Chapter 3

Chapter

Three

EMBER

I 'm never going to get used to being pampered like this.

My mates basically bustle me into the kitchen, where they sit me down and present me with coffee, fixed exactly the way I like it, as well as a plate piled with cheese, bread and fruit. I want to make fun of them for telling me they "didn't have much"--this is more than I ever would have expected, back in my aunt's house in Wynrath Crest. But then the scent of the food hits me.

Good lord--when was the last time I ate?

I tear into the bread and shove a piece of cheese into my mouth. They taste like heaven, and the ripe sweetness of a sliced peach is even better. The coffee is rich and bitter, and exactly what my poor, uncaffeinated brain needed.

It's only after I've gobbled down half of the food and demolished the coffee that I feel the weight of three sets of eyes all staring at me.

I glance up, my cheeks heating. I must look like an absolute pig.

But there's no judgment in my mates' eyes.

Rafe, standing by the stove, lifts one corner of his mouth in a smirk and nods toward my plate. "Don't let us stop you."

I set down the hunk of bread I'd been holding halfway to my mouth. Looking around for a napkin, I brush a dusting of crumbs off my shirt. "Sorry. I just--"

"We're glad to see you have an appetite," Jianyu says quietly. He's sitting across from me at the table, and he nudges my knee with his own.

A hint of roughness to his tone, Malik adds, "We're mostly just glad you're here."

Utter sincerity warms our bond, and I flutter inside. My throat catches, a wave of gratitude catching me off guard. My vision threatens to mist over, and I blink rapidly, looking from one man to the next.

Gorgeous, stoic Jianyu. Hot-headed Rafe. Thoughtful, resolute Malik.

These men are my mates, made for me by the gods themselves. They're gorgeous, brilliant, caring. Everything I ever could have asked for.

I was taken by the most dangerous people in the dragon shifter world, and they came for me. They pulled me out of the sea, and flew me to safety. They've seen to my every need.

How did I ever get so lucky?

And how can I possibly tell them that they're not enough?

"It's all right," Malik says, moving to sit at the table beside me. He places his hand over mine, and the contact sends a wash of reassurance through me.

I'm breathing too fast, anxiety tearing at me.

Rafe nods and crosses his arms. "Whatever you have to tell us, we can handle it."

Of course. They don't know the details of what happened or what I learned, but they can feel how worked up I am.

I shiver, trying to repress the shaking in my limbs. I don't want to pull away from Malik, but with a glance of apology, I slip my hand out from under his and move to fiddle with the chunk of bread on my plate. With a faint laugh, I shake my head. "I don't even know where to start."

"How about the beginning?" Jianyu says gently, not a trace of condescension to his voice.

I exhale roughly. The beginning of this story might be the part that I fear the most.

It goes back years. To the time before I knew them.

To Storm.

As my thoughts spiral, my hesitation draws on and on, and my words get even more stuck in my throat. I nibble on a few more berries to try to buy myself some time, but I'm not sure there's enough time in the world.

Finally, Malik, bursting with emotion, puts me out of my misery. "I'll begin." His voice catches, and his Adam's apple bobs. "I'm so sorry. You should never have woken up alone that morning."

Guilt pours off of him, so strong and painful, I don't know how I failed to sense it earlier. His frame is rigid, his jaw tight. He's been keeping his feelings bottled up, and I hate that.

"No," I assure him.

"I went to see the queen." Even more pain drenches our connection. "I wanted to convince her to free your other mates." He glances at Jianyu and Rafe before turning his attention back to me, his eyes soulful and wide. "After what we shared... After what I felt..."

If it's possible, my cheeks flare even hotter. He's talking about our magical night together. We made love in the ocean, and then fucked on every surface of his home, long into the wee hours of the morning.

Rafe sighs heavily, and Jianyu's mouth is pinched. They could feel my ecstasy then; they can feel my embarrassment now.

I shoot them soft looks of apology before reaching for Malik. "It was incredible."

His gaze meets mine with dark intensity. "Once I knew what it was like to be your true mate, with our bond fully realized..." He licks his lips, and warmth blooms in my abdomen as we share a memory of how we realized our bond . He breathes out roughly and allows me to take his hand. "I couldn't keep you from them or them from you."

