Dragon Equinox (Immortal Dragons Book 6)

by Ophelia Bell

  Cade smiled at Numa and reached for her hand. As their palms touched, the light in the room flickered, brightening to a blinding flash before returning to normal. Vrishti let out a sharp gasp and clutched her belly.

  “Something’s wrong! Oh, god. Why can’t my mother be here?”

  Numa rushed to her side, casting a quick glance back at Cade. Her look seemed to hold a promise, a message that they would pick up where they left off, once she’d seen to Vrishti.

  “It’s all right, honey,” Numa said, crouching beside Vrishti’s chair. “Can you show me your belly?”

  Neph looked stricken, his face as pale as the dragon by his side. Cade gripped his friend’s shoulder. “Want to explain to me how she got this way so fast? I have the sense that this is a story I’ll want to hear, especially now that it’s thrown a wrench into this ritual we need to get done yesterday.”

  The big satyr grimaced. “The child isn’t ours. Vrishti was captured by the Ultiori long enough for Meri to implant a fetus inside her womb. Meri needed Vrishti’s link to the Source to keep the child alive. Her plan, we believe, was to transport the child to the Haven, remove it by killing Vrishti, then use direct contact with the Source to complete its transformation into whatever creature she intended it to be.”

  Cade let out a low whistle and looked at Vrishti, whose pregnant belly was exposed now with Numa’s hands resting gently against it. Her hands glowed with subtle power and a green ring of smoke slowly encircled Vrishti’s head, tiny tendrils of it seeping into her mouth and nose.

  “What is the creature?” he asked in a low voice.

  “It’s a baby,” Aodh hissed. “Innocent. But something’s not right about the pregnancy, beyond the obvious. She wasn’t that big when we brought her here.”

  “Aodh!” Numa called. The white dragon jumped to action, crossing the room in two strides to reach Vrishti and his sister. “Carry her to the bed. She’s going into labor. Sophia, help me calm the baby, my magic isn’t reaching it.”

  Cade stood by, feeling like a useless lump. “How’s your singing voice?” Zephyrus asked.

  “Fine, I guess? Why?”

  “Because I need your vocal cords to help. My magic will do far more good this way.”

  Cade had no idea what he meant until Ozzie and Sophia took a spot on either side of the bed and began to sing. Ozzie beat out a slow rhythm like a heartbeat on his thighs with his palms while his grandmother swayed. Their voices merged, a deep tenor and a sweet soprano, and Cade knew exactly what he had to do. He opened his mouth and sang, letting Zephyrus provide the words.

  Chapter 4

  Numa

  The music filled the room with a lulling rhythm that soon banished the sense of urgency Numa had been feeling all day. Even with Vrishti’s impending delivery, she became calmer and more centered than she’d felt in ages. She rested on her knees between Vrishti’s spread thighs, one hand on the other woman’s belly, urging Vrishti to breathe.

  Ozzie and Sophia perched at the edges of the bed on either side, Ozzie still beating out that comforting rhythm on his thigh while the others sang. But while the song itself was beautiful and had succeeded in calming Vrishti’s distress and easing the baby’s delivery, it was the deep bass at her back that had captured Numa’s attention.

  Cade was a striking man to begin with. Compared to the pair of Rainsong ursa she spent most of her time with, he had a much easier manner. Bekim and Theron had each other, and they fed off each other’s mutual need to please her. There was no such urgency in Cade. He seemed to simply accept what came his way, to take it all in stride.

  She didn’t have time to feel guilty about her need to find a mate powerful enough for the ritual. Bekim and Theron were dear to her, but simply lacked the magic required.

  Now that Zephyrus had a willing host who was free to agree to a mating, she hoped his power would prove to be enough. He was the immortal West Wind, after all, and she’d seen the way his aura flared with that power when Ozzie had transferred Zephyrus to the ursa. Perhaps she’d been a little disappointed that the transfer had been so simple. She’d have enjoyed an excuse to sample Ozzie’s Nirvana once, but none of that mattered now that Vrishti’s mysterious baby was about to arrive.

