Chapter 13

Chapter

Thirteen

EMBER

I can't breathe.

My mates and I are still standing around Storm's empty garage. Fury's tied up in a pile on the floor. He's not my mate, which means that Storm has to be.

The man who loved me--the first man I ever made love to. The man who humiliated me and broke my heart and told me I was nothing--who discarded me and sat by while I was ripped away from everything I ever knew or loved.

And yeah--that all worked out for the best.

But it doesn't matter.

I have to face him again.

Only...

"How are we going to find him?" I ask, pacing back and forth and pulling at my hair.

"Leave it to us," Rafe insists.

I shake my head. "Someone has to have noticed that Fury's gone by now. The mansion will be crawling with guards." A shudder runs up my arms, and my already tight chest squeezes any remaining air out of my lungs. "They're probably tearing apart the kingdom looking for him."

We wasted our chance at a surprise attack, and it's all my fault. I insisted on facing Fury first.

"Beloved." Malik reaches for me, and even the brush of his hands against my arms sends tingling warmth blooming through me, but I don't want to be comforted right now.

"We could go back to Unity," Jianyu suggests. "Regroup. Try again."

I shake my head harder this time. "They'll redouble their defenses. With the Shadow Dragons here, they might even be able to find a way to prevent anyone portalling into the kingdom, for all I know."

I'm arguing about logistics here, but the panic spiraling within me runs deeper.

We came here to find my final mate. I stalled and dragged my heels, dreading having to face Storm and the Air Kingdom again. But now that we're here, the empty piece inside of me where my mate will fit is a gaping hole in my chest.

"We have to find him," I insist.

I must really sound unhinged, because Malik tries again to soothe me, pulling me into his body this time. "All right, beloved. All right."

"Or..." Jianyu gazes out the window thoughtfully. Then he darts a glance at Fury's crumpled form. "What if we induced Prince Storm to come find us?"

I furrow my brows, not quite following, but Rafe's eyes light up. "You devious bastard. I didn't know you had it in you, Juju."

Jianyu shoots him a glare but we don't have time for them to start goading each other right now.

"What?" I ask, pulling away from Malik.

"We announce that we've captured the Crown Prince," Jianyu says levelly.

Malik nods slowly. "And we will only negotiate the terms of his release with Prince Storm."

My stomach twists into a tight knot. "That sounds...kind of evil."

"Right?" Rafe says, but he's grinning, clearly sold on the idea.

"All we need is a minute to see if Storm is truly your mate," Malik reminds me.

"I know, I know."

"If he is, great, problem solved." Rafe curls one hand into a fist and punches it into his other palm. "If he's not, then we fight our way out."

I shudder, the knot in the pit of my stomach clenching harder. "I really, really don't like the sound of that."

Jianyu shoots Rafe another glare before taking my hand in his. "You have the locket. You can pull us out at any time."

How could I have forgotten? The magic in the locket glows against the center of my chest. "That's true..."

"We need to find a defensible position," Malik says, like it's all been decided.

But niggling doubt still has me wavering inside. I worry my hands in front of myself. "It isn't..."

To my mates' credit, they all stop, waiting while I try to gather my thoughts.

Hot shame burns my cheeks, and the knot in my abdomen sends out twisting tendrils.

"It's just," I try, but my tongue is tied up, too.

"What?" Malik asks, his voice gentle.

I force the word out. "Pathetic."

My face flares even hotter, and I toe the ground.

"I mean." I shake my head. "Crawling back to my ex like that." I gesture at Fury. "Going to all these lengths just to get his attention."

Rafe laughs out loud. When everyone turns to gawk at him, he holds up his hands. "Wait--are we being serious, here?"

I didn't think it was possible to be more embarrassed. "Kind of."

"Ember." His voice softens, and he crosses the space to take me by the shoulders. He waits until I look up at him, and I find nothing but kindness and love in his eyes. "Sneaking into his kingdom and kidnapping his dickhead brother is the exact opposite of pathetic. It's badass ."

I laugh despite myself. "Really?"

"Really," Jianyu promises.

