by Chant, Zoe
“Yes. Let’s all have dinner together,” Liana said, smiling at the pregnant woman.
With the attack and the scary chimera, she’d almost forgotten how much she’d looked forward to meeting the other dragon shifters’ human mates. There were so many things she wanted to know.
“We nearly forgot,” Damon said once they were all settled down around the huge kitchen table. “Congratulations on your mating!”
He raised his wine glass, and everyone else followed suit, Naomi raising a glass of Ginny’s homemade lemonade instead.
“It was about time,” Gregory said, grinning at Timothy. “How does it feel to finally be a responsible adult?”
“Hey, I’ve always been responsible,” Timothy said, crossing his arms in consternation. Then the same simple, overwhelming happiness welled up in him once more as he turned to Liana. The mate bond between them pulsed with warmth.
“It feels great,” he added softly, taking her hand. “Perfect. Like finally coming home at the end of a long journey.”
Liana returned his smile, her eyes shining with happiness.
From across the table, Ginny, who’d been quiet so far, raised her own glass.
“Congratulations,” she said softly. “I’m so happy for all of you. Sky Home feels like a real home now, with all of you here.”
“Do you live here?” Liana asked curiously.
Ginny shrugged. “I was only supposed to help out for a few weeks. I live in Mountain View, Gregory’s town. But with the recent attack, the chimera’s old caretaker is afraid to return right now—and someone needs to be here to take care of things.”
“Is it just you and him?” Liana frowned. “I’d be bored.”
“It’s a lot better since Autumn helped me to convince him to get satellite internet up here.” Ginny laughed softly. “I can finally watch my shows again. Just imagine, last week he was asking me what I was watching, and I think I’ve got him hooked on Game of Thrones now.”
Liana giggled helplessly, and Timothy couldn’t bite back an amused snort of his own.
“Really? I can’t imagine him watching that...”
“Oh, he’s not watching it.” Ginny grinned. “Every day, he asks me about the latest episode I’ve watched, and then he rants about everything they’ve got wrong about dragons. I think he’s quite enjoying that, actually. I’ve been thinking about getting him the audio books.”
Gregory leaned back, wrapping his arm around his pregnant mate. “I feel that’s the most contact to another person he’s had in ages. It was a good idea to get some internet up here—and not just because we can finally keep in contact by email now.”
“Braeden definitely profited from binging on Netflix,” Ginny said, then suddenly fell silent and swallowed. She turned towards Damon. “No news of him yet?”
Damon silently shook his head.
Timothy suddenly realized that he hadn’t seen the griffin shifter since they’d arrived in Sky Home.
“Where’s Jared?”
“Don’t worry, he’s fine,” Damon reassured him. “But I think he blames himself for losing Braeden. It wasn’t his fault—what’s a single griffin to do against twenty fire dragons? But he immediately went back out to patrol the area. I think he’s hoping to pick up a trace of where the dragons might have taken Braeden.”
“Well, where would they take him?” Timothy forced himself to ignore the lingering sense of worry for their fire dragon. “I bet they’re happy to have him back. He’s probably telling them all our secrets right now, all safe in their secret lair.”
“No,” Autumn said firmly. “I can’t believe that. They wanted to kill him. I was there when they broke into his cell, remember? They were definitely out to get him.”
“What if that was all part of their plan?” Timothy said. “What if they just wanted to make us believe that he was on our side, so that we’d trust him and he could find out our weaknesses?”
Autumn shrugged. “We won’t know until we find him again. But I was there. He saved my life. No matter what you say—I trust him. He’s changed. He doesn’t want any humans to come to harm.”
“If we find him again,” Timothy said darkly. “I don’t like the thought of Jared all alone out there.”
“He’ll be fine,” Damon said. “Given the pattern of their attacks, they were going after the three of us—trying to keep us from finding our mates. Because they knew how dangerous we’d be to them once we’d be able to access our full power.”
“They didn’t succeed.” Liana leaned into Timothy’s embrace. “But they nearly killed Timothy. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“It didn’t feel like fire—at least not like the fire they used before,” Timothy said quietly. “It felt—tainted, somehow. Dark.”
“Who knows what they got up to in those centuries they spent in the darkness.” Damon gave Timothy a thoughtful look. “I felt that same sensation when they attacked Sky Home. I didn’t question it at the time, because I only thought about saving Autumn. But you’re right—it felt as if their power was tainted by darkness.”
“Maybe that’s what happens when there’s finally a master of fire,” Gregory said. “Either way, it doesn’t matter where it comes from. We’ll have to deal with it before they can wreak destruction all over the world.”
“And I’m sure the chimera will come up with a plan for you,” Naomi said firmly. “But for now, I believe we should let these two rest. And who knows, maybe Jared will return during the night.”
“It was great to meet you at last,” Liana said when they got up.
Timothy stretched when he got up. “Let’s have breakfast together tomorrow.”
Even though his right wrist was completely healed and he’d regained his full power, it had been a long and exhausting day. And as beautiful as their secret cave behind the waterfall had been, he was looking forward to a full night’s rest with his gorgeous new mate in his arms.
