City of War (Chronicles of Arcana Book 4)

by Debbie Cassidy

  The doorbell chose that moment to chime.

  “You expecting someone?” Quinn asked.

  “Considering everyone I would have expected is already here, no. Ooh, maybe we have a client.” My tone was faux enthusiastic. I flopped back down. “Can someone please get rid of whoever it is? I just ... I can’t right now.”

  Quinn scraped back his seat, shrugged on his coat, and headed out of the kitchen. A mumble of voices drifted into the room, Quinn and a female, low and sultry.

  Valance pushed back his seat, his attention fixed on the kitchen doorway expectantly, and then a tall, powerfully-built redhead dressed in tight jeans and knee-high boots strode in. Her emerald gaze fell on me, and her ruby lips curled in a smile.

  “Well, hello there, little one,” she said.

  What the fuck was the Draconi ambassador doing at my house? Oh, shit. Oh, fuck. Valance!

  But Valance was staring at the ambassador in shock. “Daria?”

  She tore her gaze away from me and fixed it on the Draconi prince, her mouth parted in shock. She glanced at me and back at Valance, her gaze calculating and speculative, and then she smiled, shaking her head as if enjoying a private joke.

  “Hello, cousin. Good to see you alive and well,” she said.

  Valance’s face broke into a huge grin, and then the two were hugging and patting each other’s backs.

  Valance was the first to step back. “Everyone, this is my cousin, Daria.” He turned back to her. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

  She patted Valance’s cheek. “Honestly, I thought you’d be dead by now. I drank three bottles of Dragon Tears to commemorate your colorful life.”

  Valance frowned. “Then what are you doing in Arcana? What are you doing here?”

  “Elora gave me your old job. I’m the new and improved Draconi ambassador.” She fixed her gaze on me. “And I came here looking for the minute investigator who seduced me and then ran off.”

  Seb’s brows shot up. “Seduced, eh?”

  My cheeks were suddenly hot. “Wait a second. I did not seduce anyone.”

  Daria studied Seb for a long beat while Noir cleared his throat pointedly.

  I shot him my best glare. “What?”

  “You did go over to her with the intention of charming her,” Noir said. “It looks like you succeeded.”

  I sat back in my seat, arms folded. “I only wanted to find out what had happened to Valance.”

  “And I was charmed,” Daria said. “Completely entranced.” Her gaze skimmed over me, stopping here and there to linger intimately.

  “Daria, can you please stop eye fucking my scalemate,” Valance said firmly.

  The amusement had dropped out of his tone. In fact, it was suddenly pretty darn territorial.

  Daria froze in her detailed examination of me, and slowly turned her head to look at Valance. “Your scalemate?”

  Valance’s eyes narrowed. “Yes. Mine.”

  “Scalemate, not mate,” she said as if clarifying a crucial point.

  “Off limits,” Valance bit out.

  Valance took a step toward her and the hairs on the back of my neck prickled in foreboding.

  Where had the amiable camaraderie gone? “Whoa, what the heck?”

  Valance continued to stare down his cousin until she shrugged and took a step back.

  Valance’s shoulders dropped slightly. “Why don’t you take a seat, and I can fill you in.” He glanced across at me. “I trust Daria. She’s like a sister to me, and she hates Elora just as much as I do. She just hides it better.”

  Wait, was he serious? Had I just imagined the grr moment? Noir caught my eye and shrugged.

  I had to know. “Do you usually threaten the people you trust?”

  Daria was the one that answered. “Only when staking his claim.” She licked her lips. “Draconi are ruthless when it comes to protecting their potential conquests. It looks like I arrived on the scene a little late.” She sighed. “Shame.”

  Okay, now my face felt like it was on fire. Beside me, Tay let out a low growl.

  Daria blinked at him in surprise. “You too?” She bit back a smile. “My, my, now I’m intrigued. A neph who happens to be a Draconi’s scalemate and who also seems to motivate troll bloods to crimson eye.”

  If Valance trusted her then that was good enough for me. I kicked out the seat opposite me. “Pull up a pew and join the chaos.”

