Chapter Eight

MAGNUS WASN'T SURE what to make of his chamber, or lair, in Rafe's Realm other than it felt as familiar as the tree and stream in the main cave where Zoey had crouched at the water's edge, and he saw her little dragon for the first time.

It seemed she felt the same based on her exclamation.

"I know this place." She gazed from the somewhat small fur-covered bed with a wall torch burning beside it to an exit opposite them that allowed a sweeping view of the choppy foam-tipped sea beyond the village below. "And I know that view." Her attention went to the small table and chairs coupled near a fire built into the cave wall. "I used to sit there often." She swallowed hard and blinked back tears. "We used to sit there."

"We did," he confirmed, his voice thick with the same unexpected emotion when he spied the ghostly image of a little girl sitting patiently in one of the chairs as if waiting for someone.

"Waiting for you," Zoey said softly, seeing what he saw, remembering what he remembered as the girl faded and her little black dragon appeared standing at the exit staring forlornly at the sea. "Then sometimes watching for you. Worried about you."

"Why would you worry about me?" He was drawn to her little dragon every bit as much, if not more so, than before. It didn't help he'd spent the better part of the day and evening doing his best to fight arousal at Zoey's proximity. Granted, it had been too long since he'd had a female, and she was in heat, but still. His need for her was powerful. Hard to ignore.

"I don't know why I was worried about you," she murmured. "All I know is I was, and my concern only grew the older I got."

"Which would make sense given you did seem—" he searched for words that sounded better than intrusive and opinionated— "driven to see things done a certain way when you advised me across time." The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. "Now I can't help but wonder if your advice had more to do with our last life than this one."

As if compelled, she frowned and drifted to the exit overlooking the sweeping view. "How could you be confused about something like that?"

"Because you never actually said Zane's name," Magnus revealed, joining her. "In Quinn and Rafe's case, you advised them to honor Quinn's marriage pact to me in that life. When Arne and I heard you, it was mostly about how things were governed. That we needed to work toward peace no matter what happened." He narrowed his eyes and continued contemplating all her naggy bits of advice. "And while it's safe to say you have some things to learn when it comes to diplomacy in our era, it often seemed farfetched for someone, I imagine, given your profession, who must"ve taken the time to learn about such things in this day and age."

"I did," she acknowledged. "As much as I possibly could, which you're right, couldn't be an exact science given the history of any era in the distant past isn't a sure thing. In the twenty-first century, we're always learning new things about eras gone by, but there's still so many grey areas and speculation."

"So you could have just as easily been giving advice better suited to an era before this one, ja?" he prompted.

"I suppose I could have." She nodded. "In fact, all things considered—" her gaze swept over the small cave before landing on him again— "it would make sense." Her eyes lingered on his face before she seemed to catch herself and looked to the sea again. "Because standing here and gazing at this view with worry had everything to do with you."

"Which likely meant I was often on the water."

He'd mulled over his time with Quinn in that life but recalled very little other than they were important enough that their marriage meant keeping peace among humans.

"Based on my nightmare, you were comfortable on a ship," Zoey said. "I got the impression you captained the boat. You were in charge." She released a choppy sigh. "Yet you were foolishly stubborn. You let anger rule you. Thought with emotion rather than your head."

"Which would make sense if it had anything to do with you," he said softly, certain he was right. He admired her delicate profile. The way the wind blew her silky locks and firelight glinted gold off its shimmering black hue. "I have a feeling my heart would have done away with all good sense."

She gave no response to that, but her gaze did drift back to his. Lingered in a way that told him she was no more immune to him than he was to her.

"Tell me more about your childhood," she said, her tone gentle and prompting. "I get how everyone split apart, but tell me what it was like before all that. What were your friendships like with your cousins, including Zane because I sense all of you did, in fact, get along once? That you were pretty close, for that matter."

He wasn't sure if she broached this now because she couldn't stop thinking about how to achieve peace or if she wanted to better understand him. Understand their mutual draw to one another. Either way, getting to know one another could only help, not hurt.

"I will share." Noting her little shiver despite wearing a fur cloak, he removed his fur and wrapped it around her shoulders, then urged her to sit in front of the fire with him. "I'll share as long as you do the same. Namely, more about your dragon's issues with fire ."

"Agreed." She thanked him for his fur, wrapped it more firmly around herself, and sat beside him. When she perked a brow at him to go first, he did and shared a childhood that now seemed like a lifetime ago. "There was once a time when all of us were close," he granted. "Even Zane and Rune."

"Tell me about that," she prompted, thanking him when he poured her mead from the pitcher left for them.

"There is very little to tell other than we were close." He shook his head. "So close it never would have occurred to us we might not always stay that way. That such division would break us apart."

"And at what juncture did it begin?" she wondered, sipping her mead tentatively. "Because it began before your father's and Zane's mates were killed, right?"

