1. Aurum

One

"Dude, stop hiding my shit!"I griped.

Saffron sat back on his knees. He'd been organizing his DVD collection when I stormed in. He stared blankly, shooting me that oblivious look that he'd been giving me way too often lately.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Don't act dumb. My dye's missing."

He furrowed his brows. "Your dice set is literally on your desk, where it always is."

I wanted to smack my forehead.

"Not my die, as in dice," I corrected. "My dye. Like, my hair dye?"

Saffron shrugged. He picked up a pink DVD case with the word ‘love' in big letters. Another one of the million asinine romance movies in his hoard.

"I dunno what to tell you, dude," he said. "I didn't touch it."

"We share a bathroom."

"So?"

"You're the only other person who could've touched it," I argued.

Saffron snorted. "You know other people can just walk into it, right? It's not like, forbidden."

Frustration choked me up. This recent song-and-dance was already getting old. I hated arguing with Saffron. Why was it happening all the time lately?

"It was you. I know it was," I accused. "You were probably daydreaming about fated mates or something, knocked it off the counter, and didn't notice."

Saffron glared at me, his familiar golden eyes burning. He was sensitive about that topic. "Aurum, why are you making shit up? I told you, I didn't touch it. Why the hell would I move your dye?"

"I don't know," I grumbled.

To get back at me for... something,I thought. But I didn't say that.

He rolled his eyes. "See? You can't even think of a reason." He placed the DVD in its slot. "Was that all, or did you come in here to yell at me?"

"I'm not yelling at you," I grouched.

"Yeah, sure. And I don't own three copies of Love, Actually."

My mouth curled into a sneer. "Dude, that movie sucks. Like, why did that guy cheat on his wife? It's stupid. I wish she was a dragon so she could've just eaten him."

Saffron's lips curved into a matching smirk, but there was no accompanying laughter. Usually when I lovingly teased him about his hoard, he'd at least chuckle. Right now, he seemed too weary to deal with me, which upset me to the core. We were twins. We always had energy to deal with each other.

"Check the bathroom floor," Saffron suggested, turning his attention back to the shelf. "Your dye probably rolled under the counter."

My shoulders slumped. Now he was trying to get rid of me. He didn't even want to talk anymore?

"Fine, I see how it is," I muttered.

"Aurum, where are you going?" he called in frustration.

Twisting on my heel, I trudged into the hall. I abandoned the idea of checking the bathroom floor for my dye. Since Saffron and I shared an ensuite, I'd have to marinate in his bad vibes from the next room, which I couldn't tolerate for a second longer.

"Good morning, Aurum."

Jade's voice manifested like a ghost behind me. I jumped, clutching my chest to calm my heart palpitations.

"Dude, you scare people," I mumbled.

He smiled. "My apologies. I was simply walking down the hall when you stormed out of your room and cut me off."

I hadn't even seen him—but then again, I was too pissed off to notice anything. "My bad."

Jade tilted his head. "Speaking of your room, I heard a commotion inside. It sounded uneasy. Is everything all right?"

I grimaced. Jade was sharper than a cut diamond. Of course he'd heard. He must've heard Saffron calling my name, too. That explained why he knew it was me and not my twin.

"Nothing gets past you, does it?" I said under my breath.

He smiled without blinking. "No."

I glanced back at my bedroom door. To my credit, I didn't slam it or anything, so it was still ajar. But I didn't want Saffron to hear us talk. I waved Jade along and strutted down the hall.

"Hiding secrets?" Jade offered, keeping up the pace with his long legs.

I bristled. "No, I just want some damned privacy. Is that so wrong?"

"Not at all. But it is unusual."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Jade twisted two fingers together. "You and Saffron are like this. It's not characteristic of you to argue and keep secrets."

I bristled harder. The hairs rose on the back of my neck. "Gee, sorry I'm a three-dimensional person with feelings that can change."

Jade didn't react to my outburst. "You absolutely are. By the way, where are we going?"

I faltered and stopped walking. "Uh..."

"Away from Saffron?" Jade suggested.

"Pretty much."

