Page 13 of Dragon's Revenge

“That you did.” Duff seemed to think for a moment. “I’m not proud of it, but I’ve received intel from King Cladhaire of the Doyle clan.”

That lying, traitorous son of a bitch. Rhene’s vision went red for a moment, and he balled his fists to get a grip on his temper. “Why does that not surprise me?”

“He’s an opportunist, that one.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Rhene said bitterly. “And if they give out awards for the world’s worst dad, he should get one. What man sends killers after his own son?”

“The worst father indeed, though for us, it only confirmed his moral failures.”

“Yet you went after Erwan and not him.”

“Your boyfriend—” Rhene shot him a dark look. “Excuse me,mateis rumored to be a white dragon. That made him our primary target. Taking him out would have been a huge win.”

Fuck, how could the man sit there so calmly and say that? “You do realize you’re talking about the man I love, right? That primary target, as you label him, is an amazing man, a wonderful mate, and the best brother, friend, and king you can imagine.”

“King?” Duff sat up straighter. “King of what?”

Shit, he didn’t know that either. Was Rhene overplaying his hand by sharing this much information? He was flying blind here. Duff had to have associates, even if they weren’t official dragon slayers, so was Rhene helping them get to the dragons? Strangely enough, his gut said to be open and honest with Duff. His wolf didn’t trust the man, but he also didn’t signal immediate danger, which was interesting considering Duff held Rhene prisoner.

“King of the Doyles.”

“King Cladhaire is dead?”

“Sadly, no, but he violated the Code, so Erwan started the True Doyle clan. That was made permanent at the Council last week, and his father and uncle were removed from power. So were the Murphys, by the way. King Ennis disbanded the Murphy clan.”

“What?” Duff dragged a shaky hand through his red hair. “What the hell happened?”

“King Ennis decided he’d had enough of the abuse the Murphy alphas were inflicting upon their poor omegas. And on everyone else, for that matter.” At the memory of what he’d seen there, Rhene’s blood started to boil all over again. “They had a fucking brothel at the Council. A brothel! And those poor omegas were forced to service anyone there.”

Duff clicked his tongue. “And that’s why I said they’re all evil. No honorable man would ever do that.”

“On that, we agree. No honorable dragon would do that, and I’ve met my fair share of dragons with no honor. But that doesn’t mean all dragons are evil. Those Murphy alphas? Absolutely. But not my mate or his brothers, and I’ve met some incredible dragon omegas as well.”

Duff harrumphed. “I bet you couldn’t even find ten honorable men among the lot.”

“Ten? How about twenty? At least.”

“Twenty?” Duff looked at him incredulously. “You really think you can find twenty dragons who haven’t violated the Code?”

An idea popped into Rhene’s head. “What if I can? Will you abandon your plans to destroy them all?”

“Not bloody likely,” Duff spat out.

“Why not? You said you wanted to destroy the dragons ‘cause they’re all evil, so if I prove to you some aren’t, why would you want to kill them anyway?”

Duff stared at him, his forehead wrinkled in concentration. How old was he anyway? Rhene estimated they had to be about the same age, with Duff maybe being a few years older. But he was still young—too young to harbor this kind of bitterness and hate.

“There was a man in South Africa a few years ago,” Duff finally spoke. “He found a hippo that had been abandoned by its mother, so he raised it. He fed it, had a lake dug where it could swim, and he’d go for swims with it. For many years, the hippo was his pet, his best friend. Until one day, it dragged him into the river and killed him.”

Rhene winced. What a horrible way to die. “What’s your point?”

“You can’t change the nature of a beast. Dragons may act civilized or even honorable for a little while, but at the core, they’re evil. They’re monsters, born to slay. That will never change. Sooner or later, their real nature will surface…and those who love them and thought they were loved in return will get hurt.”

ChapterSix

When Delton opened his door that morning, he wasn’t expecting to see Adar standing there. But he did, looking a little sheepish as he held out a bouquet of wildflowers. Pretty ones, too, in all colors of the rainbow. Lupines, different kinds of poppies, cosmos in bright pink and red, purple coneflowers, and even some gorgeous blue cornflowers. He’d tied them together with a pretty red ribbon—about the same color as the blush on his cheeks.

“I brought you flowers,” he said, holding them out to Delton, who took them automatically.

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