  “Push, honey,” she said in a soothing voice. Vrishti nodded and obeyed, bearing down enough that the smooth crown of the baby’s head appeared. “Good girl.”

  Vrishti let out a long groan. “Neph … Aodh … I need you!” she cried, tears streaming down her face.

  The two big men pushed close, and the two turul didn’t miss a beat, continuing their song while they made room for Vrishti’s mates to take up the spots on either side of her. Numa’s brother lent his breath to his mate, expelling a cloud of white smoke that encompassed her.

  “Not too much, brother,” Numa said. “She needs to be conscious for this.”

  Aodh nodded and settled on the big bed beside Vrishti, gently kissing her sweat-soaked temple and smoothing her dark hair from her face. Neph rested on the other side, accepting Vrishti’s hand and squeezing tight.

  The trio’s strong affection touched Numa, and she darted a glance over her shoulder. Cade was there, still carrying on the same harmony with his deep voice. His blue eyes twinkled at her, making her heart flutter. She’d have loved nothing more than to close her eyes and let his song lull her, but Vrishti and the baby were too important.

  At Numa’s urging, Vrishti pushed again and the baby surged free in a torrent of power-rich fluid. Sophia was ready with a blanket, never once faltering in her singing.

  Numa tended to the baby with practiced efficiency, cleaning it and severing the umbilical cord with a swipe of a talon, then searing the end with a quick, flaming breath.

  “She’s a perfect little girl,” she said, setting the tiny bundle into Vrishti’s outstretched arms. When she stepped backward off the bed, Cade rested a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

  She gave him a grateful look and covered his hand with hers. He would be an easy man to mate, of that she was certain, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was betraying Bekim and Theron somehow. They all knew the stakes, and that the mate she chose had to be equal to the challenge the ritual dictated. She just wished making the choice didn’t have to be so complicated.

  The turuls’ singing had softened. Cade no longer added his voice. Only Ozzie and Sophia still hummed quietly, Ozzie’s steady, rhythmic beats continuing while Vrishti bared a nipple to the baby who greedily latched on. When she began to suckle, it was as though a collective breath was released. Cheers rang out, and Numa realized they had a much bigger audience than she’d been aware of during the ordeal.

  She glanced around to the people spilling in the doorway and her gaze landed on the two pairs of eyes not fixed on the new mother. Theron’s bearded face concealed his expression, but Bekim’s frown left no mystery. Their eyes fixed pointedly on Cade’s hand where it still rested on Numa’s shoulder, hers clasped around it. She dropped her hand and pulled away, ready to go after the pair as they slipped back out the door.

  “By the Winds, something isn’t right,” Sophia said. Her strident tone drew Numa back.

  “What is it?” she asked, forcing her attention back to the tableau on the bed.

  “This child has no soul.”

  Numa stared in disbelief at the idyllic scene of the mother ursa with her newborn and her two doting mates. Nothing could have been more perfect. But Vrishti’s adoring look registered no alarm at the declaration, nor did Numa’s brother or the Dionarch, both of whom had happily claimed the child as their own despite her uncertain parentage.

  That was when she realized how right Sophia was. The baby’s aura was a strange, shimmering cloud with no clear identity. While a new child was often a blank slate as far as personality traits went, their auras always held some hint of their destiny. Numa wasn’t adept at reading them the way her sisters were, but she did feel an odd kinship with the uncertainty that surrounded this baby.

 
“Is that a bad thing?” Cade asked.

  “It is troubling, but not dangerous for the child,” Sophia explained. “Somewhere in this child’s creation, Fate failed to note her existence. It will make for a lonely life for her … without a soul, it will be impossible for her to find a soul mate. The more pressing concern is how quickly she grows. She’s already opened her eyes and recognized her mother. Look.”

  The baby had released Vrishti’s nipple and kicked her blanket away. She lay cradled in her mother’s arms, her fat little hand reaching toward Vrishti’s face as soft cooing sounds emanated from her chest.

