Amy Sumida - Rain or Monkeyshine (Book 15 in The Godhunter Series)

by Unknown

  “Sweet Faerie,” Arach whispered as he looked Rowan over. “It's not possible.”

  “Is he what I think he is?” I brushed past Arach and stared at Rowan, completely fascinated.

  “I am a dark dragon-sidhe,” Rowan announced proudly. “The first of my kind.”

  “You've evolved,” Lia whispered, shocking me even more.

  “Evolved?” Rowan looked down at her as his arm slid around her waist. “Yes, I think you're right. That's what our kingdom has been doing, hasn't it? Evolving. Adjusting.”

  “I believe so,” Lia looked dazed, she couldn't take her eyes off Rowan.

  “What does this mean?” I tried to take in all the implications but was just too damned shocked. Evolution? What were they talking about? This was Faerie and the fey didn't evolve, they were simply created.

  “It means there will be more dragons in the sky of Faerie,” Arach answered in a careful tone.

  “Why don't you sound pleased by that?” I looked sharply at him. More dragons was something that the both of us wanted.

  “Because I wanted more of our line, not another race to compete with,” Arach frowned.

  “There's no competition,” Rowan cocked his head at Arach. “I have no interest in your treasure... living or otherwise,” he looked pointedly at me and I nearly crowed in vindication.

  “Told you,” I said to both Arach and Lia. I slashed my hands down with deep satisfaction, “boom.”

  “We'll speak more on this later, Cousin but right now, I need to get back to my kingdom.” Rowan held his hand out to Arach.

  “Cousin?” Arach's eyes went wide. “Yes, perhaps you are in a way. So be it,” Arach shook Rowan's hand. “May fire burn for you.”

  “And darkness defend you,” Rowan replied with a serious nod. Then he took Lia's hand and led her to the window.

  “What are you doing?” She asked him as he leapt up onto the sill. I was glad she asked, I was wondering the same thing.

  “I'm taking you home,” he smiled like a wild thing, all teeth and bright eyes.

  Then he picked Lia up and pulled her in tight to his chest before he pushed backwards off the ledge.

  “Well damn,” I said as I watched the air catch under Rowan's wings and lift them higher. “That was a hell of an exit.”

  “I've seen more impressive,” Arach scoffed and then frowned. “What was all that about evolving?”

  “I'll be damned if I know.”

  Chapter Fifty

  “Do you think this is what they meant by evolution?” I frowned as I stared across the Fire Kingdom with Arach.

  “Possibly,” he was frowning too. “Perhaps we should take a closer look.”

  “That might be a good idea,” I agreed as I edged back a little on the balcony.

  We were in a room at the top of Castle Aithinne which we basically used for shifting into our dragon forms when we wanted to leave the castle. Mainly because it had a wide balcony that could accommodate our dragon forms. It was also useful in observing our kingdom, which we'd been rushed up here to do. Someone had spotted some strange activity near the Mountains of Serenity that formed the border between our kingdom and that of Darkness and Isleen thought we should take a look.

  Well it looked as if a storm was brewing.

  “Isleen,” Arach looked back over to where she was waiting anxiously. “Mirror the villages near the borders and tell them to evacuate to other villages further within the kingdom for now. We'll investigate and then mirror them with the information we discover.”

  “Yes, my king,” she nodded and raced off.

  I had shifted into my dragon form while they were talking and was raring to go. I jumped off the balcony before Arach could shift and hovered before him impatiently. His change didn't take long though and we were soon racing to the end of our kingdom with a fair amount of trepidation. I had learned how important change was to Faerie but this seemed rather ominous and out of my control, two things I didn't deal well with.

  When we finally reached the borders, we were both tense but we didn't waver. We flew directly at the line of black clouds rising above the mountain peaks, crossing over the misty waters of the Tine. We angled to the left and turned as one right before the storm, racing along the line of black clouds that were starting to seep into Fire.

