Chapter 1

Chapter

One

STORM

M y brother Fury and I land on the roof of the mansion under cover of darkness. My dragon sloughs itself off in disgust, more than ready to let my human form take over.

Honestly, I can't blame it.

"Well, that was a shitshow," Fury growls, spitting over the side of the building.

I flick my gaze in his direction, trying to hide my surprise. For once, the two of us seem to be on the same page.

"From start to finish," I agree.

I scrub a hand over my face. All I want is to go downstairs and take a shower, eat the greasiest burger in the world, and sleep for about fifteen hours.

It was two days ago when we got the emergency call from our "allies". I shudder internally just thinking of them. The Shadow Dragons my father got us in bed with demanded every available dragon converge on the Fire King's castle. His operatives there had an enemy of the state within their grasp. It was so urgent, their sorceress created a portal to take me, Fury, and a dozen other Air Dragon soldiers straight from our home here in Wynrath Crest to the Crimson City.

It wasn't until I was about to step through that Fury told me who it was that we were hunting.

My stomach clenches, and hot pain lances through my chest.

I knew the Shadow King was intent on hunting Ember down. She had some magical artifact he needed.

But to see her pinned down by Shadow Dragons, surrounded on all sides... Carnage everywhere, dragons dripping acid from festering wounds... Talons snatching at her and shadow bolts hitting the earth from all sides...

She was too far away for me to do anything. I'd been sent there to capture her and lock her away in the Shadow King's dungeon, but one look at her, and regret nearly brought me to my knees.

Everything I ever felt about her came rushing back. I'd loved her--I'd been in love with her .

And when push had come to shove, I'd denied her. I'd lied and let her be sent away, and it was the worst mistake of my fucking life.

Just thinking about it, bile swamps the back of my throat.

I thought I was saving my sister. That I had a chance of saving my entire kingdom, but instead, I lost everything. My dad sold my sister and my kingdom both, and now I'm stuck here, doing the Shadow King's bidding.

Some days, I want to smash the entire thing to the ground.

For a brief second, hurtling through that portal, I imagined that maybe I could. The forces stacked against Ember were insurmountable, but she had allies. Two enormous dragons fighting at her side. I could have joined them. No one would have seen it coming.

I glance at Fury again. What would he have done? There's not much love lost between us, but I like to imagine he would have thought twice about murdering his own brother. Even a moment's hesitation on his part could have bought me the time I needed.

Only before I could act, this purple light burst from Ember's chest. It was blinding--beautiful. Just like her.

In the next second, her two dragon protectors morphed into men. One with olive skin and short, dark hair. The other pale with a fiery mane.

The sky itself seemed to open up.

And in a flash of brilliant light, both Ember and the two men were gone.

The entire scene erupted into chaos. No one knew where they had disappeared to--much less how they'd managed to pull it off. The smoke that poured out of the Shadow Dragons' ears was literal and metaphorical.

And me?

I just stood there, numbly staring at the place where she had been. Fury growled in outrage, and at his cue, I did a good job, pretending to be incensed. Determined.

Inside, all I could do was cheer her on.

We stayed for a day or so, trying to help lead the search, but I knew they'd never find her. She was too smart to stay in the Fire Dragon Kingdom. Whatever she'd done--whatever hidden magic she had summoned... It had taken her far, far away.

Sure enough, there'd been zero trace of her. We'd tried to question her friends--some nomadic dragons from the unclaimed territories and some Stone Dragon priestess they'd joined up with along the way. But by the time we got to them, they'd already fled. Not with magic, but with a sweet little hotrod red Porsche, apparently.

Finally, we'd been sent on our way. Despite the fact that we'd barely shown up when Ember disappeared, the Shadow Dragons acted like it was our fault she and her two friends had managed to escape. There'd been no shiny black portal to take us home. Oh no.

Fury flexes his shoulders, pulling one arm across his chest and then the other. He winces at the stretch. Our dragons did all of the work, flying us halfway around the world in twenty-four hours, but there's a phantom pain in the center of my upper back, too.

"Assholes," Fury grumbles.

My heart rate ticks upward. He's talking about the Shadow Dragons.

And this is the first crack in the brick wall of his support for each and every fucking scheme our father's come up with. I've tried to talk to him a dozen times about what a shitty deal this is. About how the Shadow King is using us. About how this is wrong .

Will it do any good to try again?

Like a fucking masochist, I can't help myself.

My heart hammering against my chest, I keep my gaze straight forward as I head for the stairs. As casually as I can, I mutter, "Almost makes you wonder if any of this is worth it."

He grabs me by the arm. I whip around, pulling away. There's danger in his eyes.

But he's not a danger to me. Not right now.

Shit--he's scared.

"Keep your voice down," he hisses.

"What--"

"Keep. Your. Voice. Down." He flicks his gaze toward the door leading to the stairs. Sure enough, there's a security detail waiting for us.

A shudder travels up my spine, and I clench my hands into fists. The line between Air Dragon guards and Shadow Dragon soldiers has gotten blurry as hell of late. I'm never sure if they're there to protect us or to keep us in line.

