Chapter Twenty-Three
Ember
The other dragons automatically moved to put an extra layer of bodies between the oncoming dragons and me. I knew they were doing it because I was their prince—or would be—but I didn’t like that sort of attention. I preferred to think they were doing it for Dela, to help keep her safe.
“What do you want to do, Ember?” Pyre asked, gliding smoothly through the air to take up position on my flank. His head was tilted slightly, keeping one eye firmly on the nearby formation of dragons.
“We’re about even in strength,” I observed. It looked like a dozen dragons, headed by someone with scales like Pyre’s. None of them had coloring deep enough to be Albright, which was both a relief and a shame.
If he were to die, it would certainly make my life easier, giving me a bit more breathing space to secure my mate.
Dela shifted nervously on my back, making me uncomfortably aware of her presence. I longed to have her straddle me in other ways, but right then, I had to focus on not just her safety but the safety of all my people. Rule came with responsibility, after all.
“Why aren’t they attacking?” Dela asked, leaning forward. “I thought they hated you.”
“Hate is a strong word,” I said. “They simply don’t want me on the throne. If I left for Earth to live there, it’s unlikely they would come after me.”
“Albright would,” Pyre cut in. “He wouldn’t risk you returning later with more support to try to dethrone him.”
“How can you be so sure?” Dela asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “I’m not going to just give up and go away.”
Both of them were silent.
“Rise to their level,” I ordered, moving with the entire formation as we matched altitude with Albright’s team, who continued to watch us warily from off to the right. Some of my suspicions were confirmed when they didn’t try to match our height increase. They weren’t there to attack.
“They’re just watching,” Dela said, saying what Pyre and I were both thinking.
“Which is what we wanted,” Pyre said. “Now we can get you home safely.”
He made no mention of the return trip. There was no point. We both knew it would be bad.
“Yeah,” Dela said thoughtfully. “Home.”
Was that a hint of regret I heard in her voice?
A subliminal desire to stay in the Fire Realm.
To stay with me. Or was I trying to manifest it?
After all, why wouldn’t she want to go back to her life, to everything she’d known before me?
The comfort and security of life in a world she was accustomed to had to be far more enticing than staying with me, where she would be in danger, her life at threat with every turn.
There was no way she would remain, right? We barely knew each other.
That, of course, bore me thinking about why I was considering having her stay.
What would happen if she remained behind?
Could we ever be together? Would the dragons ever accept a human woman as the princess?
And why was I even considering it? Because of how my balls ached at the idea of ripping her pants off and pushing her soft, pale cheeks aside before burying myself in her? Or did I truly care about her?
Could I even afford to let her occupy a part of my mind? Distractions were not something I could afford. At that moment, with Albright’s warriors half a mile away, I was letting my mind wander to her body and the things I wanted to do to it.
“They’re going to let us go, just like that?” Dela asked, not bothering to hide her disdain.
I grinned toothily. Many humans would be terrified, shutting down the moment dragons were revealed to them. Not Dela. She was on my back, basically calling Albright and his followers cowards for not challenging us.
“Yes,” I said as Mount Drakonus neared, providing a backdrop to the two groups of dragons. “They are. It’s easier for them that way.”
“How?”
“Because they won’t attack us now and potentially drive us back to Fire Castle. Instead, they’ll wait for us to go through to Earth. Then they’ll try to prevent us from coming back.”
“Trapping you on Earth?” she asked.
“Yes. A blockade. He will deploy more warriors to make it hard, if not impossible, for us to come back.”
“What?” she cried angrily. “Why the fuck are we going, then?”
“For you,” I said.
“You’re going to have to fight your way back, though,” she said. “People will get hurt, won’t they?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Why? Why would you do that?”
“Because it’s the right thing to do, Dela,” I said. “You didn’t ask to be here. Yet you are.”
“And I’m a human,” she said darkly. “And I don’t belong.”
“No, you don’t,” I agreed, trying to hold back what I really wanted to say. That I didn’t give a flying fuck whether she “belonged” or not; I wanted her anyway. I wanted her mind, her body, even her soul. All of it called to me, like an ancient siren luring a sailor to his death.
Would that happen to me if I caved into my desires and let myself explore the mysterious chemical reaction between us?
Was she the one who would steer me off course and lead my realm into wrath and ruin?
I wasn’t sure. There was no way to know other than to try to find out, and I couldn’t do it.
