Dragon Splendor (Immortal Dragons Book 3)
Page 35
Nikhil mattered less to her than the dragons did, even if he truly was on their side and was no longer the monster her mother’s visions made him out to be. Only one dragon had the power to affect the balance of her sanity. He wasn’t just any dragon, either, but the oldest, most powerful red dragon in existence.
Gavra. He was somewhere in the Sanctuary now. Ever since she’d set eyes on that glorious red-maned dragon male, she’d had a coiling ache in her womb that grew stronger every day. She’d managed to stay strong for the first week after meeting him, her goal of following through with the breeding pact she’d negotiated with the ursa driving her forward and keeping her focused. But in the last few days, she’d found it increasingly difficult to focus on the things her mother had done long enough to try to fix them.
Her mother’s ill deeds were far too similar to an ancient betrayal of one of their own kind. Dragons were at the core of that event as well.
Assana recognized it all now, with the clarity of hindsight, and it made her mother’s actions all the more atrocious. Blood melding was not the answer—how could her mother resort to the very thing their old enemy had done and risk getting herself banished from the Haven? The very thing she’d done to wield her power over the higher races, and even any unwitting human who fell into her trap?
The six members of the Dragon Council were right to return to the world and seek out their mates. They may have been tied to those ancient betrayals, but they were also the core of the power that Assana hoped would ultimately prevail when the war this magical clock predicted began.
“I don’t quite know how it works, either,” a deep male voice said, startling Assana out of her contemplation.
She turned to see a burly man with a closely trimmed gray beard standing on the path leading from the lodge. He frowned up at the clock.
“Why would you?” she asked him.
“Because I built it. My wife … or mate, as you all say … asked for it. Had I known she’d spend her last breath giving it the power to run, I never would have built the damn thing. I’ll be damned if I let Emma put anything into it.”
Assana gave the man a soft smile. “You’re the Queen’s father … a human man. You must be very proud.”
His frown faded and his weary eyes brightened slightly. “That I am, and her mother was too, before she died.” He shot another defeated glance at the clock.
“I know how it works,” Assana said. “Though I don’t know exactly what it predicts. That event …” She pointed up to the glowing stones. “… isn’t supposed to happen for a couple more decades. Twenty-five years in the future, there will be a war with our enemy. We have plenty of time to prepare … but what worries me is this.” She tapped her finger beneath a lower stone. “This is much sooner, and I can’t fix my power on what it means.”
“How soon?”
Assana clenched her fists and turned to him, steeling herself for the conversation she would need to have.
“Too soon to waste any time. I need to talk to your daughter. I believe events are in motion already and we need to prepare.” Though she hoped like hell that the timing marked by the glowing stone on the clock didn’t mean it was going to take that long to appease her mother and set things right with the ursa. By her calculations, that particular event would occur within days of the coming Spring Equinox. That was still more than two months away, but a far cry from the event that would be more than two decades in the making.
If it was her mother who was the threat, Assana believed she could still fix this. Nyx was driven by fear and love, her heart broken by the loss of the three most important men in her life. Assana wasn’t immune to the same grief of that loss, and she wasn’t oblivious to her mother’s despair. So she knew she had to tread carefully to fix this, but ultimately felt confident that she could.
However, if that ominous glowing stone suggested what Assana dreaded, there would be no good way to prepare for what came. Meri and the Ultiori she led were wildcards, but Meri was as good as invisible to Assana when she looked for her, as were her father and the other missing Thiasoi soldiers now. She had no way of knowing whether the Ultiori were in hiding as the rumors had suggested, or if they were merely biding their time for an opportunity to attack.
All she knew now was that if Meri were the true threat the clock predicted, she needed to make sure all their alliances were intact. She only hoped that the ursa and dragons understood the lengths she had to go to in order to ensure they remained at peace.
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About Ophelia Bell
Ophelia Bell loves a good bad-boy and especially strong women in her stories. Women who aren’t apologetic about enjoying sex and bad boys who don’t mind being with a woman who’s in charge, at least on the surface, because pretty much anything goes in the bedroom.
Ophelia grew up on a rural farm in North Carolina and now lives in Los Angeles with her own tattooed bad-boy husband and six attention-whoring cats.
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Also by OPHELIA BELL
Sleeping Dragons Series
Animus
Tabula Rasa
Gemini
Shadows
Nexus
Ascend
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Breath of Destiny
Breath of Memory
Breath of Innocence
Breath of Desire
Breath of Love
Breath of Flame and Shadow
Breath of Fate
Sisters of Flame
Dragon’s Melody (a standalone dragon novel)
Immortal Dragons Series
Dragon Betrayed
Dragon Blues
Dragon Void
Dragon Splendor
Dragon Rebel
Dragon Guardian
Dragon Blessed
Dragon Equinox
Dragon Avenged
Immortal Dragons: The First Four Box Set
Black Mountain Bears
Clawed
Bitten
Nailed
Stonetree Trilogy
Fate’s Fools Series
Fate’s Fools
Fool’s Folly
Fool’s Paradise
Fool’s Errand
Nobody’s Fool
Eye of the Hurricane (Amazon Only)
Standalone Erotic Tales
After You
Out of the Cold
Dragon Splendor
Copyright © 2017 Ophelia Bell
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