Chapter 14

Chapter

Fourteen

STORM

I 'm going to die .

That's all I can think, as Ember yanks me down into a gaping vortex. It's like the portal the Shadow Dragon sorceress made to get us to the Fire Kingdom, only different. Plummeting, I cling to Ember's hand, and it's the only thing keeping me from screaming--from letting my beast take over and try to fly us to safety. Her conviction pours into me, and I glance at her in the sparkling darkness.

Worth it , is my second thought.

My third thought is, "Ow."

I land with a thud on short desert grass, staring up at a cloudless sky I've never seen before.

"Are we dead?" someone asks from off to my right.

I hold my hand up in the dim light of some nearby streetlamps, moving my limbs gingerly. I groan, pretty sure I'm going to have a decent bruise on the side where I landed, but otherwise I'm intact and--as far as I can tell--alive.

"I don't think so," Ember allows.

Her voice is music, lighting me up, and I force myself to sit. She's landed just a foot or so away from me.

Just looking at her takes my breath away.

Mate . The word screams itself in my brain, and I want to laugh and maybe cry.

All those years we were together--when I was madly, desperately, hopelessly in love with her... When all I could offer her were scraps of time and stolen kisses and denial...

I wondered. She just fit in a way I couldn't explain. If her dragon had ever Emerged, I thought maybe. Maybe we'd lock eyes and feel that impossible pull that they write about in stories.

It never happened for us then. Fuck knows how the hell it's happened for us now.

But it has. She was made for me, and I was made for her, and nothing else matters.

Except getting her alone.

My cock pulses with need, my skin on fire for her. The strength of our new bond steals the air out of my lungs and gives it back to me as desire. I have to hold her, kiss her, claim her-- now .

She can feel it, too. The heat in her blood sings in our connection, multiplying my own by a thousand.

I let out a growl beneath my breath, and she jerks her gaze to mine. Our eyes lock, and it's like the moment of bonding all over again. I shudder, and my flesh pulses, blood and static in my ears screaming at me to take her and make her mine--for real this time. No barriers or duties or royal bullshit standing in our way.

All these months that she's been gone. All the time I spent self-flagellating and stewing in regret.

Wasted.

I lurch to my feet and reach for her, glancing around. I have no idea where we are, but there has to be someplace private we can go.

A big, hulking form rises from the grass and puts a hand to my chest, and it's all I can do to keep my beast from flaying them alive.

"Whoa there, lover boy," a deep voice growls.

And it's the man from the Fire Kingdom. The one with the red-gold mane.

I shake my head, my chest rumbling and my dragon breathing ash. "Do not get between me and my mate."

The dark-skinned man who was with them in the garage pinches the bridge of his nose. Bright turquoise tattoos ripple with light on his exposed forearms, and something pings in the back of my brain, but I'm deaf to reason right now.

"Let's all calm down," the other man from the Fire Kingdom says--the one with the Asian features and the short, black hair.

My throat rumbles all over again, and the desert wind picks up. My magic has never felt as alive as it does right now. I could summon a tornado--could whip them all into the skies and let them fall helplessly to the ground.

But Ember puts a hand on the arm of the man standing in front of me. My vision focuses in, laser-like, on that point of contact.

I want to rip the man apart.

But all I feel from Ember is love.

For him .

I take a single, staggering step backward.

Fondness I could understand. The gods alone know what she's been through while we've been apart. Clearly, she's traveled with these men for some time.

But love?

I check my feelings, searching for a crack in the bright band of our mating bond, but there's none. What we've just forged together is real.

Her eyes gleam and her voice wobbles as she carefully, pointedly curls an arm around the man who's literally come between us. "Like I said." She shrugs. "A lot has happened since I've been gone."

EMBER

For better or worse, at this point, I'm basically an expert at calming down confused men who are shocked to discover that I have more than one mate.

