Page 60 of The Heart of the Dragon

She strode over to me and grabbed my left arm, flipping it over. "Because of this." she pointed to the small crescent moon shapedbirthmark with three tiny stars inside it I'd had since birth. "You are the marked one."

"No." I yanked my arm from her grasp. "I don't know what you think this is but if you are about to tell me I am marked as some kind of savior to the fae and human realm or any other realm, I am going to call bullshit. I. Am. A. Scientist. Not a fighter. Not a princess. And certainly not some damned fairytale champion."

Kitra grimaced, and Magnus took several steps until he was firmly planted at my side. "Be careful, Kitra. You are the mate of my blood, and because of that I promised to never hurt you. But if you come at Rose in a way that offends my dragon, I cannot be held responsible for what happens."

"Oh yes, you will," Isaac said, coming to stand slightly in front of Kitra in a way that blocked her from Magnus, but not me. "I'll accept no excuses or any untoward moves, asshole."

Kitra looked at me and we both rolled our eyes. This posturing between brothers was officially old.

"Stand down, Magnus," I said to him with what little patience I could muster. "I don't think she's trying to harm me. And I'm just pissed off, okay? It happens. Probably more than you're going to like. I don't need you or your dragon trying to take over my business every time it happens. Got it?"

"The portal between our realms is closed, but not exactly," she finally answered. "I'd call it more hidden than actually locked. One of the fae kings could technically open it, but first he'd have to find it and that's the hard part."

"So I'm about to become a beacon with an engraved invitation to these kings."

"Your biological father in particular.Ifhe’s alive.”

“Not likely,” Magnus mumbled, which Kitra ignored.

“You are of his blood and magic. But for now, and I guess about twenty-five years, you've been locked away from him. The knowledge of which has likely driven him mad. Although I couldn't really say. I never heard much about him other than he was born of dark magic and that he served as the counterpart to the light king.

"Your uncle?" I asked, looking at Magnus.

He barked a loud laugh. "Gods no. As evil as my uncle is, it's hard to believe he wasn't born of dark magic. But technically he is born of both. There are four kings of our realm. One of dark, one of light, two from both. They each rule their own quadrant as they see fit, while maintaining the rules of magic amongst the four. And technically, my uncle was not born as ruler of his quadrant. He tricked our father with ancient laws and a devil's bargain into giving it to him. Hence how so many dragons ended up here."

"Our father chose love over kingdom," Isaac said quietly. "Something no king had ever done. Or has done since."

"It's a good thing I thrive and thirst for knowledge. I would never remember all of this. So what exactly happens if the bastard king finds the portal and comes through?"

Magnus fell silent, a troubled look crossing his face. "A slaughter the likes of which this world has never seen." Magnus didn't look happy to tell me any of this. And I had to admit it all made the nausea worse. I wasn't naive or unaware how any kind of power could corrupt men and women. But the unequal footing between humans and fae made it all very difficult to swallow.

"I wouldn't count out humans that quickly. They won't go down without a fight."

"That's true," Isaac said. "And there is a decent number of fae born on this side to help them. Not to mention they have technology on their side. At least until the fae disable it."

I swallowed thickly. "Fae don't use technology?" I couldn't imagine a world so vastly different from this one.

Kitra shook her head. "A lot of it interferes with magic. And they have no need for it. When you have magic what do you need technology for?"

"That makes sense I guess. So getting back to my choice... What do I have to decide."

"That spell is going to break, one way or another. The unraveling has begun. So, we can either shore up the portal with magic when it does, and hope no king makes it through?—"

"Or?"

"Or we let it break on the other side."

Chapter

Twenty-Three

Magnus

"Wait. What?"I couldn't believe that Kitra had even suggested that. Was she crazy? Rose wouldn't last ten minutes in the fae realm. Up until a few hours ago she didn't even know she was fae. And I highly doubted she'd understand her magic the moment it returned. "No."

"Excuse me?" Rose looked at me with clear disdain. "Last I checked, this was my choice not yours."

"It's too dangerous. You aren't equipped to deal with the fae."

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