25. Kaida

The cold, hard floor below her face scratched against her skin. Her eyelids felt heavy as she tried to push them open. Her throat felt dry, and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. She attempted to move her arms and legs, but she felt searing pain. It took her a few minutes of lying on her stomach before she slowly came to consciousness before she regained her strength. There were sounds that she could not quite place, like scratching against rocks and drops of water hitting the solid floor. The scents in the room were more of a musty earth and a dampness that made her feel as if she were underground. A slight scent of smoke and marshmallow called to her. The bonds inside her flared to life, but she could only feel one of her mates instead of all of them.

Kaida pushed her eyelids open, but her vision was blurry. After a few blinks, she saw she was on a leveled rock floor with metal bars a few feet away. The room was dark, with no natural light. She could see a flicker of light from flames through the bars of the cell to her right. There were a few torches with large enough flames to give her some ability to see her surroundings but not enough to guess exactly where she was. She groaned at the thought of her being locked away with no way to contact her mates. If she wanted to get out of here, she needed to figure out where she was first and go from there.

She gently rolled her body to her back. Her muscles aimed and cried for her to stop her movement, but she continued. A slight growl was emitted next to her, so she tilted her head to the left to see more bars. Inside the cage beside her was her auburn-haired mate, sitting on the floor with his back against the rock wall. His eyes danced with flames as he recognized who she was and that she was close to the bars.

Blaze jumped to his feet and threw himself against the cage. The sizzling of the magic sparked as his skin connected with it. Kaida tried to roll away from the bars, but the searing pain in her muscles kept her in place. Blaze continued to throw himself against the bars like a mindless creature whose only drive was animalistic. Tears welled up in her eyes as she watched her mate do whatever he could to try to break through the bras to get to her. It would have felt more romantic if it hadn’t been for the deadness in his eyes, as if he did not know who she was.

What can I do? How can I get him out of this?

The only way that we can save him is through our bonds.

Kaida was not sure what that meant. It could have been anything from completing the bond to pushing her power through it, like during the battle. With those being the only two options she had, the only one that could work right now was using her power through the bonds. Hearing his skin sizzle against the bars and his body thumping, Kaida had difficulty focusing on the task. She did her best to clear her mind and ignore the sounds of Blaze wanting to kill her to call upon the bonds inside of her.

She could only see black with the view of her purple flame at the center. Around her flame were the four flames representing her mates, with one ombre red flame that was smaller than the others. With a glance at the others to ease her mind about their predicament, she saw that they were still vibrating, with no indication of the black Dark Dimension ring as Blaze had once. Then she looked at Blaze’s. There was no black encasing his red flame this time. The only thing different from the last time she saw it was its size. If she had lost some of the relationships they were building, this would be harder than she thought.

With some focus, she could zero herself in on Blaze’s flame. She pictured her hands hovering over it and her purple magic encasing the flames to assist her. At first, she pushed the magic gently toward Blaze’sflame so as not to overwhelm it. The flame danced as it flickered larger flames. She felt the heat against her skin, threatening to burn her if she continued.

She couldn’t give up now, though. That is exactly what Gemar would want.

Another wave of her magic and power pushed into the flame. A small bit of lime green was inside the middle as the flames flickered outward. Kaida recognized the green of Gemar’s ability, telling her that he was still influencing Blaze to force this attack. Kaida pushed harder for her magic to cut through Blaze’s flame and zero in on Gemar’s control. Her purple magic flickered against the lime green, sparks flying everywhere. As the lime green faded away, a hint of black was underneath. Kaida focused a little more and pushed her magic harder. The black disappeared as if it exploded out of the flame.

The roar from Blaze and the sound of his body connecting to the bars further away pulled Kaida out of the trance she was in to fight for Blaze’s control over himself. When she opened her eyes, he was breathing heavily on all fours. She didn’t say a word, giving him the time he needed to regain composure.

I hope this worked. I don’t even know if this will help. He could still hate my guts and try to kill me.

Blaze lifted his head and stared into her eyes as if he could read her thoughts. Kaida held her breath as she waited for his response. His face was twisted in pain at first, then changed to recognition, then something she couldn’t figure out.

"How did he manage to capture you? They were supposed to keep you safe. How did Gemar capture you when you had four powerful dragon mates to protect you?" Blaze whispered to her, keeping his gaze on her before he bowed his head and emitted a growl.

Well, that’s not what I expected him to say.

It was interesting to hear him so vulnerable. She had never seen this side of him, and she wondered what it meant. Did he still hate her? Or did he regret the actions that had led him here? She didn’t want to push her luck and ask the wrong question.

While moving her body slightly to sit up, Kaida tried to recall the last thing she remembered. The only thing that came to mind was the black smoke. It was different from the dark dimension’s mist. She was able to keep control of herself and her dragon. It also felt more like pressure than it did smoke.