Somehow, the stakes feel higher than ever right now. While Jianyu is calm and Malik is annoyed, Rafe is a ball of righteous anger.

And Storm?

Storm is utterly adrift.

A petty voice inside of me says, Good . He deserves to know what it feels like to have his legs cut out from under him. His heart torn apart and his world turned upside down.

But no. No one deserves that. I didn't deserve it then, and he--asshole that he may be--doesn't deserve it now.

I glance at Malik and Jianyu before gently nudging Rafe aside. He hesitates, but I push as much confidence as I can muster into our connection.

Reluctantly, Rafe backs off. I meet Storm's gaze with my head held high.

"What is going on?" he asks, voice low but urgent.

"Storm." I inhale deeply before exhaling. I look around and meet Brynn's wide eyes and the even wider eyes of her new boyfriend. "Brynn, Jimmy." I gesture around expansively, trying to appear calm when I'm a raging tempest inside. "Meet my mates." I tip my head at them each in turn. "Malik. Jianyu. And Rafe."

"Wait." Brynn shakes her head. Putting a hard emphasis on the plural part, she asks, "Mate s ?"

But my focus returns to Storm, who's taking this better than Malik did, in that he has yet to actively threaten to kill-slash-imprison any of my other companions. That's not saying much, though.

His jaw tight, he curls and uncurls his fists. "How."

"It's a really, really long story."

"And one that would possibly be better told elsewhere," Jianyu interjects.

And yeah, he's probably got a point. The portal I opened landed us in the central green in the middle of Unity's little downtown. It's the middle of the night, so the area isn't crowded or anything, but this isn't exactly private, either.

As if to underscore the point, two dragons soar into the air overhead at just that moment. I have half a second to be alarmed before I recognize the shimmering white scales of Freya's dragon and the deep black ones of Jett's. They touch down not a dozen yards away, shifting back into their human forms. Freya's gaze is wary, but I smile at her in reassurance.

As soon as Freya's there, Amy, Grace, Rhiannon and the rest of our friends aren't far behind. I have to make round after round of introductions.

As Amy hugs me, she shoots a concerned glance my way, mouthing, "Is this the ex or the asshole?"

"The ex," I whisper back.

She winces, and a new wave of anxiety crests over me.

"Let me know if I need to..." She less than subtly mimes hitting him over the head with what I can only imagine is a shovel, and I manage a ghost of a laugh.

"You'll be first in line." I glance past her at my cousin, who's taking in all of this craziness with a surprising amount of calm. My heart, shredded as it is, swells just a little, having both of my best friends in the world in one place. "Come on. Let me introduce you to the person who'll be second in line to deck him if he steps out of line."

I lead Amy over to Brynn, and within seconds, Amy is throwing her arms around my cousin as if they've been friends forever. She promises to help Brynn and Jimmy get settled, and I rest a little easier, knowing Brynn's transition to the Air-Kingdom-exile life is off to as smooth of a start as a person could hope for.

I'm not sure I can say the same for Storm.

The weight of his gaze presses on me until I can't bear it anymore. I glance his way, and the hurt and confusion simmering in his eyes is a vise squeezing hard around my heart. Our connection, still new and unconsummated, tugs at the inside of my chest with force.

But there's more than a handful of feet separating us. There are years of history. Months of pain.

My three other mates. My destiny.

And the impossible hand of fate.

By some unspoken agreement, my mates and I all hold our tongues as we make our way back to the suite where we're staying. As much as I want to reach out for them and take comfort in their touch, I keep my arms crossed tightly over my chest. I can't lean into one of them until I can lean into all of them.

When we arrive, Storm eyes our quarters warily. The place is all but bare; we kept having to flee various kingdoms with only the clothes on our backs.

Our scent is strong on the air, though. I breathe in deeply. The first tendrils of Storm's rainwater and cedar scent enter into the mix, and the combination soothes a ragged part of my soul. As tense as the situation might be right now, his being here feels right .

