Page 54 of Betrayed By Dragons

Swallowing the flash of bitterness that stings the back of my throat, I wait patiently for the plane to roll to a stop. The second it does, I'm undoing my seat belt and launching to my feet, though.

"Rafe," Jianyu calls, but I ignore him as I stride toward the door.

The flight staff are all used to my bullshit, and they hurry to get the stairs in place. They hustled down it first, checking the perimeter like the good little soldiers they are. I'm right on their heels. I don't get claustrophobic, exactly, but I fucking hate planes, and I haven't been home in a month.

I set foot down on red clay soil. The early dawn sun pours down on me, and it flows into my veins, I swear to the gods. I breathe in the air, and it feels right in a way I can't explain.

Laughter bubbles in the back of my throat. Nobody gives a shit, but I'm home. And that has to be enough.

Ember and Jianyu exit the plane in their own sweet time. Jianyu looks at the ground with distaste, and I suppress my instinct to take a swipe at him. He's an ice queen who likes solid rock better than living, breathing, fiery dirt, and that's his own problem--not mine.

At least Ember isn't put off. If anything, she glows as she comes to stand beside me.

"I haven't been here since I was a child. It's as beautiful as I remember," she tells me, slipping her hand into mine.

I laugh outright this time. "Just wait. It gets better."

I'm suddenly filled with warmth. I want to show her my kingdom. Introduce her to my shitty family. Hold her hand next to a lava flow in the southern fields and see if the fire lights her up the way it always did for me.

Hell--Fire Dragons invented the Emergence rights. All the other kingdoms got their dirty claws on the ceremony over the ages. They put their own twists on it.

Maybe all Ember needs is the original.

I squeeze her palm, and for a second, my dragon spreads his wings possessively in my chest. I swear I can feel hers reaching out to me as well.

We'll find her. Unlock her and bring her out. I can feel it.

I turn my head to tell her exactly that, but before I can, a cloud of dust forms in the distance. I scrunch up my brows, squinting at what appears to be a land-based rocket hurtling across the open plain.

Correction--it's a Porsche.

My brother's Porsche.

A real smile spreads across my face without my meaning for it to. I shake my head and chuckle with relief. "Late as usual."

"I take it this is our welcome party?" Jianyu asks, desert dry.

"Additional cars are on their way." Atina inserts herself into our midst, and I try my best not to glower at her for interrupting. She's just doing her job, and I'm grateful. Really, I am.

As the Porsche approaches, I spot my maniac older brother Dorran behind the wheel. My smile widens when I recognize my best friend Cael seated beside him.

I haven't seen Cael since we parted ways after the explosion at the summit, and I didn't realize how much I missed him until now. I needed him here, though, I remind myself. To be my eyes and ears in the Fire Kingdom while we were hunting down leads in Shítou.

A fact that couldn't be more clear, considering he was the one to call me home.

The shiny red car races toward us without slowing down, and I hold in my snicker at the way Jianyu flinches. I'm more than familiar with my older brother's antics, so I stand my ground, curling my arm around Ember to reassure her that we're not actually about to get run over. Sure enough, Dorran screeches to a halt with a half dozen feet to spare.

A buzz starts up under my skin as he and Cael get out of the car.

As miffed as I may be about neither my king nor my kingdom showing up to welcome me home, I can recognize the upside. I don't have to hide Ember or our relationship. Hell, I don't even have to hide the fact that we have a grumpy, annoying, ever-present third wheel.

"Well, well, well," Dorran says, smirking as he approaches. "Look who finally decided to come back home."

"It's good to see you, too, asshole." I pull him into a one-armed hug, still holding onto Ember as I do. "Dorran, this is my mate, Ember. Ember, my brother." I cast my gaze skyward. "Well, one of them, in any case."

Ember holds out her hand, her cheeks pinking up. "Nice to meet you."

Dorran takes her hand and kisses the back of it, glancing at me with one brow raised. "Same."

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