  Tay slung an arm across the back of my chair and pulled me against him. His shoulder was solid and warm against the back of my head. He rested his hand on my abdomen possessively, his attention on Daria.

  Daria arched a brow but slipped into the offered seat. “Color me officially intrigued. So, tell me, what’s the meeting in aid of?”

  Seb began to speak.

  With the catch-up over and a fresh pot of tea on the table, Daria sat back and crossed her long legs.

  “I can’t say I’m surprised at Elora’s actions,” Daria said. “And if there’s anything I can do to help ... You said you were about to mate?”

  I sipped my tea. “Yes, except I have no idea how. It’s been a bust so far.”

  Her smile was indulgent. “Yes, it’s a Draconi female secret passed on from mother to daughter, and as a new breed with a Shedim for a mother, you wouldn’t have had the talk.”

  “Fancy giving me the talk?”

  “Where’s your mark?” she asked.

  Valance’s eyes flared with understanding. “Of course, every Draconi female is born with a unique mark. Once she’s mated, the mark appears on her mates.”

  Daria shook her head at her cousin. “No, it doesn’t simply appear. That’s part of the secret. The mark is put there by the female. It’s how we claim our mates. Unmated males don’t have a clue and mated males are unable to reveal the ritual. It protects the females from being forced into taking mates they do not desire.” She hooked a finger in the collar of her shirt and stretched it to one side to reveal an eight pointed star with a lightning bolt going through it. “This is mine, although I haven’t used it yet.”

  Tay and Valance turned to look at me, their expressions echoing my sinking heart, because I had no mark and they both knew it. Noir looked from Tay to me, his lips pressed together as he cottoned on to what was happening.

  “You don’t have a mark?” Daria winced. “There is no mating without it. The mark is your unique symbol of power, your personal connection to your mates. If you don’t have one, then ...” She shrugged. “I’m sorry. It was a bold move. I’d have loved to see Elora brought down a peg and Azren freed. The Shedim has been nothing but loyal.”

  But my mind was whirring, because yes, I didn’t have a mark, but I wasn’t just me any longer. I was connected to Sebastian and… “Seb, you have a mark. On your breastbone.”

  He arched a brow. “The one only you can see?”

  “Do you have to say it like that?”

  “Like you’re going crazy?”

  “Yeah, like that.” I pulled open his shirt to reveal the infinity symbol set in a circle. “It’s definitely there. Can anyone else see it?”

  A chorus of no’s greeted me.

  “But you can see it, and that’s all that matters,” Daria said. “If you two are kindred, then the mark is yours just as much as Sebastian’s.”

  “Which could explain why he carries it but only you can see it,” Gilbert added.

  “A shared mark?” Noir said.

  “Possibly,” Daria replied.

  It was something. It was hope. “What do I need to do?”

  “You’ll need your talons to etch the mark into your mates’ skin and dragon breath to seal it.”

  “You mean fire?”

  “I mean the heat of the fire kernel inside you.” Her gaze softened sympathetically. “I can show you.”

  “Thanks.”

  Daria pushed back her seat. “But first I’m going to need some white and red flowers, an impromptu buffet, and a crimson dress for our bride-to-be.”r />
  Bride? My pulse stuttered then began to beat hard in my throat.

  She gave me a half smile. “You’re about to mate, Wila. It’s a big deal. These are the males you’re committing to spending the rest of your life with.”

  I hadn’t thought of it that way, but from the looks on the guys’ faces, they had and they were cool with it. There was no shock on their faces. How did I feel? This was marriage, not just a let’s bond so we can kick some ass, this was a commitment for life. My pulse slowed, and the panic which had threatened to flare evaporated, because these were my guys. These were the men I loved. I snapped my mouth closed.

  “You are happy with your choices, aren’t you?” Daria asked. “As the only other Draconi female in the room, I feel it’s my duty to ask.”

  I nodded. “I just ... I wish Azren were here.”

  “Once you get him back, you can offer him the mark too, but you’re already bound as kindred by your Shedim bond, so the mark will simply seal that connection for your Draconi half.” Daria clapped her hands. “So, we have a ceremony to plan.”

  “Daria, it’s almost ten in the evening,” Valance pointed out. “Food we can order in, but where are we going to get flowers at this time of night?”

