Page 62 of Under the Dragon's Spell
"Forgive me my rudeness, Mother. I suppose I don't react well to displays of antagonism toward my mate."
"I apologize for that, although I still think that you're making the wrong decision."
"Because I'm trying to bond him to me?"
Her expression grew hard. "I knew it would eventually come to this the moment I learned of his abilities. I'll admit that I didn't think it would happen so quickly."
"What is your problem, Mother? I can easily share my strength with him; I have enough of it."
"I'm trying to protect you, son. There's no upside to this for you. His life might get longer, but yours will get shorter. There's a reason our kind has stopped seeking out our fated mates. I had to learn that, too." Her voice grew bitter.
"What happened between you and Father has nothing to do with Adrian and me."
"You're being foolish."
"And you have never been able to stop me from doing foolish things before, what makes you think today should be different?"
She sighed. "Do what you will. But know that you're breaking your mother's heart."
My mother definitely had a penchant for the melodramatic today, but it wasn'therheart I was worried about right now, so I took out my cell phone and put in my brother's number. I hadn't talked to him in years, so his voice sounded foreign to me when he answered the call.
"Vossman," he said, picking up the phone. He'd taken my father's last name, as if to cut ties with the dragon side of the family completely.
"It's Tyrel."
The other end of the line was silent for a moment. "Ty? Is that really you?"
I suppressed a chuckle at the clear surprise in his voice. "It is."
"Oh wow. I didn't even think you had my number. Wait, is something wrong with Mother?"
"No, nothing wrong with her, aside from the fact that I'm apparently breaking her heart."
"That makes two of us."
Oh yes, he was constantly breaking Mother's heart. Mostly by choosing to live in the human world. Honestly speaking, I don't know how he did it, hiding his dragon form away for so long. The few weeks I'd spent across the sea had been enough to make me long for home.
"To what do I owe the honor of your call, brother?"
"I need to talk to Father."
Another moment of silence. It seemed I was full of surprises today. "What do you want from him?" Kylan's voice turned suspicious. "If you only want to rage at him again, he really doesn't need that."
"Nothing of the sort. I promise," I added, feeling silly. "I need his help with something."
Kylan laughed. "Never thought I'd see the day you'd ask help from a human."
"Believe it or not, I'm in love with one."
More silence. I must really be rattling my poor brother—and getting entirely too much satisfaction out of it. "You what?"
"Could I have father's number now? It really is rather urgent." I only had to picture Adrian in his hospital bed to give my voice a sharp edge.
"Okay. He's at work now, but you can try." He gave me a number and I wrote it into Mom's address book.
"Thank you."
"You should call more often, Ty. Good luck with your human." With that, he hung up.
