Aspen (The Dragon Kings #2)(3)

Aspen sighed. “After you disintegrated Marc, I went to take pictures of the ashes, and this huge dragon flew right at me. For a second I thought he was going to eat me, but he veered off at the last minute and flew away. I didn’t know it was Theo.”

Sid glared at Theo. “Why’d you do that?”

“I already told you. I wanted to see if I could scare her. Turns out I can’t.” He dropped a piece of popcorn on the black leather and flicked it off onto the floor.

“Why—” Sid began.

“What the hell is she doing here?” Sid’s sister, Pearl, stood by the door with her hands on her hips and eyes narrowed. Her dark red hair had been pulled back into a bun, giving her a severe look. Anyone would be scared of her. Except Aspen.

“She’s—” Sid started again.

“I’m Sid’s girlfriend, and the sooner you get used to that idea, the easier all of our lives will be. I’m not going anywhere.” Aspen wasn’t in the mood to deal with any drama. After what happened at the party, she wasn’t going to let anyone tell her what to do. “I think I like you better as a dragon.”

Pearl sank down on the ottoman in front of Sid. “Tell me you didn’t tell her about us.” Her lips were pressed in a tight line, but her eyes betrayed her worry.

“She figured it out on her own,” Sid said.

That wasn’t entirely true. Aspen figured it out on her own, but only after a lot of help from Sid. Apparently, Sid was scared of his sister, even if Aspen was not. But Aspen kept her mouth shut because she knew if she let them talk, she’d learn things she didn’t already know.

“How much does she know?” Pearl asked, fiddling with her bun until her hair fell into waves on her shoulders. Every dragon Aspen had met as a human was stunning. She wondered if they got to choose their human forms. The more she found out about the dragon world, the more she realized how little she knew about them.

Sid grabbed a handful of popcorn. “I don’t know. A lot.” He shoved the whole handful in his mouth. He wouldn’t be saying anything for a several seconds.

Pearl rolled her eyes at Sid and faced Aspen. “Do you know who he is?”

“You mean that he’s the king?”

Pearl sucked in a breath and nodded her head. She glowered at Sid. “I can’t believe you told her that. What if she’s a spy for the arctic dragons? Seriously, do you ever think with your head around this girl?”

Sid shrugged and tried to smile, but it looked quite comical with his cheeks stuffed with popcorn. Aspen snorted.

Pearl tapped her finger against her lips for a few seconds and then spoke again.

“Did you know he’s in love with you?”

“Yeah. So?” Aspen remembered vague conversations with Sid about how if Pearl found out about the tattoos, he’d be in big trouble. Sid tried to explain the significance of the marks to her, but she was still foggy on the details. All she knew was they had to be kept secret.

Sid’s eyes went big. He chewed quickly. Aspen’s eyes darted between the two siblings. Sid shook his head at Pearl, and she gave him a grin and turned back to Aspen.

“Did he tell you that by being in love with you, he’s basically sentenced himself to death?”

Sid shook his head again and tried to speak, but he choked on a piece of popcorn and began coughing. Both girls ignored him.

Aspen didn’t know how to respond.

“I didn’t know that.” Aspen looked at her hands. Marc told her something like that, but she thought he was just messing with her, playing on her fear. So much had happened that night, and she’d forgotten about what he said.

Pearl stood up and paced in front of the couch. “As long as no one else finds out, he’s okay, but if you were to ever love him back, his life would be over. Because it would be impossible to keep that a secret.”

“What?” Aspen was confused.

“Dragons mate for life. They only fall in love once. Fortunately, there is a safeguard in place if that love goes unrequited. If you two stay away from each other, his love for you will fade, and he’ll able to love his queen. But if you fall in love with him, he won’t be able to take a queen, and the council will kill him.”

Aspen let out a breath. “Why?” She was already in love with him.

“Because Sid needs a strong queen. The dragons won’t let him lead without one.”

Aspen’s mind spun. Sid’s death sentence was already written in stone. As soon as Pearl or anyone else found out, he’d be killed. Her pulse began to race, and her palms went clammy.

Sid finally stopped coughing. “Pearl, you’ve said enough. I think you should let me finish explaining this to her.”

Pearl spun to face him. “Obviously, you’ve been leaving out crucial details. She had no idea what she was doing to you.”

Theo laughed out loud, and everyone’s heads turned to look at him.

“What’s so funny?” Pearl asked, rolling her eyes at him.

“A fully grown dragon chasing her with its mouth wide open, and she doesn’t feel an ounce of fear, but the idea of Sid dying scares her to death.”

Pearl looked back and forth between Aspen and Sid. “You really care about him, don’t you?” she finally asked.

Aspen looked down at her hands again. “I do. Obviously, I’m not in love with him, but we’ve grown pretty close.” She hoped her lie was convincing to Pearl. She now understood why the tattoos had to be kept secret.