Dragon's Heart Read Free Page B

the steps that led to Lester’s bedroom. It was at the end of a long, dreary hallway and much smaller than his brothers’. When he arrived, he found Duncan and Trent outside the bedroom door, engaged in a heated, whispered conversation.
    “What’s going on?” Mick demanded.
    “Nothing,” Duncan said, although the troubled expression in his eyes screamed that it was a big, fat lie.
    “Does it have something to do with Lester?” Mick pressed.
    “It’s really none of your business,” Duncan bit out.
    “If it concerns Lester, then it is,” Mick argued.
    “Just because you’re friends doesn’t mean that you have access to every part of his life.”
    “Maybe not, but as his newly appointed Guardian I do.”
    Mick watched as Duncan stewed over that one. Duncan turned to his mate Trent, who just gave a whatcha-gonna-do shrug, then turned back to Mick.
    “What I’m about to tell you can never leave this hallway,” Duncan said.
    “Got it,” Mick said.
    “One of the reasons that Trent thinks that Lester is so exhausted right now is that he inadvertently used magic to put a protection spell around you guys at the hospital.”
    Mick shook his head. Surely they were just playing games with him. “From what I heard, it takes major magical abilities to cloak one person, let alone a group of dragons. How would somebody with no training like Lester do that?”
    Trent got a grim look on his face. “He’s a lot more powerful than any of us ever realised. Does anyone have any idea who his mother was?”
    Duncan pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, Father just came home one day with Lester. He always refused to tell us who Lester’s mother was. Just that she was a sorcerer who wanted nothing to do with a bastard child.”
    The way Duncan bit out those words showed what he thought about the nameless woman. A feeling Mick strongly echoed.
    “Lester has had it really hard, huh?” Trent asked.
    “Hard doesn’t even come close to describing it,” Mick replied viciously. “You do realise that this hallway is the servants’ quarters, don’t you? Did you know that whenever there was a public function held here, Lester wasn’t allowed to show his face, lest he embarrass the Lady of the Dragons?”
    Trent glanced over at Duncan in shock. Duncan merely nodded to show that it was true.
    “Are things going to be the same now?” Mick dared to ask.
    “No, of course not. You know that Brian is nothing like our father was.”
    “Then why is Lester in that room?” Mick demanded, his voice shaking just a bit.
    “Because that’s where he went. Nobody had a chance to stop him. Once he wakes up, we’ll move him to somewhere more appropriate. We’ll make sure it has a room close by for you, too, since you’re his Guardian.”
    Shit! Mick hadn’t even thought of that. Now that he was Lester’s Guardian he’d be living at the farmhouse twenty-four/seven. Like it or not, he was about to live, breathe and eat Lester.
    “If you’ll excuse me, I need to check up on him,” Mick said.
    He slid past the pair and crept into the room. He found Lester sleeping on his side, the covers pulled up over his shoulders. He looked so peaceful and young that Mick was brought back to the times when they were kids, when magic and dragons didn’t matter. When all they cared about was friendship and having fun. Before real life and all that kind of crap had invaded and ruined things.
    Mick reached out to stroke Lester’s hair back. “I’ll protect you. I promise. Even if I have to die while doing so. You’ll stay safe, I swear it.”

Chapter Three
     
     
     
    Lester woke up in his old bedroom and it took him a few moments to realise why he was there. Then the previous day’s events came crashing down on him with a harsh reality and he sat up with a groan.
    Little had changed since he’d left. His room was as Spartan as ever. There was just a dresser in one corner and a simple bed. No toys or decorations for him. The only difference