Aspen (The Dragon Kings #2)(43)

Aspen leaned up and kissed him lightly on the lips. “I only see one king around here, so I’m guessing the prophecy isn’t being fulfilled today. Let’s go to bed.”





That night Sid woke to the door creaking open. He looked up but didn’t see anything. There was a little light coming in from the hallway, but Aspen was curled up tight next to him, and he didn’t want to leave to go shut the door. He kissed her softly on the forehead and fell back to sleep almost immediately.

What he didn’t see was the little dragon who landed softly on his headboard, muttering things under her breath.

“You think I’m too young, huh? You think I can’t handle the responsibility? Well, I’ll show you. Sure, I haven’t reached my hundredth birthday yet, but I can decide who I want to pledge my loyalty to. You dumb oaf.”

She leaned over and placed her snout on his forehead. He shifted and brushed his hair. Runa jerked back and nearly fell off the headboard. She righted herself and waited. After he finished moving around, she remembered that she was supposed to say something first. She thought back to what Skye had taught her. Course Skye thought she was just teaching her history, but really Runa just wanted to know how the loyalty seal worked.

“On behalf all the underground dragons, I pledge my loyalty to you.”

Then she placed her snout back on his forehead, and she felt her chest burn. She hoped he wouldn’t feel it too and wake up. He rolled onto his back, and she took flight. He rubbed at a spot on his chest, a spot that was deep brown and had her name on it. He rolled back over but didn’t wake up.

She flew out of the room in search of a mirror, thoroughly pleased with herself.





Sid stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around himself, and wiped off the mirror. It was still foggy, so he turned on the fan. He brushed his teeth and reached for his razor. There were some things that were thoroughly irritating about being human. He was glad he was a guy though and not a girl. That required a lot more work.

The mirror cleared, and the seals reflected back at him. All five of them.

Five?

Sid wiped at the mirror again so he could see the dark brown mark just underneath Skye’s. The circle centered around Runa’s name.

He was going to kill her. Probably right after her father killed him.

He stormed out of the bathroom and hollered. “Runa, get your tiny self up here.”

Aspen sat up and sucked in a breath. He looked over at her. A red flushed filled her cheeks. He gave her a crooked grin.

“Like what you see?”

She nodded then looked away. “Why are you yelling for Runa?”

He sat down on the edge of the bed. “She didn’t listen.” He pointed at his chest.

Aspen shook her head. “That little girl’s got a death wish. I’ll go find her. You get dressed.”

As she stood, she let her fingers trail along his leg, and he nearly forgot that he was pissed as hell at Runa.

Sid waited until Aspen left the room before he went in search of clothes. He couldn’t let Runa go home at all. She was stuck with them for a while. He wondered if that was why she did it. Aspen came back a few minutes later with Runa on her shoulder.

Runa jumped off and bowed deeply to Sid.

He rolled his eyes. “What do you think you’re doing?”

She peeked up. “Showing my respects, sir.”

“Nothing’s changed.”

“Yes, it has. Now that I’ve pledged my loyalty to you, you’re my king.”

Sid grimaced. “That was foolish. You know that if I die, so do you.”

She jumped up on the bed. “But I wasn’t living any sort of life before I escaped with you. Really, it was Aspen I should’ve pledged my loyalty to. She’s the one who rescued me. But that wouldn’t help you. You needed me. It could take you months to find an unmarked underground dragon.”

“I don’t want you think that I’m ungrateful, but this was rash. This has consequences far beyond anything you can comprehend.”

She rose up on her haunches and lifted her neck here. “Listen here…”

A door slammed, and a woman wailed. Sid and Aspen looked at each other for a half second before racing down the stairs. His mother was standing in the entryway, sobbing and carrying on. She shouted incomprehensible things, pulled at her hair, and stomped on the ground.

Aspen took a tentative step forward. “What’s wrong with her?”

Sid shook his head. “I have no idea.” He moved toward his mother. A wave of grief hit him, and he immediately blocked all her feelings.

“Dead,” Athena screamed. “He’s dead, and it’s all your fault.” She fell onto him and beat at his chest with her fists.





Another death. Aspen stared at the floor, not wanting to meet anyone’s eyes.

“Mom, what happened?” Sid pulled his mother in for a tight hug, and she sobbed into his shoulder.

“Your father is dead.”

“How?” He squeezed his eyes shut, but a few tears escaped anyway. Aspen had never lost a parent. She didn’t have the foggiest idea how to comfort him.

Athena looked up and wiped at her eyes. “I don’t know. I felt our connection sever. He’s dead.”

Sid’s head snapped up. “Go find Pearl, Skye, and Theo. Have them meet me in the front yard.”