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“It’s not like that, Rena.”
“How do I even know this lifemate stuff is real? Did you strike a deal with the gods so they would bind us together?”
I’d heard stories that those who were powerful enough and had something in particular that the gods wanted could offer a trade for their help. I was willing to bet that Julian had several things the gods would be interested in.
“My clan will not follow you, Julian. They’ve spent millennia hating you.”
He moved to the edge of the bed and sat along the side facing me. “Yes, but they’ll follow you. Your father won’t have a choice but to step down.”
“He’ll challenge me to a duel. Have you noticed the scars on my back? He fashioned a whip of liquid metal and sustained it with his dragon’s fire. My skin didn’t regenerate as it should have and I almost died. I wished I’d died. He did it because I’d displeased him in some way. I can’t even remember why. Can you imagine what he’ll do to me for trying to take his clan?”
Julian got out of bed and towered over me. Even with the fresh pain of his betrayal in my heart, I still wanted him. I knew in that second that if I had to go back to the moment where I had a choice of being Julian’s lifemate or being executed, I would have gladly chosen death.
Pain flashed across Julian’s eyes before his face became impassive and his voice grew colder. “You’re stronger than Alasdair now. He can’t win. You’ve been looking for the opportunity to pay him back for what he’s done to you since you came into your Enforcer powers. You carry scars only because he fears your psychic power over him. He doesn’t understand you, and he knows that there is something different about you—something not wholly Drakán—and it terrifies him. He holds no affection for you, but he keeps you close because he has no choice without breaking our laws. He knows you have not reached your full potential, and he’s hoping that if your magic comes out of its dormancy that you’ll share it with him. It’s the reason he hasn’t defied the Council and has kept you alive. I’ve seen inside his soul.”
I shook my head in denial. There was nothing that special about me. That fact had never been more glaringly obvious than right now.
“You can feel the truth in my words, Rena. I cannot lie to my lifemate. Alasdair would have killed you if it wouldn’t have meant his own death. Now is your chance for revenge.”
The words whispered past his lips, and the temptation in them almost brought me to my knees. He knew how to entice me in more ways than just lust. My dragon was bloodthirsty, and I longed for revenge against my father for the torment he’d caused me over the years. My dragon was also covetous. She wanted to show her dominance over Alasdair and take the clan that belonged to him for her own.
“You’re wrong if you think my people will follow me. I’m the Enforcer. I’ve been an outcast among my people for centuries. They fear me, and what I might do to them, even though I’ve defied Alasdair by helping many of them. I’ll never have their complete trust or loyalty.”
“Fear is oftentimes a great motivator. Especially for the Drakán. You undervalue your own worth, Rena. You fear your powers just as Alasdair does, and your people suffer for it. But when you learn to embrace them our race will follow you. For your wrath will be the things nightmares are made of.”
My human nature warred badly with my dragon. My heart was broken. Where was the man who’d whispered words of affection to me? Where was the man who’d promised to protect me with his life? I was beginning to think that man had never really existed.
“You could have been honest with me from the beginning, Julian. How did you keep from laughing at my naïvety? You must think I’m an idiot to have felt sorry for you. To think that…” My voice choked on a sob.
“To think what, Rena?”
I was going to say that I thought he might actually care for me. It was pathetic to think that someone could actually love me after all these years. I didn’t know why I’d ever considered the possibility.
“Nothing,” I said. I hunted up my shoes and sat down to put them on. I had to escape to my own room for a while. Remove every trace of Julian from my body so I could get a grasp on my thoughts.
“Think wisely before you make any rash decisions,” he cautioned. “This plan is a sound one, and it is what’s best for our people. You’ll see that once you think things through.”
He came toward me, crowding me with his size and nakedness, but I held my ground. I’d never let him think he intimidated me.
“I don’t want you to leave the chateau. It isn’t safe outside these walls. My sources tell me that all of the clans have reported missing members, and they are not as well populated as this one. It would take very little to convince the other clans that we could lead them in a battle against The Destroyer and help find their missing people. Think of the power we would hold. Until The Promised Child is discovered the clans are ours for the taking.”
Power was seductive to any dragon, and I was no exception. Julian’s eyes gleamed with triumph and he knew he had me.
“Or forcing the issue now could cause a full-scale war among the clans. The gods could decide to destroy us all.”
“We’ll just have to take the chance.”
My life had changed drastically in just a few short days. I remembered Calista’s description of The Destroyer.
He is a great pretender. His power is one to be feared, but he is seduction reincarnate, and all will follow him into battle without knowing the truth.
I looked into the eyes of my lifemate and wondered again if he was The Destroyer. Only time would tell.
Something else he’d said bothered me, and I finally remembered what it was. “You said your spies reported that there are Drakán missing from all the clans. Who’s missing from mine?” I asked.
“Your father has disappeared.”
“That’s not possible.”