I had to take care of my people first. Which meant finding a mate with whom I could pass the Test.
I had to do what was best for the throne and for the Fire Realm as a whole.
“Come on,” I said to everyone and no one all at once, desperate for a chance to distract my mind. “Let’s get a move on.”
We picked up the pace slightly, closing in rapidly on Mount Drakonus.
The gigantic mountain dominated the skyline from anywhere within the dragon realm, but up close, it took on proportions beyond comprehension.
I’d visited Everest, Kilimanjaro, and other Earth mountains before, seeking comparisons. There were none.
Everest would come perhaps halfway up the gargantuan chunk of upthrust rock, but even that made Drakonus seem smaller than it was because of the sheer circumference. Everest’s mass, if the mountain were sliced off at the base and tossed into Drakonus like putty, would barely make a dent in it.
We reached the outskirts of the peak and dove toward a gaping hole in its side big enough to fit several aircraft carriers.
Sideways. Our dozen dragons were swallowed up like nothing as we descended into its darkness.
Behind, Albright’s forces stayed aloft, weaving slow circles, keeping position to easily swoop down on anyone who emerged from within the mountain.
Like my people when we eventually returned. I didn’t relish the fight that would undoubtedly ensue. Dragons would die all because Albright was a power-hungry asshole.
“Ember?” Dela said nervously.
“Yes?” I asked, trying to fight through my anger. I didn’t want her to think I was mad at her.
“You’re hot.”
“Uh, thank you?” Where had that come from? Was she trying to break through the barrier I’d kept between us, hoping I would ask her to stay? Did she not realize by now that I couldn’t even if I wanted to?
“No, I mean you’re hot,” she yelped, crying out in pain. “It hurts. Ow! What is happening?”
“God-King,” I swore, shunting aside the fire I’d inadvertently summoned with my rage. “I’m sorry. Is that better?”
“Yes, thank you,” she said, still sounding uncomfortable.
I’d burned her. Caused her pain. How dare I be so careless?
My temper threatened to flare again, but I dismissed the ensuing fire with a savage mental snarl, shoving it aside.
Nobody would harm a hair on her head, or I would send my fire out to burn them where they stood.
I certainly had enough to spare, given how she made it rage so out of control in me.
“Whoa,” she whispered as we exited the tunnel into the giant cavern at the very base of Mount Drakonus, some thousands of feet below where we’d entered.
A brilliant silver glow lit the room, diffused by distance, drawing one’s eye to the center of the room, where a large arch of white stone rested on a raised platform. The air under the arch glowed silver, shifting and shimmering, rippling like the surface of water.
We set down on the platform, with the other dragons landing at random nearby. They swiftly returned to their human forms, all but a pair who remained on the lookout for any of Albright’s followers who might have come after us.
I shifted, becoming acutely aware of Dela, pressed against my back, her arms draped over my shoulders and her palms flat against my chest. Her head was nuzzled into the crook between my shoulder and head. The skin puckered along my collarbone as the hot wash of her breath hit it.
“What is this place?” she asked, putting her feet on the floor as I crouched.
Was it me, or had she dragged her palms along me before letting go, trying to prolong contact? Had I imagined it?
“This,” I said as she looked at the arch in awe, “is the Rift. We use it to visit Earth. It’s linked to a smaller version of itself. One for each realm.”
“So, what, you just walk through it, and ta-da, you’re somewhere on Earth?”
“Just about,” I said, moving up to the center of the arch. “Except for one small detail. You have to link it to where you want to go.”
“Link it? How do you do that?” she looked around.
“By showing it,” I said, lifting a hand toward the shimmering silver wall and casually tossing a ball of flame toward it.
The flames impacted and spread rapidly, turning the silver to a red-orange glow as fire filled the underside of the arch. There was no heat, no painful burn. Just a wall of fire.
“It’s beautiful,” Dela said in hushed tones filled with awe.
I had to admit that it was truly quite the sight.
I’d traveled to Earth often enough that at some point, I’d become accustomed to the sight and rarely gave it much thought, but at that moment, in the presence of someone experiencing it for the first time, some of that joy and delight rushed back to me.
“Ready?” I asked after enjoying the moment.
“For what?”
I reached out and took her hand. She was a human and couldn’t travel on her own through the Rift. She would have to come with me.
“To walk through fire,” I said and stepped toward the wall.