Ember (Rulers of the Sky Book 2)

by Paula Quinn

  “We know you’ve remained the most active in the search for the Gold, Helena. Any news on it?”

  “If I had news I would have called you, Aldric. What is this about?”

  “He’s alive,” Garion heard him tell her. “And he possibly just found his life mate.”

  She raised her gaze to Garion. “Why do you think that?”

  Keep your thoughts clear. Garion warned her.

  “The music, child. We heard it.”

  Think of William Hutton. Garion could hear her heart pounding in her ears. She wasn’t prepared to answer the Elder—or for Garion’s voice in her head. Garion knew she’d been caught off guard and this was the only way to help her.

  “I don’t understand, Aldric. You heard me playing my violin with William Hutton?”

  “No, no, Helena. Oh, we’ve been lax in our teachings to you younger ones. Nevermind it now. I’ve no time to explain the particulars to you. He’s alive, Helena. We want him found.”

  “I’ll try to see what I can uncover.” She ended the call and rubbed her head before she glared at Garion. “Have you been in my head all this time?”

  “No.”

  “I saw a Drakkon while we were kissing. It was you.”

  “That was an accident.”

  “I can’t believe this!” She threw her hands into the air then brought them back down and around herself. “You have a terrible advantage!”

  He moved to sit next to her. He wanted to kiss her again. He pushed the thought of her warm, eager mouth away and took her hand. “I’ve stayed out of your head, Helena. I may have transferred a thought or two to you, but I didn’t listen in until just now.”

  “Don’t do it again.”

  He couldn’t help but smile. I’m sorry.

  No, you’re not. She stopped, realizing that he’d just done it again and pinched him.

  “Did you hear this alleged music, Garion?” she asked while he rubbed his wounded arm. “Remember our deal. Will you tell me the truth?”

  He nodded. “Yes, I heard it. Faintly.”

  Her complexion went paler, her eyes, wider. “But you’re the only Drakkon left, right?”

  “That’s right,” he said quietly.

  “Then the music was for you. Does this mean I’m…I’m your life mate?”

  “I don’t know—”

  “It’s a mistake!” She sprang to her feet. “It has to be! I’d have to be Drakkon to be your life mate, wouldn’t I?”

  When he nodded, she wrung her hands together and began to pace. “It’s a mistake, Garion. It’s not me.”

  “I know,” he told her. “You didn’t hear it.” He wasn’t altogether certain that it mattered whether she heard it or not. The only Drakkon he knew with a life mate was Marcus and, according to him, he and Samantha had both heard the music. But Garion heard it today. The Elders had heard it. It was either played for him or…“Perhaps another Elder got his hands on the Phoenix Amber and transformed.”

  “Another Drakkon who The Bane knows nothing about?” she asked. “Who just happened to fall in love at the same time you and I were kissing?”

  “The music doesn’t mean he has fallen in love,” he corrected, fighting the urge to brood over her vigorous denial of being his life mate.

  “It doesn’t?”

  “No, it doesn’t. There’s no requirement for Drakkon to remain with the one the stars have chosen for them.”

  “I see.” She stopped pacing and looked at him. “Well, it doesn’t matter, right? It was just some freaky occurrence. You said yourself you’ll never find your life mate.”

  “Right.” She was right. She wasn’t his life mate. She’d grown up hating him and their race. She would never let him alter her, nor would he ever try. It was a mistake. It wasn’t so far-fetched that the stars could be wrong, especially when it came to his rare blood and even rarer bloodline. But what if they weren’t wrong?

  “You could have told him about me. I was listening, not controlling your thoughts. Why didn’t you?”

  She sighed and fell back into the sofa beside him. He looked at her mouth, remembering its supple warmth against his. He wanted to kiss her again, take her in his arms properly and kiss them both senseless. Again.

  “I don’t think they’ll agree to any deals, Garion,” she said pulling him from his thoughts. “They’ve wanted you dead for a long time.”

  “And you?”