"Don't expect us to write you a thank you card," Rafe mutters, but there's no heat to the jibe.

"I've already apologized," Malik says testily.

"It doesn't matter." Jianyu rubs a hand over his head, ruffling his short hair. His voice is tired--like they've had this conversation before. "What matters is Ember."

They all turn their gazes to me, and a part of me wants to wither under the spotlight. But the same awe that had me blinking back grateful tears before returns to me. These are my mates. I trust them--I love them. I feel safe with them. No matter what.

Exhaling slowly, I give Malik's fingers a soft squeeze. "It wasn't your fault," I promise him.

"But I should have known. My mother--" He stops himself, gritting his teeth for a moment before continuing on. "The queen. She was in the Shadow Kingdom's debt the entire time." The anguish in his heart is almost unbearable. "I left you alone, thinking you were safe in my kingdom, when in reality, my kingdom was the most dangerous place you could be."

Rafe's tone is softer this time. "I don't want to let you off the hook or anything, but seriously, buddy. It happens to the best of us."

He's being flippant, but regret darkens his eyes.

The Fire King is under the sway of Shadow Dragons, too. We barely survived their attack.

"He's right," Jianyu agrees. He looks to me. "Even in the Stone Dragon Kingdom... The royal guard turning on us outside the club in Shítou... It may have been on my father's orders, but it's only reasonable to suspect that he may have been unduly influenced as well."

I swallow, and my throat grates. "King Erembour has his talons in everything."

"Wait--" Rafe pushes away from the wall.

Alarm echoes in my connection to all three of my mates.

I nod, my heart constricting. "The Shadow King is alive and well."

Rafe mutters a curse, while Jianyu scrubs his hands over his face. Malik clenches his fists, and our gazes meet. He may not have known, but after what his mother revealed, he must have suspected.

"All this time," I tell them, "they've been right there, manipulating every kingdom behind the scenes."

Malik catches what I'm not yet saying. "Including the Air Kingdom?"

"Including the Air Kingdom," I agree, letting out a harsh breath. I slowly pick apart what's left of my bread. "One of the things I learned while I was captured--the Shadow King is betrothed to King Zephyr's daughter. Princess Aria."

Her face floats back to me. The terror in her eyes as she was led to the throne room.

But also... Later... While I was escaping with Mariutza and Delaynie, I accidentally managed to open a portal to Aria's private quarters. For a moment, I imagined I might be able to rescue her. But then her eyes clouded, and she raised her face to the ceiling and called to King Erembour.

"I don't know if she's a victim or a willing participant," I admit. "But this couldn't have happened without the Air Kingdom's blessing."

Jianyu shakes his head and pinches the bridge of his nose. "What could have possessed Zephyr?"

I shudder, unable to control it.

The Air King was always a tyrant. Power-mad and war-hungry. He ruled the Air Kingdom with an iron fist, stoking fear among all of the dragons who lived there.

"What could have possessed any of our parents?" Malik asks darkly, the pain of his mother's betrayal weighing heavily in his eyes.

"Why now?" Rafe rebuts. "They've been in hiding for a decade, but suddenly, they're attacking from all sides. What happened? What's their plan?"

Bile floods the back of my throat, and my stomach twists itself into an angry knot.

Because I know what happened.

"Me," I whisper, and I can't help it--inside I'm bracing for rejection. For each one of these men to recoil in horror, but I can't keep any of this from them for a second longer.

"What?" Jianyu shakes his head.

"They're after me." My voice still trembles, but it's stronger now. I hold up my arm. "The bracer--its magic--it..."

How can I explain? When I scarcely understand it all myself?

"King Erembour wants its power for himself," Jianyu surmises.

And I would be so easy to run with that. It's not even a lie.

"Partly," I say, hedging. The cool metal of the bracer glints against my skin. Its magic is quiet for the moment, but its hum is ever present. I've just gotten used to it, is all. "It's..."

After a moment, Malik brushes his fingertips against my own, sending ripples of warmth flowing through me. "What, beloved?"

"It's the Shadow Queen's Bracer," I confess. But my abdomen is still tight, so many hidden truths still waiting to pour out of me. "It's intended to be worn by the Shadow Queen's Heir."

Jianyu sucks in a harsh breath, and Rafe goes still. My vision blurs, and a single tear escapes the corner of my eye.

