Stroke The Flame

by Elizabeth Briggs

  I rested my hand on his side, feeling the smooth, warm scales under my fingers, before turning to the General. “The Fire God has chosen a new Crimson Dragon. Leave now or feel his wrath.”

  “That’s impossible,” General Voor said. “Sark is the Crimson Dragon.”

  “Not for much longer,” Jasin growled, with a voice I barely recognized. “Let them go.”

  The soldiers seemed hesitant, glancing between Jasin and the General, unsure of who to follow. The General pointed his sword at us. “We serve the true Dragons, not these imposters. Kill them. Kill them all!”

  Two soldiers charged at Jasin, but he swiped them away with his massive talons. Others raised their swords to Auric and Slade and panic swelled inside my heart. Without thinking I reached out toward them and flames shot from my palms, setting both soldiers on fire. The men screamed, while I stared at my hands in wonder. I’d done it. I’d used fire. And I wasn’t scared at all.

  Jasin had given me both his magic and his courage.

  Slade and Auric jumped to their feet and moved to protect the priests, though their hands were still bound. I prepared to launch more fire at the other soldiers, but then felt a blade bite into my neck and a large presence behind me.

  General Voor gripped my arm tight, holding me against his chest with his sword at my throat. Blood dripped down my neck, and he was strong enough that I didn’t dare move. Everyone in the room froze, with my three mates staring at me and the General. Auric looked worried, Slade had a stony expression, and Jasin, well it was hard to tell with his new reptilian face, but I knew he was furious from the bond shining bright between us.

  “Surrender, or I kill her,” the General called out.

  “Get your hands off her,” a cool voice said behind us.

  General Voor cried out a spurt of blood washed over me. It took me a second to realize it wasn’t my own. He let me go and stumbled back, while my heart pounded in my chest as I spun away to face the man I so desperately hoped was my savior.

  Reven held one of his swords in his hand and had murder in his icy blue eyes. He stabbed Voor a second time in the chest, then watched him fall to the ground. As soon as the General hit the ground, I rushed toward Reven and threw my arms around him, burying my face in his chest.

  “You returned,” I said, while my heart nearly burst with relief and happiness.

  With his free hand he clutched me tight against him and gazed down at me. “I did.”

  “Why?”

  He shrugged. “I knew you would need my help. Looks like I was right.”

  “Is that the only reason?” I whispered.

  He took my chin in his hand and brushed his lips across mine ever so softly. “There may have been other reasons too.”

  With their General dead and a large dragon glaring at them, the soldiers all surrendered. Jasin shifted back into human form with a great slithering of scales and a rush of heat. He strode toward me and Reven. “Are you okay?” he asked me.

  “I’m fine,” I said, touching my neck. It didn’t hurt anymore, and I had a feeling the wound was already healing itself.

  He gave Reven a sharp look and I expected him to say something rude or angry, but instead he said, “Glad you’re back. Don’t do anything like that again.” Reven only nodded in return.

  The three of us rushed over to Auric and Slade, who had already removed the ties around their hands. Auric pulled me close for a kiss, whispering, “I’m so relieved you’re safe.” I turned to Slade, who wrapped his muscular arms around me in a protective, close embrace. He pressed a soft kiss to the top of my head, before releasing me.

  Calla moaned, and I dropped to her side, my panic returning. She was covered in blood, as were the priests who were trying to tend to her wounds with worried looks on their faces. They were her mates, just like my men were mine.

  I took Calla’s hand in mine. “You’re going to be okay.”

  She coughed and clutched her bloody chest. “No, I won’t. But it doesn’t matter. I fulfilled my purpose. Twenty years ago the Fire God chose me to be his High Priestess, just like he chose you, Jasin.” Her eyes shifted to him, before going back to mine. “He told me I must come to the Fire Temple to prepare for the next Dragons. I’ve waited for this day for most of my life, and it is an honor to know I could help you both.”

  Jasin kneeled beside her and took her other hand. “You’ve served the Fire God well.”

