“You were mated the first time you consummated your relationship, some six months after you met,” Bosim said.
A shiver went down my spine that he knew that, and I felt Reid squeeze my hand even harder.
“You will be mated again, here,” Mequen said. He looked to Bosim. “Ice and poison will be as one.”
“And any children you have,” Shialn said, cutting in, “shall be of ice, poison, fire, and water. For we three will all see you mated here today.”
My heart hammered, as I worked through what that meant for Reid and myself. Did we even have a choice in this? Did our opinion not matter at all?
Bosim spoke again, giving truth to my suspicion that he could read my mind. “If you do not want it, or reject it, the mating will not hold. Those who are dragon mated are never done so against their will.” That was nice and all, but what did it mean for us?
Mequen looked at Reid. “Do you reject this woman whose hand you hold?”
Reid answered without hesitation, though I could tell he was just as freaked out as I was. “No, never.”
Shialn turned to me. “Do you accept this man whose hand you hold? Each and every part of him?”
The answer was simple because my heart couldn’t lie. “Yes,” I said, because if there was one thing I was sure of, it was that.
“Then turn to face each other,” Bosim said, and he, Mequen, and Shialn rose from their seats, their wings long and flapping behind them.
They enclosed us in a tight circle, and Reid looked at me with warmth, his eyes trying to convey reassurance when he himself was clearly anxious.
They raised their hands and fire, poison, and ice shot from their palms and enclosed us in a tight, unbreakable ball. I didn’t try to move, didn’t dare because I had no idea what came next and that thought alone scared me more than anything.
“Alisa!” Bosim said, and my heart went wild with fear. “You are descended directly from me, and that is why your clan will never find what in your DNA makes you special. You are mine, from me, and I now claim you as such.”
“Reid!” Mequen shouted. “Long ago a prophecy was written to right a wrong that we three set askew. It was said that one male and one female would be born who possessed the correct DNA markers to carry the dragon power. These two would right what we so long ago made wrong. Reid Alexander, you are that male, and I claim you as one of my own.”
The poison, ice, and fire, continued to swirl and Shialn raised her hands again and water shot from her palms and joined in with the others. “Reid and Alisa! Water helped cause this wrong, and through your children, water, fire, ice, and poison will all rise. You are neither descended from my DNA, but your children shall be of water, so I too claim you as my own.”
The ball of fire, ice, poison, and water began to swirl faster now, and my mind ran rampant with theories. Did that mean my parents were not my real parents? My head ached, trying to figure it all out.
Again, Bosim answered the question before I could ask. “We populated your earth millennium ago. Many carry dragon DNA, but only two hold the power to become full dragons.” Okay but that still didn’t answer my question. At least I didn’t think it did, anyway.
Bosim went on talking. “Alisa, your parents are both of the clan Pressive, though only your mother’s DNA is directly descended from mine. Which is rare in and of itself, for I seeded only a few from your land. Your brother and sister carry this trait as well, but they are not you. Only you have the extra spark that the prophecy foretold of.”
So, I’d gotten this from my mom then? She carried the trait of one of the Dragon Lords? That was a lot to take in, and right now I didn’t have time to properly process it.
Mequen’s voice spoke this time. “Reid! Both your parents are clan Regold, but only your father carries the DNA descended directly from my own.”
The cloud of fire, ice, poison, and water got bigger, and my eyes bore into Reid as fear gripped me. He stared back, never looking away, trying to convey to me that we would be alright.
They kept talking about Reid and I righting a wrong that they themselves had committed, but they never said how they expected us to do that.
This time it was Bosim’s voice that rang loudly in our ears. “Do you know why the Yango’s land can’t grow food? Why only Yangos can live on Yango? Why no animal, neither cow, duck, chicken or geese can survive there? Why they have to toil from universe to universe in search of food, never having enough and always wanting more? Do you know why the Yango are damned!”
