by Riley Storm
“Oh. Well, then who do you think we should awaken.”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I can think of several, but the question is which one.”
She was silent for some time. Jax kept pondering his options, not able to come to a firm conclusion on any of them, unfortunately.
“Let it decide,” Sarah said softly.
“What?” he asked, looking at her in surprise.
“The artifact,” she said. “You told me about it. You said it decided who to awaken, choosing both Valla and Victor, even though neither was explicitly chosen, right? Even Aaric, it seemed, was more of a hope than anything.”
“Yes. There is a…maybe not sentience, but a soul to the artifact, as near as we can tell. It guides the magic.”
“Then just release the magic. Tell it you need a leader, and let it choose who to awaken.”
Jax pursed his lips, looking at his mate thoughtfully. “You know, that’s not a bad idea.”
She smiled. “Why thank you, sir dragon.”
His booming laughter echoed back from the cavern. “Thank you, Sarah. You truly are one of a kind.”
“I know,” she said playfully. “That’s why you keep me around.”
“That and a few other reasons,” he growled suggestively, before growing serious once more. “Okay. Let the magic choose. I can work with that.”
He guided her forward among the statues until he arrived at a place he was comfortable with. Three statues lay close to each other. A fourth lay further back, closing off a lopsided oval, if one chose to look at it that way.
“These are three of the dragons I think could help,” he said, gesturing. “May as well sit close to them and give the magic a bit of a nudge.”
“Sounds good to me,” Sarah said.
Jax sat crossed-legged. Sarah sat opposite him. He extended the matte black box in front of him and pushed some of the magic of his being into it. Intricate carved lines exploded into golden light.
“What now?” she asked, showing her first signs of nervousness.
“When you’re ready, simply touch it, and think of me,” he said softly. “Think of the bond we share. The artifact will draw on that strength and release the magic.”
He looked into her eyes, wondering how long it would take her to be ready. To feel comfortable.
Sarah’s hands were moving before he’d even finished speaking.
The box grew brighter and brighter until they were forced to shut their eyes. The golden light bathed all the nearby statues in light.
Then it faded abruptly.
Jax opened his eyes, scanning the three statues, waiting to see which one the magic had chosen. Sarah, facing the other direction, was the first to react, her eyes going wide.
“Um, Jax?” she said.
He followed her vision. Behind him. To the fourth statue.
Where cracks in the stone were beginning to appear.
40
Three Days Later
Jax approached his quarters slowly. Nervously.
He had no idea how this was going to go over with Sarah, and so he lacked his usual confidence.
“Hello, my darling,” he said on entering as she lounged out on the couch, reading a book she’d found in one of Drakon Keep’s large libraries.
“Jax,” she said happily, sitting up. “You’re back. How was your meeting?”
He smiled wearily as she got off the couch and swept into his arms. Her touch always reinvigorated him, and now was no exception.
“Long,” he said. “Tiring. Things are…difficult, with the new dragon. But we’ll get there,” he said, projecting confidence he didn’t necessarily feel.
“Time, my love. Give it time,” she said, seeing right through him. “I believe.”
“I know you do,” he said, smiling. “That is why I love you.”
“Among other reasons,” she teased, rubbing up against him.
“Yes, that too.”
Sarah pulled back. “There’s something else,” she said, watching his face. “Not just your meeting. Not the vampires. What is it?”
Jax sighed. He couldn’t keep a secret from her if his life depended on it.
“I want to do something.” He chewed his lip. “I may have already done something. Something I put into place before we became trapped here in the Keep. I kind of forgot about it in all the hubbub, but now that I have a moment to think, I need to make sure it’s okay with you.”
“What do you mean?” she asked cautiously, looking at him from the corner of her eyes.
“Well, I told you that I arranged for your grandmother to go south, right? A fake vacation she won, that she had to go on right away?”
“Yes. Though I don’t know how you managed to get her to do that without hearing from me,” Sarah said.
Jax shrugged. “I may have signed my name all over it, so she would feel confident. Your grandmother trusts me, you know.”
Sarah shook her head. “I should have known you would do something like that,” she said, laughing.
The two had been talking every day now, and Jax could tell that Sarah always felt better after her conversations with Grandma Mingott. Especially hearing about how well taken care of her grandmother was now.
Though he could do without G-Nance’s vivid descriptions of the various men she saw at the pool, or the beach, or the gym—her grandmother worked out now?!—or on her daily walks; he didn’t want her giving Sarah any ideas.
“That’s not what I was referring to, however,” he said quietly, wanting to get this over with.
“Well, what are you referring to?” Sarah wanted to know. “Just spit it out, mister. Please, no more delay.”
“Well, I’ve only been there twice, you know, and never really inside. But even to my untrained eye, it was clear you two were making ends meet to pay the bills, but that was about it, with regards to the house,” he said.
“Yes, and?”
He could sense Sarah getting her back up already because the conversation was about money.
“Sarah,” he said softly, pointing that out to her.
“Sorry,” she said, taking a deep breath and forcing herself to relax. “Go on.”
“Well, I kind of signed off on having some people go by the house. To um, like, repair-everything-that-they-could-so-that-the-house-would-be-nice-and-safe-and-work-better-and-fix-it-all-up-for-you-two,” he said in a rush, stringing it all together into one near word.
To his surprise, Sarah grinned wide from ear to ear.
“Thank you.”
Jax’s eyebrows lifted. “Are you sure? You’re not mad I just spent money without asking?”
Sarah shrugged. “Jax, money still makes me uncomfortable. But you’re spending it on my grandmother. A woman you barely know. Yet you whisked her away to safety at a beautiful vacation resort, and on top of that, you fixed all the things wrong with her house. You’re not thinking about yourself here. You’re thinking about others. That’s really kind of you. So yes, thank you,” she said, flinging herself back into his arms, squeezing tight. “You’re very generous.”
He shrugged. “I just want you two to be comfortable there.”
“You keep saying the two of us,” Sarah said. “Do you not want me moving in here after all this vampire nonsense is dealt with?”
Grinning, Jax lifted her into the air, swinging her around so her feet went out wide. “You would want to do that?”
Sarah shrugged. “I love you, Jax. I want to be as close to you as possible.”
“And I you, Sarah. And I you, my love. I cannot wait for what our future holds.”
***
***
Thank you for reading Earth Dragon’s Kiss. If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving a review so that others might enjoy the adventure as well.
Next Book: Claimed by the Dragon King (High House Draconis Book 5)
Newsletter Signup: Click Here (Get a free bonus scene for each book)
ARC Team Signup: Riley@HighHousePres
s.com
Other Books by Riley Storm
High House Ursa
Bearing Secrets
Furever Loyal
Mated to the Enemy
Shifting Alliances
Blood Bearon
High House Canis
Savage Love
Blood Mate
Moonlight Bride
Shadow’s Howl
Royal Alpha
High House Draconis
Fire Dragons Bride
Mated to the Water Dragon
Ice Dragon’s Caress
Earth Dragon’s Kiss
Claimed by the Dragon King
About the Author
Riley Storm
Riley is one of those early-morning people you love to hate, because she swears she doesn’t need caffeine, even though the coffee-maker is connected to her smartphone. She lives in a three-story townhouse by the good graces of a tabby-cat who rules the house, the couch, the table, well, basically everywhere. When she’s not groveling for forgiveness for neglecting to pet her kitty enough, Riley is strapped in to her writing chair coming up with crazy worlds where she can make her own decisions of when feeding time is and how much coffee can be drank without her friends—of which she has three—holding yet another intervention that they threaten to post on the internet.
Find her on:
Riley Storm’s Amazon Page
Riley Storm’s Facebook Page