by Lili Zander
We need to let her go.
“What about the curse, the prophecy, the Bloodstone?”
He looks grim. “I hoped for an end to our drought,” he says. “But my hope muffled my conscience. Aria is an innocent. She didn’t ask for any of this. So many times, the Council of Thirteen should have acted against the Dark Dragon, but they didn’t. We created this problem, Erik. We need to fix it on our own. Without Aria.”
My chest is tight. I dig my fingers into my palm, the pain providing sharp focus against the numbness spreading through me. Bastian is right.
We can’t keep risking Aria’s life.
45
Aria
Bastian can’t meet my eyes when I get back to the penthouse. “What’s wrong?” I demand. “Is Silas okay? Bea?”
“Yes. Sit down, Aria.”
My stomach swoops. Everyone is far too serious. Rhys, who always has a smile playing about his lips, is expressionless. Erik has a scowl on his face.
“Okay.” I flop on the couch and smile brightly at the men, ignoring the unease that’s building in my gut. My dragons. Funny how I’ve started thinking of them as mine. Twenty-four hours ago, I was planning to steal from them. Twelve-hours ago, I didn’t trust them at all.
But today’s events have changed the way I see them. I have a lot to learn about the dragon princes—and they have a lot to learn about me—but I’m open to the idea now, and not because of a mark on my wrist.
“Are you going to tell me about the prophecy?”
“No,” Erik says harshly. “That isn’t your business anymore.”
Instinctive hurt coils through me, but I don’t let it show. Erik Valder protected Silas last night without being asked. He paid Silas’ hospital bills without saying a single word to me. I don’t know what’s going on with him, and I don’t know why he’s so stern all the time, but there’s more to him than meets the eye.
“What Erik’s trying to say, Aria,” Rhys says, giving his fellow-dragon an irritated look, “is that we’ve decided that we can’t keep endangering you like this. We shouldn’t have pulled you into our lives.”
“You’re free to leave.” Bastian doesn’t look at me. “I’ll keep my guards on you for as long as it’s necessary. It shouldn’t take too long for our enemies to get the message that you’re not important.”
I can’t suppress my reflexive flinch. “I’m not important?” I want to sound angry, but my voice comes out small and wounded.
Bastian grimaces. “That came out wrong.”
Hell yes. That’s the fucking understatement of the year.
He closes his eyes and rubs his face. “It would wreck me if something were to happen to you, mausezähnchen. It would destroy all of us.”
He still called me mausezähnchen. He still cares.
Hope flares in my heart. “You promised me you’d tell me about the prophecy,” I say stubbornly. “I’m holding you to it.”
“She’s right,” Casius says quietly. “Tell her, Bastian.”
“Fine.” He steps into the adjoining kitchen and returns with a bottle of beer. It’s not quite five yet, but I’m not going to judge. It’s been a crazy day, and I kinda want one myself. “Once upon a time, a woman called Maija Essen was betrothed to a dragon prince called Gideon Zyrian.”
“The guy who cast the curse?” I ask them. With a flash, I realize where I know the name. That dream I had. I’d been in a castle, searching for Silas. Someone called Gideon Zyrian had abducted him. I remember walking through long, dark corridors. I’d been wearing Bastian’s sword. Endellion.
My head starts to spin. It had just been a dream. A figment of my imagination. Right?
But the sword is real. I sliced my finger on it last night.
Now, it seems that Gideon Zyrian is real too.
And so is the Bloodstone. Drakkar Raedwulf hired me to steal it. Bastian had mentioned it this morning. Mateo had interrogated the wolf-shifter in the hospital about it.
“What’s the matter?” Mateo asks sharply.
“I had a dream about a man called Gideon Zyrian,” I whisper. “He killed Silas. I was wearing a stone on a chain around my neck.” I cover my mouth with my hand. “The Bloodstone.”
Mateo exchanges a look with Casius. “Show her,” he says.
