Chapter 29
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
The Romanian mountains loomed dark against the star-scattered sky, their peaks cutting jagged shadows in the moonlight. Ash shivered as she took in the desolate snow-covered granite plateau.
They’d barely cleared the abbey portal before Race dematerialized them to this barren place.
“Why are we here?”
“You’ll see.” Race grasped her hand, and his warmth flowed into her, chasing away the freezing chill.
Ash frowned at his secrecy as he pulled her along to the looming rock face, their boots crunching through layers of snow. He pressed his palm against the granite, and power thrummed in a wave. A section of stone dissolved, revealing a dark entrance.
“It seals when I’m away for long periods. When we get back, I’ll key your blood into the wards so you can access it, as well.”
“Your cave!” She grinned. Finally, she’d get to see his sanctuary.
Amusement brightened his eyes as he led the way through a narrow, tunnel-like passage and down a flight of dark, excavated steps. With a casual wave of his hand, lamps sprang to life, washing the stone in a gentle, golden glow.
Ash stopped dead, her breath catching.
Before her, a vast cavern sprawled, its walls scorched smooth by dragonfire over centuries.
High above, moonlight spilled through a single opening in the granite ceiling—it wasn’t meant for smoke or flame—there was none in his chamber.
It was for the stars.
For the outside world.
“How?” she asked softly. “No snow inside?”
“Wards,” he said, behind her. “From above, it just looks like another peak. Safer that way.”
“Right.”
She stepped into his lair and wandered to the center, her boots echoing faintly on granite. After Lemuria’s crude caverns, she hadn’t expected…this.
A sanctuary. His.
Comfortable armchairs and a charcoal-gray couch formed the seating area on the far side, bearing signs of use.
An open book lay where it had been abandoned on the cushions as if he’d only just stepped away.
A sawn log served as a table, stacked with leather-bound volumes softened by age and handling.
Music equipment occupied one corner, headphones tossed aside without ceremony.
And naturally, ancient weapons and artifacts hugged one rugged wall, silent proof of the long life he’d lived.
The décor was lived-in, except for the massive bed to her right, which sat on a raised dais, its bedding neat and untouched—
Untouched, because he didn’t need it. There was room for both dragon and warrior to exist freely—no walls, no ceilings pressing in. No need for a bed at all.
Ash pressed her fist to her chest and turned.
Oh, goodness! She gaped. Opposite it all hung the largest tapestry she’d ever seen—of wildlands woven in primal, earthy tones. It held the chamber the way a horizon holds the eye.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered.
“Glad you like it, my mate.”
“Did you do all this?” She spun to him and found him watching her take in his home.
He set her backpack on another small, trunk-like table. “The cavern was here. I just expanded it to suit my needs. As for the décor, that’s all Hedori’s doing. You’ll meet him soon enough. He had the cave ‘civilized’ decades ago—apparently tired of my barren lifestyle, or so he claimed.”
Ash laughed. “Well, he’s certainly done an amazing job.”
She removed her parka as her gaze fell on the bookshelf, which covered one wall just past the bed. She dropped her coat over an armchair before making a beeline for it.
“So you read?” she teased.
“One way to keep my mind occupied.”
And she understood. To drive back the horrors of Tartarus.
On one side were paperback thrillers, and on the other, she trailed her fingers along worn leather-bound spines, examining the titles—ancient and weighty.
Then her gaze settled on worn copies of Divine Messengers: The Lost Sumerian Chronicles and Walking Among Mortals: A History of the First Age. A slow smile spread.
No wonder Race was so comfortable debating her father. He’d not only lived through the time period, he’d read the books, too.
“Dad would love to see this,” she said, tracing a fingertip over the faded embossed lettering of one book. “No, more like get inside your head to see it all.”
“Not a wise idea,” Race murmured, his arms sliding around her waist. “Then he’d know all the dirty things I like to do to his daughter.”
Ash huffed, heat blooming through her.
“I like you in my space,” he said softly. “It feels…right. Brighter.” He pressed closer, his breath a warm caress against her neck. “I have rooms in the abbey, too, so it’s your choice where we live.”
After everything he’d revealed about his imprisonment, she never ever wanted him to feel trapped again.
She squeezed his arm around her waist. “I like this better. But we’ll have to get the rest of my stuff later. I only packed for Lemuria.”
“We will. Ash?” And she stilled at his quiet tone. “There’s something you should know.”
She turned in his arms and searched his face, instinctively bracing for whatever it was.
“As Guardians, we live under the radar—and our mates must as well. It’s two-fold. First, to keep our home base hidden from our enemies. They always look for ways to weaken or kill us, so they strike where we’re most vulnerable.” His thumb stroked her jaw. “Our mates.”
She grasped his hand, frowning. “So I can’t work?”
Regret darkened his eyes. “That’s the hard part of being with one of us. You can’t hold a public job, can’t appear in their systems any longer, can’t give anyone a trail to follow. If governments learned immortals walk among them, they’d hunt us, or try to weaponize us.”
Her breath hitched. Her job. Her career or…him.
She knew then what—whom—mattered most.
“All right,” she whispered. “We’ll talk about it after Lemuria. I’m sure I can do something. Set up a research facility from here. Work quietly.”
A smile. “And I will aid you.”
Ash tilted her head, eyeing him curiously. “So why exactly are we here? I thought we’d go straight to Lemuria.”