  I held up my hands. “No. There won’t be a celebration. Not until we have Azren back. Not until we’re all together. We’ll do the mating now, and when we’ve brought Elora down, we’ll throw a huge fuck-off party. How does that sound?”

  Valance slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me against his side. “It sounds perfect.”

  Daria shrugged, but there was a glint of something akin to respect in her eyes. “Very well. Memorize the mark, because it must be etched in one cutting.”

  “And the dragon breath?”

  She inhaled through her nose, her emerald eyes brightening with an inner luminescence, and then she blew out a thin stream of crimson-tinged smoke. The heat of it blasted my face but it wasn’t unpleasant.

  “Pretty, but it doesn’t help me understand how you did it.”

  “Can you feel the core of heat inside you?” she asked. “In your solar plexus.”

  Seb’s chest met my back, and his arms came up around me. He laid a hand against the point beneath my breast bone just under my ribs.

  “Here, Wila. Can you feel the heat?” he whispered in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine.

  Ah, there it was. The delicious heat bloomed slow and steady, a kernel of warmth, a smoldering coal. “I feel it.”

  Daria nodded at Seb in encouragement.

  “Okay, now inhale and feed it,” Seb instructed.

  How did he know how to do this? The smoldering coal flared with heat.

  “Now exhale.”

  A plume of golden smoke drifted out from my parted lips.

  Daria grinned, revealing her sharp canines and even white teeth between. “You’ve got this. Shall we get on with it then?”

  Valance rolled up his sleeve and held out his arm while I positioned Seb so I could look at the mark on his chest. It seemed darker, clearer. Yes. I could etch this. My fingers itched and the talons slid out, and then Valance’s flesh was at my mercy. Blood welled in the wake of my cut.

  “Don’t stop,” Daria reminded me. “You need to make the symbol in one fluid cut.”

  But the blood was getting in the way. “I can’t see what I’m doing.”

  “Trust your instincts,” Valance said. “You can do this.”

  I finished off the circle and made to wipe away the blood.

  “No.” Daria gripped my hand. “Seal it.”

  Seb stepped up behind me, and pressed a palm to my solar plexus again. The coal was still there, smoldering steadily. I inhaled, feeding the fire, and then exhaled directly onto the symbol on Valance’s arm. The blood that had welled up out of the symbol seeped into his skin like water into the parched earth. The symbol glowed bright gold. The coal in my solar plexus expanded and contracted and then Valance was in my head, in my heart, and in my blood. His aroma, his essence. Him. He staggered, grabbing hold of the table to steady himself as the golden mark faded to bronze. His electric blue eyes were fixed on me, sparkling like twin jewels as they drank me in unblinkingly. My vision tunneled and then sharpened.

  “There you are,” Daria said, looking into my eyes.

  “Dragon eyes,” Quinn said. “Cool.”

  I blinked, looking at the world in high definition. Every color, every mote was crystal sharp. “Taylem, it’s time.”

  My voice had deepened slightly, a sign that my dragon had risen to the surface. Valance pressed a kiss to my forehead, leaving his scent in my nostrils before stepping back for Tay. The troll blood’s presence was almost overwhelming. Tay’s pheromones were thick and cloying and strong as they pressed against me. The whites of his eyes bled to crimson as he gazed down at me, nostrils flaring.

  “Wila. Mine.”

  I reached up to cup the side of his face. “Yeah, babe, and you’re mine.” The top two buttons of his shirt were undone, so I popped the third and then slid the material to one side, my hand smoothing across his pectoral. His chest rumbled, and his skin heated beneath my touch.

  I licked my bottom lip. “You ready?”

  “Do it.”

  This time the mark came quick and easy, and with Seb pressed to my back so I was sandwiched between the two huge males. I applied the dragon breath to seal the mark. This time, it was like being hit by a freight train or a charging troll. Tay’s essence slammed into me, knocking me back physically and tearing a low moan, part pain, part pleasure, from my lips. Seb’s grip was firm, preventing me from hitting the ground, but darkness closed in as Tay’s scent, heavy and thick, invaded my senses. And then he was rushing through my blood, claiming me, claiming his space.

