Chapter Forty
Vanessa
I stepped through the Rift, Cruce and Vil having gone through first to ensure it was all clear for me to join them. Once there, Cruce nodded, bidding us farewell as he returned to Earth.
“Last chance to back out,” Vil said.
I frowned at him, squeezing his hand. “Why would I do that? Are you having second thoughts?”
“Never,” he said without hesitation. “I’ve been confident since the first time I kissed you that we would pass. There has been no doubt in my mind that if we took it, we would be fine.”
“But you doubted whether or not we would take it,” I said.
“Yes.” He shrugged. “I didn’t do the best job of seducing you.”
I laughed. “Actually, you did an excellent job of that part. It was the emotional wooing that had some issues behind it. Including moving a little too fast for a human like me.”
“What’s that saying? All’s well that ends well?” he said with a chuckle.
“Yes. But it’s not over yet, now, is it?” I asked, staring up at the roof of the giant cavern at the base of Mount Drakonus. Somewhere, high above us, the God-King was waiting for us to approach him and prove our commitment to each other.
“That’s one way to look at it,” he concurred, lifting my hand and pressing his lips to the back of it.
“How else would you view it?”
He smiled, brushing a rogue strand of hair from my face. “The best way, of course. That we’re just at the start.”
My heart fluttered at the implication behind his words. “I like when you talk like that.”
“Like what?”
“Commitment. Long-term view.”
“It’s the truth,” he said. “It won’t be easy. But this is just the start of our lives together, Vanessa. And I can’t wait.”
We kissed. He grabbed my butt, which made me giggle, and then he moved away, giving himself space so he could shift into his dragon, the silvery scales somehow almost bright enough to glitter, even down there in the dim cavern.
“All aboard,” he called, extending a wing toward me.
I clambered up like an expert, smoothly dropping into place at the base of his neck and holding onto the protruding spike. “Ready!”
Vil spread his wings, and we took off, circling wide to gather speed before shooting up and out of one of the tunnels into the sky. Unlike before, however, we continued to circle the mountain as we rose into the sky.
I’d had some consternation about flying on the other side of the Rift, but knowing we weren’t actually going into the lands of the Iron Clan helped put me at ease.
Apparently, each of the four openings in the cavern's roof led in the direction of the four clans. To help avoid detection, Vil had simply taken the Fire Clan’s tunnel to the surface.
From there, we swiftly cut up and into the blue-gray cloud cover that always swirled around the mountain's peak.
“Whoa!” I exclaimed as we entered the clouds, only to find them parting around us as we flew like a tunnel. Behind us, they closed swiftly, trapping us in a sort of bubble.
Vil flew onward, following the path of clouds, until it parted to reveal a ledge from the side of the mountain ahead of us.
“I guess we go down there,” he said, dropping onto the platform.
We waited there like that, me astride his back, Vil’s legs coiled, ready to fling us back into the air. But nothing happened. At all.
“I don’t get it,” he said. “We followed the path. We’re near the top of the mountain. What do we do now?”
The ledge itself ended at the flat surface of the mountain. There appeared to be nowhere to go.
“Maybe there’s a door?” I suggested.
“Makes sense, I guess.” Vil walked forward, the motion decidedly not as graceful as flying for a dragon.
As we neared the mountain's edge, it shimmered and disappeared to reveal a giant hole taking us inward.
“Oh,” Vil said, both of us feeling a little silly. Of course there wouldn’t be an easily visible entrance into the God-King’s den.
Nervously, we entered, looking around. The interior was a mirror of the exterior, the ledge jutting out far into the center of the open area inside the mountain.
“Someone else is in here,” Vil said as we paused halfway out the ledge.
I had to agree. Despite the huge cavern, I had the distinct impression we weren’t alone.
“What the hell?” Vil yelped.
Beneath me, I felt him begin to change and shrink. “Vil?”
“I’m not doing that!” he said. “Something is making me shift back.”
The transformation was over quickly and ended with me glued to his back. Hurriedly, I hopped down and waited.
Anvil of Iron.
Vanessa of Earth.
I looked around. “Did you hear that?” I hissed.
Vil nodded, his eyes wide.
“Was that him?” I asked.
Vil nodded. “I think so.”
There was a rustle, and at the end of the ledge appeared twin stars of yellow-orange light. We both gasped, then went still as we realized they weren’t stars but rather eyes. Absolutely gargantuan eyes, as the rest of the indescribably huge dragon head loomed forward out of the darkness.
You have come for judgment. As Eternal Mates.
I looked at Vil and nodded, despite the thundering of my heart and the fear coiling in my stomach. I wouldn’t be flimsy and weak. Not when it mattered most that we were strong for one another. I had committed to it and Vil, and I would stay on my feet. I most definitely would not piss myself.
“We have,” Vil said.
The huge head hung there, unmoving. Yet somehow, I sensed his gaze had shifted to me and was waiting.
“Uh, me, too. I mean, yes, I’m here to show you that I believe he’s my mate. My lord. Sir. Your majesty.”
The dragon’s head withdrew into darkness.
Very well. Let the judgment begin.
As he faded into darkness, a low rustle accompanied it. I could only shudder as I imagined the size of the dragon that lay somewhere below us. The eyes alone were multiple times the size of Vil in his dragon form. My brain had a hard time cataloging it.
“So, what do we do now?” I asked, turning to Vil.
