Chapter 8
Chapter
Eight
EMBER
T he next morning, the motley crew of me, my mates, and our assorted groups of friends have gathered in the desert just outside of town. Amy is a little pale, with a green undertone to her skin that speaks to a few more chocolate martinis than may have been wise. She's leaning on Grace, who barely drank at all. I'm feeling pretty good about my decision to cut myself off early.
Then again, Freya and Rhiannon, who both drank me and Amy under the table, look fresh and rosy.
My mates also look great, but then again, to my eyes, they always do. Apparently, they had a guys' night of their own with Jett, Ben, Cael, Obi and Zahra--who declined our invitation to join us at Rhiannon's house in favor of a few pints and what I'm told was a deeply competitive game of darts at the Dragon's Flagon.
My mates still don't exactly seem like best friends, but I dare say the tension between them has receded a little after their night out. None of them appear to have overindulged; none of them are sporting visible bruises, either, so they all must have done a decent job getting along. Internally, I smile. If beer and bar games are what it takes to help them get more comfortable with each other, then I'm all for it.
Goodness knows they showed some exemplary teamwork stripping me back out of my clothes when we all got home to the hotel last night. And then again, when we all woke up together in a big, sexy, naked pile this morning.
By my side, Jianyu clears his throat, and I start, my cheeks warming. I know better than to let my imagination run wild, flooding our bond with arousal when we're all gathered here to discuss a deeply serious proposal.
As if that's her cue, Rhiannon steps forward.
"Thank you all for joining me here, at the crack of noon." Rhiannon gives a special smile to her daughter, who's slipped on a pair of shades against the bright sun. "I know this is all quite cloak and dagger, but I wanted to be certain we would not be overheard." She glances around. "As I alluded to last night, I believe that I may have a way for Ember to slip into the Air Kingdom undetected."
I knew that was why she'd summoned us all out here to the middle of nowhere, but my stomach still does an unconscious flex.
"We have a number of possible strategies as well," Malik interrupts.
Zahra shakes her head. "Your highness..."
"Ember has proven that she can create a portal," Jianyu offers.
I bite my lip and cross my arms, digging my fingers into the skin just above my elbow. "Not reliably."
I managed it when we were about to get slaughtered by a horde of Shadow Dragons in the Crimson City, and then twice more when I was trying to escape the Citadel's dungeons. I didn't end up quite where I expected to any of those times, though, and it took just about all the magic I had.
"Perhaps not yet," Jianyu says, looking to me with utter faith in his eyes. "But with more practice..."
"Why are we even trying to sneak in at all?" Rafe asks, cracking his knuckles. "I say we fly right in there."
Zahra covers her mouth with her hand, but her eyes are despairing.
" Or ," Amy interrupts, "you could all be quiet and listen to my mom."
Rhiannon smiles, and all attention returns to her. "Thank you, Amethyst. I would not presume to weigh in on any of your ideas, but I do have another option. One that calls on old magic."
A shiver runs up my spine. The elderly Shadow Dragon I met in the Citadel's dungeon, Mariutza, used a similar phrase.
"Ember," Rhiannon continues, "your powers are strong but unstable. Once you find your fourth mate, they may become easier for you to control, but I would propose that we take the guesswork out of the equation."
"And how is that?" Malik asks.
"By harnessing it now, in a controlled environment."
"Don't love the word 'harnessing'," Rafe says, an edge to his tone.
And yeah, I'm not entirely sold on her phrasing, either. I trust her, though, so I put a hand on Rafe's arm. "Hear her out."
"There is a ritual to bind a bit of spellwork to an object. Legend has it that that is how the Shadow Queen's Bracer came to be imbued with its power in the first place."
As if it can hear her, the bracer warms on my arm, a ripple of static humming over my skin.
Grace speaks up, her voice tight. "That is Sister magic. Performed by humans--not dragons."
"It is," Rhiannon agrees. She intertwines her fingers. "But in Shadow Dragon tradition, dragon magic and witch magic have long co-existed."
A shiver seems to move through the group. Ignoring everyone's reaction to her invocation of Shadow Dragon tradition, she looks pointedly to Amy.
Yeah, my hunch last night was right. Rhiannon definitely overheard at least some of what Amy was saying about her frustration with being part-dragon and part-witch.
Perhaps oblivious to the subtext, Sister Grace shakes her head. "This is forbidden."
