Fated Guards

Guarding Their Dragon Mate Collection 1

Layla Heart

Fated Guards (Guarding Their Dragon Mate Collection 1)

Copyright © 2020 LAYLA HEART

All rights reserved. No part of this story may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without express written permission of the copyright holder.

This book contains sexually explicit content which is suitable only for mature adults.

ISBN: 9789493139176

NUR: 285

Edition: 20201006

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Blurb

Sophia thought she’d be fighting the fae army, not her attraction to four handsome rebels.

Orphaned at twelve, half-blood Sophia, part witch, part dragon, has grown from a member of the secretive dragon rebel army to the one in charge of rebuilding her home town after the war with the fae.

Now she not only has to deal with new responsibilities but also with a team of four very handsome men who are supposed to help her, not distract her…

One spoiled fire dragon who won’t take orders from anyone. One broody air element witch carrying a lot of pain from his past. One soft-spoken werewolf with hidden strength. And one mysterious fae… Four very hot sources of trouble.

The five have barely left for their mission when they run into the first obstacle as they’re attacked by a group of renegade fae soldiers.

Can they survive the attack? But more importantly, can they survive the mission with their lives and hearts intact?

These are the first three novellas in the Guarding Their Dragon Mate serial, Cursed Dragon, Hunted Dragon and Fated Dragon, a six episodes long reverse harem #WhyChoose story. These novellas may include any of these elements: steamy scenes, ‘I need tissues NOW’ moments, cries of ‘why, oh, why’ and cliffhangers that make you bite your nails (and curse the author).

This story takes place in the same world as the Lughnasadh Elite Academy and happens after the events from the other series. Both series can be read stand-alone, they are about different characters, but they are connected.

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Cursed Dragon

Guarding Their Dragon Mate 1

Chapter One

Sophia

“Topaz!” Where the fuck is that guy?

I’ve looked all over campus and the tunnels under the forest are the only place where I’ve not been yet. Today, of all days, he has to disappear on me. Of course.

“Topaz! Get your ass over here! I’m not calling you again.” My voice bounces off the walls of the tunnel, echoes fading away slowly. I wait a couple of moments, but then give up. I have no idea where he might be, but it’s obviously not here. I tried calling him, his phone going to voicemail every time.

We have a meeting with the queen and kings. Our meeting was supposed to start half an hour ago, but here I am, still looking for the guy who was supposed to come with me.

Sighing, I turn around. I guess I’ll have to go by myself, find the guy after this is all over. Maybe he didn’t want this as much as he’s been saying and this is his way of letting me know. I never know with him.

I’m not even out of the tunnel when a loud crash and a gust of hot air make me spin around, followed by the bellowing of a dragon. What the fuck is going on? That sounds like someone is in trouble.

Fuck.

I run down the long downward sloping tunnel until I reach a crossroad. Looking to either side, I have no idea where the sound came from. Both tunnels go to the same place, but this sounded much closer, probably one of the caverns which have been used for storage. Only, which one, of the dozens of caverns that come out to the tunnel?

Then I hear it again, the loud roar, and one of the tunnels lights up red before the heat of the fire floods over me.

I break out in a sprint. I know that some people use the empty caverns to spar in, or do other clandestine things, since they’re empty and nobody really comes here anymore. But this doesn’t sound like a friendly sparring match, this sounds like serious fighting.

The sound of heavy wings and two dragons snarling at each other guide me to one of the biggest caverns that the tunnel system is connected to. This is a natural cavern, formed when they covered the old witch town and castle after the witch kingdom fell, the mountain is full of them. The new tunnels try to connect as many as possible, to make sure that they’re safe and won’t collapse because of the digging next to it.

I look up. Two dark red dragons are fighting each other, clawing, biting, roaring. They have no idea I’m here, they’re so focused on their fight.

The larger of the two, furthest away from the tunnel, opens his mouth, fire collecting between his jaws, before he lets out a roar and spits the large fireball at the other dragon. The smaller dragon swoops to the side, out of the way of the path of the fire, which means it’s now coming directly at me.

Hell, no!

As quickly as I can, I pull my arm in front of me, creating a barrier of water around myself. The fire engulfs me, the heat still unbearable, but at least it can’t burn me in here. I hear the water bubble around me, the fire raging, until it’s suddenly over. My skin feels hot, like I’ve been out in the sun all day without protection, and that in just a couple of seconds, a couple of long seconds.

That... That... That asshole.

I drop my shield, glaring up at the two dragons. “Topaz!” What is he doing, playing around here?