"It did," he conceded. "Around the time we became old enough for our bodies and inner dragons to begin changing. I believe you call it puberty." After a swig of ale he"d poured from a second pitcher, he frowned and shook his head. "It was a conflicting time for us all, but most especially Zane, because his multiple demeanors suddenly didn"t seem as interesting and amusing as they had during our younger years."

"Ah," she murmured. "I could see how that might happen during such a hormonal time."

"And it did," he muttered. "Not only did the more unsavory side of Zane surface often, but his inner Múspellsheimr and Ancient became more prevalent around that time, too, making him more confrontational."

"That makes sense, given what I've learned about those types of dragons," Zoey replied. "Again, surging hormones would certainly fuel that fire." She tilted her head in question. "Was that it, then? What fueled all the hatred toward Zane before his fallout with your father? Just a series of teenage attitudes?"

"You mean attitude," he corrected, recalling the countless times Zane stirred up trouble. "Because one way or another, it was mainly Zane causing strife. Turning those at the Keep against everyone he could, including Rafe, who had no desire to claim it as his own. Looking back, he was even good at turning us against each other. Whatever kept things unstable."

"You must be referring to you and Rafe," she assumed. "Even though that sounds like it had more to do with jealousy on your part than anything else. Jealousy over Rune that should have been aimed at your brother, J?rn." She considered him. "I've heard little about him lately. Where does he fit in all this? And are he and Rune still involved? I've heard they couldn't possibly be, or it would've been traitorous on Rune's part, given she's allied with you Sigdirs, but are we sure about that?"

"To begin with, while ja, Rafe and I were jealous of one another, don't think Zane didn't fan the flames for no other reason than he inherently likes to divide anyone not loyal to him and him alone." He frowned. "He didn't just do it when it came to Rune, either. He encouraged dragons at the Keep to distrust Rafe because of his Celtic blood, and those seeds of distrust spread through the kingdoms. Then you saw firsthand how Zane and I came to odds in the Forest of Memories when we battled over the Keep."

"So Zane was just impossible all the way around," she concluded. "One way or another, at the root of most of the dissent between the kingdoms according to the majority on your side of the war and family. And all because he's power-hungry and ruthless. Most definitely heartless."

Not quite liking her tone, he narrowed his eyes. "At the very least, and I'm sure your inner dragon will sense it soon enough as we get closer. As our inner beasts share their pasts."

"What about Zane's more reasonable side?" She sipped her mead again. "How often did it show itself during those tricky teen years? And when it did, was it as power-hungry? As cruel and divisive?"

"Whether it was or was not, it couldn't be trusted because his darker side always influenced it. It was always susceptible, therefore, untrustworthy."

"So essentially, he had no say in anything," she deduced. "Whether he had a difference of opinion or didn't like what his more unreasonable side did, he could only ever be considered the sum of the whole." Before he could reply, and it would have been tersely, she went on. "Did anyone ever try to question that side? Try to push past what they disliked about him to find the parts they found agreeable?" She arched her eyebrows. "See if some kind of compromise could be made until he got past a crappy hormonal stage that had to be extra tough for a dragon with not just various dragon bloodlines but a personality disorder?"

"I'm sure we all did at one point or another," he assured, certain they had. Must have. "But he didn't make it easy." He shook his head. "Would never have made it easy."

"Which sounds like a vague, unsure answer if ever I heard one."

In no mood to talk about Zane, he redirected the conversation. "Tell me about your fire issues."

"Tell me about your brother," she countered.

"I will once you share more about yourself," he returned, giving her a pointed look.

He could tell by how Zoey set her cup down and folded her hands neatly on her lap that she behaved like she would at work. Calm and level-minded. Although she was unfrazzled by all appearances, he could feel her inner dragon's response. Or should he say disadvantage because it distressed his inner beast just as much?

"My fire issues began when I was very young," she said. "Sometimes it was as small as putting out candles on a Birthday cake without blowing on them. Another time, I disabled fire hoses without understanding how or why, allowing a house fire to burn out of control." She pressed her lips together, fighting emotion as she gathered herself. "I was just an innocent bystander like everyone else, but I knew I was the reason everything stopped working. It was as if my inner beast was resolved to the flames, so that meant the fire would continue."

He frowned, trying to understand. "So your dragon didn't actually break the hoses?"

"I don't think so...but maybe." She shook her head and refolded her hands neatly, even as her breathing picked up a notch. "I can't explain it other than I knew it had to do with my dragon. That all the oddities around me before I learned how to deeply repress my inner beast, whether they invoked fire or doused it, had to do with my other half."

"So, you neither loathe nor love fire." He fought the urge to pull her into his arms and soothe her. "But something in between?"

"Yes, something in between," she said softly, her gaze trained on the flames on the hearth. "Now, anyway. Before that, it was a love-hate relationship, and I don't entirely understand why. Just an extreme roller coaster ride of emotions for my dragon."