"I don’t really know. All I can remember is black smoke."

"It’s the witch he is working with. He has some ties to the dark dimension and can wield its power like we can with our magic."

Kaida tried to growl, but it only hurt her chest and throat. She tried to swallow the small amount of spit in her mouth before she tried to talk again. Blaze must have noticed her struggle and pointed toward the other side of the cell.

"There’s a plate of food and a glass of water over there. It’s not much, but it is enough to keep your body working so you don’t die."

Kaida lifted herself enough to see what Blaze meant. With her muscles aching with every move, she felt as if lying on the ground was the best thing she could do. Until the aches went away, this is where she would stay.

"How long have I been out?"

"I don’t know. There are no window rooms here, so I can’t even guess how much time has passed. I know you have been here for at least a few hours since I woke up. I didn’t even know it was you until you rolled over."

"Were you the one who attacked me?"

"On the island? Yes. I didn’t want to, but my body listened to this unspoken command. I heard a voice in my head that told me to do it. I tried to fight it, but my body did what the voice said instead of what I wanted. Then the same black smoke that must have got you surrounded me, and I woke up here."

The pain in his voice was telling her everything she needed to know. He never wanted to hurt her. Somehow, Gemar’s ability could override what he wanted to do. The mate bond was not enough to fight him. It needed to be completed so that he would not be affected. When she looked at him, his shoulders sagged, and his head bowed. He was ashamed of his actions and couldn’t look her in the eye.

Same with the stupid Dark Dimension.

"It wasn’t your fault. Gemar can take control of dragons and their will. That was how he was able to make Enzo reject me. He must have used it on you to attack me. Maybe as a way to sever the ties between us? Like, make me think you were willing to hurt me again so I wouldn’t complete the bond with you."

Blaze laughed. "I think I did more damage than he ever could have. I don’t see you trying to complete the bond right now."

Kaida thought about it momentarily. "There are too many bars that are warded, so we can’t touch them for me to be able to do that."

When he looked at her this time, his gaze was filled with the fire of wanting more. He knew the meaning of her words and wanted what she suggested. Inside their bonds, she could feel a difference inside him that was not there before. Kaida looked up at the ceiling and bit her lip.

I don’t want to get ahead of myself here.

"You were being controlled, Blaze. I’m not going to use that against you."

"I wasn’t always under that control." He said it as if he were condemning himself. He didn’t want her to complete the bond just because it was there. Blaze didn’t consider himself worthy of it. "My choices should make you want to hightail it away from me. I don’t understand why you continue to fight."

Something about those words gave Kaida the strength to force herself to sit up and look at him. His head was still bowed so that she couldn’t see his face. Their bond told her enough of what he felt for her to say what she needed.

"Everyone makes mistakes, Blaze. That’s the whole point. Mistakes are lessons as long as you learn from them. What makes you think that I will make the same mistake I did with Enzo and not fight for you?"

Blaze looked up just enough to see her face from the tops of his eyes. "I’m not worth fighting for. That’s the difference."

Kaida growled at him. "How aren’t you worth fighting for? Because you tried to kill me? You were not the only one that tried that. And I don’t break easily. I’m not some fragile little girl that needs you to be gentle."

"I didn’t want a mate! I have prayed to the Great Dragon not to give me one so I wouldn’t do this to them. I don’t want to fall in love just to lose it! I tried to fight this so I wouldn’t feel this way. I should have just broken the bond when I had the chance. I’m hating myself for getting caught up in my mess that caused you to fly here without a plan that would work and get you captured. I was stupid enough to fall, and now I will lose what was given to me. I fell for you so hard because, even though I was a dick, you just gave it back to me. Even with you having so much power and being special, you treated everyone equally. My mom was like that. I told myself growing up that if my mate wasn’t like her, there was no reason to claim her. But here you are, everything I ever wanted. But I pushed you away because I thought I’d lose you, too. And now I am going to because of my dumbass mistakes."

The rage in his voice wasn’t directed at her as he spoke his truth. She could feel how broken he was that his parents died because they wanted to keep each other safe.

"Who said you would?" Her voice was softer than she planned.

He looked at her, and some of the rage fell away. It was like she could break through his tough exterior now with just a look.

"You are sitting in a cell next to me. Gemar is going to come down here and kill you in front of me to keep me in line. He has shown me what he plans on doing to you! He is going to break the bonds you have sealed, kill my brothers, and force Enzo to be with someone of his choosing. I’m going to lose you, so why should I fall just in time to see you die?"

Gemar’s plan made Kaida’s stomach turn. It was similar to the one she had in mind. The only difference was that she hadn’t considered he’d kill her in front of one of her mates, and she wanted to hurl the empty contents of her stomach.

"The only way that will happen is if you let it."