The big dragon stills in mid-air at my voice and then lets himself drop to the ground, transforming back into his human shape before he hits the ground. He comes running at me, in all his naked glory, panic in his voice. “Sophia!”

The other dragon lets out a surprised sound and drops to the floor too, shifting into Topaz’ younger sister, Aideen, who also comes running towards me.

“Are you—” But before Topaz can finish his sentence, I swipe his feet out from under him.

With a thud, he falls onto his back and I jump onto his chest, grabbing his wrists and holding them over his head as I let out a low growl. Sometimes the only way to make sure this guy pays attention is when you make it very clear he won’t be able to escape you.

His eyes widen slightly, alarm setting in them while they seem to darken with something I really don’t have time to pay attention to. Our breathing is ragged, coming out fast, whether from exertion or from something more primal, I don’t want to know.

No matter how sexy he is, and his well-built body is a sight to behold, he’s been nothing but a headache today...

“We were supposed to meet the queen and kings half an hour ago. I’ve been looking all over the place, and now I find you here? Acting like the spoiled brat you are, battling your sister instead of showing up for the job you were supposed to be at?” I can’t keep the growl out of my voice, probably the most ‘dragon’ trait I possess, potentially the only one.

“Sophia...” Aideen is standing close by. “If I’d known—”

I shake my head, cutting off her words. “He was supposed to show up, not you. This was his responsibility. For fuck’s sake, Topaz.” I sit up more, letting go of his wrists, still looking down at him. Our breathing hasn’t slowed down, and it’s getting harder to ignore how his body is responding to me, or the heat building in my core. Not the right time. It’s hard enough to keep my feelings to myself when we’re this close, I don’t need him to find out how he makes my head all fuzzy.

“Don’t snap at my sister.” He glares, a different fire building in his gaze, his hands shooting up and grabbing onto my arms. “Leave her out of this. This is between us.”

“This is about you. You wanted to be on the team. You wanted to be a part of rebuilding the dragon kingdom. Then you have to show up when we meet our queen and kings.” I pull my arms from his grip and stand up. It’s easier to think when I’m not that close to him.

Aideen quickly throws him his clothes and he dresses, grumbling something under his breath that I’m pretty sure I don’t want to hear.

“When we have a meeting like this, they’re not your friends. I don’t care how long you’ve known them, or that your sister is best friends with the queen. When we meet them, as part of the rebel army, they’re our queen and kings, not our friends.” I feel like I keep having this discussion with him, he doesn’t seem to understand it.

“I know.” He growls, jerking his head in my direction. “I know. I should have been there. I was distracted.”

“You wanted this. You, not me, not any of the others, you. Our rebel rankings might not mean much here, but you’re still part of my squad, and I need to be able to count on you being there when I need you, especially when we’re getting our orders. If not for me, or for our queen and kings, then at least for the people who will be counting on us, who we’re going to help. We need to be professionals, not kids.” I’m getting way too worked up, but this means too much to me to let anything risk it.

We’re going to be rebuilding the area where I grew up, the town where I grew up. This goes much deeper than ‘restoring a kingdom’ to me, this is my homeland, the place I was born, to which I’ll always be connected.

The fae ruined everything, destroyed everything that was of value to dragon culture, leaving nothing in their wake, and I want to be there to restore it to its former glory, before it was defiled by the fae. I was once a kid in those streets, depending on the kindness of the people there, and now I can do something back for them, now I can help them like they helped me. I need to do this.

The people of the town are counting on us. Not just the people of that town, but all the towns in the area, they’re counting on us to help them instead of the slow suffering that the fae have been putting them through.

“I know. It won’t happen again.” Topaz’ voice is close and when I turn to him, his eyes are serious. “It won’t happen again.”

I nod. “I’m counting on that. Let’s go have this meeting.”

Because we still have to get our damn orders, still hear who we’ll be working under and how much supplies and other things we’ll be getting. What’s going to be expected of us.

And after that, I’m going to need a really cold shower, not just to get this burned feeling from my skin but also because of the heat pooling in my core every time I’m close to this guy.

Fucking hell...

“You’ll be heading the operation in the north-eastern quadrant of the old dragon kingdom, nearest to the werewolf border.” Finn, the Fae king, is looking at me, his voice clipped. “You’ll be in charge of the whole thing. The only ones you’ll be reporting to are the six of us, nobody else. Everyone else reports to you.” Finn looks stressed, which makes him sound even more strict than normal, and he’s not the warmest guy even at the best of times, at least from what I’ve heard.