"But..." I'm gnawing on the inside of my cheek so hard I'm afraid that I'll draw blood.

Malik brushes a hand down my arm. "Tell us."

And this is it. All of my defenses have been stripped away. I've voiced every possible concern--except this one.

My vision blurs.

Storm is probably my fated mate. The gods alone know why our connection never formed, back when we were together. But that's irrelevant.

The bond between true mates is absolute. They can't be denied, or torn asunder.

But Storm's rejected me once already.

Even if we find him--even if this crazy plan my other mates are hatching works...

What's to keep him from rejecting me again?

I flinch, blinking hard, my eyes stinging and hot. I gaze up into my other mates' eyes, and my heart clenches.

Barely a whisper, I breathe, "What if he still doesn't want me?"

Rafe's face goes hard with anger, a raging fire burning in his eyes. The bedrock beneath our feet vibrates to the exact frequency of Jianyu's growl, and the tattoos on Malik's arms ripple with light.

But before any of them can say a thing, a sudden wind whips through the air.

And the next thing I know, the roof of the building tears itself clean off.

The dust has barely cleared before the huge silvery form above us takes shape. I suck in a harsh breath, deafened by the roaring wind and by the pounding of my own heart.

I rarely got to see Storm's dragon, but it's unmistakable now. My insides flutter at the sleek, powerful beast hovering over the garage, all silver scales and gleaming talons and teeth. As it beats its wings, my own dragon breathes hot steam into my ribs, imagining being chased through the skies by such a specimen in a mating dance as old as time.

We're almost as turned on as we are terrified.

Rafe releases his grip on my arms, turning to shield me with his body. The taste of dragonfire fills the air as Jianyu and Malik's inner beasts rise to the surface.

"No," I breathe.

They still, just on the cusp of transformation.

In a shattering of dragonscale and wings, Storm descends from the sky. He touches down on the ground in front of me, half man and half dragon, and oh .

My heart aches at the sight of his golden skin and firm musculature, his trim waist and broad shoulders and the line of his throat, leading up to that sharp jaw. I used to run my hands through his thick, dark hair as he hovered over me, and I loved him, I loved him, I loved him.

I'm breaking inside, every part of me at his mercy.

But I'm also strong.

He tore me apart once before. He'll never do it again.

I brace myself as he opens his eyes, the last glittering scales of his dragon receding to leave him fully human before me.

Our gazes meet.

And it's lightning. It's wind and rain and the swirling gusts of the hot desert air. It's the crack of thunder and the opening up of the sky.

Brilliant white light suffuses my entire being, and it's like the ground itself is falling away, except it's not.

It's me. I'm rising. Lifting off into the air as magic crackles through my fingertips, and my hair rises in a cloud of billowing purple and black.

The white light shatters into a rainbow as Rafe's crimson and gold and Jianyu's silver and Malik's aquamarine flood my newly formed mate bond. Just like that, there's no more gaping hole in my heart. I'm complete, my mates surrounding me, the overwhelming might of their powers pouring into me.

I stagger, all the air punched out of my lungs.

"Ember," Storm breathes.

And then we're both falling. My feet touch down with a thud as I stand before my new mate. Wonder swirls in his eyes, and he lifts his hand to reach for me.

I lift mine, too.

The air cracks as I slap him right across the cheek.

"Jesus Christ --"

"That's my girl," Rafe says, grinning.

"Is it him?" Malik asks.

I nod, my palm stinging. "It's him."

Storm reels. "What--"

Every fiber of my being is calling for him. My abdomen sucks in, and between my thighs, need blooms, rushing through me. My skin prickles with desire, and my breasts go hot and tender. My very soul cries out to be united with his.

But for the moment, my heart is firmly in control.

"You absolute asshole," I grit out.

He shakes his head, holding his hands up, and I remember what it's like to be in his shoes. The passion of a fresh mating is overwhelming--and so is the confusion when it doesn't go the way it's supposed to.

My mouth crumples, and I swab at my eyes, furious at the sting of tears. "You let them take me."

