Page 37 of Dragon Awakened

I barely have time to gasp before his magic is drawing out my own. My bracer hums, and the droplets of water in the sink rise into the air, dancing in a gentle rhythm.

And it's nothing like it was on the beach. The roaring wave and the rolling tide of power.

But it's not not like it, either. I'm warm all over, the achy, wet place between my thighs pulsing and my heart thrumming with the warmth of our shared magic and our connection.

"No," I breathe.

"Try not to break the plumbing," Rafe mutters.

Malik glances at him in the mirror. "Would you prefer to prove the point by setting the room on fire?"

"The point," Jianyu interrupts, "is that we're here. Our magic is your magic, and if your magic is Shadow Dragon magic, then so be it."

The raw vulnerability sears my chest. From under my lashes, I glance at them each in turn. "That doesn't scare you?"

Malik squeezes my hand. "Not at all, beloved."

"What he said," Rafe agrees.

"I've felt Shadow Dragon magic that was intended to hurt." Jianyu's voice sours, and his hand goes to his arm--where he was struck by a cloud of black smoke when Li revealed his true nature. I felt the sympathetic pain then, through our mate bond. It was both physical and emotional. Li had been his trusted advisor and friend, but the entire time, he had been plotting against Jianyu. Looking me straight in the eye, Jianyu vows, "The magic we shared was nothing like that."

I've never taken my mates for granted, but I'm suddenly so intensely grateful for them that I can hardly stand it. Whatever misgivings I may have about the power within me, I have no doubts about the bone-deep goodness of these men.

"We will find your final mate," Malik vows. "You'll come into your full power."

Rafe nods. "And you'll be incredible."

"You already are," Jianyu promises.

And that should shore me up. It does, truly, only...

Fresh doubts creep into my mind--ones I've been forcing myself to push away, ever since I found out the truth.

These men are confident that we'll find my other mate and awaken my dragon, and that I'll miraculously discover a well of magic deep enough to take down the Shadow King. And that's great.

But it's not as if there's any pressure or anything. I'm supposed to be some Dragon Queen, ascending to a Grand Throne that only exists in myth and legend. But I'm just a person. Most of my life, I thought I was a powerless, dragonless reject.

And I never felt more that way than I did in the Air Kingdom.

Which is where we have to go.

Pressure builds up behind my ribs, and I put my hand over the center of my chest. As I do, I graze the warm metal of the locket, feeling its subtle hum of magical energy.

It hurts to admit, but I force the words past my throat. "I'm also just--really nervous about going back to the Air Kingdom."

Understanding lights in Jianyu and Rafe's eyes. I was still raw about my tragic breakup with Storm when I met them. Malik knows the details, but he wasn't there to witness as much of the aftermath.

"I was really miserable there," I confess. Which is the understatement of the year.

How will it feel to walk past the places where I used to get jumped by Fury's girlfriend, Jasmine?

Or maybe worse--the places where I used to secretly meet up with Storm?

I look down at the ground, my vision threatening to go misty at the edges, but I'm done getting teary about assholes from my past.

The only problem, of course, is that the assholes aren't entirely in my past. Not anymore.

"And if we're right--if my other mate is a prince of the Air Kingdom, then it's either Fury or Storm." I look up, but I can't quite bring myself to meet any of my mates' gazes. "So either a cruel bully who personally helped make my life a living hell, or the guy who broke my heart."

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