I stare at him, then at the people at his side. Litha, the first witch queen in over a century, Rune, the first dragon king in over a century, Phoenix, the highest priestess of Litha’s coven, Bane, the werewolf prince, and Kit, the incubus prince. The last two aren’t technically kings yet, but from what I’ve heard, that will happen in another six or so months. Bane’s uncle and Kit’s mum are currently king and queen to their races, but they decided that it was probably better to ‘ease’ the six into ruling and focusing on only a couple of kingdoms to run at a time. The two have been acting as kings for all but the most day-to-day aspects of running their kingdoms after the short but intense war last fall.

I still can’t believe what Finn just said. They must be crazy to think that I’d be able to handle such a task? I knew I was going to be in charge of something but the most I’d hoped for was to be the leader of my own squad under Terra, my old commander, not to have my own fucking operation to rebuild a quarter of the dragon kingdom. “Me?”

Rune gives me a warm smile, he’s much more easygoing than Finn tends to be. “Yes, you. Terra actually put your name forward as soon as we mentioned the missions. She thinks that you’ll do great.” His eyes go to the side of the room and I follow his gaze.

Terra is sitting at a table with some other commanders and captains from the old rebel armies and she gives me a quick nod. My heart jumps. She thought I could do this? But at the same time, I’m scared of the responsibility.

Then something dawns on me. “What are they going to be doing?” I look to Rune and then back to the rebel leaders. “I thought they’d be in charge of rebuilding?”

Rune nods slowly. “They will be, but there are more things to rebuild than the towns and lands around them.”

“Armies. They’re going to set up a new army.” No way! “I want to be part of that too.” I step closer to Rune and the others. “I don’t want to be shipped off to some corner of the country, I want to be in the middle of the action. I want to do something.”

I thought I was going to be with my friends from the rebels, rebuilding together, bringing to reality all the things we would dream of in the darkest nights, but now that doesn’t seem to be the case. Now I’m going to be in some boring part of the country while they’re doing the cool stuff, now we’re all going to be in different places and I got stuck in the back doing the menial tasks.

“I want to join them. I’m a good fighter and a good trainer. Let me join them.” I want to help train people so that we’ll never have to worry about ourselves again.

“No.” This is the first time Litha speaks and even though she can sometimes look demure and soft, her voice is strong and so is her gaze when she looks at me. “We need you to become the captain of that operation because you’re a good fighter. The northeast isn’t safe. Lots of fae loyal to the old ways have fled into those forests and mountains, to the cave systems there.”

My stomach lurches. I’d forgotten about those caves. And if the fae have fled there, then the dragons are in real danger.

Litha continues. “We’re sending you as a rebuilding mission, that’s your primary goal, but that’s not the only reason you’re there. You’ll be guiding healers, teachers, people to run the towns. You’ll be overlooking the building of schools, hospitals, houses, shops. And you’ll be training people to protect them. You, and those who will be going with you, will be covertly training as many people as needed to protect those towns. What I’ve heard, you’re a great fighter and people in the area know you either from when you were a kid or from your work there when you were part of the rebels. Now you get to continue that work, but officially, with all the support we can give you.”

“And to exterminate the fae who fled.” Finn’s voice is ice cold. “We do not look kindly onto deserters, especially when they’re still spreading their terror wherever they go.”

Blood drains from my face as their words sink in, as the implications of their words become clear. I’ve been at the academy for too long. I got complacent. I didn’t think that things might have gotten even worse in my old town. But the looks Finn, Litha and the others are giving me, I underestimated how much damage could still be done.

Fuck. Hell no.

Chapter Two

Topaz

I grab for Sophia as she goes white as a sheet, afraid she’ll faint or something, but before I can reach her, she straightens her back, giving a curt nod. In a flash, she goes from a girl worried about her people to a leader, ready to get shit done. “When do we leave?”

Litha looks at Rune, who hands Sophia a thick envelope. “As soon as possible. We’ve got you a small team to start off with, some people you already know well.” His eyes go to me for a moment. Well, of course, that was expected, or they wouldn’t have wanted me to show up here too. “And some people you won’t know. Some will be from other rebel armies, they’ll be joining you because they were recommended by their commanders because of their skills. Others will be fae, they will be the bridge between you and the political and social system in the fae kingdom.”

A low growl starts up in my throat. Fuck no.

I don’t want to work with fucking fae, not yet, this is too soon. I know that Finn is different, even though I still don’t always trust him, but I can’t be working with some random fae. Especially not if they worked under his father, the previous fae king, the guy who sent his troops to slaughter millions of people, our people, just months ago. I lost too many friends and family to forgive anyone who was part of that system, the system to oppress dragons and almost wipe us out.

