Page 43 of Dragon Blood

The admission still didn’t send warm fuzzies through his acidic gut. Not until he understood what that meant.

“This ought to be interesting. Why?” Odson prompted.

Astred spread her hands. “I’m hoping the Nexus will tell me.”

Tension strung through Kai.

She didn’t drag him along becausesheneeded him. He was there because Aeleftheria needed something from him.

He’d had a sense that she would need him before they ever left the citadel. Now the reason was slowly developing before him. Painfully slowly.

He hadn’t been in the refugee camp very long, but this mission was clearly important to more than just Aeleftheria. He had to know what the connection was to his clan, too.

What threat was Astred bringing to them if that little map was indeed directing her to go to the Watchmen?

Kai shoved aside the personal sting of her words, focusing on the fact that he could help them in some way. Help Kolina, and Kymri and Jori. Help Astred, though he wasn’t sure how.

Not knowing Astred to be psychically sensitive, Kai was mystified and intrigued by the notion that she’d had a vision, that also potentially included him.

‘Potentially’included him.

‘Kai’s clan—or Kai himself—is somehow connected.’

She most likely needed him to get to someone else in his clan. Aaron? His father?

“The Nexus,” Brandi breathed, drawing Kai’s attention back to the present. She swallowed, studying Astred with new eyes. “Well, the wardens don’t move fast, so you may wait a while. We will accept your help to clean up the storm debris while you’re here.”

“Let’s get started. It’ll be good to feel like I can do something productive during all of this mess. Was anyone hurt?”

“Some injuries, but they’ll mend; the humans are all being treated at the local hospital.”

“If you’re willing, I’d like to hear more about your village.” Astred followed Brandi out of the community hall.

They worked long past nightfall, with floodlights set up around the camp to enable the clearing effort to continue. Large machinery was unnecessary, as dragon shifters would take turns easing into their dragon forms in locations that needed the raw strength to precisely lift and move entire trees as needed, setting them down where chainsaws could do the rest.

Others lifted replacement material to repair damaged rooftops. Pickup trucks carted away things that couldn’t be salvaged.

Kai observed how the refugees worked together, learning a great deal about various dragon societies from all over the continent. The dragonkind web was just as complex here as it was in the east.

His thoughts and gaze constantly drifted back to Astred as she worked alongside the locals, listening and chatting, and eventually laughing alongside them as they relaxed in her presence.

She was just like any of them.

He grudgingly admitted to himself that he couldn’t regret his time with her, as the resentment of her rejection melted away.

The days since their unexpected reunion were giving him enough time to absorb and adjust, though it changed nothing between them, other than that he was letting go of the bitterness.

He’d seen enough of Aeleftherian machinations to understand the position she was in.

She belonged to her nation.

He’d never had any right to her—even had she wanted him, hybrid or not.

Astred was easy to love.

Her natural leadership ability had always been clear in the way that she interacted with her crew aboard the Crimson Claw. They loved her. They were her sisters even as she commanded them.

That same energy exchange was evident here too, even though she claimed no sovereignty over them. She treated them with the same respect that she did everyone else, and those around her subconsciously reacted to her natural power.

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