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“I will miss you,” he saw Emerald's mouth form the words while she hugged Ruby, the red-haired one with the vampire fellow always beside her. Ruby murmured something he couldn’t lipread before Emerald was hugging Pearl, the shorter sister with the flirty, carefree attitude. Then everyone gathered around Sapphire, drawing her in.
While Emerald held herself regally, Sapphire melted into the embrace, her body vibrating with wired energy that he had witnessed firsthand. The woman was a walking contradiction: cool and collected while she negotiated her ridiculous terms with him one minute, then scathing and irritable while she subtly insulted and challenged him the next.
To her sisters and the two men, she was nothing but warm. The younger man with the golden eyes started an argument, but Sapphire kissed him on the cheek, gave him an assuring pat, and had him blushing profusely. Emerald wandered back into the castle, but Sapphire lingered in her spot and waved at the leaving party. It confirmed his suspicion.
“Staying to mess with me. I should have known.”
As if sensing his gaze, Sapphire’s head lifted. Blue eyes searched and spotted him, the fleeting sadness disappearing as she glowered. He didn’t glower back. He wanted to—wanted to engage and call her names, wanted to taunt her until she lost her patience and attempted something that would break the deal. But he also couldn’t afford to break the deal, not when Emerald provided the things he needed.
Emerald was perfect, a classically beautiful woman with the power to back it up. It wouldn’t be a hardship to fuck her until she was pregnant with his child, ensuring the Oslo line continued. It wouldn’t be a bad call to wield that power to his liking, either, when dealing with the enemies he had lined up. Manipulating adversaries was his specialty, and an ally like her would be easier to mold.
Every second that you wait, you will die. Beware. Trouble will come and the forces of evil will be stronger than ever. You might not survive it alone this time.
The voice was smoky, a memory filled with magic on the day that the old woman—a soothsayer—had predicted his future. It coated his body with ice, a common occurrence that he waited out until his heart was no longer pounding and he was back to his unfazed self.
What was one prickly, combative older sister against the forces of evil?
“Nothing. You will lose this game you play, witch,” he said, meaning it literally and figuratively. “You bit off more than you can chew.”
Great. Now he was talking to himself like a madman. Sapphire was still looking at him like he was the devil, but his careful lack of response had her switching tactics as she gave him a speculative study. He did the same, noting her height, her shoulder-length hair, and her face. Average. Everything was average except for those piercing blue eyes that sizzled with energy, directed right at him.
A jolt entered his body as if she was shooting her magic at him. Then she was gone, stalking back into the castle and out of sight. When that sizzling energy lingered, his irritation flared, and he walked downstairs to ask if she had done it deliberately. When he couldn’t find her, and was about to search, he stopped in his tracks.
Don’t engage. You need Emerald.
Klaus grumbled low in his throat and did an about-face, whizzing toward the back of the castle instead. He kept going until he was out one of the doors, where he let his wings free and threw his body toward the skies. Shifting mid-flight was a complicated move he usually reserved for battles and quick getaways, but it was also the most exhilarating as it reminded him that his beastly nature could save his ass even at the last second. That was power in itself and solidified his decision to continue that power line through an heir.
You need Emerald. Don’t mess this up, even when her damned sister wants you to mess this up.
He checked on his island, where the two other sisters and two men were long gone. He surveyed the mountains for any cave intrusions, then went for his deepest one. He spent some time with his treasure, proud of his collection and the fact that yes, he was a dragon who hoarded and valued great things. The gemstones, gold, and other gathered items glittered and glowed, comforting his beast, while his working station comforted his human side as he pounded away to make a new necklace.
When he was sure that Oslo was safe, even with a witch he didn’t quite trust, Klaus relaxed and finally allowed himself some time to recharge before he dealt with the next process: the mating ritual.
He slept with smoke in his dreams and the smoky voice repeating the warning of evil. He woke up to his cave as dark as ever—and a small clinking in his ears, a sound he knew all too well. Some island invaders knew where to go to avoid the traps and alarms he had scattered all over the island…and others were either too stupid to notice them or just didn’t care at all. Either way, Klaus was up on his feet, then flying out of the cave where the sun had already set. In the darkness, his sharp gaze still saw everything relatively clearly, but it was the sound he shadowed as it led him to the forest where he had seen the Sutton sisters’ magical bridge emerge.
Small creature,he deduced. Something that would fit easily in that patch of trees. His dragon shrunk, the beast reluctantly giving way to the human as he broke away from the clouds. The clinking continued as he descended, then hovered over the thick green. When he found an opening, he slipped his body in and landed on the ground, wings already tucked in. But the four figures in front of him already glimpsed them and froze in their tracks.
“Only four of you?” he asked as a way of greeting.
There was no response from the two males and two females, with one young enough to be a teenager. Nerves emanated from them, visible in their thin, torn—wet—clothes. That and the lack of any fundamental weapon tipped him off, but he wasn’t about to let his guard down just in case there was a hidden claw or hidden magic.
“Very well.” He sighed. “You have five seconds to tell me what you’re doing in my territory before I—”
“Hold it right there.” The voice boomed out of nowhere, then materialized into a blur that wedged itself between him and the four figures. “You can’t kill them!”
Recognition glimmered. So did annoyance, but he waited until her magic stopped and she stood solid. He noted her tucking an empty vial into her pocket before he raised a brow.
“And why not? They’re trespassers.”
The confirmation of her words spurned the four into movement, which spurned him into defense. His claws came out. Sapphire blocked him with her body, then whirled when they all fell to their knees.
“We are lost, sir…ma’am,” one of the males cried out, pleading eyes desperately seeking hers. “We didn’t mean to intrude.”
She softened, then craned her neck to glare at him. “See? They’re lost. They didn’t mean to intrude.”
“I heard them perfectly clear.”
“We lost our home,” the older female said next. “There was a pirate invasion and they…they took everything we owned. They burned down our home and drove us away.”
