Chapter 15

Chapter

Fifteen

STORM

I didn't think it was possible to get more confused or overwhelmed. But as Ember recounts what's happened to her since she left the Air Kingdom, I'm proven wrong, again and again and again.

I'm a roiling pot of emotions, my stomach clenching with anxiety for her as she tells me about the Shadow Queen's Bracer choosing her, then my entire body burning with jealousy when she describes meeting her first two mates. The love in her eyes when she talks about Rafe and Jianyu washes a bitter taste across the back of my mouth.

That's the way she used to look at me.

As much as I want to tear out into the other room and beat the two men to a pulp for so much as touching her, I can't help the wave of gratitude that tightens my chest.

They were there for her when I couldn't be.

When I chose not to be.

When I failed her.

But Ember's always been stronger than anyone could imagine--including me. She tells me about the bombing at the summit, and about the magic she discovered. The magic she shares with her mates.

"Does that mean--" I interrupt, my senses tingling. The air around us is still, but there's a simmering energy waiting just behind that stillness.

"That we can do Air Dragon magic together?" She nods. "Probably."

The possibility alone stirs the breath inside my lungs.

But then her voice drops, and she tells me about being attacked by Shadow Dragon forces in the Crimson City.

Guilt sinks my stomach to the floor.

"I didn't know," I promise, digging my nails into the meat of my palms. The impotent rage I felt at being sent to lead a squadron of Air Dragon soldiers against some Shadow Dragon enemy floats back to me. "That you were the target."

Only that isn't completely true, is it?

"I knew you were a target," I admit, self-loathing turning my stomach to acid. "But I didn't know why--or that you were who we were attacking."

"I believe you." Her hand inches closer to my knee on the bed, and I want nothing more than her touch, but I haven't earned it.

Can I ever earn it?

"Once I recognized you, I was ready to burn it all down." I would have, given the chance. "But then you were... gone ." I knit my brows together. "How, Ember?"

"Magic." She lifts her hands into the air in a self-deprecating gesture, twinkling her fingers outward from her palms.

The energy coming off her bracer glows in the dimly lit room, though. I can feel it, tugging at my bones.

"I prayed for the magic to take us somewhere safe," Ember tells me. "The next thing I knew, Jianyu, Rafe and I were in the Water Dragon Kingdom."

That's about when my jaw hits the floor.

The Water Dragon Kingdom. That entire nation of dragons was lost to us in the Great War. Wiped off the map.

And yet... There was something familiar to her third mate's features. And to the glowing tattoos running all up and down his arm.

She confirms my suspicions, but there's hardly time to dwell on the fact that her third mate is a long-lost royal from a hidden kingdom.

The sour pit in my abdomen twists, a needle of pure ice lancing my spine as she recounts being kidnapped, and awakening in a cold, dark cell in the Shadow King's Citadel. I listen intently, my heart in my throat as she describes the black walls and the dead magic and the terror of meeting both King Erembour and his Sorceress.

As focused as I am on what happened to Ember, I can't help but think about my sister, who's been trapped in that awful place for months. "Did you see--" My voice breaks off.

She looks over at me, meeting my gaze, and nods. "King Erembour introduced Princess Aria as his betrothed."

Fresh waves of guilt threaten to sweep me under. "How is she?"

"All right, I think?" Ember's mouth twists downward. "But she's...under his thrall or something. I thought I had an opportunity to rescue her, but she called out to him instead." Her throat bobs. "I'm sorry--I wanted to get her out of there."

A dark laugh burns the insides of my lungs. "Believe me. I've tried."

Over and over, I begged my father to reconsider; when those requests only drew his ire, I had to become more subtle. But I've never stopped trying to bring Aria home.

And now it might be too late.

Hanging my head, I rake my hands through my hair. As much as I want to sink into the misery of yet another of my failures, I can't let myself dwell on it right now.

Ember sits up more rigidly, picking at her nails and chewing her bottom lip in a way that's achingly familiar. My abdominals flex. Once upon a time, I would have pulled her into my arms and held her until she was ready to tell me what was eating her up inside. Our mate-bond screams at me to do exactly that, but I don't dare. Not yet.

"What else happened?" I finally ask.

Her eyes well up, and she looks down at her own hands.

The rest of her story comes out in a flood.

Every revelation wants to wash me away. Talking to her parents' spirits, meeting her uncle. Finding out that she's the heir to the Grand Throne, descended from all five kingdoms.

That she's mostly Shadow Dragon, at her heart.

Worse, she's terrified of her fate--of her own powers and of herself.

"I know it's true," she whispers, "but I keep waiting to wake up and find out I made it up. Because I can't-- How can I be--"

I feel her fears, echoing through our bond. I understand them, because they're my own.

But one look at her--

One glimpse inside her heart--

And I know.

My own voice surprises me with its ferocity. "Nothing about you has changed."

Her head jerks up, and her shining gaze meets mine. "How can you say--"

And I'm helpless to her. Just like always. "I know you, Ember."

Yes, I fucked up everything about our relationship. Especially the ending. But deep down, she was mine, and I was hers, even before I looked into her eyes and felt the threads of our fates knit into one.