He's the missing piece that I've been searching for.

Ironic, considering that once upon a time, he was basically my other half.

So much has changed since then, though. He shifts his weight, glancing between me and the three other men closed into this room with us.

"So, you all..." With unmistakable innuendo, he gestures among the four of us. He trails off, his expression pained, but there's a spark in our bond. A sizzling flicker of heat.

"That's right," Rafe says.

Storm looks to me. "And I..."

"Had better get used to it," Rafe interjects again.

"Rafe," I try.

"What?" Rafe says. "It's true."

"It isn't easy," Malik offers, his tone vastly more conciliatory than Rafe's, but I'm still not sure it's helping. "Getting used to being one of many mates. Believe me, I know."

"Ember." Storm shakes his head, practically pleading for my attention, and he's right. We can't have the heart to heart we need to have if my other mates keep weighing in.

I huff out an exhalation and look to the rest of my mates. "Can you give us a minute? Please?"

"You sure about that?" Rafe asks. His brows furrow. He's being difficult, but everything in him is radiating protectiveness. He hurt you , his eyes tell me.

As if I could forget.

Nodding, I push as much calm as I can manage into our connection. "I'm sure."

With that, I beckon Storm toward the bedroom of the suite. My stomach clenches at the sight of the big, inviting bed, my insides going watery and warm.

I hesitate, trying to get my freshly-mated hormones in check. The bedroom might not be the best place to have an emotional conversation like this, but it's our only real option if we want any kind of privacy.

Before I can close the door on my other mates, Jianyu catches my eye. "If you need anything..."

I shine a grateful, reassuring smile. "You'll be right outside."

The instant the door latches, the connection between me and Storm pulls taut, and I have to put a hand to the center of my chest against the shortness in my breath. Between my legs, I pulse with wanting, and my skin feels too tight.

"Ember," he breathes from right behind me, and my knees wobble.

I force myself to stand up straight, though. Not turning to face him yet, I exhale roughly. "We should probably talk."

He doesn't move, staying right there, his heat unbearable against my spine. Mere inches separate us, and after we've been apart for so long, it's tearing at me to maintain the distance.

My heart still aches, though--and there's so much he doesn't know. As tempting as it is to fall into bed with him right here and now, we'd just end up at the same impasse again.

As if he can feel the impossibility of it all, too, he finally releases a breath.

"Okay." He steps back, and my lungs expand.

I stand there for a moment, gathering myself. When I trust myself to turn around, I find him sitting on the edge of the bed. I look him up and down, the tender space between my ribs unbearably sore.

On the surface, he looks the same as always. His golden skin and thick, dark hair. The sharp line of his jaw, shadowed by an oh-so-sexy growth of stubble. The noble tilt to his brows, the purse of his lips, and the piercing, silvery gray of his eyes.

But there's something new in him now. Something that's not quite brokenness.

But it's not far off.

My stomach twists. Our entire time we were together, he was royalty, and I was a defective outsider. He held every possible bit of power.

Now that's all reversed, and I should probably be reveling in having the upper hand for once. Instead, waves of empathy race through me, softening my heart.

Maintaining a careful distance between us, I move to sit beside him on the bed. Even without touching him, I can feel his heat pouring into me. I tried not to, but I missed the solidity of his presence so much.

Clenching inside, and twisting my hands together in my lap, I turn my head to look at him. "This all must be a lot to take in."

He lets out a mirthless laugh. "Understatement." He glances my way, and I'm still so mad at him, but I can't help the way I want to fall into his soulful eyes. His throat bobbing, he releases a heavy breath. "Will you tell me? Everything?"

And there's something so open to the way he says it. Memories flood my mind; back in Wynrath Crest, he was my solace. No one knew me better. The fact that he doesn't know about everything that's happened over the past couple of months feels so wrong.

I still don't completely trust him. But I open my mouth, and the entire story comes pouring out.