Tomorrow they’d start worrying about the fire dragons again. Tomorrow, the chimera would probably come up with some dire, ancient prophecy that would mean more hard work for them all.
But today, all he wanted was to rest with Liana in his arms and listen to the soft sound of her breathing—knowing that she was finally his, and that nothing and no one could come between them ever again.
Chapter Nineteen: Liana
They’d barely had time for breakfast with the other two dragon shifters and their mates when they were hastily summoned back to the council chamber.
When they filed in, Liana saw that the cave was illuminated by the eerie light of the symbols that decorated four huge plinths of rock.
Each plinth was the seat of one of the council members, large enough for a dragon to perch on it.
Timothy had told her all about it while they’d lazily rested in each other’s arms in bed this morning. There was one plinth each for the dragon of air, earth and water. And the mysterious fourth plinth bore the symbol of fire—even though there’d never been a fire dragon on the council before.
No wonder everyone was so worried.
Liana really didn’t like the thought of one of those scary fire breathers reclining on a plinth, staring at her from evil eyes and ready to set her on fire any second.
The only fire dragon she’d ever met who seemed almost like a normal human being was Braeden.
But Braeden had vanished—and in any case, he wasn’t the mysterious new dragon of fire. That could only be the scary fire dragon who’d nearly killed Timothy.
And that knowledge didn’t exactly fill her with reassurance...
As soon as they’d made it into the large cave, they were greeted by the sound of huge wings. A second later, the griffin shifter came flying into the cave. He didn’t even bother to shift back. Instead, he was in such a hurry that he flew straight towards them, only shifting back at the last moment so that he nearly stumbled right into them.
“They’re coming,” Jared gasped. His face was flushed and he loo
ked wrung out, as if he’d been flying at top speed for a long time. “They’re coming—and they’ve got Braeden.”
From the shadows, the chimera growled in sudden anger.
“No fire dragon will have a seat on the council,” he roared. “Not after what they’ve done.”
“Hurry,” Jared panted, grasping hold of Timothy’s shoulder to steady himself. “You’ve got to take your mates somewhere safe.”
“I’ve increased Sky Home’s defenses,” the chimera hissed. “No ordinary fire dragon will break through—”
At the exact same moment, there was a flash of blinding light somewhere near the entrance of the cave.
A strong smell of acrid smoke suddenly filled the air. Beneath them, the rock itself seemed to groan in agony.
For a long, terrifying moment, it seemed as if the earth itself stood still.
Liana stopped breathing as she stared towards the cave’s opening. She could feel something immensely old and powerful throwing itself against whatever shield the chimera had erected to protect Sky Home.
And then, just like that, the rock beneath them trembled. Another flash of light rent the darkness of the cave—like the fabric of space and time itself ripping apart.
There was a shrill sound ringing in her ears, and for a heartbeat, it was impossible to see.
Blackness had oozed into the cave.
Desperately, Liana blinked, her eyes tearing up. It felt like she was breathing in stinging smoke—but when she finally blinked away the tears, there was no smoke to be seen.
Instead, four fire dragons had entered the cave. One of them was the large, shadow-flecked dragon who had wounded Timothy.
And in his claws, he held Braeden, who was still in his human form. The obsidian cuffs around his wrists gleamed, blocking his powers.
“I am no ordinary fire dragon,” the new arrival roared. “I am Steele, Master of Fire, Lord of Dragons, Scourge of Humans. I have come to claim what is mine. The reign of fire has begun, and you will bend your knee or die.”
“Never,” Timothy shouted, protectively stepping in front of Liana.
When she looked around, she could see that the other two dragon shifters had done the same. And despite her earlier declaration that she’d ride into Mordor itself on Timothy’s back, her throat was suddenly tight with fear, every instinct telling her to run.
Timothy had been right. She could feel it now. The fire dragon’s power was immense—but it felt tainted somehow.
It wasn’t just clean, hot fire. It was surrounded by a terrifying darkness that tasted like bitter smoke and oppressive shadows. Even now, safe behind Timothy’s back, it seemed to reach out towards her with tendrils of darkness.
Silly human, something whispered in her mind. Run. Run now, or we will devour you. Leave behind your mate or you will die here. Do you think he’ll protect you like he promised? Don’t you know that promises are all smoke and shadows? He’ll betray you. After all, you’re just a silly human girl. What are you to a dragon? He only used you to increase his power. Now that he has the power he wanted, he has no use for you anymore...
For a moment, Liana couldn’t see. The cave had vanished. Instead, she was enveloped by clouds of darkness wavering all around her. The gloom was so oppressive that she could feel it against her skin, darkness pressing in on her until she felt herself inhaling it with every breath she took.
Her heart was racing in her chest. She couldn’t see Timothy. She couldn’t even feel the warm glow of the mate bond anymore.
She was all alone and lost in darkness.
She was all alone...
Suddenly, she heard the sound of laughter in the shadows surrounding her. The sound of it was familiar. It was the mocking laughter of Benny, the day he’d broken up with her.
“Stupid uptight bitch,” he’d called her.
She could hear him whispering it now from the shadows.
