217

I carried Maya to her wing of the castle. She had cried herself to sleep again and I had the lair doctor waiting to give her a check-up. Abby walked inside with Milo once again holding her and I saw Luciana from the corner of my eye as I walked down the long hallway.

I stayed while the doctor took her blood pressure and prescribed something that was safe for the baby. She was on her side with her back to me as I sat next to her and stroked her hair. She seemed calmer now and then she turned her head to look at me.

“We weren’t close but he was still my brother.”

“Of course he was.”

She sighed and shifted around to look properly at me. “He wasn’t a good person but he seemed so different with Abigail that I hoped the things he did in the past was behind him.”

“What things?” I had to fight to keep control of my voice because she knew things I didn’t know and I’d left my sister with him.

“He was accused of rape once but the case was dismissed for lack of evidence. I don’t think he did it, he couldn’t have, only a monster does something like that.”

I didn’t tell her that it was true, that he had raped the girl who had reported him. She had to have guts to go to the authorities and I wasn’t surprised that it was dismissed. I shuddered when I thought of Nicu on top of Abigail pulling his zipper down.

“We’ll go back for the funeral ceremony but you need to rest now.” I kissed the top of her head and she closed her eyes.

I slammed the door to my sitting room closed and Luciana jumped visibly at the sound. “I’m sorry.” She was still fidgety when it came to aggression and we’d never really talked about how many times her father had hurt her.

“What happened in Sinaia?”

“Prince Nicu was murdered, his head spiked on the palisade fence for all to see.”

She swallowed and I saw relief flood her eyes. “Finally someone got to him.” I didn't think she’d intended to say it out loud because her gaze went to the floor and I walked over to her. The shiver that went up my spine made me want to lash out.

“Tell me it wasn’t you.”

“I didn’t kill him.” She had said that so quickly and earnestly that I almost smiled.

“Tell me he didn’t rape you and get away with it.”

“How …”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I tilted her face up and she had no choice but to look at me.

“You’re married to his sister and I fell in love with you that first night. I couldn’t tell you.”

“I’m so sorry.” I had pulled her flush against me and I breathed her scent in.

“It’s okay. It’s in the past and he’s dead.” Her hand went up and down my back as she tried to soothe me.

“It’s not okay.” I had tears in my eyes and I didn’t really know why I was crying because she wasn’t. She didn’t let it get her down, she didn’t let it rule her life and that just made me realize how amazing she really was.

“Do they know who killed him?”

“No and they never will.” I kissed the top of her head and then reluctantly let her go.

“Why won’t they ever know?”

“Because I killed him.” I had no idea what she’d do with the information but I was sure I could trust her, with anything.

“I love you, Wynter Grey.” She flung herself at me and kissed me so hard that I forgot how to breathe.

As we lay in bed later Luciana told me the whole story. How Nicu had come to Mintia with his father and how he’d shown her attention and taken her to a restaurant. She’d only been sixteen but flattered by the Prince. Later when he forced himself on her in his car she told her father.

That was the first night he hit her, telling her to keep her mouth shut and that she probably asked for it. She went to the police the next morning and only one officer believed her. A young man took her statement and took her to the hospital where they found vaginal tearing and she gave them her underwear and the clothes she’d worn that night.

A week later that same young officer died in a car crash and her case was dismissed saying that they didn’t find any evidence on her clothes and that if she wanted to keep her head she’d keep her mouth shut and not slander the crown prince.

I lay there and listened to her story and I couldn’t believe that I had once thought he was a good guy. After that night her father kept belittling her, calling her easy and a royal plaything. I cringed because I had said those exact words to Abby once.

“I have something else to tell you, Wynter, and I’m not sure what will happen once I do because it changes a lot of things.”

“The only thing you could ever tell me that would make me change how I feel about you is if you loved another man.”

“I’ve only ever loved you.”

“Then you can tell me anything, always.”

“Ivan took me to the doctor this morning and I got the results of my blood tests just before you came back.” She swallowed nervously and I sat up straight in bed.

“Is something wrong with you? Are you sick?”

“I’m twelve weeks pregnant.”

I looked into her eyes, finding her need for my acceptance there. I pulled her into my arms and kissed the top of her head again as her arms wrapped around me. It was a sticky situation but one I didn’t regret.