  Just as I was about to ask if we should defend ourselves in some way, the kingdom itself responded to the threat. A wave of red energy pulsed up from our land and shot across the Tine. Arach and I tried to fly out of its way but we weren't fast enough and we were caught in the magic.

  I reeled and fell back into it, rolling through pure Fire energy with delight. My dragon sucked up the energy and the baby inside me shivered through the rush of power. I roared as Arach dropped down beside us. He echoed my exuberance and we slid along each other sinuously before heading back towards the banks of the Tine and out of the magic storm.

  We landed on the shore, claws digging deep into pebbles, and watched in wonder as Fire seemed to merge with the encroaching Darkness instead of attacking it. It flowed over the mountains into the Dark Kingdom as some of the Darkness trickled over into our land. Tendrils of muted black twirled with the red of Fire and then drifted across the Tine towards us. Arach tensed beside me and I leaned into him reassuringly. I could feel the rightness in this. It wasn't something to fear.

  I felt Arach take a deep breath and glanced over to see his dragon eyes fixed on the merging dark. It sank into our land and drifted around the plants that grew near the Tine. The trees began to shift and then suddenly they grew, slick trunks darkening to ebony as their limbs shot skyward. A carpet of dark green grass rose up through the earth and spread through the marshy area, absorbing some of the extra water in the land until even the air itself lost its humidity.

  I turned and walked back to what was once our wetlands and found them to be quite dry. Arach was instantly beside me, his large dragon claws moving gingerly among the new blades of grass. This grass was unlike the more temperamental blades of the Forgetful Forest though. It bent graciously to our footsteps and we soon found that we could walk with less care than usual. My claws dug into the earth and I purred in delight. Arach rumbled in response and I looked over to see a wide dragon grin spread over his face.

  “Not bad,” I smiled as we forged further ahead.

  The natural hot springs that ranged through the previously marshy land around the Tine, were still there and still bubbling happily but the rest of Water's influence had faded, replaced by Darkness. The pools were now edged with that soft grass instead of moss and the plants had transformed into sturdier versions of themselves now that they didn't need waxy stems or bark to protect themselves from the moist air.

  There were vibrant red flowers sprouting up in the patches of grass and the trees began to blossom before our eyes and then grow fruit. Large teardrop shaped fruit formed, shining deep plum and smelling darkly sweet. Berries popped out on bushes everywhere, adding another jolt of color with their orange flesh. The whole area seemed ironically lighter with the addition of Darkness and I did a happy turn to see it all before looking back to the mountains.

  It seemed that the storm was receding, though it never really crossed into our kingdom. The sky in Darkness was lightening and the sun in Fire was already shining brightly into the new landscape. The new flora came to sparkling life under the fey sun and I took a deep, satisfied breath that was filled with the scent of fruit and flowers.

  “It looks like our elements know what they're doing after all,” Arach observed.

  “Yes,” I mused as I continued to look over towards the Dark Kingdom. “But I have a feeling that this was more of a lesson for the dark fey than for us.”

  Chapter Fifty-One

  A few days later, King Rowan mirrored to invite us to his wedding. Liatris had agreed to become his wife.

  “We've been going through some changes here,” he said. “We wanted to handle it on our own so we didn't tell you. I hope you don't feel dece
ived.”

  “What changes?” I glared at him through the glass.

  “The land has been altering,” Rowan shrugged as if it were no big deal but I could tell that he'd been shaken. “And the animals have been hibernating and then transforming.”

  “What?” I growled as my suspicions were confirmed. “And you didn't think to tell me? The one who helped to create your kingdom in the first place. You could have at least given us a heads up about Darkness blending into Fire at the borders of the kingdoms. It would have been nice to know that we didn't have to evacuate the villages near the Tine.”

  “I'm sorry about that,” he sighed. “We were caught unawares by the storm and like I said, we wanted to handle it ourselves. It was Lia who figured it out,” he grinned proudly. “She saw an evolutionary chart in the Human Realm and noticed that our animals were doing the same thing, just a lot faster. Faerie believes it may be because of our connection to you and the Human Realm. Our kingdom has the ability to evolve.”

