Prologue

Rose

She stood next to her brother, fretting with his arm around her shoulders, while they waited for Kalani to finish with Jackie. Aiden squeezed her shoulders, and she wrapped an arm around his waist.

‘She’s going to be okay, Rosie,’ he linked her.

‘What if she doesn’t really accept a dragon?’

Her shoulders slumped, and he pulled her closer to his side, kissing her forehead. ‘This won’t change anything either way. She is still our Jackie.’

She stepped in front of him, facing him as his arms immediately pulled her close. He buried his face in her neck, breathing in deep. She nuzzled into his chest, relieved that she wasn’t the only one anxious about their aunt being alone in their mate’s head. He tipped her face up to look into her eyes.

‘Breathe, my flower. Our little human is stronger than you think she is.’

‘But what about-’

He rubbed her bottom lip, making her stop talking. ‘There will be no what about this or what about that worrying. I know you feel like this because you are the next Mother of Dragons, but that doesn’t mean that you have to always be strong. Mom’s not. She leans on Dad. Lean on us, Rose. We won’t let you fail.’

She sighed as her body relaxed. ‘You’re just like Dad,’ she told him.

He chuckled as he pulled her against his chest again before laying his cheek on the top of her head.

‘He loves Mom, and would do anything for her. He would give his life for her. There isn’t a better example of true love than them.’

She giggled. ‘I know one! Maybe 2 or 3…’

He groaned. ‘Aunt Lily, Aunt Kalani, and our grandparents don’t count. My point is, you’re not alone. You have me and Jackie, and we have you. You don’t always have to be a queen.’

When energy surged in the room, Rose pulled away from him as Kalani started to wake up. They both moved to the bed, nervously standing beside it while Kalani got her bearings. She sat up, stretching before beaming at them.

“When she wakes up, you will be meeting Junie. She’s gorgeous. She is pure white, with not a drop of color anywhere on her.” She got up off of the bed. “So, what’s the plan now?”

“Mom wants me to handle this. She said it’s my vision, so it’s my job, but I’m scared. What if I can’t do this? What if I mess up and cost Merlot his mate? What if-”

Aiden took her hand, squeezing it. She tried to discreetly pull her hand from his making Kalani laugh as she headed to the door. She waved her hand over her shoulder.

“As for that, Rose, I will tell you something that Jackie won’t. She wants to see you two happy like she is. She knows you’re fighting how you feel about each other. We all do. She wants you to be together more, feeling how she feels.”

“We aren’t sleeping together. We haven’t even kissed. We’re siblings. We-”

“Are unrelated, Rose. You may share parents but your dragons aren’t related. None of our dragons are related to any other being in existence. The Goddess made us that way for a reason. We are meant to be able to save any species. That’s why Lucy was able to save the sabers. Our DNA is encoded with everything. Animals, which, may I remind you, you are, breed with their relatives all the time and are just fine. Coming from the trio line, your dragons are stronger than the average one, so you will feel the pull toward each other more.” She sighed as she took a deep breath. “You will be stronger being marked by each other, and with what’s coming, you’re going to need it. We all hope that you two can figure this out soon.”

“But we’re siblings,” she repeated. “I don’t want to be the reason our family is disgraced.”

Kalani laughed. “The only dishonor you can bring us is by not listening to the Goddess. It’s been 18 years, Roselynn, now we are preparing for war. You can do this. We all know you can. But you need him, and that’s okay. You don’t have to have sex if you don’t want to, but you were meant to be bonded.”

She slipped out of the room, leaving the two of them alone.

“What now?”

She pressed her fingers into her eyes. “First, we go to Locust to wait there, and then we should talk.”

“Talk… I know what I want, Rose.”

She sighed as she moved into his arms. “I do, too. Get Jackie and let's go.”

He pulled her closer for a moment before kissing her cheek and letting her go to pick Jackie up. Rose opened a portal and stood back to let him carry Jackie through. As soon as they stepped through, terrified, agonized screams greeted their ears. Rose took off, sprinting toward the elevated voices while he screamed from behind her to wait. She raced up the stairs, heading straight for Merlot’s room, where she knew the hysterics were coming from. She stormed into the room, her aura entering before she did. The three maids, trying to force the two girls off the floor, immediately froze. They came to kneel at her feet.

“Princess Roselynn.”

She stiffened, letting her agitation show clearly on her face. “What are you doing?”