  “I wanted you dead the most.” She cast him a look laced with apprehension and something warmer that pulled him closer. “But I don’t feel that way anymore. And honestly, it’s scaring me.”

  “Why?” he asked, taking her hand as sunlight faded and soft artificial lighting replaced it.

  “You were my purpose, Garion. To see you destroyed, to end the threat you posed to the world,” she admitted on a dulcet voice that pierced like an arrow through him. “Now, my purpose is gone, like smoke carried off on the wind. You’re not who I thought you’d be. You’re so much more. Somehow, you’ve found a way to make me question everything I thought I knew. I’m going to find out who transformed Simion. I’ll use what I know as leverage to get them to agree to your deal. Though I’m afraid that now that the Elders heard their silly music, they’ll claim that I’m trying to strike deals with them because I’ve lost my heart to you.”

  “A foolish assessment?” he asked, bringing her entwined fingers to his lips.

  Why him? Why did he have to be the Gold? “I can’t lose my heart to you, Garion,” she said, gently breaking free of his hold. “My family…I would grow old while you stayed looking like you do now. No, you have to leave. I’ll get the agreement accomplished. I want you to be safe and with The Bane on alert, you won’t be. You need to go. You need to go, Garion. The music wasn’t for us.”

  He grinded his teeth, biting back what he wanted to say. It was best if she left him alone, he told himself instead. In time, he would forget her—and when she died, he would remain unaware.

  “Right,” he said in a low growl. He leaned back against the crimson cushion and canted his arms behind his head. “I’ll talk to your brother and then get you a cab. I’ll be gone in the morning and, as long as The Bane stays away from my family, I’ll stay gone.”

  The buzzer rang and Garion rose to answer it.

  Chapter Nine

  Helena waited by the elevator after the doorman rang up that her brother had arrived. She still wasn’t sure if he’d be safe with Garion. What if Jacob had slept with El and Garion could read his mind? So many other troubles vexed her that she felt a little lightheaded from fighting to keep them at bay. She was never going to see Garion again. When the dust settled around everything else, that was the tower that would still be standing, home to a secret too terrifying to utter.

  She’d heard the music.

  At first she thought nothing of it—music from outside, that’s all. Garion’s touch, like a curious caress while his gaze skimmed across her features had already rendered her helpless. By the time he’d set his lips to hers, she was already lost. Lost to his carefully leashed appetite and the strength of his rock hard body. She wanted to be kissed by him, and only him, for the rest of her life. And she wanted more, something more primal, more basic, with lots of grunting.

  She hadn’t been thinking about music!

  She couldn’t be Garion’s life mate. He wanted a Drakkon to live out the centuries with him. That Drakkon wasn’t her. She never wanted to fly. She never wanted scales, or fangs, or talons. What would happen if she was his life mate and they separated? Would she always want him? No! She wasn’t in love with him. She’d known him for a day!

  The bell rang. The door rolled away. Her brother saw her and rushed to take her in his arms. “Are you okay? What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Mr. Gold’s…Garion’s cat was ill.”

  Jacob turned to look at the white ball of fluff padding around Garion’s shoulders.

  “We met up at the Animal Hospital then came here for lunch,” she con
tinued.

  Her brother looked so incensed she almost felt bad for not telling him anything. “We’re trying to draw up a deal between Garion and the Elders. Come in. I’ll tell you everything.”

  “Can I get you a beer?” Garion asked him while Helena led him into the sitting room.

  “Gold?” her brother stopped and bravely turned to their host. At 6’ 2”, Jacob hovered over most men. Garion wasn’t most men. “Do you still want to question me about your sister after spending all damn day with mine?”

  “Yes, but I’ll keep it brief.”

  Jacob opened his mouth but Helena stepped between them and looked up at Garion. If Jacob had, in fact, had contact with El, Helena wasn’t going to let him die because of it.

  “Jacob is not like the others members of The Bane,” she told Garion softly, resting her hand on his arm “When we were children, he often voiced his displeasure over The Bane’s decisions to me. I was always afraid my half-brother would find out and punish him.”

