Timothy glared at the mirror as he shrugged on a shirt and buttoned it up.
There was more at stake than just his life.
A mysterious, fourth plinth had appeared in the council chamber. A plinth marked by the element of fire. Which meant that finally, a fire dragon had appeared who was master of the element itself.
It was that dragon who had to be their enemy. The most dangerous one out of the bunch that had recently reappeared.
And to defeat him, the council needed to be at its most powerful. Which meant that Timothy, as the last unmated council member, needed to be mated to access his full powers.
His phone flashed with new notifications from one of the many dating apps he’d installed, but he ignored it. Tonight, he’d try finding her the old-fashioned way. Surely she had to be out there somewhere.
Chapter Three: Liana
When they got out of the cab, he was already waiting for them.
Liana knew it was him the second she saw him. He was white, in his early thirties, with an easy smile and lightly tanned skin that made her think of island resorts and beach parties.
Her sister hadn’t lied: he was tall and handsome. His dark hair was just long enough to curl against his forehead, and he was wearing a black silk shirt and tight, dark designer jeans, which probably cost more than she earned in a month.
A guy like that would never look twice at her.
Even so, she got out of the cab in a daze, following along behind her sister as she went straight up to the sexy, mysterious stranger.
“Timothy! I’m so glad you made it. This is my sister, Liana.”
Liana stared at the man like a deer trapped in the headlights.
“Nice to meet you,” she said automatically, holding out her hand.
She couldn’t look away from his eyes. There was something strange about them. They were filled by a light she’d never seen before, blazing a deep, mysterious blue. It was like staring at the ocean on a sunny day, or like seeing
a jewel catch the light.
“Nice to meet you, Liana,” he said softly, taking her hand. “I’m Timothy Drago.”
Liana felt something inside her flutter, as if her heart had suddenly grown wings and wanted to escape her chest. For a moment, she couldn’t breathe.
All she could see was the blue of his eyes. They were the blue of a deep pool of water she was sinking into. She could hear the sound of waves lapping at the shore, the musical trickle of a waterfall...
She’d never felt anything like it before.
His handshake was firm, and his touch kindled a strange heat in her. It was like an electric shock ran from her hand through her entire body.
Have I seen him before? Is he some kind of celebrity?
She couldn’t look away from his eyes, and she only realized for how long she’d held on to his hand when her sister giggled behind her.
“Well, seems like you two hit it off. Shall we head in?”
“Who’s your sexy friend brooding over there?” one of Clairice’s friends asked teasingly. “Won’t you introduce us?”
Timothy blinked, as if he’d been just as lost in their encounter as Liana had been. Then he took a step back and nodded to a man Liana hadn’t even noticed.
“That’s Braeden. He’s, ah, not from here. He’s from... Iceland. Never left his sheep farm before, so everything here’s very new to him. Be kind.”
He winked at Clairice’s friends, who cooed in delight and had the stranger surrounded in seconds.
Which Liana was completely okay with, because that left her and Timothy without their audience.