Twin Dragons

Loch pulled my hand toward the green flame. I struggled, kicking and screaming, but he refused to let go.

“What the hell are you doing?” I shouted in terror. “Is this about stealing the watch? I swear I won’t do it again. I swear! Just, please, don’t burn me!”

“It must be done, Maddie,” Hael said calmly. “It’s the only way to know for sure.”

“Know what?” I cried out. Why were they doing this?

The green flames swayed wildly in the fire pit as Loch shoved me in front of it.

I stared into its depths, and my heart slowed its frantic rhythm. I stilled in Loch’s arms, captivated by the flames.

Even though I was afraid, I couldn’t look away.

The heat was oddly soothing, and the flames felt inviting, even though that seemed absurd.

Loch lunged forward with my arm in his grip and sent it straight into the flames.

I screamed, imagining my flesh burning off and the horrible scars I would bear as a result of the brothers’ twisted game, but to my surprise…

Nothing happened.

I watched as my sleeve burned and the charred cloth drifted to the bottom of the fire pit, but my skin, still extended in the flames, was miraculously unharmed.

“See, brother. Not a single burn on her,” Loch droned smugly. “Do you believe me now?”

Hael’s usually stoic expression was replaced by a stunned one.

“This changes things,” he muttered.

I pulled my arm from the flames and struggled out of Loch’s grasp. I stumbled backward, forgetting how drunk I was.

“Changes things?” I echoed. Did these lunatics even care that I was here? Was this just another one of their games?

“She’s not yet seventeen, Loch. We can’t expose her to our customs. Not yet. She’s not ready.”

“Don’t sulk, brother,” Loch replied. “You know what this means.”

I tried to focus as I looked back and forth between the two brothers, but my vision blurred, and what they were saying didn’t make sense.

Hael scoffed and pointed at me. “Does she look mature enough to handle us to you? Maybe one of us, but both?”

“Oh, no. No. You two…you two ~psychos~ better stay away from me,” I warned them, wobbling back and forth.

I looked at my arm and the missing sleeve of my dress. “You can’t just go around throwing girls into fires. That’s not nice.”

Loch and Hael grinned at each other.

~Wait…~

I glared at my arm again. At my unburned arm.

~Why the hell didn’t I burn?~

~I was set on fire, and I’m fine…~

“What kind of magic trick was that?” I asked accusingly, pointing to the fire. “Is this how you two try to seduce girls? News flash—magicians don’t make us horny.”

Loch suddenly gripped my waist and pulled me until I was flush against his chest. I found myself staring deeply into his emerald-green eyes, hypnotized by their depths.

“Okay then, street rat, tell us. What does make you horny?” he said, flicking his tongue like a lizard.

“I-I…uh…I’m not sure yet,” I stammered, my cheeks flushing red from more than just the alcohol.

The truth was that I was a virgin. I had no idea what turned me on.

Though, over the past few days, ever since I came in contact with the brothers, I’d definitely felt…something. Was it arousal? At times, I thought it might be. But then, it also felt like…more… Yeah, just ~more~.

As the Dobrzyckas stared at me, I was nervous they could read it on my face, and it embarrassed the hell out of me.

~Why do I care so much if they know about my virginity? Or how much I’m attracted to them?~

“Loch, this is distasteful,” Hael said, shaking his head. “She’s clearly not ready. This is all your fault.”

~Not ready for what?~

“Don’t spoil my fun, Hael. I hardly see how this is my fault. She practically fell into our laps.”

“Yes,” Hael said with a sigh, rubbing his temple, “and now we’ll have to be in constant contact with her, despite the timing being completely wrong.”

Loch pulled me closer to him. “She just needs a bit of training. We’ll ~whip~ her into shape.”

~Whip?~ Why was there such emphasis on that word?

I tried to pull out of Loch’s arms, but he just held me tighter.

He stroked his hand down my bare arm, and I immediately felt something shift inside me. Settle. Like it needed his touch to calm down.

“See her reaction to me?” Loch said. “We can work with this.”

Hael shook his head. “She’s not ready.”

“So you’ve said,” Loch replied with a shrug. “So, we’ll dip our dicks elsewhere until she is.”

I bristled at this, feeling the same jealousy rise up in me that appeared when the blonde bitch bragged about sleeping with both of them.

“Those days are over, brother, or have you forgotten the rules?” Hael replied.

I felt Loch deflate behind me, but he still didn’t remove his arms from around me.

“Well, fuck. What do you suggest we do then?”

“I’m still deliberating,” Hael responded.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” I shouted out, but either they didn’t hear me or they were purposely ignoring me.

“I need more time,” Hael continued. “But until I say so—no one touches her.”

“She’s not only yours,” Loch growled, pushing me away from him to pace in a tight circle.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was acting…territorial. Like an animal defending its claim.

“I’m the eldest by birth—even if it is by minutes—and you’re far too headstrong to make these kinds of decisions,” Hael said.

