Page 5 of His Dragon Princess

My brother wouldn’t ask me to come home unless something was really wrong with Dad, so I wasn’t sure why I asked about anyone else.

A final message from my brother had tears coursing down my cheeks.

Iain was working here with Dad. He’s missing. No-one can find him.

I’m coming, I typed in as fast as my numb fingers and blurry eyes could manage. What did he mean that Iain was... missing? We were dragon shifters. We didn’t just disappear.

True panic raced up my spine making my nerves tingle and hurt. I had to go, now. There wasn’t a minute to waste.

Oh my God, oh my God. Not Dad. And not Iain.

I still hadn’t reconciled Anthony’s vision within my heart. I’d ignored it. Called him a liar, and a troublemaker a hundred times over. Iain couldn’t be my fated mate. He just... couldn’t.

But as I searched inside myself for that strange part of me that had always been too aware of Iain, I found it alight and hurting.

Damn it. That is not good.

I raced to the tiny bedroom I shared with Narelle, a blonde Dutch girl a few years older than me. “Hey, you okay?” she asked, sitting bolt upright on her bed where she was reading.

“No,” I gasped out, swiping at my cheeks to dispel the wetness and proof of my grief. I had to get it together to fly home. I was no use to anyone if I couldn’t find the portal. I reached for an explanation that the human would understand. “My dad’s sick. I have to go home.”

I grabbed my bright pink suitcase from under the bed and started throwing all my clothes inside.

Narelle jumped to her feet. “You want help?”

“Um...” I didn’t know how to answer her. My whole body was shaking, and I couldn’t think. I didn’t have much time to decide, and I wasn’t even sure I wanted to take all this stuff home with me.

“How about I do the bathroom?” she suggested.

I nodded because I didn’t know how to say no.

Iain... oh God. He couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t be.

Beyond the panic I could hear my mother’s voice inside my head, calm and strong. ‘Focus, Veronica. Focus. You need to get home safe.’

I closed my eyes and took some steady breaths to slow my heart rate down. My dad was going to be fine; I just knew it. And Iain? He was probably just... maybe the wolves... I shook myself. There wasn’t a good reason why he’d be missing unless he was dead. He was a prankster, after all. The youngest son who had never really cared about the kingdom... or responsibility.

But even though part of me hated him for all the pranks he’d pulled on me years ago, I couldn’t believe that he’d just disappear if my father was hurt. Iain was an idiot, but he was loyal. And noble. And...

“Wooo...” I blew out my breath and opened my eyes, reaching for the box of tissues. I had to stop thinking about what was going on at home, until I could actually get back there. Crying more and allowing myself to think of the worst possible outcomes, like them both dying, was not going to get me home any faster.

I blew my nose, wiped my eyes and bit my lip. Focus on what’s in front of you.

I stared down at my suitcase, letting my mom’s best advice sink in. One step at a time. One job at a time. One problem at a time. And what I needed to focus on right now was tying up all my loose ends, then getting away without anyone seeing me shift or fly.

I went to grab another light sweater out of my drawers, then dropped it onto the bed beside my suitcase. Maybe I should just leave everything here? Just in case I’d be back sooner than expected?

I may fly home and simply find Iain sitting in my parents’ dining room eating dinner after getting lost for a day in the woods. And my father healing and yelling out orders from his bed.

They’d allow me to return straight back here again. Surely?

But my heart knew the truth. I wouldn’t be returning to the human realm any time soon. My brother wouldn’t have texted me unless Dad’s injuries were serious.

And if my dad was truly as hurt as my brother said, then I wasn’t coming back to the human realm in the near future. Maybe not ever.

“Hey...” I called out to Narelle as she walked back into the room, zipping up my toiletry bag filled with shampoo and soaps, a worried expression on her face.

“Yeah?” She glanced down at my half empty suitcase. “Do you need help with that?”

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