Page 59 of Dragon Awakened

"Storm--"

"I can never do anything to make up for how horribly I treated you. Both when we were together..." When I forced her to keep our relationship a secret. Asking her to live in stolen moments when she deserved the entire world. I swallow painfully. "And after."

When I denied her. Lied to her and to everyone I knew about what she meant to me.

When I let them carry her off like so much trash and exile her from our home.

"I shouldn't have--I should never have let that happen." My heart burns. "When my father and brother walked in on us. I should have told them I loved you then. I wish I had."

"I don't," she interrupts, fierce, and her eyes widen--like she's surprising herself with what she's saying. She takes a moment, gathering her thoughts, and I force myself to hold my tongue. But when she finally speaks again, she's steady. Resolute. "I needed to go out into the world. To meet my other mates and find out about myself. Who and what I am, to come into my power and to find out that I... That maybe I can change things."

Pride so fierce I can hardly breathe expands my lungs. "If anyone can, Ember, it's you."

In so many ways, she's the same girl I've adored for years. But in other ways, she's completely new. She glows--with magic or confidence or love--or maybe all three. She's powerful and strong. Just like she's always been, but more.

And seeing her determined to take down the Shadow King only makes me more drawn to her.

"I'm glad you think so," she says darkly. "Because that's what you're signing up for here. Three other men to share me with, and an impossible war against the Shadow King that's probably going to get us all killed."

"I've worked with the Shadow King before." I shiver. "Believe me--I'd rather be on this side. And what's more, I think I can help." I still don't feel like I've apologized enough yet, but if she wants to talk about making war against Erembour, I'm more than ready. "I don't come to you empty-handed. I have information." A smuggled tablet and a ream full of stolen paperwork. "Specific intelligence about troop movements and requisition orders; details about magical artifacts Erembour has been seeking. It's all yours."

"Really?"

"Really." I shrug. "When I tracked you down in Wynrath Crest--it was what I was going to offer you to get you to at least hear me out."

"That's...not a bad plan, actually."

"Brynn helped me come up with it," I admit.

She raises her brows. "Because you two are so chummy now."

"It's a long story. But our kingdom was overrun with Shadow Dragons, and you were gone." Just the memory makes me ache with futile rage. "We were both looking for a way to help--both our kingdom and you."

"Sounds like Brynn," she agrees, a wry smile curling her lips. She looks at me out of the corner of her eye. "And like you."

That she would give me that much credit feels like a miracle, after all the ways I've fucked up.

"It was the least I could do. To try to atone."

"Are you going to do that all night?" she asks.

I scrunch up my brows. "What?"

"Beat yourself up."

I laugh despite myself. "It only seems fair."

"I'm not saying I don't wish things had gone down differently." A twist of pain tugs at our bond. "But like I said. Fate might have had a hand in it."

That doesn't begin to excuse me.

"I know that all of this had to happen," I say, and my insides clench. "But I still hurt you. And I'll never forgive myself for that. You have every right not to, either."

She's silent for a beat, and our connection pulses with shared regret. "It did hurt. You saying I was nothing."

And my heart is bleeding in my chest. "Ember--you're everything."

My vision blurs, but I blink hard, unable to look away from her. Her soft lips and bright eyes, and the spirit in her that's always pulled me in. It's not just our mate-bond drawing me toward her. It's her.

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