by Ophelia Bell
“Her hands are tied. If we want her to open that portal, we have to trust her to know how it needs to be done.”
Bekim just shook his head and stared blindly at his lover’s feet. After a moment, he narrowed his eyes, finally focusing and for the first time seeing something that made no logical sense.
“Theron … since when did you start sprouting leaves from your ankles?” He bent down, worried he might be hallucinating, perhaps still high on green dragon magic. His fingertip came into contact with the edge of a pale green leaf that gave slightly under his touch, the little limb it sprouted from solidly attached to Theron’s left ankle.
The foot in front of him tilted and turned.
“Holy shit.” Theron dropped to the floor, propping his foot up on his knee. He stared at the little sprout that gradually faded and sank back into his foot.
Bekim gave him a sad look. “I guess this means you might have a chance with her after all. If you have Gaia’s blessing, you might have enough power to satisfy her requirements for the ritual.”
“Dude, you’d better lose that fucking grim expression. We have a chance with her now. I might have had a dinky little leaf, but you’ve got a little more going on than that.”
He gestured to the floor at Bekim’s feet. Bekim looked down, and it took a moment before the image before him finally registered. It was as though the veins beneath his skin were filled with sunlight, and each one flowed up as far as his ankles, feeding a ring of blossoms that opened up before his eyes. The centers of the blossoms all glowed a vivid green and the aroma of jasmine filled the air.
“Gaia’s gift,” Bekim whispered. “But we know there’s a price … there always is. You remember what happened to Silas.”
“And Vrishti helped him find a way around that. But Sathmika unlocked that gift for him. How the hell did we get it?”
The early morning light warmed and grew dense with humidity. Both men tensed at the abrupt change and met each other’s eyes. Brilliant green light flashed beside them and they both stood, but Bekim found himself immobilized. When he glanced down at his feet, he saw they were rooted to the floor—quite literally—with dark, woody tendrils twisting into the planks.
The light in front of them coalesced into a blindingly beautiful female shape. She was naked, but seemed to be clothed in the long, curling tendrils of her own hair that flowed around her curvaceous body like thick vines. Flowers sprouted from the locks, beginning with a crown of them encircling her head.
Bekim’s eyes bulged and he nearly choked on his surprise.
“G-Gaia?” Theron stuttered.
The woman gave him a warm, maternal smile. “Yes, my child. You are correct that there is a price for my gift, but I imagine this is one you would not hesitate to pay.”
“What is it?” Bekim asked, finally finding his voice.
“There is to be a contest. A sort of wager between the gods. I have chosen the pair of you as my proxies. Win this wager for me, and you can keep your gift.”
He narrowed his eyes. Neither he nor Theron had ever been gambling men, but perhaps that was why they had yet to find a female willing to mate them. “What are the stakes of this wager?”
“The stakes are the same as the prize. Win the dragon Numa’s love. Secure yourselves as her mates, and my gift is yours to keep as well.”
With that, she disappeared in a cloud of green-gold mist, leaving behind the scent of fresh summer blooms.
Bekim swallowed. “Well, all right then. I don’t suppose we have a choice in this, do we?”
“Why would we ever say no to this?” Theron asked. “We have a chance now. A really fucking stellar chance, considering we already know how she feels about us and there aren’t exactly any other blokes beating down her door. Tell me you feel the same way I do.”
“Yeah… you know I do. I love her too, but I can’t help but feel like there’s a catch.”
“Mates, man. We’ll be her mates if we do this. Does anything else even fucking matter?”
Theron had a point, and if this was a chance for them to drive away Numa’s sad looks, whatever catch would no doubt be worth it.
Chapter Two
Assorted tomes were scattered across three big tables in the library of the Rainsong Clan Lodge, the dusty scent of ancient paper mingling with the aromas of the midday meal that wafted in from the kitchen. The fragrant reminder that it was lunchtime already was at odds with the dawn light that shone in from outside, but the light had barely changed in the last six hours.
A new scent filtered in, putting Ozzie on edge at the same time his immortal passenger perked up. He’d been reading a book on balancing elemental forces and reluctantly sat up in his seat, placing the big book back onto the table. He cursed the tightness in his trousers and took a deep breath to get his libido under control before she came in. Dragons could see if you were turned on, even if you managed to hide any physical effects of it, and the last thing he wanted to do was encourage this particular dragon.
“You want her as much as I do,” Zephyrus taunted from inside his mind. “Just let it happen and we’ll be all the happier for it.”
“I want no such thing. Just because the idea of a little afternoon delight turns me on doesn’t mean I’m in love. The entire fucking lodge is probably horny after hearing her get off with those two. They’re a better match for her than I am. In fact, you and I both know I’m the last man who belongs with her. She isn’t mine.”
He hated the ongoing argument, and it didn’t help that the voice inside his head belonged to one of the four Winds who ruled his race, the very same Zephyrus who he was descended from many generations past. He’d only agreed to the arrangement at his grandmother’s insistence. To enter the Sanctuary, they had needed another immortal to balance the power fluctuation they’d cause by breaching the barrier uninvited.
He’d happily be rid of the man if he could come up with a good argument, because his fallback clearly wasn’t working.
