Scorch(47)

I didn’t know why my brother had come.

I didn’t know him at all, but I knew the way he had been raised.

Our sire saw humans as disposable. I’d watched the old dragon tear my newborn brother from his human father’s body, leaving behind the broken corpse of the man he’d used to bear his young without a second thought. I’d wanted to save my brother from growing up like that, the way Dane had saved me, but I hadn’t been able to.

And now, for some reason, he was here. With my mate, who had my child growing inside him. Devin had to be okay. Nothing else mattered but that.

When I finally swooped over the island, I could feel my brother with the subtle sense that we always had when another of our kind was near—and I felt the ripple of his dragon’s power. He was trying to force Devin to do something against his will.

I found them on the far side of the island, and he had his hands on my mate.

A burning rage filled me, and I dove toward him without any plan other than getting him away from Devin. My brother leapt at me, shifting and flaming the minute he saw me, even though he had to know that his fire wouldn’t harm me.

At least, that’s what I’d always believed.

I barely felt my brother’s fire as it engulfed me. Heat would never harm me, in any form, but to my shock I suddenly went mind-numb. With the flames dancing over my body, my dragon senses were gone. I was blinded on every level, with no idea where my brother was and no way to feel what he was doing.

Worse, it cut off my bond with Devin.

The sudden loss stabbed at my heart like physical pain, and I was flooded with the irrational fear that my mate had suddenly been harmed, even though I had just seen him safe on the ground below a moment before.

I flew upward, hoping to lead my brother away from Devin and to shake the flames off my hide. My vision cleared before my senses returned, and I saw that it was working. The silvery-blue dragon was chasing me up into the sky, and as soon as we were high enough I flipped in mid-air, diving under him, determined to stay between him and my mate.

I flamed at him, but he dodged the blast easily. For a split second, a twinge of sadness intruded on my rage. This was my brother, the babe I’d seen so briefly years ago. The way he moved told me that he’d been in aerial battles before, and I hated the thought of the life he must have lived under our sire’s tutelage. But when he feinted and tried to dive past me, toward Devin, any sympathy I’d felt disappeared.

It didn’t matter who he was. I wasn’t going to let him harm my mate.

I slashed at him, crashing into his shoulder and feeling his wing crumple between us as my claws found purchase in his flank. The flesh healed almost as soon as I tore it, but his wing stayed misshapen, and he started to tumble to the ground.

Go! I yelled at Devin through our bond—thankfully restored now that I was free of the other dragon’s fire. He raced for the house, and I followed my brother to the ground, landing to block him from going after my mate.

As he touched down, he shifted, his human shoulder dislocated and a grimace of pain on his face.

“Why are you here?” I demanded, keeping the form of my otherself to better protect what was mine.

Despite his obvious discomfort, he smirked, looking me up and down. “You look like him,” he said, his lip pulling back in an ugly sneer. “So pale.”

Our sire was silver, and I knew my brother was right, but I was thankful that my coloring and shape were the only legacy I’d inherited from the old beast.

My brother was trying to jerk his shoulder back into the socket, and I knew from past experience that trying to do so would be both frustrating and painful. His body’s ability to heal quickly was actually making it more difficult, locking the limb in place as his body sought stability.

I sighed and shifted. “Let me help, brother,” I said.

“Ivan,” he spat. “My name is Ivan. I make no blood claim on you.”

“Well, claim or not, you’re still my brother. Let me help.” I grabbed his arm and stretched it out, twisting and popping it back into the socket before he could protest.

He flinched and grumbled, moving away from me and rubbing at his shoulder.

“Why are you here, Ivan?” I asked him again, pleased to see the pain start to ease from his features.

“Your child,” he said. “I am going to take it when your human is ripe. Our sire’s blood runs in its veins, and he has tasked me with saving it from your soft-hearted weakness. We’ve been expanding our territory, and we will raise your hatchling to join us in holding it, as is its right and duty.”

My vision went red. My otherself raged inside me, any familial ties forgotten as it strove to burst free and drive this threat off of our land. I trembled with the effort of keeping my human form, but I couldn’t stop my dragon’s power from coming through my voice.