Page 77 of Dragon Awakened

They share a tearful reunion, followed by even more rounds of introductions. Apparently, back before she fled the Shadow Dragon Kingdom, Rhiannon was a close friend of Mariutza's daughter and Delaynie's mother. They were both rabble-rousers, dissenting against the Shadow King's rule. But where Rhiannon decided to leave, Mariutza's daughter decided to stay.

"I was so sorry when I heard..." Rhiannon begins, her eyes shining.

"Heard..." Mariutza's own eyes flutter, and then she blinks rapidly. When she speaks again, her voice is quiet and scared. "Heard what, dearie?" She shakes her head. "I'm sorry, have we met?"

"Grandma gets like this sometimes," Delaynie explains, folding Mariutza in close.

Rhiannon's eyes shine wetly, and she nods. "Of course." She swabs at her eyes before stepping back and addressing Rook again. "What are you all doing here? And why now?"

A dark expression crosses Rook's face. "We're here because the heir is here."

He looks to me, and a hollow pang fires off in my chest. I instinctively want to take a step back, but force myself to stand my ground.

I still don't know about this whole heir thing. But I have to accept the fact that I'm part of something larger than myself.

As if to drive it home, he fixes me with a weighty, penetrating stare. "We have to move quickly. Time is short, and Erembour's plan has long been in motion." Rising to stand, he sucks in a rough breath of pain before letting it out slowly. His gaze grows even more grave. "You're in great danger, Ember."

All I can think is, yeah--so what else is new?

Chapter

Twenty

STORM

Icome up behind Ember as she's pouring herself a cup of iced tea from the pitcher in Rhiannon and Amy's kitchen. She can tell I'm there, relaxing back into me in a way that's still a miracle. Tingles of heat race up my arm where it brushes her spine, and I have to suck in a breath.

I would have given anything to be this free with her, back when we were in the Air Kingdom.

I flex my jaw, bitter bile rising to the back of my throat. Anything except my crown, that is.

Now that's forfeit, and I don't know why the fuck I didn't give it up back then.

Our bond is still so fresh and needy. All I want to do is wrap her up in my arms and hide away with her in a cloud of sheets and skin and kisses for days.

We only had one night, though--and we had to share it with three other men.

Fresh heat blooms in my blood.

It was a hell of a fucking night. I wanted her all to myself, but sharing her was so easy and sexy. A part of my psyche said I should resist, but watching her be possessed by her other mates only drove my desire to a higher plane. She was so gorgeous--so utterly unguarded. I'd never seen her glow so brightly. She was free in a way she never was before.

I brush my lips against her ear and set a hand on her hip. "You sure we can't sneak away for a few hours?"

I'm half-hard in my jeans. I lean forward, letting her feel it, and she shudders, letting out a quiet noise that sends even more of my blood rushing south.

But she exhales roughly and forces herself to stand up straighter. "I wish."

Drink in hand, she turns around, and I reluctantly give her space to move. She glances toward the living room, her fingers playing restlessly against her glass.

I follow her gaze. Just about all of Ember's mates and friends have assembled in the tiny space. We ran out of chairs a long time ago, but no one seems particularly put off by that. There's a tang of nervous excitement to the air. Everyone wants to know what's going on--and what the plan is for what happens next.

Frowning, I tug her in closer, curling an arm around her shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She nods, but I don't need a fated mate connection to know that she's battling a storm of anxiety beneath her calm exterior.

"Liar," I tease, rubbing her arm in an attempt to take any sting out of the word.

Just then, the back door to the place opens. My pulse quickens, but it's just Rhiannon and Freya, arriving with the three Shadow Dragons, as expected.

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