Zane returned to their office and handed Ellery a steaming cup. He sipped it gratefully and was glad the day was nearing its end. Ellery and Chrysander didn’t have any plans for the evening and though they were still at a hotel, it would be nice to just relax and do nothing.
“Elf?”
“Yes?” Ellery asked as he took a large gulp of his beverage.
“I just got an email from King George Starndraconis. Harry has finally met with a representative from the Spectra Wizardry to have his blood drawn.”
Refusing to get angry over the man who’d abandoned him before his birth, Ellery continued to fill himself with caffeine as he pondered his future. “I suppose it will not be long before we know if he is truly my father or not.”
“Vadimas is going to move fast to get those results to you.”
Prism Wizard Vadimas Porfyra was becoming a good friend to Ellery, as he was close to the D’Vaires. Ellery made every effort to get to Court D’Vaire as often as his schedule allowed. Not only were they kind and welcoming, King Aleksander had granted Tiri the use of his last name since the Sprite Grove he’d left hadn’t given him one. Not once since that day had Aleksander tried in any way to use that to garner attention from the royal family. They’d picked the right king to help Tiri.
“It will be nice to have the truth one way or another,” Ellery said once he’d gathered his thoughts. He set down the now-empty mug of coffee, amazed that he’d guzzled the whole thing down so fast.
“Do you still feel like it’s probably the right guy?”
“I do. I cannot give you any evidence to back that up, but something inside me says he is the one.”
“You have a list of questions put together for him yet?”
For a fraction of a second, Zane’s image wavered, and the air around Ellery was growing warmer. He wasn’t sure if he was imagining things or not, but the room was getting hotter by the minute. “I have not written anything down,” Ellery confessed as he tried to stay on topic. Lights danced in his vision and he grabbed the edge of his desk. “Um…just stuff in my head.”
Zane’s eyebrows snapped together, and he got up to move closer to Ellery. “Are you okay?”
Sweat pooled, then dripped down Ellery’s back as he wondered what the hell was happening to him. His vision went almost brutally into sharp focus and returned to normal only seconds later. Before he could adjust to that, it happened again and he grew faint. One thing was for certain, whatever was happening to him, he didn’t want to worry Zane. His muscles trembled but he forced himself to meet the Ducblanc’s worried gaze. “I am fine.”
“Your eyes. Why do they keep switching to your dragon counterpart?”
His skin stretched and when he looked down, scales danced down his arms as Ellery shakily got to his feet. He had no idea what was wrong, but his dragon was suddenly trying to get out. “I am fine.”
“You already said that. Your face is pale, and your eyes are still going back and forth.”
Ellery couldn’t explain because he didn’t understand it himself, but he had no time to chat. His beast wasn’t going to be denied, and he tried not to panic as he wondered what to do. When his bones started to elongate he knew he had no choice. “I have to go.”
The words didn’t come out normally. It was more gravelly than his regular voice, and he lisped around his fangs. His hands came off the desk, and the dragonskin of his shoes tore as they could no longer contain his changing form.
“Elf! What the fuck? What do you mean?”
There was no option for Ellery but to remove himself from the office before his dragon took over. All the training he had to keep himself in elven form wasn’t working, and his beast would not be denied. With a helpless glance at the panicked Ducblanc, Ellery turned swiftly and dove through the large plate-glass window behind him. His body contorted and his clothing tore as he shifted from elf to beast. He could hear Zane screaming at him to get back in the building, but Ellery couldn’t control anything.
Fire shot out into the sky and it took Ellery several seconds to realize it was coming from him. He soared up above the building as his mind battled between the rational elven side and the dragon who relied solely on instincts. Both sides were scared, and they wanted their mate. Trying to keep himself from plummeting to the ground, Ellery did his best to get to the roof of the large tower that housed his office. He needed firm ground underneath him, so he could return to his normal body. His beast was having none of it, and he battled valiantly, knowing there was no way he could be the victor.
Chapter 8
Chrysander was relieved that it was finally Friday. Ahead of him was a weekend with absolutely nothing on the schedule but to check on the progress of the construction of his home. He had every intention of taking advantage of the rare time off to spend as much of it with Ellery as he could manage. The thought made him smile, and he lifted his hand to cover it. Sitting in a meeting while other Council leaders droned on about a bill that no one was going to pass, Chrysander doubted it was appropriate to grin while Alpha Barstow Panthera bickered with the chieftain of the Tristis elves.
Silence finally settled over the room, and Chrysander opened his mouth to speak but behind him Costas loudly barked, “He didwhat?” into his communication device.
Turning his head to figure out what was upsetting the Royal Duke, Chrysander furrowed his brow. On his other side, Damian laid a hand over his shoulder. “Your Majesty, I’m afraid there’s an emergency.”
Chrysander lifted his gaze to his brother’s, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the mixture of emotions in his dark eyes. There was surprise, but what made his blood go cold was the fear. Little ruffled Damian’s feathers, so whatever news caused Costas’s outburst, it had to be bad. “Excuse me, we’ll have to reschedule,” Chrysander commented to the group of men and women staring at him quizzically as he got to his feet.
“It took us a week to coordinate everyone’s schedule, we need to set a new date and time now,” the leader of the jaguars insisted.
Damian clutched Chrysander’s arm and steered him toward the exit. “His Majesty has an emergency,” he shot out. Costas was just behind Chrysander and put a hand on his back.
“But—”
