Page 3 of Betrayed By Dragons

I laugh again, unable to keep it in. I swab my eyes with my wrist. "I thought you were the one getting impatient with me."

Her dark eyes soften. "If I am impatient, it is only because our time together is short."

She's right, of course. After the attack on the peace summit in Unity, Rafe and Jianyu insisted that we retreat to one of their kingdoms. It was the only way they felt that they could keep me safe.

It was also an opportunity to ferret out any traitors who might have helped carry out the attack. As we speak, my mates are conducting a secret investigation into the matter. If they can't find anything, we've agreed to go to the Fire Kingdom next. Already, Rafe's father, King Aeden, is pressuring him to return--and not just because King Haoyu keeps making incendiary comments, worsening the tensions between the two nations.

Bottom line: I have no idea how long I'll get to work with High Priestess Fang like this.

As frustrating as my lack of progress has been thus far, I've learned a lot this week. Just having someone who knows the power I'm wielding has been a relief. As much as I'm eager to see the Fire Kingdom again and meet Rafe's friends and family, I'm not in any rush to move on.

Perhaps mistaking my silence for yet more disappointment with myself, High Priestess Fang continues on. "In time, you'll learn to unlock abilities you--and I--have yet to imagine." She extends her hand, and I place my wrist in her palm. She gently grazes the edges of the bracer with her fingertips, and the black metal warms. "The magic in this artifact is old. The stuff of legend and myth. The limits of its potential are honestly unknown, but they say it can harness shadow energy, both defensively--as you've seen--and offensively, as well."

My eyebrows rise. She's spoken to me about the mythology surrounding the Shadow Queen's Bracer before in our training sessions, but she's wandering into new territory now.

"Like." I hold up my free hand like I'm Iron Man, firing a repulsor. "Shooting bolts of darkness out of my fingertips?"

One corner of her mouth pulls up and to the side. "Perhaps. Though if you don't want to be a cartoon villain, perhaps not."

"Right."

She gently releases my arm, but the bracer continues to tingle. "Some legends even say that it could tear through the fabric of space. That it could open portals to places halfway across the globe."

"Seriously?"

I try to imagine holding that kind of power. I could use it to skip the ten-hour flight to the Fire Kingdom--which would be pretty amazing in and of itself. But other, less superficial possibilities tug at my mind.

I could sneak back into the Air Kingdom.

It's strange that the idea would even appeal to me. My life in the capital city of Wynrath Crest was an unmitigated disaster. My Aunt Helena resented my very existence. King Zephyr was a tyrant who left everyone quaking. His son, Prince Fury, was a miserable bully. He, his girlfriend Jasmine, and the rest of the cronies made my life a living hell. After everyone found out that I was sleeping with his brother, Prince Storm, I was exiled in the most humiliating way possible. Getting kicked out was devastating, but it was also a relief. I hated it there.

But what would I give to go back for even a few hours to see my cousin Brynn?

Stupidly--masochistically--I can't help but wonder. What would I give to go back and see Storm?

I push the very thought away with prejudice. He rejected me. He pretended I was nothing to him.

I've moved on. I'm mated to two wonderful, gorgeous, incredible dragon shifters. I don't miss Storm in the least.

Or at least that's what I tell myself.

I still can't help asking, "Can you teach me how? To open a portal, I mean?"

"Unfortunately," she says, rising, "my answer to that is the same as to most of your other queries." She smooths invisible wrinkles from her robes and resumes her normally regal posture. Apparently, our moment of vulnerability and sharing is over. "Practice. Study. Experimentation."

I refrain from dramatically groaning and rolling my eyes, but only just. "Is that all?"

"Keep with it," she urges me. "You never know. Some of the more obscure legends even say that the bracer could help bring light to shadow."

I jerk my head up, my heart suddenly hammering in my chest, static ringing in my ears. "What?"

She tilts her head to the side, clearly caught off guard by my response. "It's just a story. More often, the bracer's magic brings darkness and destruction. But I was trying to be encouraging."

I can't seem to get my pulse under control. "It's just..."

My parents used to tell me the fairy tales about a dragon, descended from all four of the great dragon kingdoms of old. They would rise up and unite all of dragonkind. They would bring light to shadow.

"In the Air Kingdom," I choke out. Because that was where the story originated, right?

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