Page 55 of Mikhail
Mikhail was confused now. “Then what isshe?”
“She’s a Thunderbird. I think that dragons can mate with other supernatural creatures because of the way our ancestors bonded to spirits in the sameway.”
That wasn’t possible. The Thunderbirds were extinct, weren’t they? Their father had made it his life’s mission to kill them to avenge the loss of his own father. But if there were still Thunderbirds alive, and one washere…
“Piper.” Mikhail’s gasp sounded more like a hiss than he meant it to. His brother tensed as he barred the path to thekitchen.
“Easy, brother, she’s not going to hurtyou.”
Mikhail curled his hands into fists. “She’s in the kitchen with mymate.”
“And Piper is perfectly safe,” Grigori promised. “Sit, and let me tell you all that’s happened since youleft.”
Mikhail reluctantly sat down and listened as his brother shared an almost unbelievable tale of how he’d met Madelyn when she’d discovered James Barrow’s old journal in a library in Russia. Then he explained what had happened that fateful night when their parents had died. Only Mikhail’s mother had survived the battle, and she’d lived long enough to tell Grigori and Rurik what had happened. Mikhail had known their father wasn’t perfect, but to learn that he had tracked down and killed the last mated Thunderbirds on earth, when they hadn’t even wanted to fight, left him feelingcold.
“It was Mother. She found Madelyn, who was just an infant at the time. Mother took her to safety before she died. It’s all connected. Don’t you see?” Grigori asked, his voice full of awe. “It wasfatethat bound our lives together. First as enemies, and now asmates.”
“How did Rurik take the news?” Mikhail knew how hotheaded their younger brother could be. It was a trait in battle dragons to act rashly and without thought. It usually kept themalive.
“He was hesitant at first, but when we had to face the Drakors, Madelyn killed all of them. You should have seen it. They were all circling around this high mountain and coming out of these caves. Madelyn came screaming down from the heavens in her bird form and created a sonic boom that crushed the mountain down on them. I’m just glad that battle was in rural Russia or else the damned Brotherhood of the Blood Moon would be knocking on our door.” Grigori chuckled as though recalling some memory. “After that, Rurik became a fan.” It pained Mikhail to know he’d missed out on so much of his brothers’lives.
“So,” Grigori said, focusing on him again. “Will you come home,brother?”
It was what he’d hoped to hear from his father, but he never would. Forgiveness from a dead man was not something he could everget.
“I still need to talk to Piper. She’s only just become a dragon. This is all new to her. She’ll need time to reorganize her life. She might not want to move to Russia. So until she decides, I’ll go where shegoes.”
Grigori nodded. “Wise answer. A good dragon puts his mate’s needs above his own.” It was something their father had said over and over again, a code he’d lived by, except the night he’d gotten himself killed, dooming their mother in theprocess.
“I’m sorry I didn’t reach out,” Mikhail said, his voice a little rough as long-buried emotions began to claw back to thesurface.
“I know,” Grigori replied. “I’m sorry too. Father put so much emphasis on duty, you never had a chance to learn that life was also about love and joy.” Mikhail had never seen his brother like this before. Grigori’s eyes were soft as he spoke. He had always been hard and strong, like their father, but now he seemed strong in a different way. More like theirmother.
“You’ve changed.” Mikhailsmiled.
“We both have.” Grigori glanced over his shoulder toward the kitchen. “Finding one’s mate is like learning to fly for the first time. Excitement, fear, joy, love, and exquisitepleasure.”
His brother had summarized it perfectly. Finding Piper, loving her, and almost losing her had shown him just what he’d missed out on by hiding away. He’d lost Elizabeth, and that had almost destroyed him. But Piper had savedhim.
“How did you do it?” Grigori asked quietly. “How did you turn her into adragon?”
“I’m not sure. It all happened so fast. Piper leaped in front of Sinclair’s blade and…” The words died on his lips. It took a moment to compose himself. “She was dying in my arms, and I heard a voice that told me I needed to give her a dragon’sheart.”
Grigori frowned. “A dragon’sheart?”
“Yes, but not an actual heart. The Dragon Heart Stone. A fist-sized ruby that was imbued with magic.” He curled his fingers into a fist, remembering how it had felt to hold the ruby and feel the power surging through it into Piper. “I held her as she breathed her last, and then the stone exploded with power and turned to dust. There must have been a dragon’s soul sleeping in there, one that bound itself to Piper. I can’t think of any other explanation, but I’ve never heard of such a thing before, haveyou?”
“The Dragon Heart Stone,” Grigori mused, his blue eyes serious. “I remember Father telling us about it, how even the Belishaw clan feared to keep it in their possession. Yet none knew what power it held. But if this is true, if it did hold a sleeping dragon’s soul, then it might not be the only stone out there with such powers. You remember our uncle, Vasili? He was searching for the Heart of Sorrows, a sapphire the size of an apple. What if it holds a similarpower?”
“Did he find thestone?”
Grigori shook his head. “His mate died while they were exploring the Alps together, and he passed away shortly after her and failed to discover its location. We never found either of them. Father believed they were buried beneath snow after theyperished.”
For a long moment neither brother spoke as they thought of all the dragons longgone.
Then Mikhail smiled as a new thought occurred to him. “You and Rurik never got to see the hoard I was supposed to bring home all those years ago. Do you want to seeit?”
Grigori shook his head. “Better not. I would end up spending all night counting pearls, and my lovely wife would beupset.”