  “Wila? Wila? Are you okay?” Quinn’s face swam into focus. “Shit, you gave us a scare.”

  The floor ... How had I gotten onto the floor? Behind Quinn, Tay was visible, his mouth a snarl as Valance and Noir struggled to hold him back.

  “Let him go,” Seb ordered. “He needs to touch her. He won’t hurt her. He can’t.”

  The bond between me and Tay pulsed and throbbed with an aching need that was pure primal, pure carnal. Noir and Valance released him, and he fell to the ground beside me, shoving Quinn out of the way. His hand smoothed down my front, and, uncaring of propriety, slipped under the hem of my T-shirt to splay across my skin. He pressed his nose to the hollow of my neck and breathed me in. My hands slid up to cup the nape of his neck and tangle in his hair. This was what we needed, just a moment to settle, to acclimatize to being inside each other’s head and in each other’s blood. My pulse slowed to a heavy thud that echoed his heart, and the desperate ache settled into something consistent and manageable. The troll retreated, curling up and closing its eyes while Tay slipped fully into the driver’s seat.

  Tay pulled back and looked down at me with clear tawny eyes. “Hello.”

  I traced his lips with my fingertips. “Hello.”

  Someone cleared their throat, our cue to hustle. “Later?”

  Tay pressed his lips to mine quick and hard. “You can bet on it.”

  He stood and hauled me up.

  “Noir,” Sebastian said. “You’re up.”

  I stared at my friend, my confidant, and the guy I’d been crushing on for weeks. We’d been through so much, and he’d stood on the sidelines and watched while I’d made connections with the others. He’d held me when I’d cried for Valance and Azren, and he’d comforted me, reminding me that we would do this, we’d get them back. And now it was our time, but his eyes were bright and his face was pale, not the expression of someone eager to mate.

  Doubt seared me. “Noir, you don’t have to do this. It doesn’t matter what the Arcana say. We can go back and—”

  His lips descended on mine, devouring my words with sizzling passion that had my knees giving way. I gripped his biceps just to stay upright, and he hooked an arm around my waist to hold me up
, crushing me against him as he deepened the kiss, stealing my oxygen and leaving me lightheaded. He pulled back slightly, his tongue licking the inside of my mouth once, twice—slow, long strokes that drew a throbbing line down to the apex of my thighs, and then he broke the kiss.

  “Just so there isn’t any doubt. I want to do this.” His tone was husky.

  Not trusting my voice, I settled for nodding.

  He unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it open. “Here. Just over my heart. Can you do it there?”

  My throat tightened. “Yes.”

  The mark slipped onto his taut skin as if eager to be there, the golden glow stole our breath, and blue Arcana magic crackled across his chest in an intricate web. It jumped onto me, skimming up my arms and shoulders to caress my neck. Noir was a fizz in my blood, a magnetic charge in my veins. He was a comforting presence in my mind, and then he took his place in my heart.

  Our gazes locked, and his pupils dilated, eating away at his blue irises until there was barely any blue visible. My face stared back at me, reflected in the inky depths of his pupils. Golden scales painted my cheeks and my horizontal pupils nestled in a sea of eerie green. I blinked, pulling back, whooshing down the tunnel that had been created between us and slamming back into the kitchen.

  “Done,” Seb said.

  Noir grazed my cheek with his fingers. “This feels ...”

  “Yeah ...”

  I could feel them all. Tay, Noir, and Valance as if they were holding my hand, as if they were curled around me. And pressed to my back, his ether presence a tingling sensation at the nape of my neck, was Sebastian.

  We were bound. Mated.

  “Now to teach you how to draw on the power at your disposal,” Daria said.

  “Wila?” Sebastian pressed his lips to my ear. “We can rest if you like?”

  The guys’ energy vibrated through me, making my skin itch. “I don’t think I could get to sleep now even if I tried.”

  His laughter was a breathy caress. When had he laughed like this? Without a mocking edge? Had the mating mastered his darkness? As if sensing my thoughts, he kissed my neck, pulling back in a sharp nip. It was a reminder to not get complacent. He released me and stepped back.