Apparently, Fury isn't either.

Trying to ignore the guards, I turn back to my brother. I lift my brow and lower my voice. "You can't say you haven't had the same thoughts."

My heart hammers behind my ribs.

The Shadow Dragons are our enemies. For millennia, they've worked to undermine the four great dragon kingdoms, and now they've infiltrated this one from inside. Fury has to see that.

The barest flicker of uncertainty darkens his eyes.

But then he blinks and it's gone. He stands up taller and brushes me aside. "Our father knows what he's doing."

My stomach plummets. For a second, I gawk at him, stunned. But I don't have the luxury of standing there like an idiot for long. I shake it off, trying not to glance over at the guards who are still watching us. Beneath my breath, I mutter, "That's what I'm worried about."

I catch up with my brother halfway down the stairs, but I don't try to engage him again. Molten anger wells up inside of me, fueled by this sense of powerlessness that make my dragon want to rear up and breathe fire over everything--turn the entire mansion to glass.

Maybe I should do just that. This waiting game has gone on long enough. I've played along--tried to stay in my father's good graces and exert what influence I can. But it's a losing battle.

I curl my hands into fists so tight they hurt.

Not yet, I remind myself. I can still do some good here.

And when I can't anymore?

I'll know my opportunity when I see it.

My dragon settles back down into my chest, pacified for now. His breath still smolders, though, the scent of ash hot on my tongue.

At the base of the steps another guard is waiting for us, and my nails dig even deeper into my palms. "Your highnesses," the guard says. "The king is expecting you."

"For fuck's sake," Fury mutters, stretching his shoulders again.

The guard has apologies in her eyes. She's an Air Dragon--one who's served our kingdom for years. "He says it's urgent."

Fury huffs out a breath but leads the way to the throne room.

It doesn't matter that the Shadow King left weeks ago. The place still has the lingering stench of rot and decay. I tighten my abdominals, breathing shallowly and masking the way I want to retch.

Our father sits on his throne, flanked by guards and advisors, Shadow Dragons and Air Dragons alike. As Fury and I enter, he looks up and rises to his feet. "At last."

Fury bristles, barely containing his irritation. He must be really pissed off to let it show this much. "Father--"

"Our allies require our assistance once more." Our father flicks a finger, and one of the men in black robes standing behind him releases a cloud of black and purple magic.

The magic isn't malicious, but I'm never going to get used to the Shadow Dragon equivalent of an LCD projector. I suppress my flinch the best I can, but I still let out a rough breath as an image of the Shadow King's Citadel forms within the cloud.

Pointedly, my father tells us, "The hostile you two failed to subdue was captured while you were in flight, and delivered to the Shadow King."

My heart stops. They have Ember. My dragon rises in my chest once more, a hot, possessive rage burning up my throat.

"I assure you, Your Highness," Fury begins, "we searched tirelessly--"

"Save your excuses. She was found in another kingdom entirely."

There's a strange gravel to my father's voice.

"Where?" I ask before I can stop myself.

My father glares daggers at me, and then I recognize the odd grit in his tone.

It's fear. And there's nothing my father hates more than being afraid.

"That's no concern of yours," he promises before looking away. He nods again at the Shadow Dragon maintaining the scrying cloud. "What is your concern is that she escaped again, aided by traitors from the Kingdoms of Fire and Stone."

As he speaks, the image in the cloud shifts.

Brilliant light erupts from the tallest tower in the Citadel. And then, before my eyes, the tower crumbles into the sea.

"The Shadow King was unharmed, praise the gods," my father says.

My mind is racing, struggling to keep up. Ember is okay; she's free, at least for now.

"What about Aria?" I interrupt.

My sister. His daughter.

"The Shadow King's betrothed is also intact," another dragon in black robes supplies, and my skin crawls, my blood hot with anger.

Ignoring me, my father continues, "All available resources are being called in. The hostile must be apprehended, at all costs. She has a magical artifact that is of great value to King Erembour." My father finally looks in my direction again. "Seeing as you have--ahem-- unique knowledge of the hostile, perhaps you can actually be of help for once."

I want to laugh--almost as much as I want to cry.

My unique knowledge of Ember stems from our relationship. It's the reason she was exiled. The reason she was thrust out into a world full of danger and intrigue.

Regret and guilt threaten to swamp me.

Pushing both aside, I stare my father straight in the eye. I tell him the truth, as much as it pains me. "I've had no contact with the hostile since her expulsion from the kingdom."

Fury lets out a snarl of frustration. "But you knew her. You know what she would do in this sort of situation. Where she might go."

The laugh that escapes me is ugly and raw. I shift my gaze to the frozen image of the Shadow Citadel sinking into the sea. If I squint, I can just make out the silhouette of a figure falling through the sky.

In my ears, I hear her final words to me. The way she called my name. The pleading in her voice as she begged me to help her. To save her.

I remember the way the hope died in her eyes.

"The only thing I know for sure about Ember is that--if she were in trouble..." I swallow hard, tasting bile. "The last place on earth she would go is here."