  Vrishti cooed back and beamed. “Perhaps if we find out her true nature, we can find a way to give her a soul. Can you tell what she is? When I first saw her, she had wings and talons, but she looks like a normal human baby now. Except for her aura …” Vrishti directed her gaze to Numa, pinning her with a stare that reminded her of the Summer Spirit who resided inside the young ursa now. “Her aura looks like yours.”

  Numa stiffened. “My aura?” She lifted her hands and looked down at them, shifting her sight so she could be aware of her energy. It was tricky to see one’s own aura, but not impossible. Nothing seemed off to her, beyond the flickering of uncertainty about her choice of mates. “My aura’s just fine.”

  “No. I see something different from the others,” Vrishti said. “I don’t know why only I can see it. It’s fading now, though… When you came to us this morning, it was a bright, flickering rainbow, like hers.” She looked down at the baby. “But now it’s only… green.” Vrishti frowned. “So strange.”

  Sophia hummed softly and moved to the side of the bed closer to Vrishti, forcing Aodh to lean back to give her access. The ancient turul seer rested her hand on the child’s head and whistled a low, melodic tune that tickled Numa’s ears. She rubbed her ears slightly, trying to decide where she’d heard the song before. The baby’s eyes widened and she punched her fists into the air, gurgling and laughing.

  Sophia looked up at Numa with a brow lifted. “You heard the song too?”

  “Yes. What was that?”

  “It was a test. Confirmation that the child has been overlooked by Fate. In her case, accidentally.”

  Numa’s stomach dropped. “But in my case by design… is that what you’re saying? But I know I have a soul.”

  Sophia stepped back and let out a long sigh. “You are Fate’s daughter. There is no way he’d have overlooked you by accident. Unlike this child, you do possess a soul. But without Fate’s mark to guide you, it will make your quest to find a mate a bit more complicated.”

  Numa laughed. “As if it isn’t already complicated enough? I’d like to just get on with it. With Zephyrus’s power, there’s no reason Cade isn’t perfect. I’d rather not wait.”

  “We’re happy to get things moving too,” Cade said. He dipped his head when the others looked at him. “If I’m not out of line in saying so, it was mentioned we’re on borrowed time. And my new partner seems like he’s itching to get a move on. He seems to think what you say next is going to slow things down even more.”

  Sophia’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Zephyrus isn’t above Fate’s rules. And I fear your lack of clear direction was indeed part of a bigger plan, Numa.”

  An unexpected breeze blew in through the open window, smelling of spring flowers. Numa couldn’t bring herself to enjoy the scent, not when she was sure what came next would very likely ruin her life. It was bad enough that she’d been neglected by her own father while all her siblings were given clear foreknowledge of the mates they were meant to be with.

  She set her teeth, grimly waiting for the other shoe to drop. “What is it to be, then?”

  “A contest for your favor,” Sophia said. “When you and your siblings were born, Fate decreed that one of you would be free to choose, and that when the identity of that one became clear, any of the immortals who wished for a dragon mate would have the opportunity to win your love.”

  Numa opened her mouth to protest. They didn’t have time for such nonsense. But Ozzie was the first to speak.

  “This is bullshit, Nanyo. You’ve had all day to warn her that this was happening. She didn’t have to be left wondering.” He turned a piercing stare to Cade. “And you … Zephyrus, I mean … You knew too, didn’t you?”

  Cade’s brows drew together and he raked a hand through his hair. His gaze turned inward, and a second later, he nodded. “He says he knew about the promise, but not who it would be. He only hoped Numa would be the one.” Turning those laughing blue eyes to her, he said, “He’s been in love with you since time began.”

  Numa felt weak. “I don’t believe him. I know all the bets he made with my brother Gavra over who would bed Nyx first. None of the other immortals ever showed an interest in me.”

  The truth was, she’d been relieved when she and her siblings had ultimately decided to cloister themselves in the Glade. She’d grown weary of life as a goddess with only weak humans for company. A few of her siblings had developed deeper attachments that had ended tragically, so none of them were particularly keen on remaining in the human world by then. But Numa had always secretly envied her siblings for the love they’d found in those early days, and had seen herself as undesirable for the lack of interest she’d received from their sister races.