One look from Rune stops me before I say anything, his eyes dark and serious. “We made sure the fae we chose are on our side, they’re not loyal to the old king, never have been. Some of them might be... conservative, in some of their thinking, they’ve never had much exposure to the other races, but they want to help and they want to be part of the mission. I understand that you’re concerned, and you have every right to be, but I ask you to give them a chance.”

“How can you be—” I take a step forward but Sophia jams her arm back and I narrowly avoid getting her elbow in my ribs.

“If you trust them, I will accept them.” Her voice is steady, though I can feel her anger in the connection we still have.

Dragon shifters have a special mental connection with our ‘hoard’, which can include things but also people. This is usually only with a real hoard, or close family, but the dragon rebels were able to create a special magicked version of it so that we could sense if others were in danger. It doesn’t do much more than that, just letting others know about strong negative emotions, usually fear and anger, though other emotions sometimes slip through too.

A real hoard connection, once it’s made, won’t fade, it’ll stay strong, even over long distances, but the magicked version fades over months and the further you’re away from others, the weaker the connection. There are only a couple of dragon rebels still on the academy grounds, most of them have left over the last weeks, and Sophia and my family seem to be the only reliable connections I can still feel. It feels a little lonely, not constantly feeling part of a group, of a community, but I guess we’ll have a new community soon enough.

“Good.” Rune’s voice is steady. “Please look through those documents and let us know when you want to leave. We’ve tried to compile a list of things you’ll likely need, but you probably know the area better, so we’ll leave it up to you to finalise the lists. As soon as you give the signal, we will have transportation ready for you.” He stands up, holding his hand out to her and she accepts it. “Thank you.”

“Anything for my king.” Sophia inclines her head to him, and then does the same to Litha. “And my queen.”

Litha gives her a quick and awkward smile, somehow still not used to the title, even though people have been calling her that for months. “Thank you.”

“With your permission?” Sophia moves her hand towards the door but doesn’t let Litha’s eyes go.

“You can leave. Let us know if you need anything.” Litha looks exhausted, they all do, but that doesn’t stop them from doing what needs to be done. Like keeping our kingdoms safe and rebuilding everything that has been lost in the last century.

“I will.”

Before I can say or do anything, Sophia has grabbed the sleeve of my shirt and pulls me out of the room, out of the building, her strides long and she immediately goes to the building where we’ve been staying these past weeks. Uh, oh.

I’d almost think it funny, or maybe even suggestive of something sexual, if Sophia hadn’t been super clear about the ‘not interested in you’ thing back when we met. A guy can dream, but sometimes that’s all that it’s going to be, a dream.

A fucking hot one, though, but I know when I’m not welcome.

Sophia is pacing from one side of the small living room to the other side, her body tense, while she’s reading the pages from the envelope, getting more and more angry as she goes. She’s been doing this for the last twenty minutes, ever since we got back, and about ten minutes ago I decided to sit down at the table because this will probably take a while longer.

She’s not said a word since we returned, and I’m not going to disturb her, I’ve learned my lesson. My ass still hurts from when she tackled me earlier. That was a pretty painful drop, but she looked hot when she was mad.

Of course, I’m the sucker who has the hots for the woman in charge, and I’m just a lowly worker in her eyes. No way around that, I guess. And I’m pretty sure her view of me hasn’t gotten any better lately...

She’s all grown-up, so much more ‘adult’, and I’m flailing around. Flailing like a kid, because I’ve got no idea what I’m supposed to be doing. It’s hard when the kids who were always behind you, always younger, the little princes, are now suddenly the ones in charge, the kings. I was the big brother, the older guy, the one they looked up to, and now I’m just some guy. It’s as if I blinked and suddenly they were way ahead of me. Last May they were graduating secondary school and I graduated from the academy, I was ahead, and suddenly, last October, I was a newbie in the dragon rebel army and they were kings, way ahead of me.

And it’s the same with Sophia. She’s my age, but she’s got years and years of life experience over me, especially experience in how to live in the world outside of the school system. Experiences that actually matter in these times, instead of my silly knowledge of star systems and obscure elemental magic. What’s the use of that when we have to rebuild a whole damn country?

The doorbell rings and we both freeze. Sophia looks around until she meets my eyes, the look in them wild, like she’s not even really aware I’m here, or what’s going on.

So, I get up.

If she opens that door right now, there’s a good chance she’ll kick or otherwise hurt our visitor, because she’s too focused on the papers in her hands. After she’s done with them, I’m going to have to read them too, maybe I can be of use that way.