Rhys lifts a thick gold chain from under his shirt. A ruby-red pendant dangles from it, with a ferocious golden dragon coiled around the gemstone, snarling with rage. The moment I see it, a bone-deep sense of recognition fills me. I feel like I know it. Not just from my dreams. This gem feels like a part of me.
“This stone?” Mateo asks me. “This is the stone you dreamed of.”
Shock waves pound through me. “Yes.” I’m suddenly very afraid. “Guys, what the hell is going on?”
“The prophecy?” Casius sounds uncertain, and that freaks me out even more. I’ve never heard him sound anything other than confident. The one who knows everything about everything.
“One step at a time,” Erik growls. “Let’s finish the story.” He looks at me. “Though they were betrothed, Zyrian wasn’t Maija Essen’s true mate. Johannes Jaeger was.”
Jaeger? I look at Bastian, and he nods. “Maija and Johannes were my parents. When Maija broke off the engagement, Zyrian took it poorly. He went to the Council of Thirteen, our highest governing body, and demanded that Johannes return Maija to him.”
“And?”
“The Council turned him down. They reminded him that Maija wasn’t a possession. She had found her true mate, and no dragon would interfere with such a bond. To do so would be to go against the very core of all things magic, and no one was that reckless.”
I rub the mark on my wrist. The mating bond is magic. Of course it is. I’ve felt the pull, the compulsion toward all five men. Even Erik, who doesn’t want to give me the time of day.
In the back of my mind, I’m aware that I should be angry that the magic is overriding my will.
“No,” Casius says, reading my thoughts with ease. “Nothing can subvert your will. If you truly do not wish to be with us, you wouldn’t be our mate. Magic can unmask your truest desires, but it cannot change them.”
My truest desire is to be with five dragon princes? Going to file that away for later examination, thankyouverymuch. Maybe a therapist can make some sense of my subconscious because I sure as hell can’t.
“Zyrian didn’t like that answer. He retreated from public life, and for ten years, no one saw or heard from him. He spent all his time inside his fortress in Alaska.” Bastian scowls. “We know now that Zyrian spent those years studying the dark arts. He dabbled with dark magic. He slaughtered innocents and harnessed their life-force to amplify his power.”
I wrap my arms around my waist, trying to warm the chill in my bones. The wraiths in my dreams. The spirits that had spoken to me, warning me away. Were they Zyrian’s victims?
“Then Maija Jaeger became pregnant.” Bastian swallows hard and turns away. “She didn’t survive childbirth.”
Oh God. Poor, poor Bastian.
“When Zyrian heard, his fury shook the stars in the sky. The Council of Thirteen had prevented him from being with Maija, and he would kill each and every one of them in vengeance. But that wasn’t enough. In his rage and his grief, he invoked an old blood curse. Zyrian was denied happiness, and because of that, no dragon would ever find happiness again.”
“What does that mean?”
“Think of magic as a tree, old and powerful,” Mateo says. “Zyrian poisoned the roots. Magic is dying, Aria.”
“Because of the curse, no dragon has been able to find his or her true mate,” Rhys says. “For five hundred years, the dragon race has been denied the other half of their soul.”
“This is going to sound like a cheesy romantic comedy,” Erik says, making a face, “But magic is created from that deep bond. When the curse took away our ability to form that bond, it diminished our powers.”
Erik watches rom-coms? That’s a sight I have to see.
> Not now, Aria. Focus.
“Not just us,” Casius adds. “You heard the wolf-shifter Rhett Berringer. It’s not just in Raedwulf’s pack that pups are being born without magic. It’s happening all around the world. The last three births in Lukus Hyde’s pack were Norm.”
Holy fuck. No wonder Bastian looks like he’s carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He is. “The prophecy?” I ask through dry lips.
“It is said that on her deathbed, my mother made a prophecy. When the Dragon Princes find their true mate, the curse will be broken, and the dragons will be restored to their former glory.”
There’s a sinking feeling in my stomach. I have a mark on my wrist; the dragon princes have identical marks on theirs. I dreamed about Zyrian. Endellion. The Bloodstone.
