as if she knew where the sound in her head was coming from.

If you stay arguing like that, you’ll never get anywhere. The night is long, but it isn’t that long.

“What is that?” Alexis asked, brow furrowing.

It certainly felt like she was losing her mind. Was she?

“Icarus,” Galen sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

A large shadow slipped across the moon and stars for a moment, coaxing a gasp out of Alexis. She could see it clearly now. The large, powerful form of a dragon, gliding gracefully across the star-sprinkled night sky.

The answer is right in front of both of you, the voice interjected once more, and Alexis thought she heard a chuckle in there.

“So you’re hearing what I’m hearing, right? I’m not imagining it?” she whispered quickly, taking a step closer to Galen.

He might have been a dragon, but at least he was down on Earth, in human form, and not in her head. That made him more trustworthy than the other guy!

“I hear him,” Galen confirmed.

His complete lack of freaking out over that made Alexis will herself to calm down as well.

“You’re not making any sense, old man,” he yelled into the heavens, producing another low chuckle in Alexis’ head.

If you’d stop arguing for once in your existence, whelp, you’d see that I do. You’re standing next to Alexis Davies, one of the few living relatives of Arthur Davies, the man who made the Knossos we know today. Who would make a better bride than the one woman who can speak against what is planned here? Two birds, one stone, my boy.

“A what now?!” Alexis sputtered, though the sinking feeling in her stomach reminded her that minutes ago, she’d thought that plan had merit as well.

She was just, you know, not insane enough to actually offer it up. Because that was ludicrous. And she wasn’t even entirely convinced if the whole talk about dragons and mates and whatnot was real or if they were playing tricks on her. Which, admittedly, would have been difficult to do, seeing as they didn’t know she was there.

Focus! Alexis reminded herself.

When she caught Galen’s eye, she saw a spark of newfound interest there, like he’d been given an excuse that tasted just right and he was eager to sample it.

“Yes,” he said thoughtfully, a sly grin spreading across his lips. “Who better.”

You know what the consequences of stepping out of this fight are, Galen. Your older brother is not fit to serve. Your middle brother will not even try. It is on your shoulders, boy.

Icarus swept lower, coming to fly over the massive stones of the palace at a height that made Alexis bend at the knee slightly, though he was still far above her head. She thought he might have just been trying to make a point. Galen stood calmly, gaze transfixed on her.

“Miss Davies. I believe you are to marry me,” he said with the kind of unflappable calm that comes with telling someone how one likes his tea, or discussing the weather.