Before I’m even out of the living room, our visitor is getting impatient and they start banging on the door with their fist. What the fuck?!

I don’t even check through the peephole and just pull the door open, too annoyed. “Yes?”

A guy stands in front of me, bag slung over his shoulder, dressed like someone from one of the other rebel armies, and he’s looking at me like he’s questioning his decision to even come here. “This is where Sophia is staying? The one in charge of the northeast of the dragon country?”

“And you are?” He’s getting more and more annoying and definitely makes me want to punch his face in with that arrogant smirk of his.

“None of your concern.” Apparently having decided he’s in the right place, he pushes past me, immediately stalking to the living room.

Yeah, no. I don’t think so.

I grab for him, throwing him to the nearest wall. He can’t just barge in here because he feels like it. That’s definitely not going to happen. Not on my watch.

Only, the next moment, I’m the one with my back to the wall, his hand in the front of my shirt, his other hand making sure his bag doesn’t slide from his shoulder. I realise with a shock that the guy is taller than I originally thought, taller than me, and this close I can see how his eyes are almost colourless, that’s how light they are. Fuck. Okay, he’s sexy. And pissed off, definitely pissed off at me. That shouldn’t affect me in the way it is...

“What’s going on?” Sophia stands in the doorway to the living room, a ball of water floating over one of her hands, the papers crumpled in her other hand. “Who are you?”

The guy nods in her direction and then lets me go. Only, as he steps back, he gets shorter, just enough to be noticeable and I catch the telltale wisps of air magic disappearing from around his feet. He just fucking floated himself so that he’d be taller than me? Just to be able to look down on me? The hell is up with this guy?

“Gale, reporting for duty. I was told that I’d be working under you.”

“You’re from the wolves, right?” Sophia seems to relax a fraction and she steps back into the living room, not even checking if I’m okay. But I’m used to that. After living with the dragon rebels for a couple of months, I’ve learned that a lowly newbie like me is of no importance to anyone in charge.

The witches are the only race who don’t have their own kingdom, so just like they live in the lands of the other races, they’re also part of the rebel armies of the other races. They used to have their own kingdom, but when that was destroyed, the witches scattered all over the other kingdoms. Since they’re the only race who are not bound to the place they live, or able to have kids with only their own race, they integrated into the other communities pretty easily. Which is how people like Sophia exist, half bloods, not really one, not really the other, but a mix of both.

After last year’s war, they now have their own queen again, Litha, but Litha is also trying to break the boundaries of the kingdoms down, making all five races live in harmony instead of them constantly warring with each other. And, honestly, with her taking a mate from each race, I think she might be the first one to manage that.

Gale follows Sophia as he glances around the small apartment for a moment. Apparently also deciding that I’m of no consequence.

Well, if those two are going to chat about important and official things, I guess they don’t need me. Maybe Rune and the others can use my help instead. I’m just waiting for Sophia to get ready to leave anyway. Maybe I can help packing things up that we’ll be taking with us.

I turn to the door, ready to leave, when a loud voice comes from the living room. “Topaz! Get your ass in here. Don’t you dare to sneak off again.”

My heart does a double jump, from the surprise of her voice but also because I’m a sucker for attention, and she noticed I wasn’t there with her. Hell.

I make sure to put as much swagger into my step as I can, not able to suppress wanting to tease her. “I didn’t realise you cared that much about my ass.”

Something flits over her face, too fast to read, before she rolls her eyes with a deep sigh. “I’m not your babysitter. I can’t keep looking for you all over the place. As long as you stay put, at least I’ve got an idea of where you are.” She points to the table. “Can you look those pages over? They made a list of supplies they’re going to provide for us, I need you to make sure we’ll have enough for at least a month for each of us. Plus extras of first aid supplies to help the people there.”

I nod.

How pathetic is it that I want her to need me so much? So much that I’ll accept any request of her?

Chapter Three

Gale

When I heard that they needed manpower for the rebuilding of the old dragon kingdom, I immediately volunteered to help. I joined the werewolf rebel army so that I could help in ways I wouldn’t otherwise be able to do, and this seemed like a great next mission.

For most of my life, I lived on the other side of the border from the northeast part of the fae kingdom, the part that once was the northeast part of the dragon kingdom. It’s isn’t known as a poor area, especially since it once housed quite a few military bases and descendants of some influential ex-military families still live there, but there are pockets where the poverty is very noticeable. The kingdom tries to help out, but it never gets the priority it needs, so I joined the rebels so I could do what was needed.

