Dralle's Bride (Crystal Glass Dragons 4)

“Look, he’s not like that. I don’t think the vision is right-”

His breathing shifted, and his hand turned into a hard fist around the wrench he was holding. “You’re dating the man who’s been killing me in your sleep for over fifteen years?”

Richard stepped forward to get between us, but I brushed him off.

“Isaac, he's a good guy, I’ve been getting to know him, and he’s not like that.”

“Your visions have never been wrong.”

“You know that’s not right,” I chewed my lip.

“Why the fuck would you even talk to him after seeing him in these visions?” Isaac was nearly shaking, and his eyes held mine in a fiery rage. I stepped back a little, scared of him for the first time in my life. He was just my baby brother. He’d never treated me like this.

“I’m sorry, I got carried away-”

“I’ve been having those dreams lately too, and I thought it was just from stress, but…” He threw the wrench hard at the shop wall about thirty feet away, chipping pieces off the concrete block. “What thefuckis wrong with you?”

“Hey, you’re being too harsh,” Richard said. He tried to get a handle on Isaac, but my younger brother shoved him away roughly.

“Wait, it’s not that creep who came back after you pushed him, is it?” Isaac shot back.

“No, it’s not him. I think this guy actually turned that man around and made him apologize to me.” I didn’t have any proof that’s what happened, but a gut feeling doesn’t always lie.

“What’s he do for a living? What’s his name?”

Isaac was grilling me, and I was already annoyed and upset.

“He was in the military for a couple years, now he works for his family business. Why do I have to tell you all of this?” I had to slip in those minor omissions. They weren’t really lying, but Dralle had made me promise I wouldn’t mention anything about the kingdom to anyone.

That included my brothers.

“What’s his name?”

“Isaac, you’re being an asshole,” Richard stood up for me.

“She’s the one dating my future murderer, andI’mthe asshole?”

I knew he was coming from a place of fear, but he was being too much.

I felt a calling to Dralle.

It wasn’t just some fling. I would never risk my brother’s life if I felt like Dralle was a real threat.

I didn’t know how to tell him that.

“I don’t need you monitoring my life. I’m the older sibling between the two of us, Isaac.”

“You take one day off, and suddenly you’re running off with the murder guy from your dreams and keeping secrets. I don’t like it.”

“Dude, you’re taking your issues out on her, lay off,” Richard argued.

Billy started barking through the door that separated the garage from my apartment, as he could tell I was getting upset.

“Fuck you, don’t tell me how to deal with shit when you’re shacking up with some guy who mooches off of you,” Isaac shot back at Richard.

“Go home, take the day off,” I said firmly to Isaac. We needed him; we were completely booked for the day, but not if he would be like this. “I’m able to make my own decisions.”

“It doesn’t sound like you are,” he shot back. “If I meet this guy, I’m killing him.”