You really think anyone could want you? You’re just pretending to like comics for attention from guys like me. And then you won’t even put out. You should’ve been grateful I wanted you. Do you really think anyone else is going to bother with someone like you? Everyone laughed when they saw your ridiculous cosplay photos on Facebook.
Liana’s face burned, humiliation churning in her stomach. For a moment, she thought she was going to be sick.
She’d thought she was over Benny. What he’d said had hurt her a lot at the time—but she’d moved on. She’d found new friends.
She’d never met the right sort of guy, that was true—but she wasn’t a fake fan. She had a real job in the gaming industry now. She got to code dragon adventures for a living—it didn’t get more real than that.
And maybe she was a very curvy Wonder Woman... but so what? She liked her curves, and the costume had made her cleavage look amazing.
Keep lying to yourself, Benny’s voice hissed from the shadows. I bet your mate laughs about you behind your back when he tells his friends that you like to dress up like a silly comics character. He only wanted you because he wanted to come into his full power. Now that he’s had you, you’re useless to him. He could have anyone he wants. Do you know how many women he’s had in that fancy penthouse of his? You’re just the last in a long line. He’ll grow bored of you in a week and throw you away like all those other women...
Liana’s heart ached at the thought of life without Timothy. It was impossible to imagine now. He’d brought such magic into her boring life.
Real magic—not just the daily grind of coding and fixing bugs and finishing a game update, only to immediately get swamped by their players’ complaints.
Maybe Benny was right. Maybe her job wasn’t anything to be proud of. It paid the bills and that was it. She’d never change the world by coding colorful dragons.
But even if that was true, he was wrong about Timothy.
There was a small throb of warmth inside her now. Just one tiny pulse of it, like a golden seed in her heart. But it was enough to lift the oppressive darkness a little.
Slowly, the warmth increased. As she concentrated on it, it grew brighter.
It was the mate bond, she realized at last. It was still there—it had always been there. Despite the tendrils of darkness trying to suffocate her, it had always been with her.
With a deep breath, she reached out for it, opening herself up fully to the golden light.
And then, like a dam that had broken, it rushed into her, filling her with Timothy’s love and that overwhelming joy. She surrendered herself to the steady throb of rightness, the sense of fitting together seamlessly, like two pieces of a puzzle.
Maybe it was true. Maybe Benny had broken her a little.
And maybe Timothy, too, had been broken a bit, always wearing masks and pretending that he wasn’t lonely, keeping everyone at bay.
But together, they were whole, two halves coming together to form one perfect, strong union.
And together, they were stronger than the menacing fire dragon could ever be. Because someone like Steele would never be able to understand the power that could be found in real love.
“We will never kneel to you,” she declared and took a step forward.
Just like that, the darkness vanished completely, as if a curtain had been ripped in half.
Timothy was still standing protectively in front of her. When she reached out to take his hand, she felt the golden light of the mate bond swell until it felt like she was carrying the sun itself.
“Neither humans nor shifters will acknowledge you. You want destruction. We want life. And life will win. It always does.”
At Liana’s defiant words, the fire dragon roared angrily. He was still holding Braeden in his claws—and now he hurled him forward.
Braeden groaned as he hit the floor, rolling across stone until he came to a stop at last in the center of the cave. For a moment, he remained on the ground, motionless. Then he stumbled to his feet, his face a grimace of pain and determination.
“You thought you coul
d turn him against us,” Steele hissed. “I hope you’ll enjoy watching your friend die. I saved that moment just so that you could enjoy the sight.”
“You will leave,” the chimera roared now out of the darkness. The shadows at the back of the cave were shifting quickly, sizzling with power. “You will have no seat on the council. I will kill you myself if I have to!”
“As if you could keep me from claiming what is mine, old monster.” The fire dragon moved forward, shifting effortlessly back into his dragon form. He parted his jaws, flames flickering in his nostrils. Shadows rippled across his fiery scales—and then he exhaled, a lance of red-hot fire racing straight towards Braeden.
In reflex, Braeden had hastily raised his arms, trying to shield himself. But the obsidian cuffs were still encircling his wrists, locking his powers.
Right now, he was just as defenseless as an ordinary human. Liana cried out in terror as she saw the flames rushing towards him.
And then, there was a sudden flash of light.
The symbol of fire on the fourth plinth abruptly burst into flame. From out of nowhere, a shield of fire appeared, surrounding Braeden.
When Steele’s attack hit the shield of fire, it sizzled. For a moment, it burned so high that the flames reached the ceiling of the cave—but the shield kept its form.
And when the flames burned down again, Braeden was still standing in the center of the circle of flames. He was completely unharmed, his eyes wide with shock.
With a roar of anger, Steele shifted back to human. His eyes were completely black, Liana realized, and there were flames dancing in them.
He bared his teeth in rage. Then he raised a hand. Flames were dancing in his palm, quickly growing until a ball of fire was hovering over his hand.
“More chimera magic? It won’t save you now,” Steele growled. “You’ll die here like the traitor you are. You’re no longer one of us, Braeden. You have betrayed the fire, and so you will die by it.”