"Would you care to talk about it?"

"Nope."

I took another step, stopped, then spun around to face Jade.

"Actually, yeah, I do. He's been off the rails lately. Like, just today, he hid my hair dye and now he's pretending he didn't," I went off.

When I didn't dye it, the color matched Saffron's hair exactly. We both had golden yellow hair like sunshine. Keeping mine dyed to a slightly darker shade was the only way anybody could tell us apart. I'd been doing it for so long, I couldn't remember when it started.

Jade glanced at my hair. "He hid your dye?"

"That's what I just said."

"Did you look—"

"Yes, I looked everywhere!"

That wasn't actually true. I did a brief check over the bathroom, but I was too annoyed to conduct a thorough search. Whatever. If it wasn't in its usual spot, and I didn't see it within five seconds, it was officially missing.

Jade shrugged it off. "If he did move your dye, I doubt it was out of malice. Perhaps he was organizing."

I seethed. The dye wasn't the point. It was the cherry on top of Saffron's shitty attitude lately.

"He's been like this since the Dragonfate Games started," I blurted angrily.

"Been like what?"

"He's just... different."

Jade's tone turned grave. "So, you're saying Saffron is a three-dimensional person whose feelings can change?"

Using my own words against me. He was making fun of me. Asshole.

Scowling, I stalked off in the opposite direction, away from all the brothers in my path. But Jade caught my arm. I tried to pull out of it, but his unassuming grip was ironclad. Damn, the book nerd was stronger than he looked.

"What, you have more sassy remarks to get off your chest?" I grumbled.

"Aurum. I know how much Saffron means to you," Jade said. "This ongoing drama must be affecting you deeply."

"Wow. Great insight, Dr. Phil."

"But this behavior has to stop. You're acting like a child in the throes of a tantrum."

"Oh, gods, no. Are you gonna send me to the ranch?"

Jade raised a pencil-thin brow. "What the devil are you talking about?"

His confusion gave me an opening to yank my arm free. Now that I wasn't in the snake's coils, I trudged away from him.

"I'll be here if you need to talk," Jade called pleasantly behind me.

My lip curled. I was so annoyed that my teeth shifted into fangs in my mouth.

That conversation left me more irate than before. I was not throwing a tantrum. Jade didn't get it. Nobody did. Yeah, we were all brothers and that was great, but Saffron was my twin. My other half.

And now I was losing him.

To the stupid-ass concept of fated mates.

My fists curled. My dragon claws shifted out, digging into my human skin.

We never argued before the Games. Not once. We got along better than anyone, and we were always there for each other.

But now, I felt lonely.

A hiss escaped through my fangs. I glanced down at my hands, then gasped. Blood ran down my palms. I'd accidentally pierced my skin with my claws.

"Shit," I muttered.

I turned to head for the bathroom where the first-aid kit was, but I didn't expect anyone to be behind me.

Saffron frowned in concern. To my surprise, he held cotton pads and a brown bottle in his hands.

I blinked at him. "How did you—"

"Twin magic," he said, grabbing my bloody hand. I couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "How the hell did you do this to yourself? Did you do it on purpose?" he demanded, voice sharper.

"No. It was an accident," I grumbled.

The air felt tense and awkward. We glared at each other silently as I let Saffron clean my wound.

"There," Saffron said curtly when he finished. Turning his back to me, he said, "I felt you hurting. So I came."

My chest tightened. He did care. I knew he did.

So why were we constantly fighting?

Two days later,I was invited to a bright and early meeting.

Translation: a miserable family gathering at the ass-crack of dawn, courtesy of Jade.

I slumped against the round table. I'd stayed up late playing video games to kill time, then passed out around 3 AM.

Did I know we had a meeting the next morning? Yeah, but it was hard to care. I needed a distraction from the ongoing crap in my life.

Crimson sat to my left. He wore his typical smart-ass smile. "Alone, eh? So, which one are you? Your hair's lighter, so... Saffron?"

"I'm Aurum," I spat.

He didn't mention the not-dyed hair, focusing instead on a different critique. "What's with the dark circles? Are you trying to copy Thystle's style?"