Blaze looked at her with a look of shock. The confidence in her voice spread through their bond to tell him she meant it.

You need to complete the bond with him.Her dragon’s suggestion felt right, as if it was the key to their dilemma.

"How are you so confident? These wards are designed to keep us here until they open that door. There is nothing we can do to free ourselves."

Kaida smirked at him. "That’s what you believe. I know better."

With just a thought, Kaida pushed her power through the mate bond toward Blaze. She noticed his eyes go wide, looking down at himself and then back at her as she allowed her power to course through him. Then, she pushed herself to her feet and stepped away from the bars.

"Burn through the bars with your flames."

"It’s not going to work."

"Trust me."

Those two words registered in the look coming through Blaze’s eyes. For a moment, she thought he would resist what she asked and try to devise a different plan. She held his gaze and urged him on through their bond. Even with it being weak, Kaida could see he felt what she was doing. He shook his hands and wrists out and cracked his neck. She felt his power roll through the room as flames licked around his hands.

"You sure about this?"

She smirked at him. "Deadly sure."

He smirked back and clasped his wrists against each other. The energy of his fire roared between his hands before becoming a stream of fire that was guided to burn against the metal bars. Gold magic sizzled and screamed against the flames as Blaze guided more pressure from his magic against the metal. Kaida mimicked what Blaze did with his hands and called her magic forth. She pushed her plasmic energy at the same area of the bars, causing the gold magic to snap. The flames consumed the metal, and pieces began to pool onto the floor in liquid form.

She noticed Blaze’s eyes were staring at what his magic was capable of with her power added to his and had a fearful expression before it turned into delight. Kaida ran over to the entrance of her cell to check for anyone coming that would ruin their chances of completing her plan. When she was satisfied with not hearing oncoming footsteps and someone yelling about the magic of the wards being broken, she moved to the center of the cell. Blaze had already burned through enough of the metal to fit himself through and dropped his hands to his sides.

Kaida smiled weakly at him and pushed her feelings of pride through the bonds. It registered on his face that he felt what she intended before he jumped through the metal bars and enveloped her against him. His hands quickly found her ass and pulled her up so he could carry her across the room. Kaida looped her arms around his shoulders to steady herself just in time to feel the rocks against her back. Blaze’s hot mouth was against hers, consuming her with his need. The fire he wielded felt present within their kiss. It was frantic and passionate, making up for all the lost time. She could feel his hard body against her, his arms holding her in place like, if he let go, she would disappear. Kaida gave it as good as she was getting it to show him she felt the same.

The past was simply that: the past. All of his transgressions against her were forced out of her mind. She could understand where he came from and why he didn’t want to complete the bond just to feel the loss he felt with his parents. If it were his mate, it would hurt more than ever for him. If she wanted to make him grovel about it, now wasn’t the time. They needed to complete the bond before it was too late. If past experiences had shown her anything, Gemar would have felt his power over Blaze and the warding on the bars break.

Blaze must have read her mind. He moved his hands to move the fabric of her skirt up and then pressed her against the wall again. Kaida used one of her hands to reach down between them and move his zipper down. Once she unbuttoned his pants, Blaze moved just enough to allow his pants to fall. She wasted no time moving the fabric of his boxers down and felt the hardness of his cock in her hand. Blaze growled against her lips and shifted his hips to realign himself. He lowered her to the ground long enough for him to use his claws to rip through her panties before he lifted her against the wall once more. Kaida shifted her hips, and he thrusted himself inside of her. Kaida cried out against his lips, and he caught the bottom one in his teeth.

"You’re going to have to be quiet, or Gemar’s men will come down here and ruin this, Princess."

Kaida growled at him. "Then hurry your ass up and mark me."

Blaze took the invitation and sped up his thrusts. Kaida held in her scream as her release built inside of her. She bent her neck to give him access, but Blaze continued to bring her to the edge. She felt the beginnings of herself coming undone before he let go of her, and her feet touched the ground. She growled at him before he grabbed her hips, twisted her body around, and then pressed her against the wall.

"I wasn’t done, Princess. Just needed the right angle."

He slipped back inside of her and bent her just enough to find the right angle before he continued. This time, it took nothing before her body shook from the building orgasm. She felt his teeth sink into the back of her neck; he let go and then bent her over more before picking up his speed. Kaida kept her scream inside of her throat as they both reached their climax. Blaze quickly pulled himself out and spun her around. He lifted Kaida back up and put her legs around his waist as he bared his neck to her. Kaida felt her canines slide down, and she sunk them into his neck. Inside the bonds, she could see Blaze’s ombre red flame spark to life and burn just as brightly as the others.

Blaze was hers, and she was his.

The silver thread around the flames snaked its way to add Blaze’s flame to them. When the thread finished, Kaida screamed as her body glowed silver, blinding her completely.