"In the Grand Stone Temple, yes, I imagine it is." Rhiannon sweeps a hand out to the side. "But we are far from those hallowed halls now."
Glancing between the two of them, I ask, "What exactly would be involved?"
"Ember and I will utilize the power of the bracer to create portal. We will have time and space to do it safely."
"But--" I exhale roughly. "What if I can't?"
"You absolutely can," Jianyu assures me.
"I will be there to guide you," Rhiannon says. Her eyes have a deep black at their center that speaks to her Shadow Dragon nature.
Some of her confidence infuses me, though I still have my doubts.
Rhiannon continues on. "Then, once the portal spell is established--"
"We bust through it and kick some Air Dragon ass?" Rafe suggests.
Rhiannon ignores him. "Sister Grace, with Amy's assistance, will bind the magic to this." She reaches into the pocket of her dress and pulls out a black chain necklace with a deep purple pendant hanging from its center.
A faint ripple moves through the air. It's nothing like the wave of power I felt when I first encountered the Shadow Bracer, but the tingle rushing through my fingertips is definitely an echo of magic.
"What is that?" Amy asks.
"A minor artifact. One I've been saving for a long time." Rhiannon's gaze connects with mine. "My mother gave it to me when I left the Citadel decades ago." She grasps the pendant and reveals that it's a locket. When she opens it, it's empty, but its capacity to contain magic reverberates through the space.
"But--" I shake my head. "I can't accept that. It's a family heirloom."
"It's what my mother would have wanted me to do with it." Rhiannon smiles sadly before closing the locket once more. "And its sentimental value is all the more reason for you to promise to return it to me after the successful accomplishment of your mission."
My heart squeezes. My own mother can't be here today, but Rhiannon's maternal affection reaches into my chest, warming a place that's been cold for a long, long time.
She wants the locket back, I'm sure. But more, she wants me to come back in one piece.
And I'm determined to do exactly that.
But Sister Grace doesn't seem so sure. "I do not even know that this is possible."
"It is," Rhiannon assures her, breaking our gaze.
"Will you try, babe?" Amy asks Grace, holding her hand.
Grace narrows her eyes at Rhiannon. "I would need to know more about the particulars of the ritual you have in mind."
Rhiannon nods. "Of course."
"And then, once the magic is fixed to the necklace," Malik interrupts. "We will open the locket to produce the portal?"
"Ember will, yes," Rhiannon says, looking back to me again.
Doubt squirms behind my ribs. "But how will I guide it? That hasn't always gone so great for me in the past."
"I don't know about that," Malik says, warmth in his voice. He brings my hand to his lips. "One of your portals delivered you to me."
"So yeah," Rafe grumbles, "big swing and a miss there."
Malik kicks his shin without missing a beat. "What do you think?" he asks me.
"I'm not sure..."
Rhiannon smiles encouragingly. "Without having to maintain the spell, I believe that you will be able to direct it where you want to go."
She has a point.
And in the end, erratic as it may be, my magic has always been led by my heart. So if I'm trying to lead it to my last mate?
I think I've got a decent shot.
"I say we try it," I tell them all. Rhiannon's smile grows, but Sister Grace's mouth is still pinched. "If you're willing."
Amy lowers her shades and looks to Grace with puppy dog eyes. "Please?"
Exhaling, Grace nods. "I will look at the contents of the ritual. If they are not anathema to the spirits of the Gods, then I will be willing to attempt it."
"I knew you'd come around," Amy cheers, placing a kiss on Grace's cheek.
But the wariness in Sister Grace's eyes says she's still a long way from being convinced.
JIANYU
My mate and her friends have decided to join us at Unity's hole-in-the-wall tavern tonight. Freya has promised us safety as well as secrecy in this town, but I'm still wary, even in a private room in the back of the establishment.
I'm not the only one who's on edge.
Sister Grace is sitting with Amy, Ember and a few of the others, but she has little to say tonight. Nursing a cocktail, she's shredded three small, paper napkins to pieces in her lap.
At some point, Amy excuses herself to go to the bathroom. I catch Malik's eye. It is still strange to be conspiring with the man--much less to be grateful to him for distracting our mate. But as he sinks into a seat beside Ember, drawing her attention, I choose the chair next to Grace's.
She starts at my presence, but I smile tightly and shake my head.
"Your Highness," she begins.
"It's just Jianyu, here." It's been just Jianyu since my kingdom turned on me and made me a fugitive.