This prophecy is talking about me.
“But the curse hadn’t even happened,” I argue. “How could your mother have known?”
“When she was alive, Maija Essen was the most powerful dragon mage in the world, love,” Rhys says. “That’s part of why Zyrian wanted her so much. Alone, he could be vanquished, but with Maija at his side, he would have been able to take over the world.”
There’s only one more thing I need to know. “You mentioned a diary back in the hospital.” I look at Mateo and Casius. “What diary?”
Erik answers. “You seem Norm,” he says. “But your abilities are far beyond those without magic. As he trained you, Silas began to wonder. He tried to research your lineage, tried to find out who your parents were. He kept his findings in a diary.” His eyes rest on my stricken expression, and his face softens. “Your father loves you with every fiber of his being, Aria. Never doubt that. You felt like an outsider in both the shifter and the Norm worlds. Archer kept his search a secret from you because he wanted you to fit in.”
There’s a pang in my chest. Not because Silas tried to find my real parents, but because this is the reason Pete died.
I have a decision to make, but let’s be honest, I’ve already decided. Bastian, Rhys, Casius, Mateo, and Erik have been there for me. They’ve protected Silas. They’re keeping Bea safe.
We’re a team, damn it. I’m not going to let them chase me away. If I’m the woman the prophecy is talking about—and all signs point to ‘Yes’—then they need me.
And I need them. In the background of my mind, there’s a niggling doubt about my identity. I can sense people. I’d been able to touch Mateo’s magic in the hospital, to use it against Dr. Brown. Silas was curious enough that he’d tried to find out who my parents were.
I’m Norm. I’ve always told myself that. I’ve always tried to fit into that world. What if I never belonged there?
One thing’s for certain. We’re better off together.
“You can’t get rid of me that easily.” I lift my wrist and show them my mark. “I’m a big girl. You’ve told me the dangers. I’m going in with my eyes open.”
“No, tesoro,” Mateo says. “Bastian is right.”
“No, he isn’t.” I glare at the mage. “I’m not helpless. I used your magic to attack that woman, remember? So teach me to protect myself.” I take a deep breath and brace myself. If they reject me now, I’m going to be pretty damn broken. “Please don’t send me away.”
“Fuck.” The curse is torn out of Bastian’s throat. “I’m trying to do the right thing, Aria.”
“The right thing for me is to be with all of you. Please, Bastian?”
He stares at me for a long time, his blue-grey eyes troubled. Finally, he breaks the silence. “There are rules,” he says. “You let us train you. You do not run off without us. You do everything in your power to stay safe.”
They’re not sending me away. They’re letting me in. They’re letting me help.
Gladness spreads through my entire body. “Okay,” I say. I’ve no problems with Bastian’s conditions; I’m not dumb. I’d have been kibble this morning had it not been for the dragon prince. I jump to my feet, overflowing with enthusiasm. “Now that you found me, how do we break this curse?”
Casius clears his throat. “We don’t know. We’ve never been able to find out.”
That is going to be one hell of a problem to solve.
46
Aria
Here’s what I know.
I trust the five dragon princes. Even Erik.
I like them. Well, maybe not Erik.
But I’m not going to sleep with them. Not yet.
Because, despite what Casius said to me Sunday evening about magic not subverting my will, I’m not ready to jump into bed with five guys I don’t know. Even though they’re smoldering hot. Even though I really want to.
I don’t trust the need that fills me when I look at them. I don’t trust the tug I feel toward them. It would be easy to give into the compulsion, to let the blood magic take over, but that’s not right, and it’s not fair.
I’m twenty-four. Bea and I spend a lot of time talking about guys, but mostly, we talk about sex. Wanting it, not getting it, gardens getting plowed, fields lying fallow. We never talk about love or marriage. Those things are for when we are older when we feel more grown-up. More ready for adulthood.
But if the five dragons are going to be my mates, I want to do this right.
