Helena rounded a rosewood desk imported from Earth but stopped short of touching him. Old friends and former associates, they would have hugged, except male dragons were jealous creatures with acute olfaction. Prince T’mar would smell if they so much as shook hands. A smart man picked his battles. Ticking off a fire-throwing dragon over a greeting wasn’t worth the risk.
A titian-haired beauty with emerald eyes, Helena had the luck of a cat, managing to land on her feet in any adversity. As Earth’s former First Daughter, she’d been a popular political celebrity. When she’d run afoul of Jackson Biggs, a fixer inside the deep state, she’d fled Earth for Draco—and snagged herself a dragon prince.
Henry settled on her sofa, appreciating the familiar construction and upholstered comfort. His accommodations in the habitat, while well-appointed by Draconians’ standards, couldn’t compare to the furnishings he’d taken for granted on Earth—or to what Helena had in the palace. As doting as they were jealous, a dragon would do anything for his mate. If she liked furniture from her birth planet, then Prince T’mar would import the finest domestic accoutrements his treasure could buy.
Helena perched on the opposite sofa after offering him refreshments, which he declined.
“What’s up?” A hunch told him there was more to the meeting than a social invitation.
“Phase one of construction on Elementa has been completed, and King K’rah has ordered relocation to begin. A new geological report says the cooling of Draco’s core is accelerating, so the king believes the sooner they establish themselves on Elementa, the better off everyone will be. Draconians got a reprieve yesterday with the eruption, but the atmosphere grows more and more unhealthful for them.”
Dragons required heat, fire, and smoke to survive. Draco, which had sustained them for eons, was dying. Volcanoes had gone extinct, fires had extinguished, and the vog was clearing. It was leave or die.
After searching for millennia, explorers discovered Elementa, a volcanic planet very similar to what their home world used to be. However, relocation was no simple feat. Infrastructure had to be constructed, a population of millions had to be transported, and the sacred fyre had to be moved. And there was the small matter of the squatters. Earth’s government and corporations had snuck in and established colonies.
“Prince K’ev and Rhianna will remain on Draco and coordinate the emigration from here while T’mar and I go on to Elementa and facilitate the transition from that end.”
Henry straightened. “You’re leaving? When?”
“Day after tomorrow.”
“That’s…soon.”
She nodded. “I don’t want to leave you in the lurch,” she said. “You wouldn’t be here if not for me.”
“Don’t be silly. I’m a big boy, and I made my own decisions. I didn’t have to come to Draco, I chose to come.” He didn’t hold Helena responsible for anything that had happened. Patsy, his former partner, had asked him to join her in accompanying Helena to Draco. What he hadn’t known was that Patsy was a double agent who later had attempted to assassinate Helena. Patsy was dead now.
“Well, I don’t want to abandon you, so I spoke to T’mar, and we want to let you know what your options are.”
“Okay…”
“First, you can remain on Draco for the near to intermediate future. Since Rhianna will be here, she can run interference if you encounter any difficulties with the Draconians.”
“You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be fine,” he reassured her, although he wasn’t as confident as he sounded. Dragons didn’t forgive easily. After Earth had double-crossed them and attempted to usurp the one planet that could sustain them, the hot-tempered Draconians needed little excuse or provocation to torch a human.
He liked to think he could take care of himself. By habit and training, he never went anywhere unarmed—not that most Earth weapons would be very effective against a flamethrower the size of a bus.
Helena and Rhianna were safe due to their connections—they’d mated to sons of the Draconian king.
“Option two—you could return to Earth,” she said.
“I can?” He hadn’t realized going home was a possibility. Resuming his life on Earth held great appeal, except for one downside: leaving O’ne. He’d encountered the priestess only once, but something about her had grabbed him in its jaws and refused to let go.
The infatuation couldn’t be more futile. Although she’d been cordial when they’d met, she had made no effort to seek him out since then, and the times he’d ventured into the temple in hopes of seeing her, she’d been absent—or had avoided him.
Not that he could blame her. She was the single most powerful being in all of Draco, and while he was unsure what her duties entailed, he assumed being priestess compared to being a nun. What kind of idiot mooned over a nun?
“Returning to Earth can be arranged, but I recommend against it,” Helena said. “I spoke to my father the other day. Biggs still hasn’t surfaced.”
Biggs, the president’s former advisor, had attempted to spark a war between Earth and Draco. When his machinations had been discovered, he had been taken into custody, but he’d killed the officer and escaped. Since Helena had been responsible for thwarting his plans, the lives of anyone who’d assisted her were in jeopardy. Until authorities recaptured him, he remained a significant threat. However, having dealt with men like Biggs his entire operative career, Henry wasn’t unduly worried.
“I would like to return to Earth,” he said.
Helena raised a hand. “Before you commit…a third option is for you to accompany me and T’mar to Elementa—to stay, indefinitely or permanently. My father has recalled all colonists and dismantled the habitats. With the humans gone, construction of the First City has been going like gangbusters. Most of the infrastructure has been completed, including a small palace for me and T’mar. There’s a separate guest wing modified