  Cade pressed his lips together as the contemplative look crossed his face again—Zephyrus making his case, no doubt. Then he began to speak, but in a voice very different than the one she’d heard when she first met the big ursa.

  “Do you remember how you were in the beginning? The dutiful daughter who sought only to do what was right. You followed all the rules, never once showed any interest in testing boundaries. It was intimidating, but the most beautiful thing about you. Not to mention the sheer power … You are the reason dragon queens are always Greens…” Cade paused, his brows lifting with interest. “No shit, you’re the reason? I always wondered…”

  “Tell Zephyrus if he’s trying to gain some advantage in this damn contest, he’s wasting your breath,” Numa snapped.

  Cade’s mouth quirked and he scratched his beard. “He can hear you just fine.” He gave her a grin. “And he says the reason he made those bets about Nyx was because she was safe. He knew she’d wind up with Nereus … I guess Fate told him. You, he feared … If you were the one who would be allowed to choose, he risked getting in too deep and winding up out in the cold if you rejected him. He says he tried getting Fate to promise you to him, but was told no every time.”

  She moved to the empty chair by the window and sat, barely conscious of the warm spring breeze blowing across her face. She was numb amid the revelations. The West Wind had wanted her all this time. But within the last two months, she’d become so attached to a certain pair of ursa, her heart broke at the idea of hurting them by choosing someone else. And now to be told she’d have to choose between all the immortals who might have secretly been waiting all this time just to mate a daughter of Fate?

  Taking a deep breath, she gathered herself. “Sophia, who are the suitors to be, then? I know Zephyrus is one … with Cade as his proxy…” She gave the big ursa a formal nod, but refused to show more of the churning confusion that plagued her now. “Who else?”

  “That, I can’t say,” Sophia said. “We should gather in the throne room, if the Summer Shaman allows, and I will make the formal call. We shall see who arrives and set the terms of the contest then.”

  Numa glanced at Vrishti, and her demeanor softened at the sight once again. “What of the baby? Will she be all right?”

  “Her fate is undetermined, but she is perfectly healthy,” Sophia said. “We will keep a close eye on her, regardless. I’m more concerned about how quickly she’s growing. This temporal bubble may not be the ideal environment for a newborn.”

  “Then we should waste no more time,” Numa said. “The sooner we get this contest over with, the sooner we can take down the bubble and win this war. I need to take care of one thing
, and then I will meet you in the throne room.”

  She stood and brushed her hands down the skirt of her dress, bracing herself for the conversation she knew was imminent.

  The others had cleared out of the room by the time Numa finished ensuring that Vrishti and her baby were doing fine. Sophia was right about the baby’s growth, however. It had barely been an hour, and she was already half again as big as she’d been when Numa had caught her tiny body slipping out of Vrishti’s womb.

  “Come and get me if anything worries you,” she said, giving both of Vrishti’s mates hard stares. The men both dipped their heads obediently.

  She left the room feeling out of sorts. All her life, she’d been the wise one—the one her siblings came to with their worries, the rational voice who kept order when it was needed. They listened to her. And it wasn’t just them, either. It was a product of the power she held as a Green Dragon, partially tied to the Earth and Gaia herself. That protective maternal magic could give life, but was capable of great destruction if needed to protect life instead.

  Perhaps this was why Fate had decided to let her be the one to choose. Had her father understood something about Numa that even she wasn’t aware of?

  After watching each of her siblings seek out the mates from their dreams, she had asked herself if she could have even accepted being told who to be with. She couldn’t deny that her siblings had all found love and happiness with their fated mates, but had also marveled at how easy it had seemed that they accepted the ones chosen for them.

  She would get to choose. Even though the idea should have pleased her, she was terrified. What if she chose wrong?

  She paused outside the door, taken aback by the sight of Cade in his golden-maned glory leaning against the wall in the corridor. High roof lanterns allowed morning light to stream into the space, and it caught the silver highlights in his hair, his beard, and his eyes, making him seem less like the summer sun worshiper she’d first thought him and more like a winter god.