Wildfire Shifters: Collection 1

by Zoe Chant

  Joe barely noticed the politely concealed bickering. His head had finally cleared enough to let him make sense of his animal’s roars.

  OUR MATE! His dragon’s distress filled his ears. WHERE IS OUR MATE?

  Finally, he remembered. Grey eyes, looking deep into his, widening in recognition…

  That hadn’t been part of his vision. It had actually happened. Seven knew he was her mate.

  And in all the futures where she knew, she had never, ever left him.

  Yet she wasn’t there.

  She knew he was her mate, yet she wasn’t there.

  “Wait,” he interrupted, his mouth dry with sudden dread. “What’s happened to Seven?”

  Chapter 7

  Sea dragons were tremendously civilized about everything. Even dealing with disgraced traitors to the Pearl Throne.

  She had a five-star hotel room bigger than her entire childhood motorhome. She had air conditioning, and all the room service she could order. She even had a frankly obscene ninety-inch plasma television offering endless entertainment.

  Lord Azure would much rather have thrown her in an actual dungeon. Unfortunately for him, those were in short supply in Las Vegas (except, perhaps, for the sort of dungeon that people paid to get thrown into, and thank the sea Lord Azure didn’t know about those). He would at least have bound her hands, had the Imperial Champion not stopped him.

  “That is not necessary,” the Imperial Champion had said, in tones that brooked no dissent. He’d glanced at her—just for a second, and yet Seven had felt as transparent as water under that deep blue gaze. “You may hold the right to determine your squire’s fate, Lord Azure, but I have the duty to uphold the rights of all the Pearl Empress’s subjects. I insist that you treat her humanely. Regardless of your interpretation of her actions, I am convinced that she is an honorable warrior. Her word will be bond enough.”

  Lord Azure clearly had not shared the Imperial Champion’s opinion on that. In addition to the luxurious hotel room amenities, she also had a very large, very uncomfortable sea dragon guard. At the moment he was settling for staring into the middle distance with an expression of intent concentration, as though he could remove her inconvenient existence if he ignored her hard enough.

  It seemed to be her day for that.

  Her animal sent her yet another wave of cold fury. She could feel it physically shoving at her. It was in a near-frenzy, blind with the desire to escape.

  To go to him.

  Seven stayed motionless, kneeling on the soft carpet, head bowed. Her nails bit into her palms.

  You’ve already cost me everything, she told her inner monster, savagely. At least let me keep my dignity.

  Her inner animal ignored her, of course. It nudged at her again. Try as she might to block it out, she couldn’t stop the beast’s senses from overlaying her own.

  Even in the over-processed, air-conditioned hotel room, she could taste the trails of the living beings around her. The guard’s acid-bitter suspicion; the bland porridge of human guests and staff nearby, going about their own lives oblivious to the shifters among them…and a rich, heady taste that burst in her mouth like the finest champagne.

  The Crown Prince of Atlantis.

  The Heir to the Pearl Throne.

  Her…mate?

  It was ridiculous. She couldn’t think of two people who were more unsuited to each other. He was the highest of sea dragon nobility, born into unimaginable wealth and power. Even more than that, he was a lazy, arrogant playboy who cared nothing for honor, except how he could use it to manipulate people for his own ends.

  They were nothing alike.

  And yet the moment their eyes had met, she’d felt the shock of her soul resonating to his.

  No. True mates were supposed to meet in, in a magic sparkle of golden stars and angels singing, from what she’d gathered. She’d never heard of someone whose first reaction to meeting their true mate was to club him over the head with a blunt object.

  Or, indeed, to run away.

  He’d fled. He’d taken one look at her and fled.

  They couldn’t be true mates.

  She’d just been high on blood-lust, she decided. Half out of her mind from the fight, frenzied by her animal’s instincts. Her kind were drawn to power, and he was—for all his clowning—the Heir to the Pearl Throne. Her beast had latched onto him out of nothing more than base hunger. That was the only reason he drew her so strongly. That was the only reason she could still taste him on her tongue, with every breath she took…

  That faint, tantalizing flavor changed. She surged to her feet without thinking. Her guard jolted upright as well, one hand closing over his sword hilt.