I mean, I did wonder, but he was scaring the crap out of me, and the big ball made of fire, ice, water, and poison was on us now. It encased us completely, going through our mouths, ears, and throats. It went in through our skin and seeped into our bones, making me cry out in pain as I burned from the inside out.
It lifted us in the air and then Bosim spoke again. “It is because I made it so! I stripped their fields! I took their livestock for my own! I infected their fields with fire and ice so that anything that tried to grow there would either burn or turn to ice!”
Fire burned through me as a picture of an angry, younger looking Bosim put his hand on a field of land that was lush with vegetables, flowers, and grass.
Fire and ice erupted from him and killed everything in its path, leaving the fields barren and empty. I watched, horrified, wondering what the hell had made him think that was a good Idea and wondered if he knew the pain he’d caused multiple universes because of his actions.
Once he was done destroying the land, he threw his head back and roared, a cry that was so anguished, and so pain-filled, that it brought unwanted tears to my eyes.
“It is also because I made it so!” Mequen’s voice was loud and hard. “I poisoned their world! I took characteristics unique only to Yango, and I poisoned their air so that only they could breathe it!”
I now saw a picture of him, hair down his back as he put his hand on the now barren land and released poisons in every color of the rainbow, he then stood, held out his hands and did the same to the air.
“Then I stripped their lakes, their rivers, their ponds, and oceans!” Shialn said. “I took their water, and I made it impossible for them to form more. It does not rain on Yango because I deemed it so!”
Then I saw her, standing with her arms outstretched, calling all water to her, drying up Yango oceans, lakes, ponds, and streams.
I gasped as fire came out of my mouth and wrapped around myself and Reid until I could see inside him and he inside me. We were one, he and I, held together in a bond so tight, that now even the Dragon Lords themselves couldn’t break it.
“You will put right what we made wrong!” Bosim said. “But first, all rogue Yango must be brought to heel. They cannot continue to kill and steal as they have. For those who stayed true, you will restore their lands as they once were. For those who took to terrorizing those weaker than them, you will show them mercy or show them death.”
“You will stop them, “Shialn said. “It matters not how.”
Then Reid’s body was inside of mine, and mine inside of his, until I didn’t know where he ended, and I began. My eyes blinked and then the only thing I saw was he and I together in darkness, together in light.
Chapter 8
I awoke with a stir and saw that I’d been placed on a bed, Reid on the one beside me. My head spun, and for a second I gave credence to the fact that maybe I’d dreamed the encounter with the dragons, though it’d certainly felt real.
Reid awakened and sat up on the side of his bed. I could feel how groggy he was, could feel that concern for me was the first thing to pop into his mind.
I looked up into his stunned eyes as we both tried to process. I guess it was real. I heard him think.
I blinked and answered with, Reid, can you hear me now? He nodded, and I put a hand over my mouth to keep from totally freaking out. I loved Reid, I did, but I didn’t want to be this connected to anyone.
I thought back to all I’d learned on Cyphen t
he last couple of weeks and focused on blocking him out. Try now. I put up mental blocks and waited to see if he could break through.
“I got nothing,” he said, as he got out of his bed and came over to mine. “What about you?” I tried to send him a thought, but something snapped me back, and I wasn’t so sure that I liked the feel of that either. “You’re blocking me.”
He nodded and ran a hand down his face. “At least there’s that.”
Good. That meant he didn’t want to be in each other’s heads twenty-four seven either. He sat down beside me and took my hands into his own. They were warm and felt so familiar that I could have cried.
Just having him here with me meant everything. “Are you okay?” he asked me.
I scooted closer to him, and he engulfed me in his arms, making me feel that everything would be alright. “So, those Dragon Lords are crazy,” he chuckled, and I laughed into his shoulder before pulling away.
