by L J Andrews
Ced’s dark eyes studied mine—he wasn’t worried—more curious about what I was doing. Magnus seemed ready to shift and tear my head from my shoulders, so I tossed the second sword at his feet. “Pick it up, prince,” I snarled.
“What are you talking about?”
“Pick it up,” I muttered slower. “There is unfinished business I have with you.”
“I will not fight you with your own weapon. You mean to kill me, though I have done nothing wrong,” Ced insisted.
“Really?” I grumbled. “I do not plan to kill you unless you try to kill me. But I will stand against you today. As I said, we have business between us, and I wish to make my stance very clear.”
What I really wanted to do was run him through in that precise moment. Already the armor along my arms, legs, and the seal between my shoulders ached with scorching blood pulsing in my veins. He did not deserve compassion, but if this was the one who kept me locked in hatred—the dangerous kind that had Jade worried—then I would face it as I imagined Thane or Gaia would want me to.
Ced eyed me through his furrowed brow. With a wave at Magnus, the prince slowly stepped forward and reached for my blade. He was dressed in a russet tunic and athletic pants. Out of his black clothing, he almost seemed…I don’t know, brighter, less lindworm-like.
The prince’s hand curled around the hilt, and he didn’t recoil. Okay, first test passed. I had hoped the blade would burn him since I was positive the Prince of Night was full of dishonor. Ced spun the blade around once in his hand and smirked back at me.
“These are very powerful,” he muttered. “No wonder the dark High Priest wanted them back.”
I didn’t reply. Instead, I raised my sword and slashed at Ced. He knew it was coming and deflected my strike. The power of both jade swords crashing against each other shook into my arm. Ced backed away, his face neutral, but focused.
The prince attacked me with fervor, the cutting edges of the blades sparking, slashing, sliding against each other as Ced pursued me or I pursued him. I gripped the hilt with crushing strength and sliced my sword angrily against its twin. Ced gripped his sword locked against mine. Both our arms shuddered painfully as we refused to yield. My face contorted into a snarl, and I leaned closer to the prince.
“You still wish to mate with her. You lied—but I assure you, prince, I will never let you near her again.”
Ced’s eyes widened and his focus faltered, giving me the chance to thrust my strength down harder until he crumbled to the ground. Ced dropped the sword and stayed kneeling as his shadowy eyes met mine. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about,” he growled.
“Don’t be stupid,” I spat. “You still think an alliance with the elementals is the answer.”
“How did you hear me say anything about mating?” Ced whispered darkly.
I shook my head, my blade resting just at the edge of Ced’s jaw. Magnus and Laina rushed forward, but Ced again waved them away. “You talk so loudly,” I breathed. “I heard you.”
“No,” Ced insisted. “I have never said such things out loud.”
I knew he was curious, but I wouldn’t give him time to wonder. “So you admit it,” I snarled. “You plan to mate.”
Ced smirked, looking into the distance over my shoulder for a split second. “If she agrees, then I’m not sure if anything would please me more.”
Raging blood swelled in my arms. I was going to cut his head off—this was the moment I would become a barbarian like all the violent video games and movies I’d watched in my life. My grip was so tight on the blade, the entire shaft of steel trembled. Compassion was forgotten. There was the admission, and I would do anything to protect Jade, even if she would hate me for it.
“Stop!” a female voice rang in my ears. “What do you think you’re doing?”
My brow furrowed, and I turned slowly. I didn’t miss the little chuckle breaking from Ced’s throat.
“Amber?” I breathed. The royal stomped with a passionate anger directed at me. Her golden eyes were like molten stones in her head. “Amber, he just admitted he plans to mate with Jade still.”
Now Magnus chuckled as Ced lifted to his feet. Amber stepped right next to me. She was my same height, and the emotion raging over her human form warned me she was not one to be messed with at the moment. “Did he now?” Amber glanced at Ced.
“I heard him talking about mating, a royal alliance or whatever, but what he forgets is Jade has my seal, and I have hers,” I hissed at Ced.
“I have not forgotten,” Ced muttered easily. He should be more concerned than he was.