“Fuck off, Hael,” Loch shouted. “I don’t answer to you. I never have, and I never will.”

“If you insist on being childish, brother…” Hael stomped his foot, and a crack appeared in the stone under his shoe.

I looked up, and there was a ripple along the surface of Hael’s skin. The light shifted, and his skin tone looked like it changed…but, that would be impossible, right?

I looked at Loch’s hands…were those, scales?

“Wh-what’s going on?”

Loch turned to me and pulled me back in his arms. I immediately calmed at his touch.

He leaned close and whispered into my ear. “Don’t worry, little street rat virgin. We’ll teach you everything you need to know.”

~Sometimes it really does feel like they can read my mind.~

I pulled out of Loch’s embrace—God, those arms were huge—and stepped backward.

“I know one thing,” I said, my words slurred and difficult around my tongue. “Calling me street rat won’t get me in your bed.”

I was too inexperienced for this, and even more, I was too damn drunk.

These two men made my head swim, and it had already been doing laps before all the sexy talk.

I needed to sit down…

“Maddie, watch where you’re—”

Hael tried to warn me, but it was too late. My heel caught on a stone dragon carving, and I tilted back until my head hit the ground.

Everything went dark.

***

~Thump.~

~Thump.~

~Thump.~

~I knew I was probably dreaming, but as I wandered the corridors of a magnificent, glittering emerald palace, I didn’t want to wake up.~

~I didn’t know if it was my heart beating out of excitement or something else, but a soft thumping noise reverberated inside me with every move I made.~

~A palace this size must’ve had a treasure vault, and I intended to find it.~

~I came to a corridor filled with flames, and I confidently walked through them unscathed.~

~Maybe this wasn’t a dream after all because, seemingly, I could do that in real life too.~

~I kept walking until I reached a giant wall covered in scales. But why scales?~

~They twitched at my touch, and something slithering underneath the scales directed me to a secret opening in the wall.~

~I crawled through the opening and found myself exactly where I’d hoped.~

~There was treasure everywhere, from floor to ceiling.~

~I could’ve filled a swimming pool with the number of gemstones within this room.~

~Thump.~

~Thump.~

~THUMP.~

~The noise was getting louder, but I didn’t care.~

~I collapsed into a pile of pearls and sighed as I imagined running away from Requiem City with my friends and never looking back.~

~The room started to get hazy as the treasure began sinking into the floor.~

~I’d let reality sink in, and now I was sinking away too.~

***

Thump. Thump. THUMP.

CRASH!

I jolted awake, once again finding myself in Loch’s bed, though this time I was thankfully clothed.

There was a massive commotion on the roof above me. It sounded like a freaking dinosaur, maybe even two of them, but that would be insane.

Either way, the whole penthouse was shaking, and I wasn’t about to stick around for the roof to cave in on me.

I jumped out of bed, despite nursing a hangover, and ran into the empty living room.

Where were Loch and Hael?

The commotion suddenly stopped, and I took a deep breath.

~Ugh~, what was that? It must’ve been construction. Those assholes always make the most noise in the morning.

I allowed myself to relax for all of two seconds until I remembered Darshan.

~Why was I such a mess last night? Why am I still here and not at the residential center with him?~

I whipped out my phone and started typing.

Maddie

Did darshan come home last night

Harry

Uh yeah

Harry

And he didn’t come home alone either

Harry

😏

Maddie

Wait what do u mean?

Harry

He brought home a GIRL, Mads

Harry

Can u believe it?

Harry

Our little dar is growing up

Harry

😭

Maddie

OMG i missed this??

Harry

She was disabled too I think

Harry

He met her at that party

Harry

So cute

Harry

Where are u btw? u get sum ass too?

Maddie

Ugh no, i’ll explain later

Maddie

I just wanted to check on dar

Maddie

But it sounds like he was taken care of

~Damn, get it, Darshan.~

At least someone was getting it.

I, on the other hand, just kept waking up in Loch’s bed after getting wasted.

But this morning I was lucky enough to be alone, so I decided I’d better book it before anyone got home.

My fingers danced over trinkets lining shelves and tables, but for some reason, I didn’t feel compelled to try to take any.

I stopped in front of one particular statue. It was a dragon, about the size of my head. It was curled around something, almost protectively. I ran my fingers along its spine, and I could’ve sworn it felt hot to the touch even though the stone looked cool.

I leaned closer to see what the dragon was guarding.

Was that…was that a person?

I pulled my hand back as if burned and ran for the elevator, frantically pressing the button.

As I waited for it to arrive, I examined myself in the mirror.

My dress was a mess from where the fire had burned off an entire sleeve.

Oh, I hadn’t forgotten the fire, and I was still freaked out about what I remembered from last night.

But that was nothing compared to what I was looking at right now…

~What.~

~The.~

~HELL?~

On the back of my shoulder, where my dress had burned, was a mark—

A tattoo of two dragons, intertwined.