“Don’t you want to spend a little time alone with me?” he drawled.
She huffed. “Do you even have to ask? But you brought me here for a reason, so what is it? Come on, do tell.”
He let her go, crossed to the shelf, and, between the space of two books, removed a small leather pouch. He turned. “Do you know how to wield a dagger?”
Ash stuck her hands in her back pockets. “Well, Echo did show me last night—I asked her. I mean, I have a dagger, and I must know how to use it, right? She is amazing and so incredibly fast.”
“Good.” He strolled back. “And self-defense?”
She scrunched her nose. “I took a course in high school. Rather rusty, I’m afraid. But I do have pepper spray.”
He frowned. “All right. We are spending the night here—”
“Really?” Her heart lit up. “I like that.”
“I wish I could give you—give us—the time we both need, heart-fire.” He grasped both her hands in his. “We’re mated just two nights ago—”
“It’s fine. Lemuria needs you more.” She patted his chest. “I can wait because I know I will always have you with me.”
“No. You will always come first,” he said quietly before his expression grew serious. “I thought here would be a better place to brush up on any skills you have. And your powers, we will work on again tomorrow. But you need to have some fighting and weapons knowledge.”
He led her away from the living area to the center of the massive space. “I want it to be an advantage along with your abilities. So, let’s see what you can do.”
“From my self-defense classes, it was how to get free, maim, and run.” She rubbed her palms down her jeans.
The lights lowered to mere shadows, just about allowing her to see where things were—
A blur flashed toward her.
Despite knowing it was Race, she screeched, summoned her dagger, and flung it at him. He grabbed it midair and tossed it aside. He hauled her to him, her arms manacled at her back. She snarled. “I’m going to hurt you.”
“You’re all talk, little human,” he taunted against her ear.
Gah.
She kicked his shin hard, it didn’t move him, and she kneed him in the balls, or would have, if he hadn’t moved back as fast as he had.
He lunged. She ducked, summoned her dagger again, and slammed the tip to his chest. He went motionless.
“Not bad.” The lights snapped back on.
“Echo didn’t only teach me how to wield my dagger, she also helped me brush up on my fighting skills.” She snorted. “She was a self-defense instructor before she met Aethan, did you know? Going back to Lemuria, I didn’t want to be at a disadvantage.”
His hands on his hips, Race chuckled. “I should have known. Never trust a delicate-looking human.”
This man. She rolled her eyes. “Shall we go again?”
“Yeah. But first, let me see your skills with a different weapon.”
Race picked up the fallen pouch from the floor and handed her a throwing star, its edges wickedly sharp. “Aim and embed this in the wall.”
Please, please, don’t fail me now.
Ash drew back her arm and, with everything in her, she let loose, and the star vanished in a blink.
Ash sprinted across and stared at the granite wall. The star point had pierced the stone—just the tip—but it held.
Yes! She grinned.
“A little more force, and it would slice through scale,” Race said behind her. “Again.”
He handed her another star, and Ash walked back to the middle of the room. He waited near the wall.
“You’re in harm’s way,” she warned as she took up position again, her arm poised for the throw.
He smirked. “Use me as a target.”
Ash frowned, remembering the lightning welts she made on his skin. “I’m not doing that again.”
“I can evade a throw, Ash. Go on, it’s good to practice with moving objects. You know this.”
“Nuh-uh, I don’t think so.” Then she cast him a sweet, entirely unrepentant smile. The beautiful bastard could taunt her all he liked. She flat-out refused. “Anyway, you dragons are terribly enormous, hard to miss—”
“They blast fire from a distance.”
“I’ll make it rain, add a dash of lightning,” she shot back.
A smile tipped his mouth. “Just know when you go after a shifter, they’re vulnerable in their two-legged form. Never give them a chance to shift.”
“I know, I remember the guard,” she said, and let loose the star once more. It embedded in the wall like before, then fell with a tinny clang. Seriously?
“We’ll keep working on that. Let’s see your dagger work. Call your obsidian.”
With a breath, she summoned the dagger, and it took form in her palm. Remembering what Echo had taught her, she gripped the hilt and threw. The blade hit with a dull twang, clung for a heartbeat, then fell to the stone floor.
“Wonderful!” She threw her hands up in the air. “It behaved when I practiced with Echo.”
He smiled, that slow, honest-to-god, wet-your-knickers smile, and picked up the dagger. “Probably a wooden target. This…” he tapped the granite wall, “is about as impenetrable as dragon scales.”
He strolled closer with that lazy swagger she loved, but would never tell him, or his head might get even bigger. He held out the blade. “Again.”
“Again?” She frowned. “I thought you wanted to see what I could do, and I showed you.”
“Ash, you need to practice…” He paused, watching her for a quiet second. “Tell you what. Give me another two hours, then you can have me for the rest of the night?”
Yeah? Well, too bloody bad that wasn’t going to work. Not again.
“Hmm, sounds absolutely brilliant.” She sashayed over, pressed herself against him, the heat of his body sparking against her own, and let her hip brush the hard line of his cock. He stiffened. She smiled, took the dagger from his hand, and glided back to her spot like nothing had happened.
A low rumble vibrated through the air behind her. Then a rush of wind—
“Eeep!” She darted around the couch.
He growled, his voice all dark silk and threat. “You don’t get to torment me and run.”