“That makes it that first night.”

She nodded her head and pulled away from me, looking at me intently again. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that I love you too.”

When the clock neared midnight, I left Luciana sleeping in my bed and headed to my office. I closed the door and dialed Ryder’s number. I didn’t really care what the time was but I needed to tell him a few things.

“Grey.”

“Are you sitting down?”

“Is something wrong?” His voice had grown worried and I sat down behind my desk.

“Prince Nicu’s body was found this morning, his head impaled on the palisade for the King’s warriors to find.”

“Shit, do they have any leads?”

“Of course they don’t.” I could almost see him smiling as he exhaled.

“My condolences to the King.” It sounded snide and bitter coming from him.

“It’s a clean line, Dad. I have something else to tell you.”

“You just made my day to mess it all up again, haven’t you?” I chuckled at his remark.

“You’ll be blessed with another grandchild in the new year.”

I waited for his reply but all I could hear was his breathing on the other end. “What do you mean another grandchild?”

“Before you completely freak out, Luciana’s twelve weeks pregnant and Maya’s around twenty-two weeks or so.”

“Damnit, Wynter.”

“I love her, Dad, and she loves me and if I could I’d take her as my chosen half.”

“Your dick’s always landing you in trouble.”

“Yeah and yours didn’t?”

“Piss off, I raised all my children.” I smiled at that because he had done more than that. He’d raised us all, Milo and Ally included.

“You think I won’t?”

“How did you think this was going to work, Wynter? You and Maya around the dinner table with your mistress and your two kids exchanging gifts?”

“It’s a mess I know but I’m not letting Luciana go. I’d rather send Maya back to her father once the baby’s born.”

“I can’t talk to you right now. Every word out of your mouth just pisses me off more.”

The line went dead and I sighed. I did the right thing by telling him and I knew sooner or later he’d turn up in Mintia and kick my ass. Echo nudged me from inside and I let him push forward. I had no clue what to do next.

“Typhon’s calling for you.”

I felt dizzy for a moment and gripped the edge of my desk and stood up. That was a mistake and I felt myself falling forward, hitting my head against the edge of the desk and everything went black as blood oozed out of my head.

I came to with the dank smell of a cave in my nostrils and opened my eyes. I wiped at my forehead and was surprised to see that there was no blood on my fingers. I stood up and looked around the cave. It seemed familiar although I’d never been there before.

“Echo!” I heard the rocks as they fell from a ledge to the floor of the cave and turned around.

Echo pushed through the darkness, his tongue hanging out of his mouth and I smiled for a second at how ridiculous he looked. “Typhon is coming.”

I felt the urge to submit and bow my head, a feeling so foreign to me because I’d always been the strongest dragon no matter where I was. I bowed my head, not able to fight the dominance and power that surged around me.

“Wynter Grey …” The voice was deep and commanding, power flowing from it like water from a fountain.

“Lord Typhon.” He reigned in his power and I lifted my head to look at him.

He was dangerously powerful. A dragon so mighty that it took my breath away. He was enormous, twice the size of Echo and I was mesmerized as I looked at him. The father of dragons stood in front of me and Echo thumped his tail up and down in his excitement.

“You’ve started on the path of your destiny. You must fulfil it to gain the happiness you deserve. Your chosen half carries in her womb a daughter, a daughter that you will raise and love. She will be a mighty woman one day. Your bond with your chosen half is accepted mighty warrior of Typhon.”

“Must I really kill the entire line, Typhon?” I found it hard to imagine killing Maya.

“Yes, in time you will kill them all. A situation will arise and you will fulfil your destiny in one night. You will know when the time is right.”

“Yes, Lord Typhon.”

“One more thing, accept your sister as things are.”

I came to on the carpet of my office with blood trickling down my forehead and Echo turning in a circle in my head before lying down and consequently started snoring. I groaned and sat up, wiping the blood with my sleeve.

I cleaned myself up in the bathroom, the gash already closed and gone from where I’d hit my head. The castle was quiet and it was two am. I’d been in the dragon realm for what felt like a few minutes but I’d been out cold on the floor for much longer.

I slid into bed next to Luciana who snuggled against me. My heart couldn’t stop its hammering as I cradled her stomach with my hand. I was going to have a little girl with her.