  “It's not the strongest of a species that survives,” I frowned as I recalled the quote. “Nor the most intelligent. It's the one that is the most adaptable to change.” I nodded. “You were born innately knowing something that all the fey need to learn.”

  “Did you just quote that Darwin fellow?” Arach cocked his head at me.

  “Did you just recognize my Darwin quote?” I gaped at him.

  “Isn't he the guy who thinks humans are descended from monkeys?” He asked.

  “Oh, please don't use the word monkey around me ever again,” I groaned.

  “Am I missing something?” Rowan frowned.

  “No, nothing,” I waved it away. “Go on.”

  “Well, I have more news,” Rowan grinned.

  “Beyond you being part of this evolution?” Arach asked with his usual snark.

  “Yes,” Rowan beamed at us. “Lia is a dark dragon too. She's gone through the transformation. She also wanted me to tell you, Queen Vervain, that it wasn't ego that made you create her in your image. Faerie revealed to us what happened during our creation. Your willpower was repressed when you gave control of your body to Faerie, which also repressed your control over your dragon.”

  “What?” I gaped at him and tried to recall what had happened that night but all I could get were fuzzy images. It had been a long and exhausting night.

  “Your dragon reacted instinctively,” Rowan went on as Arach laid his hand reassuringly on my shoulder. “She wants more dragons and you were helping to create new fey. So she used the opportunity to mix her essence with ours.”

  “But that's impossible,” I whispered.

  “Yes,” Rowan nodded, “and it would have destroyed us before we were even born, had our heart not reacted to protect us.”

  “Your heart?” Arach asked.

  “Liatris and I,” Rowan smiled. “We were once the heart of Darkness. We split apart and wrapped ourselves around the invading element in an effort to save the rest of us.”

  “Noble,” Arach whispered.

  “Faerie agreed,” Rowan gave a little laugh. “In normal conditions the fire seed you planted would have killed us but it had attacked right in the middle of our birth and so Faerie was able to influence us to alter instead of die. She transmuted us enough that we were able to blend our essence with that of your dragon's.”

  “And so the two of you became dark dragons,” I whispered.

  “Exactly,” Rowan nodded. “Dragons born of Fire and Darkness. This is why Lia looks like you, because she has a part of you within her.”

  “Sweet mother of dragons,” Arach breathed.

  “Wait,” I blinked as I suddenly realized what this meant. “Mother of dragons...”

  “Yes,” Rowan nodded as I fell back in my seat. “If we're blessed with children, they will be able to breed with yours. Faerie has confirmed it.”

  “You brilliant, beautiful, black dragon!” Arach shouted.

  “I'm glad your happy about it,” Rowan chuckled. “I was hoping you wouldn't be against the idea.”

  “Against the idea?” Arach laughed boisterously. “Don't you realize what this means? We'll be able to unite our kingdoms through our children and our dragons will rule the sky. We will become the strongest alliance in all of Faerie.”

  “Whoa there, Caesar,” I held up a hand as my stomach twisted uncomfortably. “This isn't Rome. We don't need to be conquering Faerie.”

  “Uh,” Arach shared a look with Rowan, who had been growing even more gleeful as Arach spoke, then cleared his throat. “No, of course not. We'll just ensure the peace, as the Wild Hunt has done from the beginning.”

  “Uh huh,” I grimaced, looking back and forth between the beaming men. “You two are going to be trouble.”

  “Now can we tell him?” Arach lifted his brows at me.

  “Oh!” I blinked. “Yeah, I guess it's a pretty appropriate time.”

  “Tell me what?” Rowan cocked his head.

  “Vervain is having my son!” Arach shouted and I winced from the assault to my ears.

  “Congratulations!” Rowan shouted back and I winced again.

  “Alright, alright,” I stood and waved them off. “No need to shout about it, it's just procreation. It happens every day.”

  “Then I shall get started on it as well,” Rowan laughed. “Wait till I tell Liatris.”

