The Dragon Kings' Forbidden Witch

Draeven said nothing.

Kaelen smirked. ”Speak for yourself.”

”You summoned her to your chambers,” Thorne said flatly. ”Don’t pretend you’re not interested.”

Kaelen’s smile widened. ”I was curious. I wanted to see what made her so special that our dear brother couldn’t stop staring.”

”And?” Thorne’s gaze was sharp. ”What did you find?”

Kaelen’s expression shifted...something darker, hungrier. ”She’s... responsive. Beautifully so.”

Draeven’s jaw clenched. ”You bastard.”

”I didn’t force her,” Kaelen said, his tone light. ”She came willingly.”

”Because you ordered her to.”

”And you didn’t?” Kaelen raised an eyebrow. ”You summoned her to your chambers too, brother. Twice. What were you trying to find out?”

Draeven didn’t answer.

Thorne’s gaze flicked between them. ”This isn’t about what we want. This is about why we want it.”

”Does it matter?” Kaelen asked.

”Yes.” Thorne’s voice was firm. ”Because in two hundred years, none of us have felt this. Not once. Not for anyone.”

The silence that followed was heavy.

Draeven stared at the fire, his fists clenched.

Thorne was right.

He’d bedded women before. Hundreds of them. Beautiful, powerful, clever women who had wanted him for his title, his power, his body.

But he’d never wanted them.

Not the way he wanted her.

”So what do you suggest?” Kaelen asked, his tone mocking. ”We all sit around and discuss our feelings?”

”I suggest,” Thorne said quietly, ”we find out what makes her different.”

Kaelen’s smile turned sharp. ”And how do you propose we do that?”

Thorne’s gaze was steady. ”We test her.”

Draeven’s eyes snapped to him. ”What?”

”We find out why she draws us. Why we can’t stop thinking about her. Why our instincts are screaming that she’s...” Thorne paused. ”....important.”

”And how do we test her?” Draeven asked, his voice tight.

Thorne was silent for a moment.

Then Kaelen laughed....low and dark.

”Oh, I think we all know how,” he said, his pale eyes gleaming.

Draeven turned to him, his expression thunderous. ”Don’t....”

”What?” Kaelen’s smile was sharp. ”You were thinking it too. Don’t pretend you weren’t.”

”That’s not....”

”Isn’t it?” Kaelen pushed off the mantle and crossed to Draeven. ”You want to know what makes her special. You want to know why you can’t stop thinking about her. There’s only one way to find out, brother.”

Draeven’s jaw tightened.

Thorne spoke, his voice quiet. ”He’s not wrong.”

Draeven looked at him sharply. ”You can’t be serious.”

”I am.” Thorne’s gaze was steady. ”If she’s... what the prophecy speaks of, we’ll know. Our blood will know.”

”And if she’s not?”

”Then we’ll know that too.”

Draeven stood, pacing. ”This is insane.”

”Is it?” Thorne tilted his head. ”Or is it the only logical solution?”

”She’s a servant,” Draeven said, his voice strained. ”We can’t just....”

”Can’t we?” Kaelen’s tone was light. ”She’s already in the palace. Already in our orbit. Already...” He smiled. ”Already responsive.”

Draeven turned on him. ”Was that what you were trying to find out when I caught you almost fucking her in your chambers?”

Kaelen’s smile didn’t falter. ”I was conducting research.”

”You were being a bastard.”

”Same thing.”

Thorne stepped between them. ”Enough.”

He turned to Draeven, his expression serious. ”I know you don’t like this. But we’re running out of time. The curse is worsening. The council is breathing down our necks. And if there’s even a chance that she’s the one...”

”We don’t know that,” Draeven said.

”No. But we can find out.” Thorne’s voice was firm. ”And we need to. Before someone else does.”

Draeven’s fists clenched. ”What are you suggesting?”

”I’m suggesting,” Thorne said carefully, ”that we bring her closer. See how she reacts to us. To our presence. To...” He paused. ”To everything.”

”You mean seduce her,” Draeven said flatly.

”I mean test her,” Thorne corrected. ”If she’s the one the prophecy speaks of, her body will respond to us in ways she won’t understand. Ways she can’t control.”

Kaelen’s smile widened. ”Now that sounds interesting.”

Draeven turned away, running a hand through his hair. ”This is wrong.”

”Is it?” Thorne asked quietly. ”Or is it the only way to save us all?”

Draeven didn’t answer.

Because deep down, he knew Thorne was right.

They were running out of time.

And if Morgana was the answer....if she was the one who could break the curse, the one whose blood called to theirs....

Then they had to know.

No matter the cost.

”Fine,” Draeven said, his voice tight. ”But we do this carefully. We don’t force her. We don’t hurt her.”

”Agreed,” Thorne said.

Kaelen shrugged. ”I can be gentle. When I want to be.”

Draeven shot him a look. ”You’d better be.”

Kaelen’s smile was sharp. ”Or what?”

”Or I’ll kill you.”

”You’re welcome to try.”

Thorne stepped between them again. ”This only works if we’re united. If we work together.”

Draeven’s jaw tightened. ”And if she refuses?”

”She won’t,” Kaelen said confidently.

”You don’t know that.”

”Don’t I?” Kaelen’s pale eyes gleamed. ”She’s already drawn to you, Draeven. I saw it in your chambers. The way she looked at you. The way she trembled when you got close.”

Draeven’s chest tightened.

”And she responded to me,” Kaelen continued. ”Even when she was afraid. Even when she hated herself for it.”

”That doesn’t mean....”

”It means,” Thorne interrupted, ”that there’s something between us and her. Something neither she nor we fully understand.” He looked at both of them. ”And we need to find out what it is.”

Draeven exhaled slowly.

”When?” he asked.

”Soon,” Thorne said. ”But carefully. We can’t rush this.”

”I can be patient,” Kaelen said, though his smile suggested otherwise.

Thorne’s gaze was steady. ”We all can. Because if we’re wrong about her, if we push too hard...”

”We’ll lose her,” Draeven finished.

”Yes.”

The three of them stood in silence, the weight of what they were planning settling over them.

Finally, Kaelen spoke, his tone lighter.

”Well then,” he said, raising his glass. ”To discovery.”

Draeven didn’t toast.

But he didn’t argue either.

Because deep down, beneath the guilt and the fear and the doubt....

He wanted to know.

Needed to know.

What it was about Morgana that made his blood burn.

And he’d do whatever it took to find out.