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Smoky was sitting there, reading a book. He glanced up at us, then carefully marked his place with a silver cord and closed the volume, setting it back on the coffee table.
“You are done?” He stood, towering over me—the dragon was six-four and his hair was longer than I was tall.
I nodded. “We are. And there’s a magical trace on the scroll. Roz thought to bring one.”
Smoky cocked his head. He had a natural antipathy toward the incubus, but they worked well together when needed. It was a stupid rivalry, brought on by one indiscretion Roz had made with Camille—involving his hand on her butt—and it had led to a thrashing the incubus would likely never forget, but the two were good-natured in their threats now.
“Well, nice to know there are other thoughts rolling around in his brain beyond getting laid.” Smoky snorted, and then motioned to the door. “We need to leave. I do not want to miss my kin and it’s been two hours since we arrived here. I will not mess with the barrow time just to buy back one hundred and twenty minutes.”
I stopped, staring at him. “What do you mean?”
“You know time in barrows runs differently than time on the outside, if we choose to make it so. But doing so can produce severe ramifications, as well as causing discontinuity issues.”
“I thought only Fae barrow mounds worked like that.” I was confused now. I’d never heard any stories of dragons being able to mess with time.
But the galoot gave me a smirk. “What kind of mound do you think this originally was?”
Incredulous now, I rested my hands on my hips. “You aren’t serious? Then Titania was telling the truth and this was her barrow and you ousted her from it?” Somehow, this didn’t come as a great surprise, but still…
Smoky stared at the ceiling. “The woman was deep in her cups. She wasn’t taking care of it, and it was the perfect space for me to both live in and also change into my dragon form.” Then, a little more belligerently, he added, “I am not defending my actions to you, woman. You may be my sister-in-law, but I answer to no one.”
“Except Camille.” I couldn’t help it, I was feeling my usual smart-ass self. “Right, Roz?”
But the incubus was smart. He shook his head, holding up his hands. “I’m staying out of this one. So not going there!”
“Smart move.” Grumbling, Smoky motioned for us to head outside. Once we were through the wards, Smoky set them up again—with a wave of the hand and a tangible feel of some sort of magic wafting off him—and then he turned back to us. “Come. Time to fly.”
As he enfolded me in his arms, Roz vanished. And then Smoky stepped into the Ionyc Seas, carrying me with him, and we headed home.
We appeared on the porch. Smoky released me and stiffened. “They’re here.”
“The dragons?” I glanced at him and he nodded. As I reached for the door, he stepped in front of me.
“Let me go in first. Just… in case.” His warning look was enough. Dragons were volatile creatures, and even though Shade was there to try to smooth the waters should anything happen, the chance that one half-dragon could hold against several full-bloods was small.
I stepped back to allow Smoky to enter first. Roz swung in behind him, and I came last. There were voices coming from the living room—loud, and for a moment I thought there was an argument going on. But as we entered the room, I saw that Shade was in the corner, laughing his ass off, and next to him, sitting on a footstool, was a woman with skin the same color as his—coffee and cream.
His sister. Lash—this had to be Lash. Her eyes were brilliant topaz and she had hair the color of spun caramel. Clinging to her ample curves, a silky gown the color of ivy, with orange flames licking the hem, showed off her rippling muscles. Not many people could work the color orange, but it was obvious that this woman could make just about anything look good.
Shade stood as we came into the room. I glanced around. Camille was nowhere to be seen, but Delilah was sitting primly on the sofa and she looked like the cat who had been caught by the canary. And what the hell… Delilah was wearing… a dress? Delilah never wore dresses except for rituals. And frankly, though she looked good in them, with her personality, they always seemed off. Our Kitten just wasn’t a gurly gurl in any shape or form of the word.
She was wearing a slightly-above-the-knee-length olive green sheath, belted with a brown leather band, and she had on flats—loafers. But with the spiky hair and the deer-in-the-headlights expression on her face, she looked like some demented Bambi. Her hands were firmly folded in her lap, and she had a smile plastered on her face.
I glanced over at Shade. He seemed intent on talking to his sister, and I had the feeling he had no clue how terrified Delilah was. I slid over to her side and sat down, prying one of her hands out of her lap and holding it firmly in my own. As she caught her breath, the tension transmitting through her body like a radio beacon.
“Hey, aren’t you going to introduce us?” I glanced over my shoulder, nodding at Lash.
She cleared her throat. “Yeah… I’m sorry—I…”
Smoky suddenly appeared by my side. He reached across and took Delilah’s hand, pulling her to her feet. He gave her a courtly bow. “Sister, you look lovely today.” Then he turned to Shade and Lash. “Perhaps you will introduce me to your future sister-in-law?”
Lash took in Smoky, her eyes growing wide. And then I understood. Smoky was the son of an influential and powerful dragon. He was half-silver, and that put him at the top of the food chain in the Dragon Reaches. He was also full-blood dragon, and Lash and Shade were only half.
Lash slowly stood. Shade stood beside her. Delilah, holding Smoky’s arm, led the way to their corner where they were having their reunion. Lash gave her a look that I couldn’t quite read—it wasn’t scornful, but it was aloof, and a little too haughty for my tastes. But with another look at Smoky, she tentatively smiled.
Delilah cleared her throat. “Smoky, may I introduce Lash—Shade’s sister? Lash, this is Smoky, one of my sister Camille’s husbands.”
“Her only dragon husband,” Smoky interjected with a smile. “Charmed to meet you.” He gave Lash a long nod, polite, but did not offer his hand. Hmm. He was up to a power play. By putting his support behind Delilah, he was giving her a one-up on Lash. Which would give her standing in the dragon realm.