His own eyes fall. "I'm so sorry--"

"You said I was nothing." My body sways into his, but I'm not the same swooning, lovesick girl I was the last time I saw him. I push my fist into his chest--not quite a punch but not quite not one, either. My knuckles barely make an impression in the hot, broad muscle beneath his shirt, and tingles of fresh wanting shoot straight to my toes.

"It was a lie," he swears.

"I know." I shudder, dropping my hand from his chest just to push the knuckles of my other hand into his abdomen. I wish I weren't still swaying toward him, those brilliant lines of connection drawing us inexorably together. "And that makes it worse." I jab my fists into him again and again, but it doesn't help. I can't bring myself to hit hard enough to hurt. My vision blurs. "You lying, self-sabotaging, miserable piece of--"

"Should we interfere?" Malik asks quietly.

In my periphery, Jianyu shakes his head. "Give them a moment."

Even as I'm losing my shit on Storm, my other mates' support flows into me.

Storm catches my hands the next time I go to hit him, and I struggle against his hold at the same time that I revel in it. His eyes burn with the love I knew he felt, back all those months ago, but that he destroyed.

And there's this crack in my heart. This weak piece of me that wants to forgive it all, but how can I?

"Ember," he breathes, staring straight into my soul. "You're right. About all of it." His eyes shine. "I was a piece of shit. I betrayed you--and I can rationalize it all I want. I was trying to protect the people I cared about."

"Your sister."

His throat bobs, and his jaw clenches. Nodding, he blinks, and a single drop escapes the corner of his eye. "I was trying to do right by my people, but there was nothing I could do. It was all a waste."

The self-hatred in his voice tears my heart in two.

"Why?" I beg, barely a whisper. I try to hit him again, but he holds my wrists, firm.

"I thought I was doing the right thing," he offers, helpless. "But it was wrong. Every part of it. I will never forgive myself."

And, oh. Our new bond is a double-edged sword, tying us together and revealing the innermost workings of our hearts--even if we wish that we could keep them to ourselves. His repentance is savage, his own self-recrimination flaying my insides. The bitterness of his anger burns.

He shakes his head, caressing my pulse-point with his thumb. "I don't expect you to ever forgive me."

"Good. Because I won't." But I don't believe it. Not for a second.

"But I am so sorry, Ember. For everything." He brings my hands back to his chest, placing them over his heart. It's an invitation to hit him again, and a part of me wants to take him up on it.

But another part is going so soft.

"Storm..."

"I can tell you all the ways I've been trying to atone since you've been gone. I have so much to show you." He shakes his head. "I know it can't make up for what I've done." He presses my open palms to the very center of his ribs. "But if you'll let me, I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you." His mouth wavers. And then he says the word that destroys every bit of my resolve. " Mate ."

My entire being suffuses with silver light, fresh wind rushing over the parts of me that he shattered.

And I don't forgive him. I'm mad as hell at him for everything he did.

But I turn my hands over inside his, gripping him back.

The first layer of my pain drifts away, leaving me raw underneath, but maybe--just maybe--clearing the way for the deep wound within to start to heal.

Before we can say anything else, a new voice rings out. "Um, guys, I hate to break the moment, but..."

I know that voice.

I whip my head up, tearing my hands from Storm's. New tears form at the corners of my eyes as I catch sight of my cousin, Brynn, dropping down out of the same hole in the ceiling that Storm's dragon ripped. Her own beast is just receding, her soft ivory scales falling away.

I let out a sob of pure joy as I sprint across the garage to meet her. She holds out her arms, and I throw mine around her.

"I thought I'd never see you again," I gasp, squeezing her tight.

"Same." She pulls away, gripping my arms, real hurt piercing through the bright happiness in her eyes. "You didn't even say goodbye."

Regret stabs through me. "I'm so sorry--but I swear, it wasn't my fault."

"I know, I know, but still." The hurt disappears from her gaze, and she levels me with a glare that's only half-serious. "Next time you get exiled from a kingdom, you tell me, okay?"

Letting out a watery laugh, I hug her again. "Promise."