“So, forcing her isn’t beneath you?” I growled.
“I would never force a mate. I am not my father, despite what you might think,” he insisted, taking a step toward Amber.
Amber looked at me incredulously. I had the strangest sensation I was missing something—obvious, too, by the way Laina chuckled behind her hand.
With a frustrated sigh, I breathed in a bit of compassion and met Ced’s eye. “Are you planning to mate with Jade—like you’ve always said?”
“No,” Ced declared. “No, I am not. However you heard me speak of such things, you misunderstood.”
“But you said…I heard you speak of the royal,” I snarled.
“Goodness, Teagan,” Amber hissed. “Is Jade the only royal who could appeal to a mate?”
My throat tightened, and I noticed for perhaps the first time how close the prince stood to Amber. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I sheepishly took my blade Laina now held out. As Thane said—the true story is needed before action. I wasn’t sure I liked that my father had been right in this sense.
“So, you…” I began, glancing at the ground. “You don’t want Jade?”
Ced scoffed and shook his head. “As I told the queen when she first came to my father’s manor, I would not risk my life to mate with someone who was not mine alone. I’ve been screaming this in your face since we met. I am not your enemy.”
“But you two…” I drifted my blade between Amber and Ced.
“When this is all over, yes, Teagan,” Amber whispered, her eyes drifted toward Ced, whose jaw pulsed in genuine nerves. “I hope the prince might find me a worthy mate.”
Ced’s smile said a hundred words all at once. He released a nervous breath and kissed the top of her hand. “I found that out long ago. I’m confident there will be a time when an alliance with me will not cause so much…anger.”
Ced finished by looking at me. I shifted, suddenly wishing mage power could make me disappear. I was angry still. I hadn’t given up my grudge at Ced for putting Jade at risk around Nag and Bron, but this…well, it helped.
“Well, then,” I mumbled slowly. “I’ll just…I’ll go. Amber, do you…do you want me to keep it a secret?”
Amber chuckled, her shoulder brushing against Ced. “Why?” she asked sincerely. “How will we ever find peace if we continually behave as though the lindworms are a dark secret that must be kept?”
I offered a curt nod. “Right.”
As I left a singular royal alone with the lindworms, I should have felt protective, but instead I was confused. I hated Ced, yet was grateful he’d returned Jade unharmed. I wanted him to leave, yet the power of the night was strong and gave us an edge. Shaking my head, I rushed toward the dining hall where Jade stood next to Johan, Liz, Gaia, and Mitch. Johan was creating amazing displays with ice.
Wrapping my arms around Jade’s waist, she startled, but soon leaned her head back against me. I clutched her tight, with a new, desperate gratitude for her—all of her. She didn’t say anything at first, but must have sensed my frenzied heart and clasped her hands around my arms. Burying my face in her neck, I breathed the vanilla citrus scent that came naturally to Jade. Gaia smiled, but drew the others attention toward Johan.
“You inspire me,” I whispered against her skin, leaving a trailing kiss against the nape of her neck.
Jade chuckled. “I can’t imagine why?”
<
br /> She faced me, folding into my body as though we fit together perfectly. Resting my forehead against hers, I felt a calming relief. There was one less thing threatening to take her from me. “I want to be more…compassionate…like you. Just know, I’m working on it—and you are the inspiration.”
Jade trapped my face in between her palms and offered a watery smile. “I have never met another with the depth of feeling as you. Your loyalty inspires me. I would not be who I am without you, Teagan Ward.”
I brushed my mouth over hers, forgetting—or simply not caring—that the others were in the room. Nothing mattered in the moment. Only Jade.
Chapter 19
The Queen
“It’s time, we cannot wait any longer,” Onyx insisted as he paced around the pit of flames. Thane leaned back, Gaia’s arms wrapped around his neck. Everyone seemed more relaxed tonight—I was grateful only those I trusted most had stayed awake.
“I get to come again, right?” Mitch asked. His fingers were still wrapped in linen cloth from his injury. Gaia had been just as surprised as me at how long a wound from the jade swords took to heal. Teagan had apologized for two days until Mitch tossed a knife past his head to quiet him—reminding everyone he was no ordinary human.
