Chapter 23: Bastian

Three days and there was still no sign of Acasia or Laryn. Sarn and Tahr helped me search. If they hadn't fed me, I wouldn't have eaten. My moods switched from rage to overwhelming sadness and back to rage. Mostly I was angry with myself.

Besides our monthly poker games, we usually spent very little time in the company of other dragon brides. Tahr brought Megan to Sarn's lair to help Calista. When we weren't scouring territories, I observed their relationships. It took no time for me to realize we were at the mercy of our brides. If they were happy, we were happy. As dragons, we postured, but the bottom line was we loved our brides deeply. This knowledge did nothing to help my situation, so I stored the information.

This was the third night, and Sarn had taken it upon himself to make sure I was drunk enough to sleep. The females had gone to bed an hour ago and we were on our second bottle of whiskey.

"I think Laryn took her out of the realm," Tahr said before upending his goblet.

I