When I got my new mission, I didn’t expect the look in my captain’s eyes as he told me that this could very well be a suicide mission. They weren’t sure that we’d not be slaughtered in our sleep by the fae still loyal to the old king, the legacy of over a century. After everything, that didn’t scare me off, not in the least. I know my way around the area, both on the werewolf and the dragon side, so I was a logical choice to send, it helps that I can hold my own in a fight, easily.

The other thing I didn’t expect was how young Sophia was. The captain told me she’d been with the dragon rebels for over a decade, so I expected someone a little older, not someone who’s barely in her twenties. She looks like she’s barely old enough to have graduated from college. And that dragon guy, he definitely looks like he should still be going to classes here, not run around the country to try and help people set up their own lives, play the hero.

I put my bag down near the table and look over to Sophia. She might be young, but she carries herself as if she’s double her age. If she really spent the last decade with the rebels, I suspect that she’s got more experience with life than most people who live to three times that. “Did they explain how dangerous the area we’re going to go to is?”

She raises an eyebrow and I have to admit that she’s pretty cute, even though she’s younger than I’d normally go for. “They didn’t have to tell me. I know how dangerous it is.” That pain in her gaze, the hardness of her voice, I guess I understand why they’ve put her in charge. She’s a local.

“Okay. Good to know.” I look around more. The werewolf rebels were staying in one of the halls of residence, so we slept in the student rooms, but this looks like they’re meant for professors, not students. It still doesn’t make living in other people’s houses any more comfortable. The rebels who stayed here after the war ended in late September, those who didn’t have families to return to or had other reasons for staying, have been living in the buildings that the students and professors had to evacuate from. They’re still full of the items from their owners, since they weren’t able to take much with them when they left. Now, as the last of us are receiving our new missions, they’re becoming empty again, waiting for their real owners to return, if they return.

I pull my mind away from the flashbacks of fighting on the front line, the sea of fae soldiers coming right at us and we knew we were outnumbered, but we couldn’t give up, ever. My voice is rough when I speak. “Where do you want me? What do you need me to do?” If I keep busy, I can avoid thinking of those days, which sometimes feel like they were last week, not three and a half months ago.

“You can put your things in one of the bedrooms off the hallway, the bathroom is there too. And what are you good at?” She almost looks lost and for a moment I wonder if she’s ever done this before, be in charge all on her own.

“Should be in my file.” I glance to the table where she sent the dragon shifter, Topaz, to do paperwork, the guy like a little puppy at her every word. When she doesn’t give a sign that she’s satisfied with my answer, I answer her more fully. “I have experience with fighting and also with construction work and repairs. I’m an air-element witch, which could come in handy, potentially. Anything else?”

She shakes her head and returns to the papers in her hands. “You can choose one of the rooms and get comfortable for now. I don’t really have something else for you to do at this moment.”

Nodding, I step back, letting her get back to her own things, and walk into the hallway. Two rooms have their doors ajar, probably Sophia and Topaz’ rooms, and three rooms are closed. How many people live in this apartment, normally? Five rooms is a lot for a family. Or is this one of those ‘communal living’ apartments that I heard some people talk about? Where younger or single professors and people who are here only temporarily stay at so that they don’t have to find their own place, and don’t have to live on their own if they don’t feel like it.

The first door I open leads me to a pale room. A quick glance around the place tells me that the previous owner of this room is probably involved with teaching here on campus, if the posters on the walls and the books on the shelves are anything to go by. I dump my bag on the floor and let myself drop on the bed.

A place to live if you don’t want to live on your own... Yeah. I need that right now. We lost a lot of people in that battle. Lots of friends, people I’ve lived with, worked side-by-side with, for years, all gone. In the time since, I’ve helped out a little with the tunnels under the academy and some repairs in the town, but I knew I couldn’t stay here for long. I had to get out of here. Too many memories.

And now I’ll be returning to the area that I know best. I partially long to go back, but I’m also not sure if I really want to go back, if it won’t make this pain hurt worse.

I walk into the living room. I couldn’t stay on my own for more than ten minutes before I had to get out of there. I don’t like being alone, at all.

Topaz is still sitting at the table, more notes scribbled on the back of some paper than before, and Sophia is walking from one side of the room to the other, reading the pages in her hands.

When he notices I’m here, Topaz looks up, annoyance crossing his face, but when I look at Sophia pointedly, he shrugs, his eyes going sad. Seems he’s not used to her like this. Okay. I guess I should start being nice to the people I’ll be working with. They might be young, kids almost, but it’s better than nothing.