“Who cares if she’s yours? She’s the last of Fate’s and the Mother Dragon’s offspring who isn’t mated. And now that the higher races are mingling, I have my chance, but I need you on board to make it happen. Besides, she likes you. I can see it in her eyes.”
The eyes in question latched onto Ozzie the second Numa walked in, and a brilliant smile spread across her face. He smiled back out of reflex, because a dragon that dazzling was simply impossible not to smile at.
“Did you feel that?” Ozzie asked his passenger.
“Feel what? Your completely irrational lack of interest in such an exquisite creature?”
“Precisely. No spark. If I had a choice, you bet your airy ass I’d be on board with the idea of wooing her, but I’m not immune to Fate any more than you are. I don’t have a choice. My One mate isn’t in the picture yet. I’d know if they were.”
Which was what made it so damn difficult to deal with that look she was giving him now: expectant and affectionate. She pulled the chair out beside him and sat, leaning in to peer down at the book that lay open on the table in front of him. Her fresh green scent filled his lungs, and he had to admit her presence was calming, but it didn’t abolish the dread he felt over the inevitable rejection he’d have to give her when she made yet another pass at him. As if the wild sex he’d just heard from somewhere above wasn’t enough, now she was making the rounds to sate her voracious appetite.
“You don’t have to be so damn precious about your power. Let her have a taste of us,” Zephyrus said. “She’ll need as much power as she can absorb to complete this ritual.”
“Any new discoveries?” Numa asked. Her warm breast brushed his arm as she leaned in, and hell if his entire body didn’t respond, thanks to the effect Zephyrus had on his reactions to this woman.
“Not fair,” he griped, but the West Wind just silently basked in her lovely scent and nearness.
; “Ah … nothing good, I’m afraid.” He shifted away a tiny bit and was gratified that she leaned back and looked at him rather than lean closer.
“Oh. Do I want to know? You know what … I can probably guess.” She looked defeated then, giving him a plaintive look. “I need a mate to produce enough power to open the portal, don’t I?”
“You knew already,” he said.
She gave him a little shrug and looked away. “I guessed. And I’m guessing it needs to be someone at least a match in power to me.”
“If not greater.”
“Such as yours truly,” Zephyrus interjected.
“Shut it, windbag.”
“Is that any way to speak to your elders?”
He ignored the immortal spirit as she sat back and sighed, her gaze drifting to the ceiling. In that moment, he felt a perfect kinship with her and impulsively reached for her hand.
“Wanting someone who isn’t Fate’s choice for you complicates things, I know. I’ve been burned enough that it’s hard to even know who to open up to.”
“You can be honest with me, Ozzie. I know it’s my sister you’re talking about. But I’m not her. If you feel something, at least admit it. Fate listens to you. The turul have always been Fate’s favorites.”
Zephyrus let out a derisive snort in his mind. “Fate’s favorites, my ass.”
“It isn’t that I don’t want us to win. If I knew you were the one, we wouldn’t be having this discussion—we’d be opening the goddamn portal now. How can you not know that it isn’t me?”
Her brows descended and her eyes flashed with irritation. “How the hell can you be so sure it isn’t me? Evie found her mates by unconventional means. It could work for you too. You’ve earned some happiness. If nothing else, we could enjoy each other long enough for Fate to get the fucking hint that I need to know who he is. Or who they are. Who my mates are supposed to be! Maybe you’d get a hint of who yours is too.”
The bitterness in her tone hit him like a slap to the face. She blamed Fate for this? He set his lips in a grim line. Why shouldn’t she? He’d looked for more than two centuries for his One and hadn’t had any luck. Fate had made a fool of him too. He and his cousins had even named their band for their futile situation where finding their mates was concerned, but Iszak and Lukas had found theirs, so Ozzie was the only “Fool” left of their trio.
“It won’t work,” he said. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the turul can’t escape our fates. And I don’t want to tempt Fate into putting me through the kind of shit Evie and Marcus had to go through for their love. Sure, it worked out for them in the end. Ked found them both. But at what cost? You and I both deserve better.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Ozzie picked up a pencil and began gently tapping a rhythm onto the cover of one of the big tomes. With another pencil, he added a counterpoint, his foot tapping on the floor with the beat that had been stuck in his head for ages. “It’s in my head like a song that worms its way in and gets stuck.” The rhythm became more intricate and Numa’s gaze fixed on his hands, her brow creased. “I hear this constantly. My cousins had a song that was their song. They never taught it to me until they were desperate to win Belah back when they thought they’d lost her. Only Evie knew the last part.”
“Is that their song?”
“No. This is my song.” He stopped abruptly and Numa looked up at him.
“Why didn’t you finish it? That couldn’t have been the end.”
“Because I don’t know how it ends. But what I do know is that when I meet her, the rest will come to me.”
“I can help you write a new song with her,” Zephyrus offered. “Forget Fate.”
Numa picked up one of the pencils and twisted it between her hands. “I wish I shared your certainty that I’ll find my mate. But even if I did, I don’t have time to wait. There aren’t exactly that many options here.”
