Page 12 of Dragon Heir

“Relax.” Golden boy holds up his hands. “She’s right outside.”

“Outside?” I ask, bolting upright. “Who’s watching her? You’re not supposed to let her out of your sight unless one of us is taking over.”

“Calm your fire. She’s on her way in.”

I grab his shoulders, barely resisting the urge to shake him until his head erupts like a volcano. Even after all our training, he has absolutely no concept of her importance. That’s what happens when you live as a human all your life. It’s a testament to my years of repression and meditation that my claws and scales aren’t sliding out and shredding the kid. “You may have been playing pretend all your life, but we can’t risk anything happening to her now,” I snap. “Not when we’re so close. Do you have any idea the danger she could be in?”

He scowls and jerks out of my grip. “Okay, okay, don’t grow a second dick. I’ll go walk her in from the front porch.”

“Don’t be so careless again,” I growl, stalking after him, imagining what will happen if we walk out and she’s gone. Imagining what the Sun King’s soldiers will do to her if they find her before her before the queen’s passing.

The front door slams before we reach the end of the hall, and a wave of relief washes over me, so intense I need to stabilize myself with a hand on the wall.

Vynessa steps into view, a sheen of sweat on her tan skin, her lava red hair haloing her angular face. She’s carrying a big bag over her shoulder, and her red hair is swept up in a messy bun with a few tendrils hanging loose, just begging to be tucked into place.

I catch her silvery gaze, and her delicious vanilla-cinnamon scent fills the air. Her skin has begun to glow with a slight sheen, meaning her power is stirring inside. The queen’s deathday is only one mating cycle away. That means Vynessa is getting ready for her first mating cycle, feeling especially drawn to males.

I tear my gaze away.

Inside this house, she’s safe. That’s all that matters.

“Hey, guys,” Vynessa says, “Everything okay?”

“Everything is fine,” I say, straightening from where I’d sagged against the wall.

“Okay,” she says slowly, suspicion darkening her features. “Well, we survived our first week. Whoot-whoot.” She makes a little fist with each hand and shakes them like she’s doing some strange kind of dance. Must be a human thing.

“We did,” I say, grabbing my hair and twisting it up into a guard’s knot.

“So, I thought we could go out and celebrate,” Vynessa says, punching Paxton’s shoulder. “You know, our first step on the path to mastery.”

Paxton rubs his shoulder, grinning like he’s the luckiest man in the world. He’s known her all her life and will have a bond with her that the rest of her guard will never have. I narrow my eyes and study him. It’s possible he’s entertaining acting on his inappropriate attachment, without the self-discipline of a real soldier. One summer was not enough training for him, but it’s all we could give him. Pulling him away every year while Vynessa was growing up would have brought attention to him. We had to be satisfied with checking in from afar or reading inadequate written reports that usually said little more than, “All is well.”

“What do you say?” Vynessa says, turning from me to her other guard. “Pax, I know you’re in. You’ve never turned down a party in your life. Some of the Scholars are meeting at a supernaturals bar, maybe get a peek at a werewolf or vampire. I hear liaisons are going too.”

She grins wide at him, her nose wrinkling in the most adorable way. When her gaze flicks my way, she bites her lip. “You’re invited too, of course.”

Before I can stop myself, I find my eyes skating down her body, hugging her every delicious curve. A strip of her tan belly shows between her loose shirt and skintight short-pants she wore out for her workout with Paxton. I can just make out the tight nipple buds that peek through her top.

Fuck. I can’t be doing that. I cover my eyes with a hand, hiding the gesture by rubbing my temples.

“You know I can’t say no to you, Nessie,” Pax says. “Let me get changed while True deliberates.”

“Yay,” Vynessa says with a wide, glowing grin. She turns her golden eyes on me next. “How about you, True? We can call it our first official roommate date.”

The hopeful look on her face twists my gut. She wants this so badly—to be friends, to make our little house her home, to make her roommates get along like normal humans. But we’re never going to be normal. Or human.

She just doesn’t know it yet.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” I say slowly. “You’ve had a long week. Lots of excitement. We should stay in tonight. Maybe we can do something next weekend. Go to a boar-elephant joust or…”

She blinks at me. “We’re going, True. I wasn’t asking for permission.”

“It’s not safe.”

The look she gives me should be illegal, especially in that nearly transparent shirt. Then, she winks. “Thanks, Father. I’ll be careful.”

I’m not her father, but I want to bend her over my knee and give her a spanking for even suggesting putting herself in that level of needless danger. “Not funny.”