Chapter 19

Chapter

Nineteen

EMBER

" T hank Gods," I breathe, my hands over my mouth as I take in the three bedraggled figures sitting on the tailgate of a big pickup truck parked just beyond the border of Unity.

Freya was tight-lipped as she drove me and my mates here to meet them. In my heart of hearts, I scarcely dared to hope.

But here they are. Alive--if not entirely well.

I spill out of the van at a run, my mates not far behind. "Mariutza, Delaynie, I thought you were dead."

Mariutza crinkles her wizened brow, looking to her granddaughter. "Are we? Dead?"

"It was a near thing," Delaynie says, exhaustion making her voice rough. She curls her arm around Mariutza and shines a tired smile at me. "But a Shadow Dragon has ways of escaping even the stickiest of situations."

She would know.

I met Mariutza and Delaynie when I was a prisoner in the Citadel. They were being held in the cell across from mine, imprisoned for using "the old magicks." Mariutza was touch and go with reality, but her command of her Shadow Dragon abilities was strong. She helped me figure out how to create a portal out of my cell, and I was eventually able to return to them and help them escape as well.

The last time I saw them, they had decided to face the Shadow King's Sorceress, some old grudge lighting a dark flame in Mariutza's eyes. Together, they bought me enough time to make it to the top of the tower, but when the Sorceress confronted me again mere minutes later, I could only surmise the worst about their fate.

I throw myself at them now, gratitude and relief overwhelming me. Delaynie bristles at first when I fling my arms around her, but she softens after a moment, tentatively hugging me in return. Mariutza is less reserved, squeezing me tightly.

When I draw away, she catches me in a surprisingly strong grip. Holding onto my arm, she examines me with sharp, black eyes. "You found him."

My stomach sucks in, and a fluttering chill rushes across my skin. She's talking about my final mate. Storm. I'm sure of it.

I nod, swallowing hard.

"Good." She squeezes my biceps hard before letting go. "You're ready then."

"Ready for what?"

"For what has to be done," a third, deeper voice interjects.

Stepping back from Mariutza and Delaynie, I turn my attention at last to the final member of the group.

The man manages a weak smile, and my chest constricts.

I first encountered Lord Rook as my captor--a regal figure in a sharp black suit, with salt and pepper hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He was clearly a trusted member of King Erembour's royal court. Then he accidentally played witness to my meeting with my parents' spirits, and he revealed himself as something I never would have imagined.

My uncle. Learning the truth about my father--his brother--changed everything.

He, too, bought me time to escape. And he clearly paid the price.

His dignified suit has seen better days, tattered and ripped and maybe even burned. Dark bruising mottles one side of his face, and his arm is in a sling, his back hunching in a way that belies further injuries. He still has a proud tilt to his head, though, and a spark of fire in his eyes.

"No hug for your uncle?" he asks, dark humor in his tone.

He might be on my side, not to mention a blood relative, but he still cuts a terribly imposing figure. I can't imagine him embracing anyone.

And then there's the fact that he looks like he picked a fight with a couple dozen Shadow Dragons and lost.

Shrugging, I lift a brow, glancing at his sling. "Are you sure you can handle it?"

He sits up straighter and winces. "No. Not really."

"Would you like to introduce us?" Freya asks gently from the side.

The rest of the world seeps back in. My mates' presence behind me has been a warm net of safety as I've reunited with my lost allies from the Citadel, and I turn to them now.

I nod to them each in turn. "Rafe, Jianyu, Malik, Storm, these are Mariutza, Delaynie, and Lord Rook. They helped me escape the Shadow King's forces. Without them..."

I shudder just to think of it. I would have been at the mercy of King Erembour and his Sorceress.

I grasp my wrist unconsciously. Erembour was determined to take the Shadow Bracer. The idea of losing it now grates at something deep in my soul. It's a part of me--it awakened the very best , most powerful pieces within me. The strong ones that can wield magic.

The ones that were able to bind Storm's heart to my own.

"You have our gratitude," Malik says, and the rest of my mates voice their agreement.

As I'm introducing Freya, a broad shadow falls over the desert landscape. I shield my eyes and look up to find two dragons soaring toward us from the direction of Unity. I recognize Jett's sleek, black form; the other one I can identify only from context, and from the calm, wise aura that emanates from its visage.

Jett and his mother, Rhiannon, drop down to land a few dozen feet away. Rhiannon takes one look at our guests, and her face goes white.

Then she strides right up to Lord Rook.

"Uh-oh," Jett mutters.

"You." She narrows her eyes at him and jabs a finger toward his chest.

He either doesn't have the energy or the will to react in kind. "Hello again, Rhiannon."

"Some nerve you have showing up here after all this time."

"Uh..." I glance between the two of them.

"It's lovely to see you, too," Rook says.

For a second, everyone's quiet. A hundred expressions cross Rhiannon's face, and I can't decide if she's going to deck him or defy my imagination and try hugging him.

"Um," I try again, compelled to try to break the silence. "So, Rhiannon, I take it you've met my uncle?"

If she's surprised by my pronouncement, she doesn't show it in the least. "It's been a very, very long time."

"Too long." The fatigue in his voice has grown, but for the first time, it wavers. Something like regret crosses over his brow.

And that finally seems to break the stalemate. Rhiannon crosses her arms and tilts up her chin. "You've decided to part ways with His Royal Evilness, then, I presume?"

"Quite thoroughly." He furrows his brows. "And irrevocably."

Rhiannon nods, satisfied. "Good. It's about time."

Something unspoken passes between the two of them. "That it was," he agrees.

"Rhiannon?" Mariutza says, squinting. "Is that you?"

Rhiannon turns to the old woman, who's risen from her huddled position next to Delaynie. At first, Rhiannon seems confused, but then her eyes widen. "Mari?"

They share a tearful reunion, followed by even more rounds of introductions. Apparently, back before she fled the Shadow Dragon Kingdom, Rhiannon was a close friend of Mariutza's daughter and Delaynie's mother. They were both rabble-rousers, dissenting against the Shadow King's rule. But where Rhiannon decided to leave, Mariutza's daughter decided to stay.

"I was so sorry when I heard..." Rhiannon begins, her eyes shining.

"Heard..." Mariutza's own eyes flutter, and then she blinks rapidly. When she speaks again, her voice is quiet and scared. "Heard what, dearie?" She shakes her head. "I'm sorry, have we met?"

"Grandma gets like this sometimes," Delaynie explains, folding Mariutza in close.

Rhiannon's eyes shine wetly, and she nods. "Of course." She swabs at her eyes before stepping back and addressing Rook again. "What are you all doing here? And why now?"

A dark expression crosses Rook's face. "We're here because the heir is here."

He looks to me, and a hollow pang fires off in my chest. I instinctively want to take a step back, but force myself to stand my ground.

I still don't know about this whole heir thing. But I have to accept the fact that I'm part of something larger than myself.

As if to drive it home, he fixes me with a weighty, penetrating stare. "We have to move quickly. Time is short, and Erembour's plan has long been in motion." Rising to stand, he sucks in a rough breath of pain before letting it out slowly. His gaze grows even more grave. "You're in great danger, Ember."

All I can think is, yeah--so what else is new?