The air king held the platinum goblet with such a grip that Coal was sure it would crush at any moment. His face was red. Scales were visible through the golden tattoo on his chest, making more blue bleed through. A sure sign that he was moments away from changing.

“No,” Thunder growled. The word was accompanied by a billow of smoke. It left his mouth in a lazy, curling tendril, at complete odds with the male who expelled it. The air king was fire breathing mad. Such a pity for him that a bit of useless smoke was all he could produce. Thunder had better watch his step. Blaze looked relaxed as he leaned back in his chair, but Coal knew better. His brother was not as calm as he seemed. The slight tic in his jaw was evidence of that.

The air king clenched his teeth together for a few long moments, clearly trying to get himself back under control. Best he do that, and quickly. Blaze would not tolerate such outbursts, even from another king. “You can forget about having one of the air females. The agreement was, your sister for one of my tribe. A fair trade.”

The earth and water kings moved restlessly in their chairs, as did the princes at their sides. They were not privy to the arrangement that had been made between the fire and the air kingdoms. Had the agreement worked out, it would have put both fire and air at the top of the food chain, with their own tribe, fire, as the solid leaders over the four kingdoms. As it stood though, they were still at the head of the game despite the deal falling apart at the last minute.

Blaze twisted the ring on his finger. “I will agree to the three of you taking human mates on the condition that I get to have one of the fertile dragon females.” His green eyes blazed. He dropped his hands back at his sides. There was not a single sign of tension in his body. Not true. There it was again, that tic. Only, you had to know where to look and if you blinked once too often you might miss it.

Thunder laughed. There was no humor to the sound. “You are an arrogant bastard.” The male turned serious in an instant. “We are going to take humans whether you like it or not.”

“Do that, and I will destroy you.” Blaze’s voice was even. “That goes for all of you.” He let his gaze go from one king to the next before returning to Thunder.

The other two kings didn’t say a word. Although Coal wasn’t sure if it was because they knew their places. Something was brewing and it was clear that these three had discussed this amongst their selves at length.