Chapter Twenty
Ember
I tried not to stare too intently as Dela left the room, her angry strides giving a mesmerizing sway to her hips that threatened to pull me in.
All I wanted to do was go after her, push her up against the wall and feel her thick ass pressing between my legs, making my cock hard.
I longed to taste the skin of her neck with my tongue while I explored her body with my hands.
Ari sniffed, mixing disdain for Dela with disgust for me into one noise.
“Get a grip,” I growled.
“You’re still staring at an empty doorway, Ember,” Ari said, her words dripping with hostility. “Your hypocrisy in that statement is mind-boggling.”
I tore my gaze away, pinning it on the smaller dragon woman. Arid, or Ari as most people called her, was one of the most eligible bachelorettes in the Fire Realm. For a long time, everyone, including both of us, had assumed we would be mates. That had only escalated when Blaze failed his Test.
However, since then, I’d concluded we were not compatible.
Although there wasn’t complete incompatibility, when Blaze and his mate took their test and didn’t succeed, I’d been forced to readjust my perspective.
I needed a mate I could rule with, one whom I was a perfect match with, both in temperament and mindset. And that wasn’t Ari.
She hadn’t taken it very well. Her drive for power was no secret, and she’d held hopes that she might one day become Princess of the Fire Realm. I’d crushed those dreams, and she was upset. Though, I doubted that fully explained her treatment of Dela.
“Go on,” she said, thrusting her chin out as I stared down at her. “Say it. Tell me I was out of line. Ignore that you brought a human to Fire Castle when you tell me that.”
I rolled my eyes. “You have no idea what you’re talking about, Ari. You simply let your lust for power cloud your vision. You assumed, and you looked like a bitch.”
“Dear Ember,” she said with false sweetness. “I am a bitch. I would be your bitch if you’d let me.”
I leaned away from her as she purred that last line, dropping her voice an octave as she dove into her seductress persona. “Absolutely not,” I said in no uncertain tones, though I knew she wouldn’t accept it. Anyone else would, but not Ari.
“You’re no fun. Why did you have to be next in line? Pyre at least has a sense of humor.”
I rolled my eyes, not rising to the bait. I didn’t care what she thought of Pyre. Jealousy was not something I felt. For Ari.
“Go away, Ari,” I said. “It’s not happening.”
“It is,” she said with a grin. “I’ll find a way. I promise. You won’t be able to resist me.”
“Go try to seduce Albright away from his mate,” I suggested.
She growled. “The line of succession is clear, Ember. You are next in line for the throne. Not him.”
Ari would do anything for power, but she stayed loyal to me, and on one level, I appreciated that.
“I appreciate that,” I said. “But you won’t be in that line with me. Goodbye, Ari.”
She laughed. “Goodbye, Ember. See you soon.”
I sighed heavily as she left the room. It was becoming a fucking nightmare. Too many threads. Dela, a human, in the dragon realm. Albright coming for the throne. Ari making it clear she was coming for my bed—it certainly wasn’t my heart she cared about. What would go wrong next?
Pyre came through the doors.
“Just say it,” I said as he gave me a sympathetic look. “What the fuck is wrong now?”
“It’s Dela,” he said.
I stiffened, my eyes darting to the door. “Is she okay?”
“Yes, she’s fine,” Pyre said, holding up both hands. “I just ran into her in the hall. She looks mad.”
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “She would be.”
Pyre’s eyebrows rose. “What did you do?”
“Why do you have to assume it was me?”
“Seriously?” Pyre laughed. “Come on, Ember. This is you.”
“Just tell me what’s wrong,” I grumped. “I’ve got enough going on. I don’t need to be needled by you.”
“Yes, you do. It’s my job. What else is family good for?” He just laughed when I glared. “Okay, okay. She’s getting worried.”
“About what?”
“How long she’s been here,” he said. “She said she has a job she needs to get back to and that she can’t go gallivanting around dragon land. Plus, people will be looking for her. Questions will be asked. Questions she won’t be able to answer.”
“Damn. We have to get her back.”
“But how?” Pyre asked uncomfortably. “With Albright …”
“I know. The route isn’t safe.”
“That’s what I told her.”
I closed my eyes, realizing there was only one solution. “We’re going to have to go in force, Pyre.”