  He smiled at her and then looked over her head at her brother. “Do you intend to continue trying to contact Ellie?”

  “Do you intend to see my sister again?” Jacob countered.

  Garion rested his gaze on hers again and shook his head. “No.”

  So final, she thought, her heart palpitating. He’d be gone by morning, never to be seen or found again—unless the Elders sent The Bane to his family. If he did return after that, it wouldn’t be in his human form. She would do everything to ensure that didn’t happen. She wished there was another way. She wished he wasn’t Drakkon. Everything felt right with him. She knew it was her idea to part ways, but she didn’t want to leave yet. “Let’s talk about it over a beer,” she suggested. “Unless,” she turned back to Garion, “we’re keeping you?”

  “Not at all,” he answered quickly then left for the kitchen.

  “This place is incredible,” Jacob said, following her into the sitting room. He went immediately to the window and looked out at the golden sunset. “What a view,” he breathed then turned to where she stood a good distance away. “He’s got a lot of money. Probably more than every member of The Bane combined.”

  “This is his side apartment,” she let him know. “Listen, did you hear music before?”

  “You mean the music?” He looked out the window one more time. “No, but if they find out you were with him while it was playing, there’s going to be trouble. What’s it mean, anyway?”

  She told him the quick version—omitting that she’d heard it and what she was doing when she heard it.

  “So, what…?” Jacob laughed, but looked a little sick. “You’re his life mate now?”

  “Don’t be an idiot.”

  He opened his mouth to say something else but Garion returned with drinks in his hands and Carina asleep on his shoulder. “So your cat was sick?” her brother asked him.

  “Yes,” Garion replied, handing her a tall, cool glass with a foamy cap. “Thankfully, it was nothing serious,” he said, turning to her brother with his beer, “but I was concerned.”

  Helena remembered him in the waiting room and smiled at him when he returned his attention to her now and offered her a seat beside him on the dangerously cozy sofa. She accepted, watching Jacob take the chair beside the fireplace.

  “And how did you come to meet up with him at the hospital, Sis?”

  “I had called her,” Garion answered for her, “to cancel our dinner date and for the name of a vet—”

  “You had her number?” he asked Garion, and then turned to her. “You agreed to dinner? And you lectured me about E—” He slipped his gaze back to Garion and then took a long drink. “So what now?”

  Helena was glad he didn’t want to continue discussing them. She was afraid Garion would have given him an honest account of their day.

  Instead, Garion told him the same thing he’d told her this morning. If The Bane contacted anyone in his family he’d rain terror down on all. He told Jacob of his proposal and Helena’s agreement to help.

  Drawn by Garion’s deep, rumbling voice and the sweet face of his sleeping cat, Helena turned her body to face him and sipped her beer.

  “And you think the Elders are going to listen to you,” her brother asked, looking at her, “after what they heard tonight? They’re going to think you’re the reason for the music if you go in standing up for him now.”

  “They’ll listen,” she assured him thinking about Simion the Red, “and they’ll also have a direct threat given by the Gold through me. Drakkon fire is a terrifying consideration.”

  “Tell them I have a copy of the scrolls,” Garion added.

  “What scrolls?”

  “They’ve kept a record of every descendant.”

  She’d think about why the Elders kept such a record later. Right now, she stared into his eyes, wishing she’d had more time with him. “What other secrets do you know about them?”

  “My father has known all of them for centuries. I know a lot. Maybe I’ll write it all down and send it to you.” He smiled at her before turning back to Jacob.

  She sipped her beer and thought about lying in bed with him somewhere, listening to his voice while he told her all. She smiled at Carina when her little, pink nose twitched.

  Lifting a finger to the feline, Helena touched the tip of a long, white whisker. Her pinkie brushed a lock of Garion’s hair at his neck. She remembered kissing him and running her fingers through his silky mane. How would she ever forget how it felt to be in his arms? She took another drink and sighed.

  The soft, flaxen hair along his nape rose off his skin and he turned his head to look at her. She blushed, realizing he’d felt her breath on his neck.

