Chapter 1

Chapter

One

" H ey, guys. Check this out." Corbin called him and Cullen over, so Cosmo dutifully went with it, leaving his paintbrush balanced on the can of purple paint he was using to coat the gate. He loved the southwest tradition of using that color to ward off evil spirits, and he figured Pagosa Springs qualified as southwest.

Right?

"What's up, bro?" Cosmo asked, coming to peer over Corbin's shoulder. Or around it. The jolly fucking green giant was hard to see over. They might be triplets, but he was pretty sure they were fraternal. One way or the other, Corbin took after their dad.

"I'm growing gooseberries, raspberries, and wild strawberries."

"Yay. That bodes well for jelly in late summer, hmm?" And mixed berry pies. He did love those. Or cobblers. Uhn.

"It does." Corbin beamed at him. And we'll have rose hips too. For tea and jelly. This place is really amazing. I mean, it's been abandoned for a bit, but the plants and soil were just waiting for someone to come along and love them again." Corbin turned back to his plants, waving his hands at them.

"Cool." He felt that way about the house proper. It went deep into the mountain now, and there was a way, if one knew how, to get to the land across the veil, both the dragon dimension of Lunastra and the Land of Summer.

And since he and his brothers were both half dragon and half fae… Well, this house was the perfect gateway between all the worlds. This was their place. Their calling.

"Neat." Cullen flicked a hand and an illusion of a shower of rose petals floated through the air. "I love rose hip jelly."

Cosmo chuckled and shook his head, swallowing his jealousy. He had skills, sure, but they weren't as impressive as Cullen's. "Show off."

"For all the good it's done me," Cullen scoffed.

He shook his head. "Your damn illusion talent has saved our bacon more than once." Not too long ago, they'd all worked for an alpha dragon named Gavin, doing rescue for dragons and other folks who needed their special skills. And Cullen's talent came in very, very handy. Way more in that profession than his and Corbin's.

"Yeah. It's weird, isn't it? Being…here?" Cullen had been the one that was most worried about ending up in the Halloran house. This house had a reputation.

Dragons had died here.

Been murdered here.

It was more than a little "weird."

"It's our job to make it not strange," Corbin said, stroking the leaves of a plant, which rose up toward his touch. "And you guys are doing amazing on the house and the porches and all. I love the purple."

"We're trying." They had also called upon Lady Arian to come and bless the house, to clear some of the energy in it.

"Mmm." Cullen shrugged, looking dubious. "There are still a few rooms I don't love."

"Then they need more cleansing. Cosmo?" Corbin looked at him.

"Yeah. I'll have to see what I can do…" He wasn't the best at this, but he had a little talent in his own way, and he was awfully available.

"Cool. That's settled then." Corbin turned back to his plants, and Cosmo chuckled, moving over to pick up his paintbrush.

The moment he touched it to the gate, he felt the lightning sensation running up his arms and into his brain that meant he was about to have a vision. Crap. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out, and he knew he was going down.

This was a doozy.

A huge black shadow covered the sky, a streak of fire splitting the air and setting the world alight. He ducked, knowing if that fire touched him it would burn him alive.

He tried to call a warning to his brothers, but nothing would come out. Just white noise.

He shook his head, wanting to ward it off by running into the house, but something kept pulling him toward the sky.

There was nothing he could do, nothing at all. The dragon was reaching for him, the huge beast relentless, claws outstretched.

"Cosmo!" Corbin's big, booming voice reached him through the fog, those hard hands on his shoulders. "I got you, bro. Come on. You're scaring us."

He snapped back to the present, choking on his own spit a little.

"What the hell?" Cullen asked him. "You were foaming."

He shook his head, trying desperately to warn them, to breathe, but he couldn't quite make his brain work.

"Inside," Corbin barked, and Cullen helped lift him and carry him in, wrapping him in a blanket so he could stretch out on the couch. His lips felt numb. Who was that and why was he, because it was a big male alpha dragon, no doubt, after them?

"Brother. Brother, we're good. We're good. Don't panic, please." Cullen sounded worried, like he was panicked himself.

He sucked in a deep breath, then let it out. "I saw a huge male dragon. He was flying over the house, and I felt this pull, as if he was trying to get us to come out so he could flame us."

"It was a fire dragon?" Corbin asked.

"Yes. A giant one. Old. Older than Gavin, maybe."

"Why would he come after us?" Cullen asked.

"Because we guard the veil?"

"It could be, but no one knows we're here yet, right? Just the clutch." Corbin waved toward the hallway that led to Lunastra and Gavin and Austin and Dustin and all the babies. "They won't harm us."

"No. No, but what if someone thought they were going to get across the veil, and he didn't?" He wrapped his arms around himself as he sat up. "What if someone was pissed?"

"No way. If someone is still here, it's for a reason. That means they have no real reason to come after us." That was Cullen.

"Okay, then why was he spitting fire in my vision?"

Corbin shrugged. "Heartburn?"

"Melting snow," Cullen offered.

"Uh…he was boiling water for tea?"

"Could be smelting."

Cosmo arched an eyebrow. "Smelting."

"Ore. For his hoard."

"You don't tend to do that in the air," Cosmo said drily. But the image did make him laugh.

"No, but who knows?" Cullen put a hand on his arm. "It was just me talking about the house being weird. That's all."

"I bet." But he wanted to get out there and finish painting his gate. "Can someone get me a Coke? The sugar will do me good."

"Totally. We had a bunch of supplies delivered today—including snacks for the dragons." Corbin shook his head. "They do love Doritos."

"They really do." Cullen chuckled, going to grab him a Coke, bringing it to him. "Here, bro. Sugar and bubbles."

"Two of my favorite things!" Better than visions, that was for damn sure.

"Mine too!" Cullen sat next to him after shoving his feet off the couch. He also had a Coke, and Corbin brought some Oreos for them all to share. He snuggled into his brothers, letting their nearness comfort him.

He loved times like this, where they could all sit and be together and support each other. No rivalry, none of the weirdness of the last few years in their worlds. So much magic, and it had needed somewhere to go, so it had crossed the veil into other realms.

Which was why he didn't understand his vision.

Everything had changed again, but they were dealing with it as a family, and they—well, they had their own home. And it was a grand one. A cabin slash A-frame slash Victorian that had sort of grown up and together organically and that went deep into the mountain.

Cosmo loved it.

And he'd remade his little den, his bower, to be so reflective of him. It was full of Victorian floral wallpaper on a deep green background, a huge bed with hangings that kept the cold out and the secrecy in. Pillows and tassels and books and Regency tables and bookshelves that hid a secret room…

He adored it.

He took a cookie from Corbin. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. It was just a vision. Right? Half the time, they don't mean anything."

"And half the time they mean an apocalypse," Cullen muttered.

"Mmm." Gee thanks, bro.

You're welcome. Cullen winked at him, and he rolled his eyes. Ah. Family. They were assholes, but he was so glad they were here.

His particular talent was a lonely one at best. If he had to go it alone, he would be certifiable by now.