  Her eyes fluttered shut. “Thank you.”

  As she faded away, my heart clenched and something burned in me like an ember. Through our touch I felt a kinship with her, like a twin fire flaring bright inside of both of us. I took Jasin’s other hand in mine, forming a circle between us, and felt it within him too.

  The gift of the Fire God was inside all of us.

  While drawing strength from Jasin, I willed it into Calla, praying for the Fire God to help us heal his chosen priestess. Our hands began to glow with the same unearthly orange light from the volcano, as if lava flowed underneath our skin, and the heat became so intense I nearly let go. But I held on, and a second later Calla gasped and opened her eyes. The four priests around us cried out and rushed to her side.

  “You healed her,” Blane said, while the others praised both me and the Fire God.

  “With Jasin’s help,” I said.

  “The Fire God has truly blessed us all,” Derel said.

  “Thank you,” another one said, whose name I had forgotten.

  “It seems the Fire God still has more work for you,” Jasin said to Calla.

  “Thank you both,” Calla said, as she sat up with a smile. She cupped my cheek and then did the same to Jasin. “I will cherish your gift and do whatever I can to help you.”

  “If everyone’s good now, we need to get out of here,” Reven said, with his lazy drawl. “The Crimson Dragon—the other one—is heading this way.”

  Fear gripped my throat, but Jasin wrapped an arm around me. “We can fight him,” he said. “I can face him as a Dragon now too.”

  “No, we can’t,” Auric said. “He’s immune to fire, just like you are. We don’t stand a chance until more of us can shift too.”

  “He’s right, we need to run,” Slade said.

  Calla got to her feet, with the help of two of her men. “You must hurry. Go out the back by the crater, then head down that side of the volcano. It leads to the ocean, to a dock where a ship is waiting for you. You can take that to the Air Realm and the next Temple.”

  She truly had prepared for our arrival, anticipating everything we might need. “Thank you,” I said, hugging her quickly. “I hope we meet again.”

  “We will.”

  “What about our horses?” Auric asked. “And everything with them?”

  “We’ll bring them here and take care of them for you,” the fourth priest said. “When it’s safe, we’ll make sure they are brought to you.”

  “Now go, quickly,” Calla said. “There’s no time.”

  43

  Kira

  We grabbed our few belongings and rushed through the temple, past the bed where Jasin and I had made love, and out through the doors to the volcano’s summit. It still glowed from the lava deep in its pit, but the Fire God was nowhere to be seen this time. We rounded the large crater and battled through the heat that threatened to suffocate us, but I wasn’t afraid of it. Not anymore.

  That was, until I saw the lava flowing down the side of the mountain. It bubbled and churned and slowly slid toward the base of the volcano, where it met the ocean with a burst of smoke and slowly hardened into new land. A mix of all the elements, I thought, remembering what the Fire God had told us.

  “This is where Calla told us to go,” I said. “But how do we get down?

  “I might be able to fly us down,” Jasin said. “Although I don’t really know how yet.”

  “That sounds like a good way to get us all killed,” Reven said.

  Auric’s brows furrowed. “There must be a way down.”

  S
lade ran a hand over his beard as he considered. “Maybe I can shift the rock…”

  “That’s it,” Jasin said. “The Fire God said we had to work together if we wanted to succeed. Slade and Reven will form a path for us, Kira and I will keep the fire and heat away, and Auric will protect us from the fumes.”

  All the men nodded and pride swelled inside me as they made a plan to work together. We moved to the edge of the lava, where Reven sprayed water in a stream, which Slade used to solidify a path of earth. Jasin kept the rest of the flames away and we rushed along the new stretch of land, sweat dripping down all of our faces, and began to descend.

  As Slade and Reven continued to create the path going down the mountain, Auric kept a bubble of clean, cool air around us. I did my best to keep the lava and flames back, but I wasn’t sure how to use my new powers yet, and I suspected Jasin was doing most of the work.

