“There are things you need to know. Has word gotten to you of the female dragons? Drakainas, they call themselves,” Etel said, not taking the bait.
“Rumors, nothing more. You’re saying they’re real?” Wrath asked.
Etel sipped his scotch. “I am. Kurt bonded to a siren when she was dying from a werewolf bite. She turned into a drakaina. She can’t breathe fire, but she’s the real deal. It was a fluke and may never happen again. The werewolf bite may have primed her for a change that was triggered by getting a dose of dragon life force from the binding spell. What happened to her afterward is more interesting, though.”
Etel stretched his long legs and sat back into the sofa before continuing: “She was contacted by a woman with dragon magic. I don’t know who she was descended from but, apparently, Malcolm’s great-granddaughters had dragon magic that they passed down. His family has the most of what are being called dragon bloods—females with dragon magic who can’t shift. The magic is inherited through the maternal line. Jess is one of them and you should tell her, though I’m sure she knows. She went awfully quiet.”
“Jess?” Wrath called.
“Coming!” she responded a little too quickly.
“Yeah, she heard,” Wrath said. “How is any of this a problem? More specifically, how is it my problem? Other than the fact that you sent the descendant of the dragon who started the war into basilisk territory.”
“You, of all people, know not to judge people for the sins of their forefathers, son of Kur.”
Wrath rolled his eyes and took another drink of his scotch.
“Her having dragon blood isn’t the problem,” Etel said. “It’s the solution. Cassian, Antonius’s boy, mated a dragon blood. They bit each other and formed an unbreakable mate bond. Then he did the binding spell. After the spell, she became a dragon. It seems that dragons mate just like any other shifter, but only with each other.”
Dragons mate just like any other shifter. Had Jess’s bite made them mates? God, he hoped not. If so, she’d never love anyone else as long as Wrath lived. Had Etel known that Jess might have the urge to bite Wrath? Did he let her make a life altering decision on instinct with no warning?
Wrath didn’t blame Jess. She was more shocked than he was that she bit him. He blamed Etel. He was about to say so when he heard the bedroom door open and light footsteps in the hallway.
“I’m a dragon?” Jess asked, not bothering to pretend she hadn’t been listening. She wore snug jeans and an enticing form-fitting sweater. Her hair had been hastily put up in a bun with a few escaped strands.
“Not yet, I’m afraid, but you have the right bloodline,” Etel said.
Of course it was about bloodlines. Wrath had chosen the wrong type of mate before, according to his family. Now his family had selected the perfect mate with the perfect bloodline.
How very sweet of them.
Jess sat on the sofa next to Etel, much to Wrath’s chagrin. She left a cushion between them, but it was still too close for his taste. He may not want to be mated to her, for her own good, but he also didn’t want her to be next to Etel.
“Jess, this is my brother Etel. Etel, this is Jess. You obviously know more about her than you should. Let’s get to the part where you tell me why you sent her to me,” Wrath said.
“There’s a threat to our world,” Etel said. “Creatures from another universe have crossed into ours. We have to block them from coming in.”
“Why should we assume they aren't friendly?” Jess asked. “Maybe they’re just curious.”
Wrath supposed now that Jess knew dragons existed, she was willing to suspend disbelief. That was better than the alternative. Etel didn’t talk nonsense. There was no use asking him if he was sure. He always was.
“As we speak,” Etel said, “the fae are trying to track down one of their own kind from the other world who came through a gateway and killed dozens of humans in Iraq. We have a good thing going in this world. The fae are happy to let the humans carry on and innovate without magical intervention. Some of their technologies are better than magic, after all. As for us, this is our home. If more of these creatures from the other world come over, they’ll ruin everything. There could be war. Humans won’t know the difference between us and the new arrivals.”
“What does this have to do with female dragons? It’s not like we can raise a new generation in time to fight whatever comes over,” Wrath said.
“The females we have aren’t fighters. They’re at about the level of a third-generation dragon and they’re too young. Thing is, first-generation dragons tend to be stronger when mated. With someone else carrying some of your life force, you tend to build up more life force. You’ll fight better and heal faster. Your mate can stay behind and protect the human mates of dragons and their young.
“We chose Jess for you because she seems to lean toward fire dragon magic. That and she looks like your type. So far, the most successful pairings of dragon bloods and dragons have been with those who have like magic. Though, the ones that mated third-generation dragons didn’t become drakainas. You can give her a chance at becoming a dragon, Ezzu. She could live for thousands of years.”
“You took it upon yourself to find a mate for me and didn’t think it would piss me off?”
Etel shrugged. “I’m no worse than a meddling mother inviting the pastor’s daughter for dinner. I didn’t make you do anything. From the sound of things, you suspected it was a trap. You had every opportunity to get out of it, but you didn’t. You’re just pissed that I’m right.”
“You had no right.”
“It’s done. I need