  Thankfully, the buzzer rang again.

  “What’s happened to you?” Jacob asked her when Garion left them. “He convinced you to fight his battle?”

  “Jacob, if we leave the battle to him, we lose.”

  “You like him.”

  “Yes,” she answered truthfully. “He hasn’t altered anyone and he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to, Jake. He blames himself for Thomas White’s death. He’s lived with a huge weight.”

  “Jeremy’s on his way up,” Garion said, returning.

  Helena stood up. “We should go.”

  “Why?” Jacob rose with her. “Who’s Jeremy?

  “He’s a good friend of mine who goes on the list to be left alone.” Garion turned to Helena next, his amber gaze sparked with some kind of needful yearning that seeped into her and tempted her to hold on to him for dear life. “You don’t have to leave yet,” he said softly. “Stay and finish your drink.”

  She agreed. Why not? What was the rush? She didn’t hear any more music in the air. It wasn’t like the Elders were locked on to his position. They knew he was alive. They didn’t know where he was.

  The elevator rang and Carina leaped off Garion’s shoulder and into Helena’s arms. Garion looked at them both, his smile wide with surprise and then softening—like her bones.

  “She doesn’t like Red, or anyone else, really.”

  The door opened, revealing a stocky man in an expensive knee-length coat and scarf. When he saw Garion, he smiled and stepped forward into the light. His hair was deep cinnamon, his face was cut in broader strokes than Garion’s, and he was about six inches shorter when his friend gathered him in his arms.

  Longing clawed at Helena’s insides. She shook it off and smiled when Garion turned to her with one arm tossed over Jeremy’s shoulder and made the introductions.

  Jeremy’s face was handsome even as it drained of color. “Ellie told me about them.” He turned to Garion. “What are they doing here?”

  “They’re my guests.”

  Can you give us a moment?

  “Of course,” Helena answered. It was only when her brother eyed her curiously that she realized what Garion had done.

  Sorry.

  You really aren’t though.

  She tugged on her brother’s sleeve and
returned with him to the sofa.

  “El told that guy about us,” Jacob mumbled on the way. “He’s probably the reason she blew me off.”

  “You’re not seriously still thinking about her, are you?” Helena asked, sitting. She cast Garion a nervous glance, praying he wasn’t listening in her head. He appeared engaged in listening to something Jeremy was saying.

  “No,” her brother said, falling back into his chair, “just an observation.”

  She smiled down at Carina swatting at her braids.

  Jeremy thinks you’re beautiful.

  The sound of Garion’s voice in her head, closer than her own skin, was more intimate than any touch, any kiss. She wanted to ask him if he agreed with his friend, but it was foolish to feed this madness.

  I’d be a blind fool not to agree. But you’re more than that. You’re grace and intelligence and alluringly raw around the edges. There’s more, but Red’s talking in my ears so I have to sign off.

  Sign off? She smiled and shook her head, trying not to pay attention to the effect the rest of his words had on her. Who says that? Then again, no precedent has ever been set for mind-reading etiquette, has it? God help her, what was she doing? She was letting him sweep her right off her feet! Didn’t he realize the hopelessness of anything between them? She’d do all she could to keep peace, but she couldn’t betray her entire family, including her father, by falling in love with a Drakkon—or becoming one.

  “So,” Jeremy said, entering the sitting room and moving toward the sofa, “Garion tells me you think you can get The Bane to agree to a deal if he promises never to turn another descendant.”

  “That’s right.”

  He sat next to her, causing Carina to hiss and then run off. Garion didn’t look any happier from his place in a chair opposite them. There was plenty of room on the sofa on the other side of Jeremy, but Garion chose a position from which he could watch them.

  “I don’t mind telling you,” Jeremy said to her, seemingly unaware of Garion’s steady gaze, “I’m against such a deal. In fact, I don’t think it’s a deal at all.”

  “What do you think it is?” she asked, turning to look him in his large, sherry brown eyes, which, thanks to his Drakkon heritage, were quite beautiful.