  “Stand down, prisoner,” he rumbled. “No sudden movements.”

  “Can’t you feel that?” She took a helpless step forward, drawn by the silent call of distress. His hand tightened on his sword. “Something’s happened. Something’s wrong.”

  He eyed her suspiciously. “I shall not succumb to feeble attempts at deception.”

  “It’s not a trick!” She would have bared her teeth at him in frustration, except that would have only gotten herself skewered. “It’s the Prince. He’s—”

  What he was, abruptly, was in the room. The Prince slammed through the door like a hurricane. The poor guard came close to joining her in disgrace, half-drawing his sword before he realized who he was threatening.

  The Prince knocked the gaping man aside. He lunged for Seven, grabbing her by the shoulders. “Seven! Are you all right? I swear, if anyone so much as touched you—oh, sea, I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”

  As he spoke, his fingers ran over her arms, her shoulders, her neck, as though trying to convince himself that she was really there. Any lingering doubt she had that she really was his mate was wiped away by the tsunami of heat that swept through her at the contact. The very concept of language vanished from her mind. She could only stare at him, mute as her animal, overwhelmed by his presence.

  The Prince seemed to be having no such difficulty. Words poured out of him in a frantic torrent. “They didn’t tell me—I didn’t realize—I should have come to find you straight away. I’m sorry.”

  His fingers twisted in her unbound hair—and stopped. A deep anger lit in his eyes, but it wasn’t aimed at her.

  He let go of her, turning to address someone behind him. “You took her honor tokens?”

  “She assaulted a member of the Imperial family!” Lord Azure blustered. The Imperial Champion loomed behind him, his expression impassive. “It is high treason to raise a weapon against the Pearl Throne.”

  “She hit me, not the entire concept of hereditary imperialistic monarchy,” the Prince snapped. “Which also deserves to be smacked over the head, but I digress. You should be grateful she hit me. Trust me, if she hadn’t, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”

  “The individual formerly known as Seventh Novice—” Lord Azure started.

  “She is Seventh Novice.” The Crown Prince’s voice sliced across the knight’s like a sword. “Though you damn well should have knighted her on the spot for her service to the Throne, not stripped her of her rank, armor and honor. You will return them. Now.”

  Lord Azure’s nose flared in outrage. “With all due respect, Crown Prince, you overstep your authority. Traditionally, not even the Pearl Throne may interfere with the private business of the Order of the First Water.”

  The Prince grinned. Not his lazy grin, or his flirty one, or his teasing one. This one was weaponized. Lord Azure actually took a step back.

  “Lord Azure,” the Prince drawled. “Have you ever heard anything about me that makes you think I give a flying fish for tradition?”

  Lord Azure hesitated. His eyes cut toward the Imperial Champion as though in search of rescue.

  The Imperial Champion spread his hands, palm up. His expression was as solemn as a tombstone, but a spark gleamed in his indigo eyes. “I have never been able to restrain my son, Lord Azure.�
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  “Perhaps…perhaps I was a trifle hasty.” Lord Azure sounded somewhat strangled. He cast Seven a poisonous glare. “Given the Crown Prince’s further explanation of context for events, I can forgive your actions, Seventh Novice. I accept you back into my service.”

  He said it in the same tone of voice as eat worms and die…but he’d said it. She felt as though she might float off the ground. She was Seventh Novice again. She might be the lowliest and least member of the Order of the First Water, but she was back in.

  And it was all thanks to the Crown Prince. He’d come to her rescue. He’d known that she was in trouble, and he’d done everything in his power to put things right.

  Because he was her true mate.

  A stunned awe that trembled on joy filled her soul as she accepted it at last. He was her true mate, and now—

  Now he was turning away.

