AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My gaze snapped to his. “Just in case you weren’t listening the first time.”
“Oh, I was listening.” He waved me off with a sneer. “And go ahead and try to find a way out, because I’m not attracted to you.”
“Drae!” Blaze yelled, pushing his brother’s shoulder before hitting him with a burst of flame.
Draevyn swore and went to charge his brother.
I’d had enough. White hot rage flooded my veins. “On. Your. Knees!” I boomed, my siren voice shaking the walls.
All three brothers fell to their knees. I hadn’t meant to immobilize all of them, but at least they were no longer fighting.
Chest heaving, I stalked up to Draevyn. “Answer me truthfully.” My siren voice echoed as it rang through the tunnel. “Are you attracted to me?”
He blinked up at me. “Yes.”
“Then why are you cruel?”
“Because I’m angry.”
“So am I. What kind of a bitch would I be if I took out my anger on my nieces, two innocents who depend on me to keep them safe? But I don’t take it out on them, because this mess isn’t their fault, just like it’s not my fault your parents are dead.” I heaved a bone-weary sigh. I was so sick of this, arguing with the Fae who was supposed to defend and protect me. “Now maybe you will understand when I say people can’t lie to me when I use my siren voice.” I waved a dismissive hand at him. “Get up.” When he opened his mouth to speak, I added, my deep voice echoing across the cavern walls, “And don’t speak to me the rest of the night.”
He clamped his mouth shut.
I turned to his brothers. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to include you. I release you from this spell.”
They both stumbled to their feet, ruffling their wings. Luckily, I saw no censure in their eyes.
“It’s okay,” Nikkos said.
“We don’t fault you for our brother’s stupidity,” Blaze added.
I could only manage a half-smile. Thank the elements Blaze and Nikkos weren’t like Draevyn.
I turned my back on them at the sound of my nieces stirring. As I looked into their wide, glassy eyes, I cursed Draevyn for making me wake them. Then I cursed him again for the tears that silently fell down my face. I crawled beneath my cloak and hugged my nieces tight, burying my face in their hair, so my mates wouldn’t see me cry.
* * *
Draevyn Inferni
Iflew as fast as Icould out of everyone’s earshot, so I could scream to the heavens and release this raging inferno that was building inside me. After I landed on the top of the mountain, a long, flat plateau that disappeared into a line of moonlit clouds, I threw back my head with a roar and unleashed my flames, heedless of the sweat that dripped down my brow and back.
I’d been just seven when our parents died. Blaze had been only four, around the same size as Ember and Aurora. He barely remembered our parents. Nikkos had been just one, and he had no recollection of them at all.
Which meant that I carried the burden of keeping their memories alive, and now it seemed, I was the only brother who cared about avenging their deaths. I’d had their killers in my grasp, a flame’s throw away, and she’d made me stop. Hanging my head in my hands, I released a frustrated groan, and for the first time since finding Shirina I doubted my own purpose, my own sanity.
What if she was right? What if people couldn’t lie when she used her siren voice? I hadn’t been able to deny my attraction to her. Of course she was beautiful. I wasn’t blind. But she dragged the words from my mouth as if she’d taken possession of my very tongue. She’d done the same thing to her parents that night we’d found her.
They can’t lie.
Holy elements, what if she was right? What if they didn’t kill my parents? Then who did? And why would our own servants and guards lie to me?
I dragged my hands through my hair with a groan, knowing I’d probably need to apologize to Shirina soon. Then I lurched forward with a roar when fire lanced up my back and wings.
I spun around just as Blaze hit the ground in front of me, rage reflecting in his eyes. I knew his punch was coming, but I didn’t block it as pain exploded inside my skull. Yeah, I could’ve slowed time enough to sidestep, but I probably deserved it.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Blaze pulled back his fist, shaking it with a hiss. If his hand hurt as much as my eye did, it would be swollen come morning.
I instinctively covered my eye. “I knew you’d take her side!”
