Se connecterLyria Malakai leaned toward his camera. “One more question.”“What?”“Is this Aurelian better-looking than me?”I stared at him.Cassian immediately started laughing.Kael closed his eyes.Soren looked toward the ceiling.“Oh, my God,” I whispered.“It’s a reasonable question,” Malakai insisted.“Malakai, you’re a Demon King.”“And?” he asked.“Why are you competing with a dragon I’ve only just met?”“Because I have standards,” he replied.“Clearly not very high ones,” Cassian muttered.“Fuck you, vampire.”“Get in line,” Cassian shot back.I laughed until tears gathered in my eyes.When I finally managed to breathe, I wiped my cheeks and looked at the four faces on my screen. “God, I really have missed you.”This time, nobody made a joke. Kael was the first to speak. “We’ve missed you too.”Cassian nodded. “More than I expected.”Malakai gave me a crooked smile. “Obviously. My balls have been telling you that for the past twenty minutes.”“Malakai!”“What? I’m being honest!”Soren s
LyriaaKael frowned. “I fail to see what’s amusing.”“You!” I managed. “All four of you!”Cassian folded his arms. “Care to explain?”“You rule entire kingdoms! You command armies! People probably wet themselves when you walk into a room, but you couldn’t figure out whether you were allowed to call your own mate?”“We were respecting the arrangement,” Kael said.“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Kael! It’s a phone call, not an invasion!”Malakai pointed at the screen. “That’s exactly what I said.”“No,” Soren corrected. “You suggested arriving at the Dragon Palace unannounced.”“Same thing,” Malakai insisted.“Not remotely,” Soren replied.I shook my head, still laughing. “Listen to me, all of you. You can call me whenever you want. You can text me. You can send me pictures. You can tell me about your day. You don’t need permission to speak to me.”Kael studied me. “Even while you’re staying with Lucien?”“Yes!”“And if he’s with you?” Cassian asked.“Then I’ll answer when I’m available. Or I’l
Lyria’s POVI woke up to the sound of Lucien threatening someone’s bloodline with his voice alone.“I gave you three days to resolve this matter,” he said into his phone. “If the council cannot handle something so simple, perhaps I should reconsider why I have a council in the first place.”I opened one eye and found my handsome dragon standing near the window, already dressed in an expensive black suit. Whoever was on the other end of that call was clearly having a terrible morning.“Good morning, sunshine,” I muttered into the pillow.He turned, and the cold expression on his face disappeared the second he saw me.“I’ll deal with this when I arrive,” he told whoever was on the phone before ending the call.“Someone’s in a wonderful mood,” I teased.Lucien approached the bed, leaned down, and kissed me. “Good morning, little mate,” he murmured.“Good morning, Your Grumpiness.”“I am not grumpy,” he protested.“You were just threatening to fire an entire council before breakfast.”“Th
Lyria’s POVWe left the palace still laughing.Lucien had stood in the entrance hall with his arms crossed while Aurelian listed every reason the guards were unnecessary, and I reminded him that he was the one who had complained about the lighting in the palace dressing room earlier that morning. Lucien had looked between us, sighed, and instructed the guards to stay close, but not so close that they would ruin our trip. Aurelian had called it a compromise only a king would invent. I had kissed Lucien on the cheek and promised we would return before evening. He had muttered something about not believing me, but we left anyway.The luxury district was brighter than I had expected, with wide streets lined with glass storefronts and men in tailored coats who stopped walking when they saw me, then pretended they hadn’t. Aurelian ignored most of them. He knew the owners, which doors would open for him without a word, and which ones required nothing more than a look. We entered the first bo
Lucien’s POVI had survived wars, assassination attempts, and centuries of political nonsense, but nothing had prepared me for sharing my mate with a man who complained about breakfast sauce.I sat behind my desk and tried to read the same report three times. The words refused to stay in order. Every time I looked down, I saw breakfast instead. Lyria laughing. Aurelian calling her sister wife. The two of them making plans that did not include me. Yesterday they had been ready to fight over me. Today they were planning another shopping trip, and I was the one left staring at a ceiling while they slept on either side of me.I only had one month. I had brought her home so we could have time. Real time. Since we arrived, we had not spent a single proper night as lovers. Even when we shared a bed, Aurelian ended up between us. I wasn’t angry that they were getting along. If anything, I should have been grateful that the two people I cared about had found a way to become friends. But every
LyriaAurelian woke up first.I was still lying comfortably beneath the blankets when I heard him moving on the other side of Lucien. He glanced at Lucien, who was sleeping between us, then looked over at me and made an announcement as casually as though he were discussing the weather.“Oh, well, look at me. I spent an entire night in bed with a woman and my soon-to-be husband, and absolutely nothing happened. What a wasted opportunity for a threesome.”I burst out laughing.Lucien’s eyes opened immediately.“Aurelian, it’s too early for this nonsense,” he complained.“I’m simply saying that three people shared a bed, and somehow I’m the only one who woke up disappointed.”“Disappointed?” I repeated, turning toward him. “You spent half the night fighting over a blanket. When exactly were you planning to have this threesome?”“Woman, nobody invited you to participate. I was simply discussing the possibilities.”That only made me laugh harder.Lucien stared at the ceiling as though he a