“They were told that they couldn’t be in here, Your Majesty. We are trying to remove them before future Alpha Merlot returns home from the Cat Conference.”

“Well, until he is, they are to be left alone.”

“But, Princess Roselynn, he left us strict instructions not to allow-”

She straightened her back, getting even taller. “I’m going to say this once, unless you want your life to end for touching them, you will leave them alone and let Merlot handle this when he gets home.”

The three women sighed in sync. “Yes, Princess Roselynn.”

“Wait here!”

She went over to kneel in front of the girls, who immediately tried to make themselves look smaller. She smiled as she reached for Margo’s hand.

“Are you hungry, Margo?” she murmured almost silently so as not to terrify them. “When’s the last time you ate something?”

Margo didn’t reply, not even when Rose squeezed her hand as she pushed healing energy through her. She turned her head to smile at Jenna.

“Hey, Jenna, sweetheart. Would you like to eat?”

She glanced nervously at Margo. “Yes, but we don’t want to be drugged.”

Rose turned her head to glare at the maids. “Who drugged you?”

“To get us out of here. They gave me a sleeping pill. Margo hasn’t eaten since we got here. She doesn’t trust anybody.”

Rose let Margo’s hand go to take hold of Jenna’s. “I can understand why. You haven’t been treated very well since you got here. It’s time we fix that. How about this? You come with me to the kitchen and prepare your own food, or if you can’t cook, I will prepare your food, and then we will bring it back in here and I will eat it with you so you know there’s nothing in it.”

Jenna looked at Margo anxiously. “Margo? I’m really hungry,” she whispered.

Her sister sighed. “You will bring her back here?” Rose nodded. “You’re not going to try to make us leave, too?”

“No.”

“Why?”

Rose smiled at her. “Because I know things people wish they knew.”

“What do you know?”

“That you belong here with us, and there is going to be hell to pay when my cousin gets home.”

Margo studied her face for a moment before nodding. “Okay, Jenna, you can go.”

Rose climbed to her feet while Jenna clung to her sister for a moment before standing up, too. Rose glanced over her shoulder when Aiden’s scent reached her. She waved her hand at him.

“This is Aiden. He’s… he’s one of my mates,” she told Margo, blushing. “He’ll protect you until Jenna and I get back.” She took Jenna’s hand to guide her out of the room, stopping next to Aiden to look up at him. “Nobody comes in or out.”

He nodded as he stared into her eyes. When she was finally able to pull her gaze away from his, she ordered the maids out. The door shut softly behind her, and she let out a shaky breath of relief. She was about to turn the corner when he called her name. She turned back to him, watching as he hurried up to her. His talons raked down her face, neck, and chest, making pain shoot through her body before his fire soothed it. She stared at him wide-eyed. She touched her skin with a trembling hand.

“What did you do?”

“You claimed me as your mate. I refuse to let you take it back.”

He walked back down the hall to lean against the wall. She cleared her throat before nodding her head down the hallway.

“Come on.”

She took Jenna down to the kitchen, where she showed her how to make grilled cheese sandwiches and canned tomato soup while thinking about her only mark the whole time. When a serving tray was prepared with four bowls and four plates full of food, Rose linked her arm with Jenna’s to take her back to Merlot’s room while the tray floated along behind them. She slowed when she got to the top of the stairs, nervous about seeing him after what happened. Jenna smiled up at her.

“It’s okay to be nervous. Your brother loves you.”

Rose eyed her. “What are you?” she asked nervously.

Jenna shrugged. “I don’t know but whatever it is, it’s getting stronger.”

“Hmmmm…”

Aiden opened the door for them, and Jenna uttered a small cry when Margo was nowhere to be seen. She shot Aiden an angry look before rushing to the bathroom. She came back, trembling.

“What did you do to Margo?” she screamed, preparing to attack him.

Rose stepped in front of him. “He didn’t do anything. She is here somewhere. We just need to…”

Light energy enticed her to the balcony, where the sound of almost inaudible breathing could barely be heard. She pushed the door open and stood stunned as she tried to take in the scene in front of her. Margo was rooted in place with her head tilted back so the sun’s heat would hit her face. Her facial features had disappeared, leaving a colorful, smooth, almost satin-looking surface. All her visible skin had the same appearance, along with what looked to be sharp growths all along her limbs. There was nothing left to hint at Margo’s humanity. She glanced curiously at Jenna.

“What is she doing?”

“Eating.”

“What in the hell are you guys?”