Page 24 of Bros Come Before Hordes
Chapter Five
Two Days until the Coronation
Still no sign of Léasor the seer or any fae. What was worse, from what I'd been hearing from my harem and my daily spying around the castle, dragon shifters were dropping like flies all over the dragon shifter land, unable to defend themselves without their monthly power surge against the still publicly unnamed threat.
These shifters were dead. Gone. Murdered, in much the same way the two at the Vivix building were.
Even more alarming than that, at least to me, was the increasing number of missing humans. And not just children either. While it was usually stovetops who kidnapped humans, they didn’t seem to know anything about this.
Twice as scary asthatwas the physical state of my harem. Their cheeks were sunken, and more and more shadows collected beneath their eyes. Still beautiful but growing weaker.
Plus, we still didn’t know what we were dealing with for sure since we didn't have any definitive proof we were at war with the fae.
I had to tell the stovetops something though.
“What do I say to them?” I asked, my voice trembling just as much as the rest of me.
"Just speak from the heart," Tavis assured me. "Do what you always do."
Except I couldn't because I'd never been queen.
My harem led me through the maze of halls that all looked exactly the same to me, all decked out in rich colors and finely carved wood. On the other side of an arched door, we strode into a large room made of stone. As we did, the temperature seemed to rise slightly and the dust motes floating in front of the windows cleared as if the room itself was responding to our presence.
A red carpet ran down the middle of the room flanked by several stone pillars with massive books on top, open to reveal their old, brittle pages. At the end of the carpet sat an ornate, high-backed throne.
The carpet silenced all of our footsteps, and even my own breaths seemed quieter, like the room itself rejected all noise. It was unnerving, and it seemed as though no one had come in here for hundreds of years. Maybe exactly one hundred, since that's how long they'd been without a queen.
Calhoun walked ahead of us and took the three steps up to the throne in one leap. "The throne's magic will broadcast your face and voice to all dragon shifters as soon as you're ready. When you get up, it stops."
My other two shifters paused at my sides and waved me onward.
Slowly, I climbed the steps, hugging my arms to the soft silk on my middle to hide my shudder. I wore a dress I’d found in my closet, sleeveless and rose gold and painstakingly detailed with tiny beads and sewn-in flourishes. I loved it, but I didn’t want to flaunt it.
The throne's magic touched the air with a bit of darkness, similar to how Léas herself felt at the full-moon ritual. I turned in front of it, letting the seat hit the backs of my knees, and then lowered onto it. The frigid stone seeped up through my dress and my bony ass within seconds.
"Comfy?" Tavis asked.
"Not at all," I admitted.
Calhoun touched my bare shoulder, his fingers gently massaging. "Lean back."
Tavis nodded. "Own it, Yara. Make that throne your bitch."
His two brothers leveled him with a glare as I sat back and felt the arctic cold wrap around me.
Once again, the temperature subtly rose around me, and the cold wasn’t quite so bad.
Vance edged in closer so the three of them stood at my sides. "Start talking whenever you're ready."
Nodding, I wondered again what to say. So I channeled the day Asa had been taken, the consuming panic and anger and drive to find him again. How I refused to fail despite the odds stacked against me. I needed that same feeling now so I could funnel it into my voice.
“There is a threat to dragon shifters, as I’m sure you’re all aware.” My voice ripped through the penetrating silence of the room, making myself jump a little. It sounded like me but also not like me, like I'd swallowed a megaphone whole. “While we investigate what that threat is, I urge you to stay home as much as you can. Lock the doors.” I debated whether to say the next part for only a second since my feelings sparked bitterly over my tongue. “Imagine you’re human children on the day after the full-moon ritual. Andhide. I’ll handle the rest.”
I stood quickly, ending the transmission or whatever, and turned to look at my harem. They stared in wide-eyed shock with hints of humor cupping their mouths.
"Is that it? Will they listen?" I asked.
Calhoun chuckled. "You're the queen, so they'd better."