But he was gone.
“Vil?” I called, swinging around wildly, looking all over the ledge. “Vil, where are you?”
There was no answer. I was alone on the ledge. Even the opening to the outside had disappeared, replaced once more with mountain. I ran up to it, hoping it was just a trick of magic, but my fists encountered nothing but solid rock.
“Hello?” I shouted, putting my back to the rock. “Anyone?”
I wandered out along the ledge. “What kind of test is this?” I called into the darkness, knowing the God-King could hear me. “You want to know if I care about Vil? If I love him? So you take him away?”
A sudden weight in my right hand had me looking down.
“What the—” I whispered, staring at my block Glock 43. “That’s impossible.”
But it was there. In my hand. The weight was accurate.
I knew from many sessions at the range what it felt like to hold the gun in my hand.
Even the cool metal was there, the ridges, everything.
It was my gun. The scuff where I dropped it one time while loading it was still there on the side.
I’d never done anything about it, a reminder to myself to be more careful.
“Okay,” I said to the empty cavern. “A gun. My gun. So, your test is what? A reminder that I killed someone?”
“Vanessa.”
I swung around at the strangled cry.
“Vil!” I shouted, stunned to see him on his knees, an arm wrapped around his throat, and the tip of a blade resting against the underside of his chin, held by a familiar-looking man
The man who held the dagger snarled as Vil tried to escape, plunging an inch of the dagger into Vil’s chin. I screamed as Vil roared in pain, causing the blade to go in even deeper.
“Vil, what do I do?” I asked.
“Nothing,” the man cackled, his salt and pepper hair hanging down to his jaw from where it was parted perfectly in the center of his head.
The long oval face seemed nearly compressed on the sides, forcing his eyes to be slightly too close together.
A thick, square jaw twisted in a sneer, pulling the perfectly manicured stubble with it.
“Vil,” I whispered.
“There’s nothing you can do!” the man shouted, driving the dagger another sliver of an inch. “The throne will be mine now. A trap, a devious trap. And he fell for it. The Test. Ha! I knew he would take you there eventually. I just had to wait until the right time.”
He wants the throne. That can only mean …
“Adamantine,” I said coldly, finally remembering where I’d seen the man once before, all dressed up in finery at the Presentation Ball.
“What?” he spat. “You think you can stop me? Stupid human. I’ll make him pay for those he’s killed. He deserves it, you know. He deserves to die.”
“Maybe,” I agreed. “But not yet. And not like this. Many of those who died are dead by your doing. If you hadn’t tried to take the throne, he wouldn’t have had to kill them.”
“He wanted to bring a human to our world. To sit on the throne. Look at you. Weak. Pathetic, sniveling maggot. You don’t have the heart of a dragon. You would never survive here.”
“You’re right,” I said softly. “I don’t have the heart of a dragon. But I have something you don’t.”
“What’s that?” he asked with a snort.
“The soul of one,” I whispered, bringing my hand up in a smooth, practiced motion and putting a bullet between his eyes. I hit him twice more in rapid succession, the impact sending him staggering backward, releasing his hold on my mate.
Vil ripped the dagger from his chin, turned, and thrust it straight between Adamantine’s ribs and into his heart.
Then they both fell to their knees, blood pouring from Vil’s chin.
“Vil!” I shouted, dropping the gun and rushing to his side. I held him as he slumped toward me, pressing one hand firmly to his chin.
“You shot him,” he managed to say, despite the trail of blood coming out with the words. “You would have killed him.”
“Because you were in danger,” I said. “I was saving your life. I love you, you know.”
Vil smiled, though the effect was slightly thrown off by his bloody teeth. “Just like you were saving yourself in the car.”
I stared at him in shock.
It wasn’t that different. Was it?
RJ had held a knife to my neck. And I’d shot him in the head to protect myself. Adamantine had done the same to Vil. And I’d shot him.
“Maybe it’s time I started forgiving myself,” I said. “I can think of a few better things to do.”
“Like what?”
“Loving you, for starters. And not to mention loving the peace and quiet while you can’t talk as your jaw heals.” I stuck my tongue out at him, then leaned in to kiss his forehead. “Don’t ever do anything like that again, okay?”
“I’ll try,” he whispered.
And then he was gone.
I fell forward, but a pair of hands picked me up and set me on my feet. I turned to see Vil standing behind me. “But you were just …”
Then I got it.
“Oh, that’s not funny!” I shouted at the emptiness. “Using an illusion of him to trick me into admitting things.”
Vil smiled warmly. “He did that to you as well, did he?”
I nodded. “Made me think Adamantine had you by the neck with a dagger in your jaw. So I shot him after telling him I had the soul of a dragon.”
“I’ve been saying it from the start. You’re one of us, even if you don’t look like us,” Vil said.
“Come on, let’s go.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve got my mate,” Vil said. “After a little illusion about having to resign my title to the throne because you changed your mind and didn’t want to take the Test after all.”
“What did you do?”
“I went wherever you went, of course,” he said, almost hurt that I’d doubted him. “The throne is nothing without you.”
“And you can’t have it without me anyway,” I noted.
“That’s beside the point,” he said with a smile. “I have my mate. We’ve taken the Test and passed.”
“Okay?”
“So now I’m the Prince of Iron, as confirmed by the God-King,” he said, his face twisting into a grim visage. “And it’s past time I took my realm back.”