"It's me," I blurt out. "I'm the Shadow Queen's Heir. I'm part Shadow Dragon."

"Fucking hell," Rafe mumbles.

"You can't--" Jianyu starts.

Malik asks, steadily, "Are you sure?"

"Yes." I nod, more tears coming more readily now. "My--my parents... I saw them."

"They're alive?" Jianyu asks.

"No. But their spirits." A shiver racks me. "They were trapped, and I was able to find them. I freed them."

I stare down at my own hands, and the air crackles with invisible violet energy, the memory of what I did reverberating through me. I touched the Soul Spheres and released my parents' ghosts, and they told me everything.

"They weren't trying to create an heir. They just fell in love." I laugh, and it's hollow, but for the first time in a decade, my insides feel full. "My mother had the blood of all four dragon kingdoms running through her veins, and my father was a descendant of Shadow Dragon royalty." I blink rapidly against the continuing flow of tears leaking down my cheeks. "I met my uncle, even--he's still in the Shadow King's court. He confirmed everything."

Lord Rook, that intimidating, regal figure.

I don't know what happened to him. He tried to buy me time--tried to help me escape.

Lord Rook, Mariutza, Delaynie. All the Shadow Dragons who aided me. I don't know if any of them are even alive.

They went up against my captors willingly. Was I worth the sacrifice?

And now. Here. Surrounded by my mates...

Am I worth the risk?

I swab at my eyes, darting my gaze from one man to the next, searching them for any reaction. Our bond crackles with static, and it's unbearable.

I've been rejected so many times in my life. For years, I thought my parents abandoned me. Storm cast me aside like I was garbage.

None of them had any reason to throw me away.

But my mates? Now? Knowing who and what I truly am?

"Not all Shadow Dragons are evil," I promise, babbling now. I'm not evil--or at least I don't think I am. "There are other kinds of Shadow Magic. It's not all manipulation and subversion. There's light within the darkness, and I know I can figure out how to tap into that kind of power..."

"You already have," Jianyu says, and a bright point of silver-white light breaks into the cloud of darkness in my heart. "Protection magic. Portals."

"You should have seen the burst of light when you took down the tower of the Citadel," Rafe marvels. "It looked like the sun."

Golden threads of connection wind themselves through my chest.

I look to Malik, and he softly smiles. His aquamarine light swirls its way through me, and I could cry for the relief. "There was nothing evil or dark about that," he promises.

Another sob escapes me, only this time, it's born of pure relief.

They believe in me. It's a miracle--honestly, there's a part of me that didn't believe in myself. Hiccupping, I scrub at my eyes again, laughing hoarsely through the last of my tears.

As I do, these three incredible men gather closer around me. Malik rubs at my palm with his thumb, sending waves of warmth rushing through me. Jianyu's feet tangle with mine beneath the table, and Rafe finally comes over. Standing beside me, he puts his hand on my shoulder, and I lean into him, soaking in his closeness.

A shudder of desire hums along my skin as I experience the touch of all three of my mates at once. I'm rested and clean and fed, and one of the worst confessions I had to make is finally out there in the air. All I want to do is press myself into my mates and feel their heat and their strength. Our connection crackles with life, and deep within me, lush, wet need begins to bloom.

But I try to keep myself focused. We're not done here.

They still haven't rejected me, but I feel like I need to give them at least one more chance to get out.

"I know none of you signed up for a half-Shadow Dragon mate," I tell them.

Wryly, Rafe rolls his eyes and rubs my neck. "We didn't sign up for any of this." He glances around at my other mates, shaking his head. "But I wouldn't trade it for the world."

"What does it all mean, though?" Jianyu asks.

Oh, boy. That's opening a whole new can of worms.

Exhaling roughly, I glance at each of them in turn. "I don't know, exactly."

"But you do know something," Malik prods.

I tense, my throat tightening. It all sounds so ridiculous.

"You can trust us." Rafe's hand drifts to my shoulder, sending more warmth traveling down my spine.

They've already taken such a leap of faith for me. Over and over, they've proven themselves. They're accepting and loyal and just... perfect .

I push aside my fears of abandonment and rejection. Rafe is right. These men are my mates. I can trust them.

So I do.