Page 62 of Dragon Mine (Dragon Kings 2)
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Care if I sit?” Ulrik asked.
Vaughn bit back an angry reply. “I’d rather you didna.”
“Too bad.”
Vaughn rolled his eyes as Ulrik lowered himself to the ground beside him.
“This isna the Vaughn I know,” Ulrik said.
“People change.”
“We’re no’ people.”
Vaughn fisted his hands as his irritation spiked. “Dragons change.”
“You should be fighting for her.”
“If she doesna feel I’m her mate, it’s pointless.”
“But you think she’s yours.”
Vaughn turned his head to look into Ulrik’s gold eyes. “I know she is.”
“Sitting here willna get you your mate. Go after her.”
“You make it sound easy.”
Ulrik’s lips twisted as he issued a half-shrug. “It is.”
“She’s known who I was from the beginning. She’s known where I was the entire time. If she felt I was her mate, she would’ve returned to me.”
“A dragon would’ve, aye. She’s only half-dragon.”
Vaughn shot him a flat look. “Do you think I doona know that? I’m all too aware.”
“All I’m saying is that she might feel things differently being only half-dragon. Her Fae half may interfere with her discovering her mate. Right? You can no’ deny there’s a chance.”
“There’s a chance. But I doona think that’s true.”
Ulrik frowned. “Why do you say that?”
“They doona want any Kings in Zora. No’ to live. No’ even to visit.”
“But…Con and V are there now. Varek was there. You were there.”
“Varek wasna there of his own volition. From what Eurwen told me, Brandr wasna happy she built the doorway to allow Con and Rhi in.”
Ulrik’s lips flattened as he nodded. “Then you arrived.”
“That’s when Eurwen told him that the two of us had met long ago.”
“I’m guessing he didna take that well.”
Vaughn lay back to look up at the sky, linking his hands behind his head. “You could say that. Eurwen willna consider living here. She said her place is on Zora, ruling with her brother.”
“And they doona want us there,” Ulrik said into the silence. “Shite.”
“Precisely,” Vaughn replied in a dry tone.
Ulrik released a sigh. “Eurwen might well want you, brother, but she finds herself torn between two places.”
“There’s no way around that.”
“There’s always a way.”
Vaughn snorted. “Doona throw my words back at me. I said them regarding legal issues.”
“You can no’ deny it works in this scenario, as well.”
“You’re trying to give me hope.”
“And you’re giving up entirely too easily,” Ulrik retorted. “The Vaughn I know doesna back down from a fight.”
Vaughn rolled his head to look at Ulrik. “This isna a battle, my friend.”
“It’s a battle of your heart.”
“When did you become so romantic?”
Ulrik’s gaze drifted away. “There isna a King here who hasna spent lifetimes yearning for his mate. The Fae and even the mortals continually search for the other halves of their souls. We’re lucky that we’re able to discern it.”
“The Fae and humans can—and do—live without their mates, even if they find them. We can no’.”
Ulrik’s gaze jerked back to him. “You’re needed here.”
“That isna true, and you know it. Dreagan would continue. The Kings would continue if I died. That is true of any of us. We doona have a purpose anymore. We accepted the mortals here, gave them a home. And then let them dictate how things would be. We allowed them to push us until we had no choice but to send the dragons away.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. We had a choice. We chose to be true to who we are.”
“Aye. I’ve told myself that for a long time. Now, I wonder if I’ve been telling myself a lie.”
Ulrik lay beside him. “You say that because you’ve been to Zora.”
“Eurwen and her brother have the humans contained to a certain place. Dragons doona venture there, and the mortals are no’ allowed on the dragons’ side.”
“Ah, but they do cross.”
“No’ many,” Vaughn argued. “Eurwen and Brandr have given the dragons a place to prosper and grow.”
Ulrik drew in a deep breath and slowly released it. “That is working for them now. It willna always. What do you think Brandr and Eurwen will do? What do you think the dragons will do if the humans attack?”
Vaughn’s heart clutched in his chest because he didn’t want to answer that question.