  “Great. That’s all sorted,” the Prince said, as brisk and business-like as though up-ending her entire fate had been a minor item on his agenda for the day. He clapped his hands together. “Lord Azure, give your squire any instructions you need conveyed back to Atlantis. Dad, can I tap the Imperial treasury? I don’t think I can pay for a helicopter to Montana with fan-folded dollar bills.”

  “Montana?” It was hardly her place to speak, given how precarious her newly restored position was, but she couldn’t help it. “My prince, you are returning to your crew after all?”

  He didn’t even glance at her. “Yeah. Something came up. I’ll…catch up with you in Atlantis after fire season, if I can.”

  Was he trying to brush her off?

  If so, he wasn’t going to find it that easy.

  “My lord.” Seven rounded on Lord Azure. “Does my Quest still stand?”

  “Your quest?” Lord Azure blinked. An unpleasant smile spread across his face. “Oh. Yes. Yes, it most definitely does, Seventh Novice. Imperial Champion, given my squire’s reinstatement, it seems that she shall now have the honor of protecting the Crown Prince.”

  “No,” the Prince said flatly, before the Imperial Champion had a chance to respond. He pointed at Lord Azure. “I want him. He’s a full knight. She’s just a squire.”

  “Who has already saved your life once,” the Imperial Champion murmured. He looked at Seven for a long moment, his deep blue eyes thoughtful. “We met once before, long ago. Do you recall?”

  As if she could ever forget the day that had changed her life. She nodded, as tongue-tied now as she had been then.

  The Imperial Champion’s gaze moved from her to his son, and back again. “I think perhaps I did better than anyone could have foreseen, that day. Seventh Novice, will you give me your oath to guard my son’s life, to your dying breath?”

  “No,” the Prince said again, louder. “Anyone but her.”

  The Imperial Champion raised his own voice, drowning out the Prince’s objection. “Will you swear on your honor to stay by his side, always, no matter how he might protest?”

  “I so swear.” She didn’t have her sword, to swear on as the ancient ritual demanded. She could only hold out her hands, palm up, as though an invisible blade lay across them. “On my honor, I will never leave him.”

  “Then I entrust you with my son.” The Imperial Champion smiled, the expression lighting up his stern features with surprising warmth. “I hope you will not have to hit him over the head too often.”

  Seven gave him a deep bow that was more sincere than any she’d ever offered to Lord Azure. As she came up, she snuck a sideways glance at the Prince, to see how he was taking this. The way the blood had drained from his face made her jerk upright much faster than she’d originally intended.

  “My prince?” She started to reach out for him, but checked herself at Lord Azure’s scandalized expression. “Are you feeling unwell?”

  “I really need a drink,” the Prince muttered. He scrubbed a hand across his face, emerging looking drawn and ill. “Dad, can I have a word with Seven? Alone?”

  The Imperial Champion nodded. “I shall make the necessary arrangements for your departure. Come, Lord Azure.” He treated Seven to another of those long, enigmatic looks before turning away, motioning to the guard to follow as well. “I believe my son and his new protector have much to discuss.”

  Seven bowed again as they all left, as much to delay looking at the Prince as out of courtesy. The door swung shut. The room suddenly seemed way too large, and also utterly full of Prince.

  He flashed her a brief, wan smile, not quite looking at her. “I wasn’t kidding about that drink. Is there something?”

  The hotel room had a minibar. She went over to it, glad to have something to do with her hands. “What is your desire, my prince?”

  Behind her back, he made a strange, choked sound, half-laugh and half-groan. “Oh, sea. Let’s not go there. Water. In a glass, please.”

  Her fingers felt as stiff and uncoordinated as the first time she’d tried to swing a sword. She was painfully aware of his scent. She filled a cup with ice and water from the dispenser built into the minibar fridge.

  As she passed him the cup, his fingertips brushed hers, for the briefest moment. Water sloshed over her hand as they both jerked.

  “Sorry,” he muttered. He took the cup from her, retreating a step. “Thanks.”

  He took the briefest sip, then stared into the drink as if he too was grasping at any excuse to avoid eye contact. She stood awkwardly off to one side, not sure what to do. What neither of them was saying echoed from the walls.