"You're exactly the same, good person you've always been." And I can't resist any more. I reach up and brush her hair back from her eyes. My fingertips crackle with the electric pull of our bond, but I force myself not to let the contact linger. "Finding out your father wasn't exactly who you thought he was doesn't change that."

She lets out a rough ghost of a laugh. "I don't know. His being a Shadow Dragon isn't the same as him, like, being a mob enforcer or something."

"Still." I dare to place my hand over hers, and the rightness of touching her again blows me away.

She turns her palm over in mine, intertwining our fingers, and it's so much more than I deserve.

Her voice drops even lower. "The power I have scares me, Storm."

"Nothing about you could ever scare me," I assure her. I give her hand a gentle squeeze, working hard to lighten my tone. "But it should sure as hell scare Erembour."

"I don't know about that."

"I do." I huff out a breath. "He's terrified of you. For weeks now, he's had all of his forces out looking for you. You're basically target number one."

She shudders. "Great--that's super reassuring to hear."

"I'm sorry. But it can't exactly be a surprise."

Her story makes it clear--everywhere she's gone, the Shadow King's minions have been hot on her heels.

"I know. But still. Laying it all out like that makes it seem way, way worse."

Dropping her gaze to our joined hands, she brushes her thumb over my knuckles. It's exquisite torture, to be touched so gently when I still have so much to atone for. Like the asshole I am, I accept it, though, soaking it in.

The rest of her story doesn't take long to tell. She escaped the Citadel--barely, and rallied her mates to sneak into the Air Dragon Kingdom to look for me. Her fourth and final mate.

Her mouth twists downward. "For a minute there, I was worried my mate might be Fury."

Thunder echoes in my heart, my dragon's wings flaring within my chest. "What."

Shaking her head, she strokes her thumb against mine in a calming gesture. "It's not-- he's not."

"Damn right." I can't keep the growl out of my tone.

"And I'm so grateful it's you." A suspicious shine lights her eyes. "But it...the idea of seeing you again... It scared me."

My stomach craters. "Ember..."

"I didn't know what to think or feel... After everything..."

Black bile floods the back of my throat, regret burning through my insides.

But she cuts me off before I can respond. "I didn't know how you'd feel, either. Or what you'd think. How you'd react to all this craziness. " She waves a hand toward the door that separates us from her other mates. Anxiety prickling through our connection, her breath quickening, she darts a glance at me. "I mean-- None of this can be what you expected when we found out we were mates."

"No," I laugh despite the guilt that's eating me alive. "No, I can't say it was." Earnest feeling burns away any humor in my voice. "But I wouldn't change it."

"No?"

I shake my head, fervent.

Because the more I think about it, the more it rings true. Would I prefer to have her all to myself--to not have to share her with three others? Of course.

But...

"Those men out there," I tell her quietly. "They love you."

"I know."

"How could I begrudge them that when I..." I swallow hard, my throat suddenly dry. "When I love you, too?"

Her eyes widen, and our connection flares with the shock of her surprise. "Storm..."

Self-loathing threatens to creep back in on me, but this about her. My vulnerability and my fear of rejection don't matter. "I know it's too soon to say that. But it's true. No matter who you are or who you're with--no matter if it's your destiny to take over the fucking world or what. I love you. I always have, and I was just too chicken shit to say it back then."

She shakes her head. "We don't have to--"

Don't have to--what? Talk about it?

About us ?

About what a traitorous piece of shit I was?

"We do," I say gravely, acid leaking into my throat. "I'm so fucking sorry, Ember."

"Storm--"

"I can never do anything to make up for how horribly I treated you. Both when we were together..." When I forced her to keep our relationship a secret. Asking her to live in stolen moments when she deserved the entire world. I swallow painfully. "And after."

When I denied her. Lied to her and to everyone I knew about what she meant to me.

When I let them carry her off like so much trash and exile her from our home.

"I shouldn't have--I should never have let that happen." My heart burns. "When my father and brother walked in on us. I should have told them I loved you then. I wish I had."

"I don't," she interrupts, fierce, and her eyes widen--like she's surprising herself with what she's saying. She takes a moment, gathering her thoughts, and I force myself to hold my tongue. But when she finally speaks again, she's steady. Resolute. "I needed to go out into the world. To meet my other mates and find out about myself. Who and what I am, to come into my power and to find out that I... That maybe I can change things."

Pride so fierce I can hardly breathe expands my lungs. "If anyone can, Ember, it's you."

In so many ways, she's the same girl I've adored for years. But in other ways, she's completely new. She glows --with magic or confidence or love--or maybe all three. She's powerful and strong. Just like she's always been, but more.

And seeing her determined to take down the Shadow King only makes me more drawn to her.

"I'm glad you think so," she says darkly. "Because that's what you're signing up for here. Three other men to share me with, and an impossible war against the Shadow King that's probably going to get us all killed."