Time to gear up for a fight.
Pete’s funeral is on Monday.
The funeral home is packed with mourners, friends of Pete’s from the days he owned Cellar. Though I haven’t seen most of this crowd in the last four years, I still remember them, and they remember me.
After the service, we all head to a bar around the corner, where Silas has reserved a private room. Everyone has a story to tell about Pete Solomon. I swallow the lump in my throat as I listen to their memories, all that’s left of Uncle Pete.
He died hard. I haven’t seen the body—I don’t want to—but it was a closed casket ceremony. I can put two-and-two together as well as the next person.
Drakkar Raedwulf will pay for this.
“How’re you holding up, little thief?” Rhys sits down at the empty chair next to me and hands me a beer.
Not well. “I’ll be fine.”
He laces his fingers in mine. “It’s okay to feel sad, Aria.”
“How can I? The person who did this is still out there.”
I’m waiting for Rhys to promise me that they’ll catch Drakkar, that they’ll make him pay for his crimes. But he doesn’t say either of those things. “I was born in a time of war,” he says, his voice reflective. “Zyrian’s curse was already sapping magic from the world. My parents were not mated, not truly. I don’t think they shared much love for each other, but they did their duty. Even though they were being hunted by Raedwulf and spent much of their life in hiding, they produced the Griffith heir.”
I look at him curiously. There’s so much about the dragons I don’t know, and Rhys, for all his cheerfulness, is still a mystery to me. “Are they alive?”
He shakes his head. “They died two hundred years ago.” He nods toward a tired-looking Bastian. “Bastian hasn’t smiled in years,” he says. “He blames himself for the curse. He lives for duty.”
“You don’t approve?”
“We squabble a lot, the five of us,” he replies. “Our rivalries are legendary. But that’s the surface. Scratch it, and there’s a deeper truth there. We are the last five dragon princes. What we have between us is a bond that cannot be broken. So, no, to answer your question, I don’t approve. Life shouldn’t be only about duty. Life is about living. About laughter and joy.”
I remember the way he went down on me. “And good sex?” I ask dryly.
He flashes me an amused glance. “There’s always room for good sex,” he agrees. “When you’re ready.”
Rhys is more perceptive than he lets on. “You noticed.”
He chuckles. “Were you trying to be subtle? You went to bed at nine, complaining that you had a headache. We got the message.”
“You don’t seem annoyed,” I say carefully.
“Aria, this might surprise you, but we’re not incapable of feeling. We understand how difficult this must be for you. Almost everything in your life has changed in one week. It would be incredibly insensitive for us to pressure you for sex right now.”
Rhys might not want to pressure me, but the mating bond, on the other hand, shows no such restraint. I feel myself sway toward him, and I have to force myself to sit still. He’s still holding my hand, his thumb tracing soft circles on my palm, and it takes all the willpower I possess to keep myself from dragging him to a secluded corner and letting my need take over.
He seems to read my thoughts, because he lets go of my hand, his smile strained. “You’re not ready, love.”
“What if I’m never ready?”
“That’s never happened before,” he says with a wicked grin, lightening the mood considerably. “But if it does, I’m sure Bastian or Erik will say that a little rejection is good for me.”
I shake my head, my lips twitching. “You’re really cocky.”
“Admit it. You love it.”
I’m about to answer when I feel the weight of someone’s stare on me. I look up and see Erik scowling in my direction, disapproval radiating from him. Immediately, my smile fades, and my mood dampens. Yes, it’s Pete’s funeral, and yes, I guess I should be more somber. All around us, Pete’s friends are drinking and laughing, but Erik’s censure is reserved just for me.
Lovely.
Over the next two days, I barely see the dragon princes. Rhys leaves on some mysterious errand. Bastian spends most of his time away from the penthouse. He’s gone by the time I wake up and doesn’t return until after midnight. Casius and Mateo have taken up residence in Bastian’s office, huddled over their laptops.
Erik comes and goes, always glowering at me.