Ozzie tilted his chin to the ceiling. “What about them? We’re not oblivious to the bond you three have.”
“They aren’t strong enough. Every time I’m with them, I hope they’ll have gained more power somehow, but they haven’t yet. You have an immortal inside you. Surely his power would be more than enough.”
Zephyrus preened. “See? She doesn’t just want you. She wants me too.”
“And he’d have you, if he could, but it isn’t his choice to make and he knows it. I won’t risk mating someone who isn’t meant to be mine.”
“Spoilsport.”
Despite the immortal’s pouting, Ozzie couldn’t help but sense genuine disappointment, and no small amount of helpless longing. It gave him the urge to write a ballad.
“Then I need your help. You have Fate’s favor. Help me find my mate.”
She squeezed his hand, her touch emphasizing the desperation in her tone. Ozzie gazed into her eyes a moment longer before nodding.
“I’ll talk to my grandmother. We’ll figure this out.”
* * *
Being in such close proximity to a dragon as beautiful and powerful as Numa gave Ozzie serious doubts about his willpower. Zephyrus’ constant longing didn’t help.
“Why does it have to be her anyway? Can’t you just wait until I find my own mate?”
“That will take too long. One of the reasons I agreed to this ride-along was because I knew she’d be here. Fate as much as promised her to me. If I’d known you would be so damned resistant, I’d have found another way to get to her.”
Ozzie stood and paced to the high bookshelves at the edge of the room, raking his fingers through his hair. What the hell had he done to deserve this? It was worse than an addiction, of which he’d endured many over the years. Whenever the failure to find his mate brought him down enough, he’d wallow for a decade or so in whatever the latest drug happened to be. Alcohol was his near constant companion, and whenever he’d get so sick of himself he couldn’t stand it, the climb out of those pits was the hardest. It was like having a voice in his head trying to convince him he should do the exact opposite of what he knew was right.
Now he had an actual voice in his head telling him to mate a woman he knew deep in his soul was the wrong woman for him. But if she was the one for Zephyrus, how could he reconcile that?
“We can petition Gaia for another body. A permanent vessel for me.” For the first time since their partnership, Zephyrus sounded subdued and genuinely concerned.
“You would do that?” Ozzie dropped his hands and raised his face to the dawn light streaming through the floor-to-ceiling window nestled between two tall bookcases. It had been several hours since the temporal bubble went up around them, but the light still lingered low like they were frozen in time at early morning, which he supposed they were.
“As much as I enjoy this partnership, I fear my usefulness is going to waste. I don’t blame you, but I also can’t just passively observe while she struggles. She would have you despite her uncertainty. I can give her certainty, if granted autonomy.”
“Tell me what to do.”
“Is Sophia near? We need her help.”
Ozzie whispered the need to his grandmother, trusting the wind to carry the message, then waited, staring at the door to the big room. Moments later, she entered.
“We need to speak to Gaia. Can you help us summon her?”
“In the garden,” Sophia said with a nod, then turned and walked back out the door.
When they reached the garden, he joined his grandmother on the moss-covered island in the center of the pond.
“We must join our power to call to her. What is the message?”
“Zephyrus needs a body so he can woo Numa. It’s in all our interest for him to succeed.”
Sophia narrowed her eyes and let out a soft snort of a laugh. “More immortals mating. How did I not see this coming?”
Ozzie
frowned down at his grandmother. “Nanyo, that is an excellent question. How come you didn’t know? You always seem to know exactly who to pair up when humans come to you for matchmaking. Every single couple you’ve matched still sends you Christmas cards.”
“Humans are easy. Fate doesn’t meddle in their lives to the degree it does in ours. Reading their desires is simple. The higher races are much more complicated. We are all part of the games Fate plays, in one way or another. Some of us have our paths predetermined by design. But just because a path is unclear doesn’t mean Fate hasn’t decided on your destination.”
“We’re just a little casual entertainment for the bastard, then, is that it? And you’re fine just playing along?”
“How do you think I know she’s mine? He said as much. But I can’t have her without a body willing to try to win her.”
Sophia raised her eyebrows at his frown. “What is Zephyrus telling you?”
“That he believes Numa belongs to him, but I don’t think she knows who she’s meant to be with. Can we get on with this so I can be spared his constant reminders of my own lack of clear direction?”
His grandmother nodded and pulled him closer, threading her fingers through his and raising their hands up to the sky, palms flat together. Within his mind, Zephyrus surged forward, pushing his power through Ozzie’s limbs to merge with Sophia’s, and Ozzie let the West Wind take over.
His voice rose in a low chant, the rhythm matched by the pulsing glyphs that appeared on their arms and around Sophia’s neck and collarbone above the edge of her dress. His body tingled with the appearance of similar glyphs that represented the call on their elemental power reaching for the goddess of earth and life.
Sophia slowly released his hands and moved backward a step at a time. Ozzie followed suit, the space between them filling with a swirling funnel of power that grew and grew, wind whipping around between them and tossing their hair across their faces. At first the whirlwind was simply white with electricity, but as they widened the space between them, it spun into the green earth and changed, as though the moss beneath their feet was being sucked into the vortex. Even the sparking bolts of electricity turned green.