  The dock at the base of the volcano was made of the same obsidian as the Temple and somehow remained completely untouched by the lava, which flowed away from it. By the time we reached it we were all exhausted, sweating profusely, and covered in soot, even despite our best efforts. We stumbled forward toward the boat anchored at the end, its black sails already raised, like it had been waiting for us all this time.

  “Anyone know how to sail?” Jasin asked, as we stepped onto the wooden deck of the ship.

  “I know a little,” Reven said, glancing up at the sails.

  Auric looked up at the sales as he wiped sweat off his brow. “I’ve never been on a boat, but I think Reven and I can use our magic to steer it.”

  “Then let’s get out of here,” Slade said, as he cut through the ties holding the boat to the dock and used his magic to lift the anchor out of the water.

  Reven shifted the current around us and Auric filled the sails with wind, pointing us north. To the Air Realm.

  The boat began moving away from the dock thanks to their magic, and in a few minutes, we were out on the cool water under the endless night sky, leaving the volcano behind. I glanced behind us at the glowing summit and spotted a large dragon flying over it, his blood-red wings flapping once as he descended to the Temple. Sark.

  This time I was certain he was looking for me. For us.

  And soon we’d be ready to face him.

  Thanks for reading STROKE THE FLAME! Kira and her mates’ story will continue in KISS THE SKY, coming soon!

  This is my first fantasy romance, though I hope to write more of them. If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving a review. It sounds crazy, but hearing that readers loved a book really motivates an author to write the next ones faster!

  Want more reverse harem from me? Turn the page to find out how to get a free reverse harem story, or keep reading for a sample chapter from my reverse harem romantic comedy HOLLYWOOD ROOMMATES!

  For a limited time only, sign up for Elizabeth's newsletter to get a FREE copy of HOLIDAY GUESTS! This story is only available to subscribers and is not published anywhere else!

  Click here to get it: www.elizabethbriggsbooks.com

  Hollywood Roommates - Excerpt

  Three sexy actors. One curvy English teacher. An impossible rule just begging to be broken...

  Chapter One: Allie

  The proposal is coming, I know it.

  Parker, my sweet, handsome boyfriend, sits before me in a navy blue suit, the wind teasing at his dark, silky hair. The pink roses he brought me rest on the marble table beside our plates. Any second now he’s going to pull out a ring and pop the question. Why else would he invite me to this specific restaurant for lunch?

  We’ve been dating a year. Living together for six months. It’s totally time.

  “This past year has been really great, Allie,” Parker says.

  I smile at him and take a sip of my wine. “Yes, it has.”

  “And you’re such a great person.” He clears his throat and yanks on his tie, looking everywhere but me. He’s obviously nervous. Of course he is. A proposal is a big deal.

  I reach across the table and rest a hand over his. “Moving in with you was one of the best decisions I ever made. Some people thought it was too soon, but it felt right. Don’t you think so?”

  He slides his hand away. “Yeah. Um. It’s been great.”

  Yes, I’m great, he’s great, we’re all great. Okay, so Parker isn’t a master of words and clearly hasn’t prepared this speech very well, but I can live with that. Everything else about him is perfect, after all. Or mostly perfect anyway. I mean, every couple has their problems, right?

  Just when I start to wonder if he’s ever going to get the nerve to do it, I spot a plane behind him. One of those small ones, flitting low across the cloudless blue sky, leaving a trail of white in its wake. As the waiter clears our plates, the plane slowly spells out the words, MARRY ME.

  Hope spreads throughout my chest. It’s happening. It’s really happening.

  I smile even wider at Parker, who chugs his wine like it’s water and he’s on a desert island. How adorably nervous he is. I look up again, and there, below it…

  Is that an A?

  I sit up straighter in my chair, my heart racing. No wonder he wanted to sit outside today. I had no idea Parker was such a romantic. This skywriting stunt totally makes up for his lack of preparing a speech.