Grace hums beneath her breath and stirs the little straw in her drink.
Amy will only be in the bathroom for so long. I should move quickly, but the way of the Stone Dragons--the way of our people--is the way of patience. It will not do well to rush.
Sweeping my gaze over the room, I ease into the conversation. "It is strange, is it not? This world?"
Sister Grace chuckles and jabs at the bottom of her glass with the straw. "That is an understatement."
"I used to hate traveling outside the Stone Kingdom. I believed the residents of the other nations to be brash and uncivilized."
I believed them to be our enemies. It was drilled into me from a young age--from the very beginning of the war, when I was told that my friend Rafe had been plotting to make an attempt on my life.
I glance at the man himself, now, standing in the corner, trying not to lose his temper as Freya easily bests him at darts.
He is brash--and borderline uncivilized.
But he is my friend. I have had to put aside so many prejudices to accept him and Malik and all the others who have joined my circle over the course of the past few weeks.
And I'm so glad that I have.
Quietly, Sister Grace admits, "I never traveled beyond the Stone Kingdom at all before..."
She trails off, and I follow her gaze to the door, where Amy is returning. Amy catches sight of us, sitting together here, and she slows her pace, lifting a brow in question. Sister Grace gives the slightest shake of her head.
I let out a breath as Amy slowly changes course to join Rafe and Freya over by the dart board. She keeps half an eye on us, but she gives us some space.
Amy has been waging her own campaign of persuasion on Sister Grace. It has mainly consisted of pleading, and for all I know, it may have worked.
But the dragons and priestesses and sisters of the Great Stone Temple are not easily moved. We are rooted deeply in the earth.
To change our minds requires a shaking of our very foundations.
"There is more beyond the borders of our nation than I ever imagined," I say quietly. "Our ways of doing things are not the only ways. Our beliefs are not the only truth."
Sometimes, our beliefs are lies.
My belief about the infallibility of my king and my kingdom. My belief about my place in the world.
The back of my throat burns, and my dragon swims through molten rock within my chest.
Sister Grace pushes away her drink. Turning to face me more fully, she huffs out a breath. "Are you going to order me to attempt the ritual, Your Excellency?"
I dig my nails into the meat of my palm. "I am not."
"Then why are you here?"
My gaze instinctively goes to Ember, and my ribs constrict around my heart.
I am here for her.
But my sense of purpose in this moment goes deeper than my soulbond connection to my mate. She is a miracle--her companionship is everything I ever wanted in this world.
But she is more than simply my mate.
She is a light, meant to push back the darkness that has slowly corrupted dragonkind. I never believed in the prophecies about an heir who would ascend to the grand throne, uniting the kingdoms and bringing light to shadow. I'm still not sure I do.
But I believe in her. I believe that there is something rotten in the throne of the Stone King, and I believe that there is a way to stop the endless dragon war.
I believe that Ember is the key--and when she tells me that she needs to find her final mate, I believe that, too.
"I am here because I think you are bound by the oath you took as a Sister to uphold the Stone Kingdom traditions," I tell Sister Grace.
"Of course I am."
Forcing myself to look away from my mate, I meet Sister Grace's gaze. "Then I am asking you to feel with your heart, and to think about the principles of the Grand Stone Temple, and not about the letter of its laws."
She flexes her jaw. "The interdiction against Sister magic containing dragon Priestess magic goes back centuries. It is not merely some technicality."
"But what is its purpose?"
Sister grace chews at her bottom lip, looking away for a long moment. When she directs her gaze to mine again, her conviction has been shaken. "To halt the spread of Shadow Dragon magic in the Stone Temple."
"The Shadow King's forces are already there." It's the only explanation I have for my father turning on me.
"Not in the Temple," she protests.
"Perhaps not. But soon they will be." I let out a rough breath. "The Shadow Dragons themselves are not the enemy. Their magic is not anathema."
That was the word that Sister Grace used, earlier.
But it does nothing to persuade her now. "They have been our enemy, though. For millennia."
Have they, though?
"Their kingdom. Their ambitions and their manipulations. Those have been our enemies."
The dragons, themselves, however...
I look to Amy and then to Jett. And finally to Ember. My mate. She has Shadow Dragon blood in her veins; she wields Shadow Dragon magic.
But she is not the enemy.
"They are part of dragonkind," I say, new conviction in my voice. "And it is time to bring them back into the fold."