"And don't even get me started on the fact that you snuck your way in here and didn't come to see me first."

Guilt tugs at me, but I stand my ground. "I didn't want to put you in danger."

She rolls her eyes affectionately. "Likely story."

"Speaking of danger...," another voice says.

The final dragon to join our little reunion has me scrunching up my face in confusion. Then my eyes widen as I recognize Jimmy Ortez, the boy who lived down the road from my aunt, and who my cousin developed a huge crush on once he started to fill out.

"Wow. Jimmy." I blink rapidly.

"Emergence was good to him, huh?" Brynn murmurs.

I nod dumbly. Forget starting to fill out--since the last time I saw him, he's hulked out. He's a huge wall of muscle now.

A low pang fires off in my gut, though. "I'm glad the last Emergence was good to some people, at least."

A fresh wave of guilt and apology pours off of Storm, and I shoot him a look that's more mournful than pointed, despite my best efforts to stay mad.

"All right, all right," Jimmy admonishes, "I get it, I'm not a shrimp anymore."

"You were never a shrimp to me." Brynn saunters over to his side, and he curls an arm possessively around her waist.

"Seriously, though," Jimmy says. "Imminent danger?"

"Right." Storm shakes off the haze of our fresh mating, but I feel the struggle, both in my own skin and in the blaze burning deep within his heart. He looks around, frowning at my other mates, and yeah--that's going to be a real party to explain. But we have bigger things to worry about right now. "We need to get out of here."

"We have a plan," Brynn tells me. "It's risky, but we think we can get you out."

I glance from her to Storm. "Wait--since when is there a 'we'?"

"There's a lot to fill you in on," Storm says gravely.

I manage not to laugh. "Same."

"You can ride on my back." Storm's dragon begins to rise to the surface of his being again, and my own dragon flutters within me, eager to see the transformation.

Over in the corner of the room, there's a gravelly sneering laugh.

Fury is awake again, though he's got a hell of a bruise rising up the side of his face. He tips his head toward the open ceiling of the garage. Cruelly, he grunts, "Too late."

My stomach turns as I glance up. A half dozen dragons are barreling down on us, ready for war. A fierce wind whips up.

Storm swallows hard, silver scales climbing his throat. His pupils narrow into vertical slits. "I'll fend them off."

Before he can launch himself into the sky, I grab him, my heart pounding. "You self-sacrificing idiot--"

"Go," he roars.

"No." I flip open the locket, and a galaxy of black and violet swirling magic pours out.

My bracer crackles with power, the tenor of the magic deeper and stronger than ever before. Something within me has locked into place.

"Come with me," I entreat, and it's a growl--a voice I didn't even know was inside me.

It's my dragon.

And as eager as she is to rip a handful of Air Kingdom soldiers--not to mention Prince Fury--apart, she's most concerned with getting everyone she loves to safety.

Wisps of tender, purple-black smoke begin to drift out of the locket.

My gaze meets Brynn's. I glance between her and Jimmy. "You in?"

They share a look of their own before she takes him by the hand. She nods firmly. "You're not leaving me behind, this time."

My heart squeezes, so grateful.

But they have to understand. King Zephyr has always been clear about the laws, binding his dragons to this land. "You may not be able to come back."

"Yeah," Jimmy says, conviction lighting his eyes. "We know."

That's good enough for me. Without any further hesitation, I extend my magic around my mates and my friend and her ripped new boyfriend.

"Unity," I whisper. The portal shivers open in a rain of violet sparks, and I shudder. Glittering black glass cascades through my veins, the Shadow Dragon magic unmistakable now.

The same fear from before makes me flinch, but before I can recoil from my own power, the first Air Dragon attacker reaches the opening in the ceiling and breathes fire into the air. His great, reptilian wings flap a gust of wind like daggers through the cloud of flames.

As the inferno hurtles toward us, a violet shadow crosses over my vision.

Instinct overwhelms me. A split second before the fireball can hit us, I fling myself, my mates, and my friends forward.

And then we're falling, deep into the inky black void.