“His name was going to be Michael?”
“Yes, for her father. Michael Zachary.”
I smiled, nodding toward the child in his arms. “So this is Zachary?”
“Is that okay?”
“I love it. Michael and Zach. They’re perfect names, Dev.”
“Thank you,” he said, beaming up at me, then yawning.
I knew that my dragon’s power had already helped his body fully recover from the pregnancy, but he’d also been up all day with the babies. The sun had set a few hours earlier, and I realized it was time to figure out sleeping arrangements. We’d only bought one crib. Was it safe to put them both in it? They were small enough, but… would they roll over and squish each other?
Devin laughed. “Maks, they were squished together inside me for the last six months. I think it will be okay for tonight. Besides, they’re not exactly that mobile yet.”
That made sense, but I couldn’t believe how much I didn’t know. Did all new fathers feel this way? My mate seemed so… calm. Confident.
“Maybe we should move the crib in here, though?” I asked.
What if they needed us, and we didn’t hear them? I knew we had some sort of monitor, but what if it didn’t work? What if the battery died? Or we slept through it? The idea of these tiny, precious bundles all the way across the hall in the nursery…
Without any warning, that worry was eclipsed by something more urgent.
I sucked in a sharp breath, stiffening. I’d been completely captivated by the wonder of having the twins with us at last, and I hadn’t given a single thought to Ivan all day—but now I felt him. My dragon sense roared to life, telling me that he was on the move. On his way here.
I didn’t waste any time wondering how he could have known that the babies had been born. I thrust Michael back into Devin’s arms and yelled for Ben. I didn’t pause to explain myself to my mate. I knew he would understand through our bond, and every second was precious.
“Keep them safe,” I said as soon as the other dragon appeared in the doorway.
I was poised on the balcony, and as soon as I saw Ben nod, I shifted and leapt off into the night. My brother was already close, and I raced over the dark ocean to intercept him.
* * *
It was too dark to see him, but I didn’t need to rely on sight. My dragon could always sense another in our territory, and my sense of Ivan was even clearer than most. If I’d had any doubt that I was headed in the right direction, though, the sudden burst of flame directly in front of me would have confirmed it.
Ivan must have been able to sense me just as easily as I did him.
I extended my claws and ducked under the fire, shooting up toward his gunmetal-gray belly. I hit him hard, slicing into his hide and drawing out a squawk of pain. I cringed, then hardened my heart. He would heal, and he had brought it upon himself.
Ivan jerked away, circling around above me to bring his jaws to bear again. I managed to dodge his next blast, slashing at him with my claws as I rolled away and managing to gouge two long furrows in his flank.
The light from his flame reflected off a glittering rain of his blue-tinted scales from the damage. I’d learned my lesson about dragon fire. Before he could aim it at me again I surged above him and hooked a claw behind his neck, forcing his head down so that his flame couldn’t reach me. He arched his strong neck against my hold, straining to break free as he thrashed this way and that, but my grip was too strong. He roared, flaming again anyway, but only the edge of his fire licked against me—not enough for me to lose any of my senses.
“I won’t let you touch my family,” I hissed into his ear. “Go home, Ivan!”
“Your child will grow up weak if I leave him with you,” he answered, turning a burning eye on me as he thrashed against my restraint. “A disgrace to our lineage.”
He struggled beneath me. My claws pierced his hide, their grip the only thing keeping him from plummeting toward the water. But he still struggled, flailing about wildly in an attempt to get free of my grasp. Ivan was almost as big as I was, and the strain of holding him up while keeping his head pinned down was almost too much.
“You’re not going to get past me, brother,” I promised him. I didn’t care what it took, I would not let Ivan harm the ones I loved. “You will never get what you want, or touch my mate.”
Ivan froze. “Your ‘mate?’” he repeated the word in shock, becoming a sudden dead weight as he stopped even trying to use his own wings. “The child was born, nyet?” he demanded angrily. “Your human can’t still live if you took it from his body.”