Chapter 10

Chapter

Ten

RAFE

T he problem with doing some giant group project to create a forbidden magical object is that you can't exactly take it on a test run. The old Shadow Dragon lady, Rhiannon, estimates that the necklace has enough juice for at least a handful of teleportation spells, but it would suck to waste any of them testing it out, just to get stuck on empty when we need it the most.

"What are we waiting for then?" I ask, glancing around. "Let's do this."

I've been pushing to get a move on with things since the very beginning. I don't love the idea of going to the Air Kingdom, period. I haven't been there since I was a kid, but I remember it being boring as fuck. Add in the fact that we're going there to try to find Ember's last mate, and that her most likely options are both assholes? Yeah. I'm not into it.

But it's what we have to do. Her desperation for her final mate is a tugging twist, yanking at our bond. This is our destiny, and even if it weren't. I'd give her anything, do anything for her. I'm committed.

So can't we just get on with it?

Ember wavers, though. "I think I need a minute."

"Of course," Rhiannon tells her. She and Ember keep sharing these weird looks, which I guess is reasonable, considering they just combined their magic to make a giant purple lightning storm in the sky, and then trapped it in a necklace.

God knows the one time Ember and I used the power of our bond to set ourselves on fire, it made for a hell of a connection between us. What's going on between my mate and the old lady is different, though. Wary.

I frown, but for once, I hold my tongue.

I keep it held, even when our timeline for leaving goes from "after lunch" to "after lunch and a nap" to "tomorrow". And really, if we're going to try to sneak up on a dragon prince, we'd probably be best off doing it under cover of darkness, so maybe tomorrow night.

Jianyu, Malik and I trade glances as the schedule shifts later and later, but they don't seem too concerned about it. Maybe I shouldn't be, either. When I feel out the connection between me and Ember, she mostly comes across as tired.

My bullshit detector is screaming, though.

All through lunch, and even when she's napping, Ember keeps a hand on the necklace. She wears it draped around her throat, the black metal standing out against her pale skin. I'd say I can't stop looking at it because it hangs right above the cleavage of her breasts, but it's more than that.

Finally, after we've gone back to our suite for the night--after I've kissed her senseless and eaten out her gorgeous cunt and fucked her hard while she blows Jianyu--after I've watched her ride Malik to a screaming orgasm...

She's in the bathroom, brushing her teeth, wearing nothing but one of Jianyu's undershirts and the necklace. Malik's passed out on the bed, and Jianyu's reading like the boring nerd he is.

I come up behind her and press a kiss to the side of her neck. She gives a little hum of pleasure and tips her head to the side, giving me more access. Her skin still smells like me and Jianyu and Malik, and my cock stirs as I put my hands on her hips.

But I'm not here to seduce her again. Not yet, in any case.

"So," I murmur, kissing my way to her ear. "You want to talk about why you're stalling on heading to the Air Kingdom?"

Freezing, she opens her eyes to meet my gaze in the mirror. Slowly, she disentangles herself from me to step forward and spit her toothpaste in the sink. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Our bond is flooded with tension, so yeah, I don't buy that.

"I'm pretty sure you do." Giving her a little space, I cross my arms over my chest and lean back against the wall.

She takes her time, finishing up with rinsing out her mouth and putting away her toothbrush. Over in the other room, Jianyu's still reading, but he darts a glance my way, and I'm pretty sure Malik's not entirely asleep anymore.

They let us have a second, though. This whole balancing act, always being together while also trying to find some individual space is a bitch. But I appreciate that they're trying.

Or maybe they're just glad I'm the one bringing this up.

"Look," I say, keeping my tone gentle. "I'm not trying to accuse you of anything. I know you want to find your other mate."

"Of course I do," she starts.

I hold up a finger. "But I also think you're dragging your heels, now that it's actually possible for us to. And I'd kind of like to know why."

EMBER

It's the weirdest thing--feeling utterly safe and at the same time, knowing full well that I've been cornered. Rafe's doing everything he can to seem non-threatening. Hell, he's standing there in just his boxers, practically naked. If he weren't so ripped, you could even say he looked vulnerable.

Deep down, his dragon is an apex predator, though, and mine lowers her head inside my chest. We can't run from him. With the strength of our connection, I can't even really evade.

I don't want to.

Because he's got me dead to rights.

"Okay, fine." I rake a hand through my hair before dropping my arms. "I dragged my heels today. Is one extra day really all that much to ask?"

"No," Rafe allows. "But you're still avoiding the question of why you need it."

Where do I begin? "It's just...a lot , okay?"

I shudder, instantly going back to that moment with Rhiannon when she told me to tap into my inner Shadow Dragon.

"Lay it out for me, then," Rafe urges.

I glance at the reflection of the other room in the mirror. Malik's sat up, and Jianyu's put his book down. Neither of them makes any move to approach yet, but they're definitely listening.

That makes me squirm with self-consciousness, but through our bond, their support is a warm wash of reassurance. Even Rafe, who's decided to make me talk about my feelings here, is radiating love.

"I mean." I fiddle with my fingers, dropping my gaze. "It's taking a little work to process the whole being a Shadow Dragon thing." I've had the better part of a week, but somehow, today's events drove it home. "Using Shadow Dragon magic."

"You've been using it from the beginning," Jianyu says quietly, rising to stand.

"I know. But at the time, I had no idea what was going on. It's all so real now."

Malik gets up, too. "You are afraid of who you are."

"Not afraid. Just." I pick at my nail, as if that will buy me time to think. "It's taking me a minute to get my head around."

"I get that," Rafe allows.