“In force?” my younger cousin eyed me with surprise. “That’s going to open a whole new can of worms, Ember. Like, a lot.”
“I know,” I said. “I don’t see any way around it, though. At least Casa Infernum can house a strong contingent with ease.”
“If we do that, you’re going to expose Dela to a lot of dragons. Word is going to get out about this. Everyone will know you’re harboring a human. It will get to Albright.”
“Yes. He will. But, Pyre, she has to go home. This isn’t her place.” I fought back the anger that surged inside me at being separated from her. There was no point in thinking about it. She had to be returned to Earth. End of story.
I didn’t stop to question why I was so suddenly convinced I needed to do whatever it took to help her. I just knew it was what I had to do.
“If Albright gets word, he’s going to come after you. He’ll use Dela as evidence that you’re unfit to rule. He might even have a case.”
“He’s going to go a step further,” I said, already thinking through the consequences of my decision.
“What do you mean?”
“If I were him,” I said, “I would ensure we can’t come back.”
“Blockade us on Earth, you mean?”
I nodded.
“You don’t think others will have any reservations about this? Can you even summon the support necessary to get us to Mount Drakonus? If they’re going to be trapped there?”
“They will do as I say,” I growled. “I am the Fire Prince!”
I wasn’t, not technically, but I held authority as the one most fire dragons knew would be the Fire Prince. Once I found a mate.
“Not yet, you’re not,” Pyre warned solemnly. “People are loyal to the throne, Ember. But if you try to act like you’re someone you’re not, you will lose that support. Trust me.”
“I know,” I said, my eyes returning to the door. “But by the time this is over, I might be.”
Pyre followed my gaze. “You can’t be serious,” he said, horrified. “The fucking human?”
I had Pyre pinned to the wall before he could blink. Fire burned in my veins. “One,” I snarled hotly, “her name is Dela. You will use it. Secondly, if you utter a word of this to anyone, kin or not, I will know. And I will end you, cousin or not.”
“Threatening me is unnecessary,” Pyre said, more calmly than I expected. “I am loyal to the throne. You know this.”
“I do,” I said, lowering him to the ground. “But this woman, she affects me. I don’t understand it yet. Perhaps I’m just lonely. I don’t fucking know. But she’s different, somehow. The princedom needs a ruler, Pyre, and I will do whatever I must to ensure we are united.”
“Claiming a human as your mate would do the opposite,” Pyre said. “It would shatter us. Many who are loyal to you would resist.”
“I know,” I said. “Ari will be a problem for sure. I don’t see her keeping her mouth shut. She wants power too badly. I will have to deal with that.”
“Indeed,” Pyre agreed. “For now, however, you should probably go to your woman.”
“She’s not my woman,” I growled. Yet. I didn’t even know if she was.
Everything was confusing. How could a human be the mate of a dragon?
To my knowledge, it had never been done before.
But there was no denying how she made me feel, the stirrings in my body.
But it was all physical desire. Lust. Arousal. Wasn’t it?
“Right. You should still go to her.”
“Why?” I wanted to go to her anyway, but for my own reasons. Reasons that had nothing to do with logic. She wasn’t my woman, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to claim her. To give her everything I could, including myself.
“She wasn’t happy when she left here. Said something about how you dismissed her. As if she wasn’t worthy.”
“She’s a human,” I said, stating the obvious. “She isn’t a dragon.”
“Yeah, that’s the attitude. She’s here, Ember, and you’re willing to upend the entire princedom for her. In your mind, that means she’s worthy of being treated better.”
“Humans are so fragile with their egos.”
Pyre opened his mouth. Then closed it. Then opened it again before shaking his head.
“What?” I snapped.
“Fragile,” he said slowly. “Yes, let’s go with that reason. Tell her that. See how it goes for you.”
I bit down my temper, listening to Pyre. He’d always been helpful in the past. “You think I should apologize to her, don’t you? Even though I had her leave so that Ari didn’t goad her into crossing a line. Not to mention we had dragon business to discuss that doesn’t involve her.”
“You have so much to learn still,” Pyre said, chuckling as he headed to the door. “Good luck.”
I grunted at him, and then I was alone. Apologize? A dragon would never be offended by what had happened. It was simply the way it had to be. Wasn’t it?
“Humans,” I said, then headed for Dela’s quarters.