To Enchant a Dragon by Amanda Milo Page 0,26

sibling for some reason.

It makes me feel sorry for Kalos, that he doesn’t enjoy the relationship with his brothers that I do with my sisters.

“What’s wrong?” Kalos whispers in my ear before he drags his face across the top of my head, rubbing my scent all over his scales.

That’s what he admitted to me one day, when I commented that he must love the feel of my hair. And he does, he confirmed—but it’s really my scent that he’s after.

When I swooned a little at the thought, I knew I was a goner for this dragon.

“Nothing,” I tell him. “I’m just… I feel a little bad for you that you haven’t experienced the sort of sibling relationship that I’m so glad I have. I’d want that for you, if I could make it happen,” I tell him.

Kalos, who had been leading me deeper into his parents’ den, stops walking, and his parents and his curious brother glance at us but they keep moving further into the cave, allowing us a moment of privacy. Kalos’s tail curls around my legs. “Adella, you have made it happen. You’ve given me seven crazy sisters.”

“Crazy!” I start to gasp—but at his don’t unicorn-shit me look, I give him a conciliatory nod. “All right, they are all a bit mental. I’m the normal one.”

“You are the exception,” Kalos agrees dutifully and loyally, warming my forehead with his hot breath and rough tongue—a dragon’s kiss. He draws my hairs out of his mouth and ties the loose strand around his claw for safekeeping. It’s sure to be added to his ball of hairs later. “Ready to get to know my lunatic family?”

“We can hear you,” Corfu calls.

“Ready to get to know my lunatic brother and drakon and my wonderful drakaina?” Kalos asks, louder.

“Better,” his drakaina calls back.

“Smooth,” his brother calls too.

“I’m moving out,” his sire announces tiredly. “Or I’m taking up drinking honey mead.”

“And how will you get that?” Corfu asks. “You’d have to sell a body’s worth of dragon blood to get ahold of any of that drink.”

“Surely we can sacrifice one of the children. Only one of them’s turned up mated. We have a whole clutch of spares, for Wyvern’s sake.”

“Oh all right,” Corfu agrees. “Bring me back some mead too, dear.”

Their playfully dysfunctional banter reminds me so much of my beloved sisters that I grin and grip Kalos’s face in my hands. “I can’t wait to get to know your family, my love.”

Kalos’s eyes are the deepest meadow-green. “Good.” He bites his lip, looking sweetly hesitant, his sharp teeth pillowed to perfection on his sexy lower lip. “And... if my family asks me what raw mermen taste like, could you grant me a favor and cover your ears?”

I groan into my hands, horrified to have every suspicion confirmed.

“Shh, shhhh,” Kalos soothes, nuzzling me a little frantically. “I made up for eating those males by gifting the cove with wereopossum and trolls! Everyone’s happy!” He winces a little and his big eyes blink at me imploringly. “Except for a couple mermen.”

I sigh and throw my arms around his snout. “You’re lucky that my sisters accepted your man-gifts.”

He sighs a huge puff of smoke and starts to snuggle deeper into my arms’ embrace. But then his whole body goes rigid.

And with dread, I can sense someone—no, something is behind me. Something huge.

“Kalos,” I whisper. “Is one of your nicer brothers behind me?”

“I don’t have any nice brothers,” Kalos warns, his voice dangerously low before he snatches me in his claws and drags me against his chest.

I glance over my shoulder to see another Crested Merlin, one even more frightening-looking than Kalos in his dragon form, if possible.

He fills up the whole opening to the cave, blocking our exit. Kalos’s frill starts to rattle along the edges, although it doesn’t extend in threat… Yet.

“Hi,” the dragon says. And then he smiles at us both and opens his hands to reveal a human woman dressed in animal skins and bone beads.

“You mated a human?” Kalos says in wonder.

“Don’t sound so shocked,” the other dragon huffs, fire streaking out from under his lips. He plants a hand protectively between his woman and us like he’s blocking Kalos’s disbelief from offending her. “Clearly, I’m not the only one who was touching people.” To me he says, “This is my beloved drhema, Nalle. I’m Halki.” He smirks down at her fondly. “Aren’t you lucky? You have yet another sister you can claim.”

Sister. It makes my heart jump to think that I suddenly have a brand new sister by marriage. And she looks nice enough. That, and she’s never stolen my combs or hogged my sunning rock. I like her best already.

I peel myself out of Kalos’s clutching grasp enough to wave to Nalle. “I’m Adella. And I’m actually a mermaid.”

“Really?” Nalle cries, looking amazed, shocked.

And wow, it’s nice to have someone react with something other than horror. I really like my new sister-in-law already.

But then her eyes widen and she whirls around, her hand flying to her dragon’s mouth, trying to cover it.

Halki easily speaks around her attempt though. He exclaims in wonder, “We just ate a merman!”

My mate’s tail claps against the cave floor and curls around me.

Nalle sucks in her lips, her gaze flying to mine. “We are so sorry, Adella. If we’d known, we never would have—”

“Don’t speak for me, woman,” Halki protests, eyeing me in a new way. “I regret nothing. That fish-man was delicious!”

I stare at him in stony silence.

Kalos nudges me with his nose and loudly whispers, “See?”

THE END ♥