Guilt is chewing away at my insides. I promised not to keep things from my mates--not anymore. But I haven't been able to figure out how to explain what happened today.

"I froze up," I admit, forcing myself to just blurt it out. "If Rhiannon hadn't been there, I don't think I could have finished the spell."

Slowly, Jianyu says, "That's why she was there."

I shake my head. "But it was more than that. The whole reality of what I was doing totally freaked me out."

"Does this 'freak you out'?" With swift steps, Malik crosses the room. Standing before me, he reaches for my hand and takes it in his warm, firm grasp.

I barely have time to gasp before his magic is drawing out my own. My bracer hums, and the droplets of water in the sink rise into the air, dancing in a gentle rhythm.

And it's nothing like it was on the beach. The roaring wave and the rolling tide of power.

But it's not not like it, either. I'm warm all over, the achy, wet place between my thighs pulsing and my heart thrumming with the warmth of our shared magic and our connection.

"No," I breathe.

"Try not to break the plumbing," Rafe mutters.

Malik glances at him in the mirror. "Would you prefer to prove the point by setting the room on fire?"

"The point," Jianyu interrupts, "is that we're here. Our magic is your magic, and if your magic is Shadow Dragon magic, then so be it."

The raw vulnerability sears my chest. From under my lashes, I glance at them each in turn. "That doesn't scare you?"

Malik squeezes my hand. "Not at all, beloved."

"What he said," Rafe agrees.

"I've felt Shadow Dragon magic that was intended to hurt." Jianyu's voice sours, and his hand goes to his arm--where he was struck by a cloud of black smoke when Li revealed his true nature. I felt the sympathetic pain then, through our mate bond. It was both physical and emotional. Li had been his trusted advisor and friend, but the entire time, he had been plotting against Jianyu. Looking me straight in the eye, Jianyu vows, "The magic we shared was nothing like that."

I've never taken my mates for granted, but I'm suddenly so intensely grateful for them that I can hardly stand it. Whatever misgivings I may have about the power within me, I have no doubts about the bone-deep goodness of these men.

"We will find your final mate," Malik vows. "You'll come into your full power."

Rafe nods. "And you'll be incredible."

"You already are," Jianyu promises.

And that should shore me up. It does, truly, only...

Fresh doubts creep into my mind--ones I've been forcing myself to push away, ever since I found out the truth.

These men are confident that we'll find my other mate and awaken my dragon, and that I'll miraculously discover a well of magic deep enough to take down the Shadow King. And that's great.

But it's not as if there's any pressure or anything. I'm supposed to be some Dragon Queen, ascending to a Grand Throne that only exists in myth and legend. But I'm just a person. Most of my life, I thought I was a powerless, dragonless reject.

And I never felt more that way than I did in the Air Kingdom.

Which is where we have to go.

Pressure builds up behind my ribs, and I put my hand over the center of my chest. As I do, I graze the warm metal of the locket, feeling its subtle hum of magical energy.

It hurts to admit, but I force the words past my throat. "I'm also just--really nervous about going back to the Air Kingdom."

Understanding lights in Jianyu and Rafe's eyes. I was still raw about my tragic breakup with Storm when I met them. Malik knows the details, but he wasn't there to witness as much of the aftermath.

"I was really miserable there," I confess. Which is the understatement of the year.

How will it feel to walk past the places where I used to get jumped by Fury's girlfriend, Jasmine?

Or maybe worse--the places where I used to secretly meet up with Storm?

I look down at the ground, my vision threatening to go misty at the edges, but I'm done getting teary about assholes from my past.

The only problem, of course, is that the assholes aren't entirely in my past. Not anymore.

"And if we're right--if my other mate is a prince of the Air Kingdom, then it's either Fury or Storm." I look up, but I can't quite bring myself to meet any of my mates' gazes. "So either a cruel bully who personally helped make my life a living hell, or the guy who broke my heart."

And there's that freaking mistiness again. I blink hard, trying to clear my vision, but it's a losing battle.

Rafe curses under his breath.

Tentatively, Jianyu offers, "We don't have to do this. Not if you aren't fully committed."

I shake my head hard. "No, we do. I'm just having a really hard time reconciling myself to it."

"Who do you hope it will be?" Malik asks, his eyes warm and sympathetic.

"Neither of them, obviously." I sniffle and rub at my eyes.

"I mean, we could go sneak in and kill them both before you get there," Rafe suggests.

I manage a weak chuckle. "Tempting..."

Only it's not.

Who the hell knows how any of this works, but fate clearly has plans for me. Considering how powerfully it's worked to put me on my path so far, I'm pretty hesitant to mess with it.

Sighing, I scrub at my eyes once more.

"If I had to choose..."

I have a little mental war myself for a minute. The idea of connecting on a soul-deep level with Fury makes my skin crawl. All I can see in my head is the smug, sneering look in his eyes as he made it his job to put me in my place as the defective reject. How could I open my heart to a guy like that?

How could I let him touch me?

But then I imagine having to face Storm again, and my entire body rebels. I gave him everything, and he gave me nothing but heartache. He made me keep what we had together secret for years, and then at the first obstacle, he threw me away like garbage. He told me I was nothing.

And the worst part of it all?

There was a part of me that believed it.

Over the past couple of months, have I indulged the odd fantasy about him throwing himself at my feet and groveling for my forgiveness? Sure.

But it was just that--a fantasy. What we had is broken, because he tore it apart. I can't even let myself think about him being my soulmate now.

"Fury," I blurt out, and something in my heart shutters.

With no judgment in his gaze, Malik nods. "Then that's who we'll seek out first."