  “Trouble,” I sighed and shook my head. “So very much of it.”

  It wasn't until the mirror cleared of Rowan's reflection that I remembered Kaitlin and how my son's heart was already promised to another. What had I done?

  For the full story behind King Rowan and Lia's relationship, check out: A Darker Element, for sale now on Amazon.

  Keep reading for a sneak peek into the next book in the Godhunter Series:

  Blood Bound

  Chapter One

  Morning sickness was a whole new hell when you were a dragon.

  I swallowed the taste of cinders and made a face at the glass of orange juice sitting on the table in front of me. Kirill had put it there before he'd started to cook me breakfast in our little kitchenette we had in a corner of our bedroom, on the top floor of Pride Palace. I'd just returned from Faerie the night before, having stayed a full month there, with little mini visits here in between so that Trevor wouldn't get soul sickness from being apart from me too long.

  Damn Froekn binding ritual. I still wasn't bound to him but I held a part of his werewolf soul and that meant he needed to reconnect with it at least monthly or he'd wither away and die. I looked over at the man himself as he came walking out of the bathroom, rubbing a towel over his wet, shaggy, dark hair. He needed another haircut soon if he was going to keep the short style looking good.

  I didn't mind though, I liked long hair on a man. How could I not? I looked over at Kirill, where he stood at the stove. His black hair hung in a braid down his bare back, the end of it dangling over his impressive ass which was currently being showcased by a pair of snug jeans. He always slept with it braided but I kind of preferred it loose. Having long hair myself, I understood how annoying it could get when it was down though.

  “You don't want your OJ?” Trevor asked as he came over and kissed my cheek.

  “Not quite yet,” I rubbed my enlarged belly.

  Oh yeah, on top of literally burning indigestion, I had the weirdest food cravings, and an advanced pregnancy. Dragon-sidhe gave birth in six months usually. Which meant that although I was only a month along, I looked like I was at the end of my first trimester. At least I didn't have a lot of the other stuff human women had to put up with. Gross stuff that I read about in a pregnancy book and which I will not repeat... for any amount of money. There was so much to be thankful for with having a dragon baby.

  Though the random fires were a bit of a pain in the ass. I hiccuped and pressed my fingers to my mouth before I let out a stream of flame and burnt our kitchen table. It had already happened twice but I was getting better at catching myself. Trevor chuckled and shook
his head as he went to pour himself some coffee. He glanced over at what Kirill was cooking and then immediately looked back for a more thorough inspection.

  “What the hell is that?” He asked.

  “Tima vanted eggs for breakfast,” Kirill said as he slid a black pile of fluffy stuff out of the frying pan and onto a plate.

  “Those aren't eggs,” Trevor stared in fascination.

  “Da, zey are,” Kirill put the plate in front of me and I sat up, instantly interested. “She brought them with her from Faerie.”

  “Faerie eggs are black?” Trevor turned horrified eyes to me.

  “They're asten eggs. Astens are lizard-like creatures in the Fire Kingdom,” I sniffed the omelet appreciatively. “Pregnant women eat their eggs to cure morning sickness. I brought a whole bunch with me, they're in the fridge if you want to try one.”

  Trevor turned slowly towards the fridge, as if he were terrified but unable to resist. He opened the door and his eyes went wide as he spied the basket of large, red eggs. He shook his head as he picked up something from the shelf beneath the eggs. Turning back to me, he held it up for me to see. It was a jar of blue paste.

  “What is this?” He asked carefully, like he was unsure whether he wanted to know the answer or not.

  “Seaweed jam,” I smiled and reached for it. It would go perfect with my eggs. He handed it over and as he gaped at me, I scooped some out and spread it on my eggs.

  “She just spread seaweed on her eggs,” he announced as he turned to Kirill.

  “Da, I'm standing right here,” Kirill frowned at Trevor like he'd lost his mind. “Jam helps to stop fires,” he waved at me. “You should be happy ve have it.”

  “What?” Trevor fell back against the counter heavily.