"I've worked with the Shadow King before." I shiver. "Believe me--I'd rather be on this side. And what's more, I think I can help." I still don't feel like I've apologized enough yet, but if she wants to talk about making war against Erembour, I'm more than ready. "I don't come to you empty-handed. I have information." A smuggled tablet and a ream full of stolen paperwork. "Specific intelligence about troop movements and requisition orders; details about magical artifacts Erembour has been seeking. It's all yours."

"Really?"

"Really." I shrug. "When I tracked you down in Wynrath Crest--it was what I was going to offer you to get you to at least hear me out."

"That's...not a bad plan, actually."

"Brynn helped me come up with it," I admit.

She raises her brows. "Because you two are so chummy now."

"It's a long story. But our kingdom was overrun with Shadow Dragons, and you were gone." Just the memory makes me ache with futile rage. "We were both looking for a way to help--both our kingdom and you."

"Sounds like Brynn," she agrees, a wry smile curling her lips. She looks at me out of the corner of her eye. "And like you."

That she would give me that much credit feels like a miracle, after all the ways I've fucked up.

"It was the least I could do. To try to atone."

"Are you going to do that all night?" she asks.

I scrunch up my brows. "What?"

"Beat yourself up."

I laugh despite myself. "It only seems fair."

"I'm not saying I don't wish things had gone down differently." A twist of pain tugs at our bond. "But like I said. Fate might have had a hand in it."

That doesn't begin to excuse me.

"I know that all of this had to happen," I say, and my insides clench. "But I still hurt you. And I'll never forgive myself for that. You have every right not to, either."

She's silent for a beat, and our connection pulses with shared regret. "It did hurt. You saying I was nothing."

And my heart is bleeding in my chest. "Ember--you're everything ."

My vision blurs, but I blink hard, unable to look away from her. Her soft lips and bright eyes, and the spirit in her that's always pulled me in. It's not just our mate-bond drawing me toward her. It's her .

"I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you," I vow.

Something inside her breaks. "You better."

And there's so much still to be fixed between us, but all at once, the wall she made that's kept me at arm's length splinters. A crack appears that I can see daylight through, and it's the brightest light I've ever felt.

"I promise," I swear, my heart expanding.

Our gazes connect, and it's like it was, back in my garage, when I first laid eyes on her again, and our mate-bond blazed into being. Brilliant tendrils of connection whirl through the air, silver strands unfurling between us. My skin prickles with awareness, everything in me too tight. The foot of space between us yawns, and it's too much. I need her.

I've always needed her.

So much.

But I hold myself back, keeping my impossible, insatiable desire for her in check. Our mating connection howls, demanding to be satisfied. I'm hard and aching, and I can't breathe, but I haven't earned the right to touch her, hold her, kiss her, claim her.

But she doesn't care.

In the next moment, she's throwing herself at me, wrapping her arms around me, and I choke on relief and need and wanting. I clutch her to me, just breathing in her scent--the same as I remember and yet different. Warmer and darker, and something shimmering within me stirs.

My dragon breathes fire into my ribs, and flickers of flame dance across my skin.

"Ember," I murmur into her hair.

"I know, I know."

Her soft breasts press into my chest, and she shifts until she's sitting astride my lap. The heat of her pressing against my cock sends every bit of blood in my body rushing south, and I'm trying so hard to be a gentleman here. I hurt her; she's been gone for months. I've been working for an evil dragon king--trying to subvert him at every step, but still. And she's been fulfilling an ancient prophecy about bringing light to shadow and uniting dragonkind.

There's so much more to think about right now besides sex.

"Storm," she gasps, grinding down on me, and I see stars.

The fated mate connection hooks itself into my chest and yanks. Bright light feels like it twists itself around us, tying us together, and my body cries out. Fully hard, I try to focus on the emotional connection between us, but my cock is pulsing, and she's so warm and feels so good.

And I thought I'd never get to touch her again.

"We don't have to," I groan, my lips grazing her cheek.

She lets out a soft, breathy sound that goes straight to my cock. "I've been through this before," she says, and yeah. That's a slap. But it's also a reminder. "A fresh mating bond--it's always like this."

"Like what?"

"Like need." She coasts her hands down my back, sending a rush of fire racing up my skin at the contact. "Like I can't get close enough."

I shake my head. "That's no different."

She pulls away enough to look into my eyes. Her own irises burn with purple flame. "No different--?"

"I've never been able to get close enough to you."

But fuck if I'm not determined to try.

Unable to resist a second longer, I crash my mouth into hers, and it's like water after years in the desert. It's freedom and love and lust and so much fucking regret.

I never should have let her get away. But I have this second chance. Nothing stands between us anymore; the gods themselves entwined our paths.

Gasping against my lips, she kisses me back as if she's missed me as much as I've missed her. I can taste her pain, though, and all I can do is try to soothe it.

"I'm so sorry," I breathe between kisses. Each one feels better than the last, and how is that possible?

How can I still want her more--when she's consumed me since I knew what wanting was?

She shakes her head, pressing herself against me tighter. "Not now."

"But--"

"Show me," she entreats me instead, tilting her hips, and I'm lost to the power of our connection, to my need.

To her.