“Why did they do it?” I asked, because it just didn’t make sense to me. They’d caused the Yango to be how they were, but now they expected us to fix it. There was a crucial piece of the puzzle I was missing, and I meant to find out what that was. We’d planned on helping Iago and the others stop the Yango anyway, so this just added a new piece to an already complicated puzzle.
“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “But something tells me those three do nothing without reason, so whatever it was, it had to be significant.”
I agreed. “Do you think our clans know?” When I said that I got an image of Erain and Linton fencing across a practice floor that I’d been on many times. Then I saw Stax laying on a settee eating grapes, while Arden lay on the couch beside his reading.
“Holy shit!” I said, blinking my eyes trying to clear the images. I looked up at Reid and saw him doing the same. “Did you just...”
“Tune in on my clan’s private activities? Yeah, I’ll say the Dragon Lords really left their marks on us.”
I thought about the ceremony they’d performed. Then I thought of my parents and wondered how they were and if they’d been worried about me. My mind immediately brought up a picture of them at my brother’s house. Everyone was there, and they were all seated in the living room.
My father had his head in his hands, and my mom’s eyes were red-rimmed as if she’d been crying for days. I jumped off the bed, pain hitting me square in the chest. “Reid!”
“I know,” he said, looking around as if he expected one of them to pop up here. “Even with everything that’s going on I still go to my parents at least once a week for dinner and to let them know that I’m getting along okay.” He closed his eyes and let out a slow breath. “We have to get back. My mom...”
“I know,” I said. “Mine too.” I looked down and noticed that the bags we’d come here with were at our feet. “Come on,” I said, picking up mine and tossing it over my shoulder as Reid did the same.
We opened the door, and the guard who’d led us into the Dragon Lord’s room stood there waiting. “You are free to open a portal and go home,” was all he said before turning and walking down the hallway.
I turned to Reid, and he leaned over and captured my lips with his own. “We’ll talk later, but for now...”
“Yeah,” I said, pulling away. “You go deal with your family, and I’ll deal with mine.”
We each held out our hand, and I thought about it. “Maybe keep yourself open so that I’ll know that you made it home and that you’re okay.”
He nodded and pulled me close for another kiss. It was bittersweet, and if it weren't for the urgency to get back to my family, I probably would have deepened it. “You too?”
I focused on my palm, remembering all I’d been taught, and then we both opened portals and stepped inside.
Chapter 9
I exited my portal, straight into Todd’s living room, and all conversation came to a halt. I heard my sister cry out, and my mother gasp. Vonda threw herself into my arms, Chibo right behind her.
I held onto them both, as they squeezed me for dear life and their shoulders shook. My mom stood open-mouthed, tears running silently down her face. My father stared at me, unblinking, like he wasn’t sure if I was really there or not, and if he looked away for one second maybe I’d be gone.
My brother stood off to the side, a small storm brewing in his eyes as he watched me. He looked pissed, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why.
Vonda let go, and stepped back, wiping her eyes. Chibo gave me one last hard squeeze and stepped back as well. From the corner of my eye, I could see Trout and Iago give each other a hug of relief, while Lantana sat on the couch looking between all of us, an unreadable expression on her face. Fletcher was nowhere to be seen, so I assumed he’d gone home.
“I thought I wasn’t going to ever see you again,” Vonda said, wiping her eyes some more. My parents were still frozen to their spots, eyes watching me as if I’d just risen from the dead.
Chibo stood beside Vonda, eyes now dry, and she seemed to be taking small breaths to steady herself. She looked relieved, but there was something else there as well. Almost a sense of abandonment. Her parents had been killed in front of her and left her and her twin brother to fend for themselves from the age of thirteen. Perhaps she’d thought I’d met my end the same way.
I pulled her into a hug again to reassure her that I was okay, and over my shoulder I saw my brother shaking his head at me, jaws tight, eyes hard. He stood looking at me for another minute, body rigid as if he was doing everything he could to keep it together. Then he turned, still not saying a word and stalked down the hallway, Coen right behind him.