  “You were saying…?” I ask, although I can’t stop looking at the letters forming behind his head. The next letter is an L, like in my name. This is it for sure. I want to kick my feet and squee.

  Parker clears his throat. “Yeah. Um. Well. It’s been a year and I think it’s time we move on.”

  I nod. C’mon next letter! “Exactly. Move forward. Couldn’t agree more.”

  “I care about you a lot.”

  “I care about you too.” The plane draws a straight line. The start of another L?

  “And I want you to be happy.”

  “Of course. I am. Happy, I mean.”

  “I just think that—”

  There it is. A second L! I can’t hold it in any longer. I jump to my feet and clasp my hands to my chest. “Yes, I’ll marry you!”

  He looks up at me with his mouth hanging open. “What?”

  I sit back down with a giggle. “Sorry, I just got excited. I should have waited for you to ask me first.” I smooth the skirt of my dress and smile at him. “Okay, I’m ready. Go for it.”

  His eyebrows pinch together, causing a deep line to form between them. “Why would you think I’m proposing?”

  “This is the restaurant where we had our first date. You brought me flowers. And of course, there’s that.” I gesture to the skywriting behind him. The plane has already begun to form the next letter, which I know will be an I.

  He turns in his chair to look. “Oh, shit.”

  Wait a second. Is that…an E?

  Parker turns back around as a sour feeling hits my stomach. “Allie, I’m not proposing.”

  “You’re not?” No, that can’t be right. The pilot is clearly spelling my name wrong. Probably switching the I and the E. I stare up at the plane, hoping with everything I have that the letters will magically change.

  “No. I’m trying to break up with you.”

  My eyes snap to his face. “What?”

  “Listen, there’s no good way to say this. I want to see other people. Well, one person. I met someone. At work.”

  “You…met someone.” My head spins. The letter is definitely an E, not an I. Followed by another one that looks like it’s going to be an N. No, no, no, that can’t be right. This isn’t how this lunch is supposed to go at all.

  “I was trying to break it to you easily.” Parker shakes his head. “Shit. I can’t believe you thought I was proposing.”

  I stare at him, my mouth dry. Behind his head, the letters clearly spell a name that isn’t my own. Somewhere nearby, a guy named Allen is getting engaged and I’m not.

  When I can speak, my voice is small. “But the restaurant. The flowers.”

  “I completely
forgot we went here on our first date. It’s a convenient spot near my office, that’s all. And I brought the flowers because I feel bad.” He folds his hands on the table. “Especially because I need you to move out.”

  I reach for my glass of water, but his words shock me so much I knock it over. The water spreads across the table and onto Parker’s lap. Who, frankly, kind of deserves it. “You want me to move out?”

  He grabs a napkin, his mouth twisting in annoyance as he wipes at the water. “Yeah. By the end of the week. So Amy can move in.”

  I’m being replaced by another girl whose name starts with A. I’m not sure why that makes it even worse, but it does. First Allen got my proposal and now Amy is getting my apartment. I can’t tell if I’m about to break down into tears or go into a mindless rage and upend the table on Parker. Probably both, especially as his words sink in.

  “How long have you been seeing her?” I ask.

  Parker ducks his head, like he expects me to throw something at it. “About two months now.”

  “Two. Months.” My whole world has turned upside down. All this time I’ve been mentally planning our wedding while he’s been banging some other woman.

  “It just happened. A dumb work fling, but then it turned into more. I’m sorry.”

  “You’re sorry?” My voice is veering into screeching territory and I don’t give a single fuck. “You’ve been cheating on me for two whole months and you’re kicking me out of our apartment and you’re sorry?”

  Parker glances around at the other diners, who are all staring at us. “Keep your voice down. Like I said, I never meant to hurt you, but I really need you out of my place by the end of the week.”

  The absolute nerve of him. He knows how much this screws me over. I’m so upset I can’t even form words. Instead, I grab my wine and toss it in his face. For a second I savor his look of shocked horror that probably mirrors my own, and then I turn on my heel and storm out of the restaurant.