CHAPTER ONE
Cairnkeep
Alasdair’s gaze lingered in the distance, taking in the mountain chain with its arrow-tipped peaks. A brilliant, cloudless blue sky hung over them, the sun’s rays warming the crowd gathered near the cliff’s edge. It wasn’t just any occasion. It was one of the most important events in any Dragon King’s life—his mating ceremony.
Yet Alasdair’s attention wasn’t on the couple standing and speaking vows that would bind them for eternity. His mind couldn’t stop rehashing the incident that had occurred three days before. It haunted him. Stirring up emotions and thoughts that were better buried and forgotten.
The King of Dragon Kings’ voice reached Alasdair, snapping him back to the present. He focused and looked through the crowd to Cullen, who stood with a huge smile on his face. Cullen was the third King to find love on the new realm. Alasdair’s gaze then slid to the woman beside his friend. Tamlyn wasn’t just any female. She was a Banshee. Her ability to see the imminent deaths of magical children had allowed them to save several bairns in the nearby city of Stonemore.
But so many more out there needed help.
While the beauty of Zora was breathtaking, there was much about the world that mirrored Earth. The humans and their cruelty, along with their need to wipe out anything they feared and didn’t understand was something Alasdair would never grasp. The fact that some targeted innocent children sickened him.
The crowd erupted into cheers and applause. Alasdair clapped and glanced to the side to find Marcus and Hector watching him. He looked away, not wanting to answer the questions he knew were coming.
Alasdair whistled loudly as Cullen and Tamlyn walked past him, hand in hand. On Tamlyn’s bare left arm, he spotted the dragon eye tattoo that every female who mated a King received. The smile on Cullen’s face was huge as he lifted Tamlyn and swung her around before kissing her soundly.
Everyone made their way to the shell of new construction that would one day be a location for all the Dragon Kings, much like Dreagan Manor was on Earth. But Alasdair paused and looked over his shoulder again to the craggy mountains—and the dragons. They were no longer venturing near Cairnkeep as they once had, and that concerned him.
“What is it?” Hector asked as he walked up. “And doona tell me it’s nothing. I know you better than that.”
Alasdair met Hector’s dark eyes. They were the only two who lingered. “The dragons didna come.”
“That didna surprise me. You’re still upset about the other day.” One side of Hector’s mouth turned down into a frown. “It’s going to take time.”
“It’s much more than that.”
“That is for Eurwen and Brandr to settle. The twins are the rulers here. No’ us.”
Alasdair ran a hand through his hair and blew out a frustrated breath. “I can no’ stay so near the dragons. It’s too much.”
Hector’s brows snapped together for a moment. “I know that look. What are you going to do?”
“What we should’ve done weeks ago. I’m going to search for Merrill.”
Hector crossed his arms over his chest before nodding once. “I’ll come with you.”
“It’ll be better if I go alone.”
“After Merrill’s disappearance, there’s no way any of us is going out on our own.”
Alasdair turned to face the mountains again. His enhanced eyesight could make out one group of dragons flying and another clustered on the slopes. He had thought that coming to Zora and finding their dragons once again would heal the part of him that had festered since the dragons crossed the dragon bridge. But he’d been wrong. If anything, his wound chafed even more.
“Things are no’ right here,” he murmured.
Hector grunted. “They were never going to be like they were on Earth.” He paused. “Con’s headed toward us.”
Alasdair picked up the sound of approaching footsteps. He wasn’t surprised that Constantine wanted a word. The King of Kings didn’t miss much. Con was the reason they had gotten through the aftermath of the war with the humans and the departure of their dragons. Without him, none of the Kings would be standing here now.
Con stopped on Alasdair’s other side without saying a word. For a long time, the three of them simply observed the dragons in the distance. It had been untold eons since they had seen their kind flying freely, and it always made them pause and take it in.
“It never gets old, does it?” Con finally asked.
Hector shook his head. “Never.”
“They doona want us here,” Alasdair stated.
Con’s chin dropped to his chest before he let out a sigh. “We know. Eurwen and Brandr are in constant communication with them, explaining everything.”
The twins. Con and Rhi’s half-dragon, half-Light Fae children guarded Zora and the dragons with their lives. The Dragon Kings were here by invitation only. If there hadn’t been a threat to the dragons, Alasdair wasn’t sure if any of them would’ve stepped foot on Zora. But the fact was, Eurwen and Brandr needed help, and the Kings were more than ready to lend a hand.
The more Alasdair watched the dragons, the more heartsick he became. He put his back to them. “I’m going to search for Merrill.”
“Alasdair,” Con began.
“I know Stonemore is on alert after Cullen and Shaw shifted into dragons in front of everyone. I doona plan to go there.”
Con’s black eyes met his. “Stonemore’s soldiers will be hunting for anyone they perceive as different.”
“I’m no’ afraid of them. However,” he hurried to say when Con’s lips parted to argue, “I doona intend to fan the flames of war. There is already enough wood on that fire.”
Hector grunted as he turned to Alasdair. “It would only take a spark to set everything off.”
“And we doona want that,” Con added. Then his lips twisted. “Unfortunately, I’m no’ sure if we could defuse the situation. I fear the war will happen regardless.”
“It’s Earth all over again,” Alasdair stated.
Hector rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “We won’t make the same mistakes.”
“We were no’ monsters then, and we willna be now,” Con added as he faced them.
Alasdair shrugged helplessly. “It has been weeks without word from Merrill. Varek was held at Orgate with chains that prevented his magic from reaching us. The same might be true for Merrill. Shaw told us how warriors from Orgate were at Stonemore. They hate us for showing Jeyra the truth.”
“No’ to mention the fact that she fell in love with Varek and freed him,” Hector added.
A breeze ruffled Con’s wavy, blond hair. “You’re no’ the only one who wants to search for Merrill.”
Alasdair held Con’s gaze. He wouldn’t beg. It wasn’t his way. He’d made his case. That was all he could do.
“I might lead on Earth, but the decision here rests with Eurwen and Brandr,” Con explained.
Alasdair had expected such a response. “I’m no’ asking for permission. I can no’ stay with the dragons. No’ now. I can find Merrill. I will find him.”