I groaned, planting my forehead against the table. "Shut up, Crimson."

"My dark circles are courtesy of make-up," Thystle chimed in from Crimson's left. "Natural dark circles are a bad thing."

I ignored them both. I was so exhausted, and I'd rather be anywhere else.

From the corner of my eye, I checked the seat to my right—Saffron's seat.

It was still empty.

I grimaced. We usually showed up to meetings together, but...

Still, it was weird that he was later than me. Our feelings and actions synced up a lot of the time, even without trying. The only other empty seat was Viol's, and that surprised nobody.

Where the hell was Saffron?

Jade checked his shiny silver watch, then sighed. "Does a start time mean anything anymore?"

Crimson huffed, leaning back in his seat and crossing his legs. He gestured at Thystle and Cobalt. "Three of us have young children and mates, yet we managed to arrive on time. What's Viol and Saffron's excuse?"

My first instinct was to bristle at Crimson insulting Saffron. But the feeling fizzled into a weird pit in my stomach. He was kinda right. Why should I stand up for Saffron when he was at fault?

The door flew open. My heart lifted for a second.

Then Viol sauntered in, his tight black leather outfit burning my eyes, and my heart dropped again.

"Yo," Viol said roughly.

"Good morning. You're late," Jade pointed out.

Viol scowled at the accusation, then dragged something in from the hallway. Except it wasn't something—it was someone.

Saffron staggered on his feet. His hair was mussed up, and the dark bags under his eyes were worse than mine.

Holy Drake, he looked like shit. So why the fuck was he smiling like a loon?

"Yeah, I'm late," Viol snapped, "'cause I grabbed this sunny asshole on the way here."

He suddenly turned his vitriolic glare onto me, like I'd done something wrong.

"What?" I asked.

"You didn't notice your twin was passed out on the couch, blasting romance movies on the TV at eight in the fucking morning?"

All eyes turned to me. I winced. The truth was, I hadn't noticed Saffron at all. Lately when we were in our room at the same time, I'd avoided looking at him, and he did the same. The shared room was divided into two sections beyond the common space, so it wasn't difficult.

"No?" I said defensively. "I was barely awake when I came here. Besides, it's not my responsibility to drag him along."

Everybody stared at me like I said I wanted a giant meteor to crash into the island.

"What?" I demanded.

Saffron was the only one not looking at me. But that didn't make me feel better, because he stared into empty space instead. He sighed wistfully, making googly eyes at absolutely nothing. Then he slid into the closest chair—the one next to Jade.

On the opposite end of the table.

Now everybody stared at him. Because we always sat next to each other. Always.

Viol slowly craned his neck at the empty chair beside me. He looked like he might explode. Wordlessly, he stalked over and sat down. He was taller than me, and his leather-adorned elbow intruded on my space, but I didn't dare suggest he move it out of fear of getting stabbed.

This was so wrong.

Jade cleared his throat like nothing happened. "Good morning, everyone! Glad to see you all present. I have exciting news to share."

"Are we playing fucking musical chairs?" Viol asked.

"No. This is better," Jade promised. "I've made a proposal, and received the green light for the premise of the next Dragonfate Games."

Cobalt furrowed his brow. "Premise?" he asked, confusion laced in his deep voice. "Isn't the premise already established?"

When Jade smiled, there was something sly and untrustworthy about it. Like he was scheming.

"Yes, but this time, we're changing up the formula," Jade explained. "Nothing like a fresh twist to liven up the show, hm?"

For the first time since arriving, Saffron snapped back to reality. "What is it?" he asked eagerly.

Jade caught my eye. I didn't know why, but my stomach sank.

"On the fourth season of the Dragonfate Games, there won't be an alpha dragon bachelor," he announced.

Saffron's shoulder slumped. "Huh?"

"What?" I asked at the same time.

Everyone was baffled. But Jade grinned like a snake about to devour a clutch of eggs.

I had a bad feeling about this.

"There won't be one bachelor... because this time, there will be two." He swept out his arms. "Saffron and Aurum will be our twin bachelors!"