I sit down opposite Topaz, looking at the papers. “Anything with maps of the area? Maybe statistics of who lives there?”

Topaz lets out an angry grunt, jerking his head to the side. “You think the fae kept close enough track? They might have known how many adults lived in the area who they could exploit, but other than that, they didn’t care enough.”

Sounds about what I’d expected. “Anything on the infrastructures? Schools? Hospitals or doctors?” Something I can work with?

“I think I’ve got something here.” Topaz starts sliding his pages around when Sophia appears at the table, dropping some papers in front of me.

When I look up, her eyes are dark, fury and pain battling inside her. “You want the inflated ‘this looks like we’re not treating them like animals’ numbers, or the real numbers?” Her voice has taken on a dangerous edge.

“Real.” Because we’re dealing with a real community here, not some community that only exists on these pages.

“Schools don’t exist, not for dragons, but rebels do teach kids the basics when they can get to them safely. Hospitals are always understaffed and undersupplied, but dragons have their own healers and doctors, including some witches, who will help you when you’re sick. Most places have electricity and running water, because that’s the only way the fae are able to keep the elixir that prevents the dragons from shifting running through the dragons’ veins, and since that seeps into everything...” She puts her hand on the pages in front of me. “The rest of what the dragon rebels have been able to find out these past months is in here. The stuff the fae have been trying to hide for over a century. The things they don’t want the other kingdoms to know about. It’s in here.”

She steps back, letting out a slow breath. “I’m going to get some fresh air. I need to clear my mind. If I’m not back before dinner, start without me.” Then she leaves the room, not even grabbing anything with her. It’s cold out, and she leaves in just jeans and a simple shirt. I guess she’s either able to keep herself warm, or her head is a real mess.

I meet Topaz’ eyes, but he just shrugs and goes back to his pages and numbers. He’s got the right idea, it’s probably a better idea to start on some work, familiarise myself with what we’ll find there. If it even upsets Sophia this much, someone who would already know most of it...

What are we going to find?

Chapter Four

Sophia

I feel sick, and not in a way that a healer can help out with. Though, maybe a succubus or incubus healer. I heard that they can heal heartbreaks and pain like this, emotional pain, but that might just be a rumour.

Winter is always bad for the dragon community up north. They’re really poor and have it hard in the best of times, but with the ground frozen and travel sometimes almost impossible, the winters always hit them hard. Without most of the dragon rebels in the area, either because we lost them during the war or because we were doing other things, mostly around here, the winter has been especially hard on them.

I know that Finn, for all his flaws, has really tried to get aid into the areas that have been suffering the worst. But the fae from his cabinet have been fighting him every step of the way and only doing the bare minimum. Which is why he’s sending his own groups into the areas, people he trusts to do what needs to be done and not be intimidated by the old fae families, who might have other plans, mostly to keep their own pockets filled and the current social system in place.

When I reach the tunnels where I found Topaz just a few hours ago, I slip inside. I don’t normally go into them. They’ve only recently been excavated, after Litha and the kings discovered that the old witch castle was right under the academy and the town. There’s now a system of tunnels going down to the old castle, mostly for people to do research and try to get the areas safe enough for more people to dig around.

The garden where Litha and the kings defeated the old fae king, ending the war, is available to walk around in, which was popular for a while, but few people now go there. The castle is off-limits to everyone but those who are doing research.

Before I fully realise it, I’m down one of the tunnels that lead to the underground garden, my feet taking me there even though I don’t really want to relive those memories.

The memories of the fight there, the pain, the fear, the blood. I was there, not at the front, not an important player, but I was still there, at the fringes, fighting with the others. We lost so many strong and brave people down in that garden, people we didn’t have to lose, if the fae king hadn’t been such an asshole.

When I’m close to the hall, quiet music reaches me, and my feet pick up speed. The music is sad, longing, but also loving. It brings tears to my eyes. I’m surprised by how strong a reaction I have to it. To something simple like music. But this music feels special, different.

The garden is empty, no person in sight. But the music is a little louder now, and it seems to come from one of the tunnels off the garden, one of the tunnels which leads towards the castle. A tunnel which should have guards stationed at it...

As I walk down the tunnel, the music gets louder, bit by bit, until I reach the side of the castle. The stones of the wall easily recognisable, the faint glow of magic they emit.

In front of me is a cleared area. At one end is what looks like the remains of an old conservatory or sunroom, the frame still in place, but the glass from the old windows shattered, some shards sticking out the only reminder where they used to be. The ground of the area outside the conservatory has mostly been cleared, creating space for people to work.