“You already know the answer, delicate flower,” Raffi grumbled with a smirk.
Mitch offered the warrior a rude gesture, but seemed genuinely disappointed.
“The onyx stone is perhaps the most guarded and will be the most difficult to retrieve.” Donovan muttered. The onyx mage was stern, and it had become my life’s pursuit to make him smile.
“I beg to differ, you forget the fire stone is lodged in the dark High Priest’s blade,” Ruby replied softly.
Teagan stiffened, and I knew he was thinking the same as the rest of us—it seemed impossible to take the fire stone back.
Donovan huffed. “Well, all I’m saying is I don’t think an injured human would fare well on such a journey.”
“It’s nothing personal, Mitch,” Onyx insisted. “We just want you healthy for the fun part—when we actually fight with the stones.”
“Yeah, I get it,” Mitch mumbled, leaning back in a huff against the wall.
“It’s been long enough since we retrieved Sapphire’s stone,” Donovan continued. “We should go. If the lindworms know we’ve taken back three of the stones, Bron will direct all his forces for the onyx stone.”
“I don’t disagree,” Thane said. “I just have concerns because we will need to take less to dull our energy from Nag and Bron, but it also leaves us at risk of attack without a full army.”
“Well, we can’t just leave it there,” Amber offered. Amber didn’t voice her thoughts often, but it seemed lately she had more to say. Now that Teagan had discovered the truth of Ced and Amber’s relationship, I wondered if her desperation for this war to end had more to do with the prince than anyone else.
“You’re right,” Sapphire muttered, tapping the flat side of a dagger back and forth on his knees.
“Then we go,” Onyx declared.
Thane scrubbed his face with his hands and leaned forward on his knees. “I have concerns leaving the cave.”
“We will be fine,” Gaia urged, her lips brushing along his ear. “You returned within a day last time. Work swiftly, do not take risks, and you will be back before anything could happen. You forget at times, I am not a helpless creature.”
Thane offered a booming chuckle. Everyone grinned. Teagan’s hand found mine in my lap while he watched his parents. Thane drew Gaia’s lips to his quickly. “That, I will never forget.”
“You are coming?” Teagan whispered.
I smirked, tugging on the powerful stone around my neck. “Yes. I will not stay behind unless my presence is more of a risk.”
“I’m afraid at least three royals will join us on this journey,” Donovan interrupted, obviously overhearing our private words. “From what Celeste has told me, the sapphire stone will be of use. Of course, the jade stone would never be turned away.”
Konrad glanced at me, his eyes smiling though his lips never fidgeted.
Thane stood, his pale eyes locked on the fire. “Then we leave just after dawn.”
“There is tension in the air,” Gaia whispered. “Take care, all of you, and return quickly. This fight will not be long before it is at our door.”
The others took the words as motivation, but instead of fueling with fire to stand against our enemies, I was filled with dread.
I soared next to Thane. Teagan didn’t ride on my back—I think it was strange for him at times—though I never minded. Celeste, the mage who had hidden the stone years ago with Thane, rode behind Donovan astride Onyx. She’d led us past the shore, and now we flew across the wide, gray ocean. The air was deliciously salty and fresh, and there wasn’t a glimmer of land in sight beneath the clouds. When Donovan explained the onyx stone used water to conceal its power, I didn’t think middle of the ocean.
Celeste patted Donovan’s shoulder wildly as the sun lowered to late afternoon. Donovan nodded, and Onyx roared us into a halt.
We’re here, I said, hoping Teagan would hear. It seemed to work, because he nodded and smiled.
“It will take energy to open the cavern!” Donovan shouted through his cupped hands. “Teagan, I will need your strength and Celeste to keep it open.”
Teagan nodded, and I saw him bend down by Thane’s eye. They must have said something between one another, because Teagan chuckled and patted the side of his father’s neck before drawing both his legs to one side of Thane’s shoulder blade and tucking the extra weapons securely on a harness around Thane’s neck.
