Page 108 of Brandt's Rule
When Brandt stepped out of the woods into the clearing the home was situated in, Destroy pointed toward the house. “Where the house sits, is exactly where the Dragon Tree stood for eons, waiting to be freed.”
“Dragon Tree?” Brandt asked.
“Yes. Tempest’s father was cursed, and in his Dragon form his feet grew roots and he became a tree to stand here and watch his mate as she was reborn life after life until she finally remembered him and freed him.”
“That’s horrible,” Brandt said.
“Yeah, it was. But she did, and he was freed, and their home is on the very spot he was cursed to.”
“I’m not sure I’d like that.”
“You know, I thought the same thing!” Destroy said.
“Why are you here? How did you find me?!” Tempest shouted from the porch of the home several hundred feet away.
“Burning, scalding hot!” Destroy yelled. “You are on fire!”
Brandt looked at Destroy.
Destroy grinned. “You’re here. You found her. Burning, scalding hot. Not cold at all.”
“I got it,” Brandt said.
Chapter 23
Brandt broke into an easy run toward Tempest.
Tempest walked down the steps to meet him right in front of her home with her arms crossed and an angry scowl on her face.
“If she starts waving her hands around, duck, especially if they’re leaking purple mist,” Destroy suggested as he ran along beside Brandt.
“Yeah, I figured that out already,” Brandt said.
The front door opened and Lily walked out onto the porch.
“Ah, Lily’s here. She won’t let Tempest kill you. But if you end up in some place you don’t recognize, just be patient. I’m sure Lily will come for you after she makes Tempest tell her where you are,” Destroy said, his voice lowered to a conspiratorial tone.
“Why are you here?” Tempest repeated as Brandt got closer.
“Because you’re here.”
“You need to leave.”
“I will, when you come with me.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Tempest, hear him out,” Lily said.
“Why should I?” she demanded, shooting an angry glare at her mother.
“Because not everything is as it seems. You of all people should realize that.”
“Tempest, this was all just a misunderstanding,” Brandt said.
Tempest turned her intense glare on Brandt. “You’re telling me I misunderstood seeing you standing in the shadows with an arm on either side of a female’s head as she gazed up into your eyes and and you looked down into her face as she rested her hand on your chest and you crowded her against the wall.”
“Ohhh! That’s not good. Not good at all,” Destroy said. He looked over at Lily. “You didn’t tell me that part or I’d have already discarded his body.”