My mom came forward, and Chibo stepped away. My mom put her forehead to mine, and then pulled me to her, whispering the whole time that I was never to leave home again.
I squeezed her as hard as I could, trying to show her that I was all right, but also trying to convey that I was sorry that I’d worried her. She finally let me go and then went back to sit on the couch, hand over her mouth, not saying a word.
My father opened his mouth a few times as if to speak, then let out a big breath of air, his lips tight, and I noticed his eyes had a little shine to them. He stared at me, and then took a look around the room as if he didn’t know where he was or what he was doing.
Finally, he cleared his throat and turned to my mother. “I’ll be in the car.” His voice was low and full of emotion. “Just come out when you’re ready.” He swallowed when he looked at me as if he had a lot to say, but didn’t know how to articulate any of it. He nodded at me, then opened the door to step out just as Ridge stepped in.
Ridge had his hand wrapped around a female I’d never met, and my father spoke to them both before going down the steps and out to his car. Ridge stared after him a second, brows furrowed, then turned around and stopped moving altogether, his eyes going wide as he saw me standing there.
Ridge wasn’t really the touchy feely type, so I didn’t expect a hug, but the look in his eyes, said he’d thought he’d never see me again, and now that he had, he didn’t know quite what to do with it.
The girl with him had skin a light brown color, and her hair was done up in a kinky twist. She was dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a blue and white long sleeve shirt. She was a pretty girl and looked to be his age, about nineteen or so. Though she didn’t know what was going on, she seemed to be soaking up as much information as she could.
I’d known he was seeing somebody, but I’d never gotten a name. She smiled at me, as if unsure what to do. Then Ridge kissed her on the forehead, whispered something in her ear, and the two of them turned and went back out the door.
I stared wide-eyed as I watched them go, as I’d never seen him show that much affection to anyone. It was shocking, to say the least.
He came back in a second later and nodded at me, eyes now filled with joy. He looked like he didn’t care that I’d been gone for weeks, just that I was back now. “Glad you’re home,” he said, before going to the couc
h and taking a seat beside my mother, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.
“So, Todd hates me,” I said to no one in particular.
Lantana stood, and her eyes strayed down the hall, while the others conveniently looked away from me. “What?” I asked.
She sighed when no one else spoke and walked over, a no-nonsense look on her face that said she thought I should already know this. “Who do you think your dad blamed for this whole thing?”
“What whole thing? Me leaving with the dragons?”
Vonda looked up and nodded, then took on the loud thunderous voice of our father. “Todd is the head of the family when mom and dad are not around. He was supposed to protect you from this, stop you from going. If we never see you again, it’ll be all his fault.” Vonda twirled a finger as if to say, ‘so on and so on.’ She stopped talking and looked down the hall, her eyes sad and regretful. “You know how dad gets.”
I did know how he got, but this was ridiculous. My heart clenched for my brother because he didn’t deserve any of this. I’d go talk to him, and I’d talk to my father too, because making Todd feel as if he was responsible for everything that happened to this family was just wrong.
I started down the hall as Todd and Coen came back into the room, and my father walked back through the door.
My father looked upset, as if he was grappling for words and just didn’t know what to say. “Alisa, I’m sorry about Reid.” My father swallowed hard. “He was a good man.”
Chapter 10
Gasps sounded throughout the room, and I hurriedly threw my hands up to reassure everyone. “Reid’s not dead,” I said loud enough for the whole room to hear. The idea that he’d perished in an alternate universe somewhere and I’d just left him there made my stomach clench. I’d never do that. “He just went home to be with his family.”
My father blinked at me. “Well, I’m glad to hear it. He and I don’t always get along, but he has some core traits that I think are essential to any man courting one of my children.” He gave a pointed look to Coen, and I couldn’t tell if he thought the other man possessed those traits or not.
Dust and Cinder (Rise of the Dragons Trilogy Book 3) Page 4