I was quite surprised when Donovan leapt off Onyx without a hint of instruction on what we were to do. The mage landed in the water from at least eighty feet. Now, I knew he wasn’t exactly human, but even if I were to take such a leap in my human form, it would feel like cement against my legs. Donovan sank beneath the soft waves of the ocean. The sky was clear, and I could hope there was at least decent weather for our attempt to get the stone.
Teagan pointed toward the water where Donovan had disappeared. It swirled and frothed like a cyclone was forming in the center of the water. Celeste stood and glanced back at Teagan. “We must go help him open the way. It is too much energy to hold such a thing open for long.”
You’re not jumping down there, I shrieked through my thoughts.
I have to, you heard Celeste, Teagan responded, glancing at me.
I’m going. I’ll be fine, don’t worry. He mumbled in response.
That was impossible.
Thane lowered more than Onyx had for Teagan to jump. Teagan landed in the center of the swirling water, Celeste just behind him. My heart panicked when I didn’t see him surface for several minutes. I swooped low, Thane flying around the space with notable agitation. The sky darkened. Strangely, the more powerful the water swirled about, the stormier the sky became.
A burst of energy whipped against my scales, blowing me back slightly and disorienting my surroundings. Ocean spray whipped along my face, and I couldn’t grapple with what had happened with the dense water of the cold ocean. Where the water had bubbled and started to react to Donovan’s energy, now a funnel opened wide, creating a vortex of salt and wet down to the ocean floor. The wind fury pounding against my wings made it difficult to hold steady. Teagan and Celeste were at the bottom of the funnel, their hands pressing desperately against the slippery sand and coral. Donovan had his arm swallowed by a deep hole in the floor. He shouted painfully and the funnel faltered. The water spilling over their heads.
Teagan was sopping, but I saw him concentrate more. Something was wrong. I could feel the urgency as they tried to take the onyx stone.
What is happening, I shouted in my head.
Teagan didn’t look up, but his voice had a level of panic in my mind as his hands dug so deep into the sand they were lost in the brown muck. Donovan says the stone is not releasing. It’s taking his ener
gy as payment to take the stone.
Why would Celeste make it impossible to get without sacrificing energy?
They were guarding them from Bron, Teagan’s voice hissed. It seems all the mages were a little desperate to keep them hidden.
I swooped my wings angrily. First, Teagan’s blood was required for Sapphire’s stone, now draining a mage of energy. I’d spent enough time with Gaia to know draining energy was the equivalent of bleeding out for a mage. It was quite possible Donovan would not be able to survive.
Sapphire came in low by the opening of the funnel. The closer he came, the wider the opening spread. I grinned against the new furious wind that billowed beneath my wings.
This is strong power, it is trying to prevent me from helping, his voice snapped through my mind.
Keep holding, I pleaded.
Onyx flew by Sapphire, his large black body hovering over the water. I hoped between the mages and the two royal dragons, more power could be added to keeping the ocean from drowning the one I loved most.
Watching the struggle a little longer, a stream of panicked flames burst from my throat. Teagan! If he can’t keep his energy how—
I didn’t get time to finish before Teagan’s voice shook through my brain. We can’t hold it. There’s too much energy locked in the water. Without Donovan—it’s beginning to drain me.
I didn’t wait to explain to any of my fellow dragons. Thane shuddered next to me when I darted into the swirling funnel. Inside was amazing—and terrifying, all at once. Teagan wasn’t wrong, an odd suction caused me to feel weak the farther I darted to the ocean floor. The water along the sides of the funnel spilled in heavy splashes across Celeste and Teagan’s backs. Donovan was slumped over the hole when I shifted quickly, the burn of my scales still on my skin when I landed on the ocean floor. I grasped Teagan’s shoulders, pulsing as much of my own energy through the veins of our bond. The jade stone—I could command elements, I reminded myself. Teagan shuddered, his eyes blinking as though he were trying to keep himself awake. The water fell in buckets over our heads. As I signaled my command over water to remain open, I understood what Sapphire meant. The pressure to give way and abandon my energy was suffocating.