"And now?" he wondered. "Given your dragon is surfacing whether you want it to or not?"

"Honestly, I've been so worried about achieving peace in this era I haven't given it much thought. Not really." Her gaze finally left the fire and settled on him. "Which is odd, right? You'd think everything would be exasperated if you're somehow related to my issues with fire. Given that seems to be the pattern in these fiery nightmares my friends and I have been having."

"Why wonder when you know your friends" fire issues were assuaged by reconnecting with their mates?" He was surprised by the tentativeness he suddenly felt in her inner dragon. "You're holding it back, aren't you? Somehow, unlike your friends, you're able to keep your dragon from surfacing."

"Which some might say is impossible around my fated mate," she said so softly he almost didn't catch it. What he did catch, however, was the implication she might be in denial that they were fated mates. A conclusion he knew with every fiber of his being was wrong. One he sensed she believed no more than he.

"What did you see in the living room of the Maine chalet?" he asked. "What did Rune's magic show you?"

"The northern lights," she said. "And the ship from my nightmare. Your ship in our last life."

"So there can be no doubt we are mates, can there?"

Because the idea of letting her go if she decided they weren't alarmed him in ways he'd never experienced before. Made his inner beast flail in defiance, not because she was a fertile female in heat that would be beyond his grasp but because he knew her. Remembered her in a way his human half was only starting to grasp.

"Tell me about J?rn," she said rather than answer his question. "Tell me about your brother."

Understanding she needed to change the subject to rally her emotions, he answered the best he could. "He's..." How to phrase it? "Different than the rest of us cousins. Set apart in a way that is hard to describe."

"Please try," she prompted. "From a brother's perspective, I suppose. Should I assume you weren't close because he was different or because Rune chose him?"

"You should assume no such thing." He sipped his ale and eyed the flames on the hearth. "Although J?rn is withdrawn, I've always liked to think of us as close. We may be different from one another, but he is my brother." He shook his head once. "We have never suffered strife."

"Even after Rune?" she said. "Because I sense you knew full well she was drawn to him more than you or Rafe." Zoey paused before going on. "And should I assume Rune told you about your fated mate years ago like she told Rafe about Quinn?"

"No." He met her eyes, making sure if she didn't at least sense the truth of things, she saw it. "I eventually stopped pursuing her when she didn't return my affections, and it was a good thing considering J?rn."

"Good thing," she agreed, not holding back. "Yet you still let her come between you and Rafe and sided with your father's kingdom."

Yet again, not a question but a statement.

"For all you claim to be diplomatic, I often feel your battle is against me and me alone despite the feelings witnessing our past life invokes," he said with a sigh. "But ja, at that point, Rafe and I were not doing well, and I had no choice but to stand by my father. As to my brother, I would stand by him no matter what."

"Even though he got the girl."

"Did he, though?" He perked a brow at her, making himself perfectly clear. "Because it feels like I won that battle, only not with the girl I thought it would be."

"Where is J?rn now?" she asked, despite her pupils flaring and the unique musky, sweet scent of her arousal telling him, however aloof she acted, she was fully aware of him too. "If you're so close to him, I would think you'd know."

"Yet I do not." He thought about his ever-elusive brother and shrugged. "But then, it's not something I typically worry about because he's been known to vanish occasionally but always returns swiftly enough."

"And his kingdom doesn't wonder where he is?"

"No." He shrugged. "His is more a tribe than a kingdom, but no, he's never gone long and has others to look after things when he's away."

"How mysterious," she murmured.

"I always thought so," he nearly said but refrained for now as the topic tended to affect his inner beast in various ways. Sometimes, he was protective. Other times, frustrated. Then, every so often, he was offended because J?rn had a way of keeping everyone, including his own flesh and blood, at arm's length.

Instead of talking about his brother, he steered the conversation back to an easier subject. Things they liked and disliked. Normal chatter that somehow, with Zoey, seemed like so much more. Everything she said interested him. He wanted to know more, all he could, beyond what he sensed from her inner dragon, but they needed to leave early the following day to avoid the harshest part of the storm, so eventually, he told her to take the bed, and he would sleep where he was.

"Are you sure?" Zoey frowned. "We can take turns. I've slept in harsher conditions than a chair in front of a fire."

"I'm sure." Never more sure of anything because he didn't intend to rest but stand guard lest Rafe's Realm weakened as it had before. His cousin had assured him it wouldn't now he was mated with Quinn, but still. Best to keep watch. "Sleep, Zoey. We set out early."

Now, he just had to weather the night with her sweet scent so close and practice a great deal of self-restraint. But he could do it. Would do it. And so he did until she took matters out of his hands and revealed another piece of a puzzle that proved there was nothing he wouldn't do for her.