Page 30 of Ancient Promises
“Trace, I’m sorry,” Eivross said as he met with the second-in-command of the pack.
“What are you sorry for, brother?” Zihndyr said, his voice all sugar and sweetness. But Eivross knew that underneath the faux kindness was a monster. “And this is no alpha wolf. Where is the male who dares to rule a dragon?”
“I’m right here,” Rehlik said, striding forward, his eyes glowing with the amber of his beast.
Chapter Twelve
Diem heard the dragons before she saw them, the flapping of their wings like a battering ram against the building.
“What in the actual hell?” Arely said, peering out the window. “I can’t see anything, it’s too dark.”
Diem’s heart dropped into her stomach as she saw a handful of males emerge from the sky in what Eivross had said was the dragons’ winged form, illuminated by the street lamps. She didn’t see Eivross until a moment later when he dove between the advancing males and Trace and Jewel.
“I…need to go out there,” Diem said.
“What? Why the hell would you do that? They’re dragons.”
“I know, but Eivross is there.”
Diem realized hehadn’tleft her. He hadn’t gotten what he wanted and taken off—he’d gone to confront the dragons. She bet her favorite book that one of those dragons was his brother.
She hustled to the bedroom and dressed as quickly as she could. “You stay here,” Diem said. “It’s not safe for you out there.”
“How is it safe for you?” Arely asked.
“Because Eivross is out there. He won’t let anything happen to me.”
Arely frowned. “Are you sure? You were just crying that he left.”
“Because I thought he leftme. But he clearly left to meet his brother, and now look at him! He’s in a defensive posture between the dragons and our people. That’s a male who has protection on his mind, not leaving.”
Arely hummed. “Just be careful. I can’t run the bookstore if something happens to you.”
“I promise,” Diem said.
She hopped through the front room, pulling her sandals on, then raced from the apartment through the exterior door and nearly ran into Eivross. He put up a bracing hand and brought her against his side.
“You should have stayed in bed,” he whispered, but she heard the relieved trill of his dragon.
“How could I when you left without a note?”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she said. She cleared her throat and cast a wary look toward the intimidating group of dragon males, now in their human forms. They’d dressed in trousers and nothing else, and with their wings extended underneath the golden glow of the street lamps, they looked like angels.
Pissed-off ones.
A male in the center of the group folded his arms and gave her a calculating look, then tilted his head toward Rehlik who was standing on Eivross’s other side.
“I’m Zihndyr, Eivross’s brother. You’re the alpha of this place?”
Diem didn’t particularly like how Zihndyr said the word alpha, like he was placing air quotes around the word.
“I am,” Rehlik said, his voice low and dangerous.
She’d heard of Rehlik’s fighting skills, and frankly he was alpha because he was such a badass. Maybe the dragons were enormous in their shifts, but in their human forms, none of the males were as big as EivrossorRehlik.
“What’s your business here?” Rehlik asked.