The guards who should normally be at the other end of the tunnel, are leaning against the wall, staring at a guy sitting at a big piano inside the old conservatory.

The pianist doesn’t seem aware of his audience, his fingers sliding over the keys soft like feathers but still strong like steel as they hit each key at exactly the right speed and intensity to create a mesmerising sound. He starts playing the next song, fluidly going from one to the next, without even taking a breath, it seems.

I can’t do anything but stare at him, unable to pull my eyes away. With how mesmerising this whole scene is, how magical, I’d suspect he’d be an incubus, using magic to influence us, but he’s a werewolf, his scent unmistakable. This is... This is special.

After a third song, he stops, the music slowly fading away, and as he looks up, his eyes immediately find me, an edge of surprise in them before he gives a quick nod, his cheeks pinkening. He carefully closes the piano and stands up, looking at the guards. “Sorry, guys. That was all for today. Thank you for letting me play and not kicking me out.”

The guards laugh, and one of them gives him a quick nod. “Makes our shift more fun too. Just make sure you don’t break anything.”

“Will do.” The werewolf guy nods at them. “Thanks again.”

The guards walk back into the tunnel towards the garden, not even asking me why I’m here or anything. Ehhh...

I look after them, a little confused. “They just let you in here?”

The werewolf guy saunters over, letting out a soft laugh, almost as sweet as his playing. “They’re not supposed to let me play the piano, but sometimes I can bribe them with a private concert.” He looks back to the room where the piano stands. “I’m supposed to be working here. But sometimes you just need a bit of fun during a long day, especially when you have no idea of how time passes when you’re stuck underground.”

“Working? Here?” He doesn’t look like one of the guys I’ve seen digging the tunnels, he’s too... fragile for that.

“I’m an archaeologist.” He points to a big box in the back of the room, surrounded by tools and notebooks. “I’m supposed to check everything in the room before they open even more up. Make sure we don’t miss anything and nothing gets lost.” He steps further into the room and I automatically follow him. “We were lucky with the piano, it was originally way at the back, so it didn’t get crushed by the rubble when those windows gave out.”

“Lucky indeed.” I still have no idea what I’m doing here, but I also don’t want to leave, even though the music has stopped. “You play very well.”

He gives me a soft smile. “Thank you. I’ve played for years. I’m not the best, but I’m not bad either.” He goes over to the piano, runs his fingers over the closed lid, lost in thought for a moment. “I just wanted to make sure I played one last time before I leave. It’s not every day that you get to play on what is basically a piece of history.”

“Before you leave?” He sounds so sad.

“I’m supposed to join one of the groups who will be rebuilding the dragon kingdom. I heard it this morning. We’ll be leaving soon.”

“Ah.” I nod. I guess that some people might have gotten attached to this place in the last months. “Me too. I’m also in one of the groups. I have no idea when I’ll be leaving though.”

He nods, his smile gone. “I have no idea either. It might be tonight or it might be two weeks from now. I just wish that I could be sure that I’d return alive. I wish I could tell Mum, Dad and my siblings not to worry, that I’ll be fine. But I’ll be sent to the most dangerous area. Me, of all people.”

Oh, crap. I swallow hard. “I... I’m the one who will decide when that group leaves. I’m Sophia, in charge of the northeast group.” Fuck. How can I even face this guy when he so obviously doesn’t want to go? I thought that everyone signed up to do this willingly, that only the best and strongest would be sent with me, but what is a pianist/archaeologist doing on my team? How can I take someone with me who so obviously has other places to be?

He looks even sadder now when he meets my eyes. “I suspected as much. I’m Lyell.”

I blink. “Suspected?”

He gives me a tight smile. “Of course. The most beautiful woman I meet will be the one leading me to my death. It’s only normal, in a tragic way.”

I blink again. He’s an archaeologist, pianist and also a poet? What’s a guy like this to do on my team? Shouldn’t he be sent there only after we’ve made sure everything is safe?

But at the same time. I can’t look away from him and I want to protect him, his soft voice, his soft movements, his quietness. I want to make sure he doesn’t break, that nobody breaks him. But, like when he was playing the piano, under that softness, I also spot a strength that he’s great at hiding and I think there’s much more to this guy than I can see right now.

Why do I have the feeling that there’s something much stronger inside him than what he shows to the world? A carefully balanced act of softness and strength, created to cast the perfect spell of vulnerability without giving up any power.

No, this guy is much more than he shows himself to be, I’m already sure of that.