  A tiny clinking noise broke the uncomfortable silence. It took her a second to identify it as ice rattling against the side of the glass. The Prince’s hand was shaking.

  “My prince?” She wondered if he was still suffering the after-effects of whatever the woman had drugged him with. “Do you need to lie down?”

  He didn’t move, still staring down into the water. “You know that old moral dilemma, the one where all your loved ones are drowning and you can only save one of them? Who would you rescue?”

  Oh no, he was delirious. She readied herself to catch him if he started to topple over. “I see no point in hypothetical situations designed to have no right answer. In real life, I would save them all. Or die trying.”

  “Yeah. Me too.” He set the cup down on the bedside table, as carefully as if it was filled with nitroglycerine. “I wish to the sea we’d never met.”

  The words hit her harder than any blow. “But I’m your—”

  The word mate lodged in her throat like a fish-hook. He hadn’t said it yet, and she didn’t want to be the first.

  It was the hardest thing that she’d ever done, but she lifted her chin to face him head-on. “My prince. I know I’m, I’m not what you could ever have expected.”

  He interrupted her with a short bark of laughter. She faltered to a halt, wondering what she’d said that was so funny.

  “Sorry. Never mind.” He let out his breath, running a hand across his cropped hair. She realized that she’d never before seen a sea dragon male who wore his hair short, without any honor tokens at all. “Seven, think for a moment. You know only too well the sort of person I am. Can you see any future in which this works out?”

  Until five minutes ago, she hadn’t thought she had any future at all, let alone with him. Now the reality of the situation hit her like an icy wave.

  Her mate would be the Pearl Emperor one day. Ruler of all the shifters of the sea.

  Hard as it was to picture him on the Throne, it was even more impossible to picture herself there as well. Someone like her, the Royal Consort? Mother to the next Emperor or Empress? Their children—their children!—might not even be sea dragons. The political implications would be sea-shattering.

  He was right. It would have been better if they’d never met.

  She swallowed hard, forcing down the lump in her throat. “I-I understand, my prince. Nonetheless, I swore a vow to protect you. I cannot break that. I would lose my only chance at knighthood. More than
that, I would lose my honor.”

  “And that means everything to you,” he said softly.

  “It’s all I’ve ever had. All I’ve ever wanted.” She hesitated, then plunged on, before she could lose her nerve. “Until now.”

  He looked at her properly at last. Once again, she fell into the turquoise mystery of his gaze. Warmth wrapped around her like tropical seas, cradling and supporting her—

  He blinked, dumping her out into the cold air once more. He turned away, hiding his expression.

  “Well, it doesn’t look like I’ve got any choice,” he said, his voice gruff. “So you’ll come with me as my bodyguard. But you have to promise me something.”

  “Anything.” Her palms ached with the need to touch him. She put her hands behind her back, straightening to attention. “I am yours to command, my prince.”

  He met her eyes again…and this time his own were cold and hard as arctic ice.

  “You will only be my bodyguard,” he said. “Ever.”

  Chapter 8

  Just his bodyguard.

  Seven was grateful that the thudding roar of the private helicopter made conversation impossible. The Prince had barely looked in her direction since they’d left Las Vegas. Now he slumped in the seat furthest away from her, legs stretched out, staring fixedly into a plastic bottle of water. Every line of his body shouted how little he wanted to be there.

  She was looking at his body again.

  Seven wrenched her gaze away from the swell of his biceps. She occupied herself with redoing her hair, weaving her handful of honor-tokens in one by one. Her stick-straight, baby-fine hair was entirely the wrong texture for the traditional dreadlocks of a sea dragon knight, but she could at least approximate the style with rows of tight, narrow braids. She felt more herself with their weight tugging at her scalp.

  I am Seventh Novice, every tiny clink of silver against silver reminded her. I am bodyguard to the Crown Prince of Atlantis himself. I will be a Knight of the First Water. I will have a place at last.