Dragon Rebel (Immortal Dragons Book 4) Read online

  Assana gave the man a soft smile. “You’re the Queen’s father … a human man. You must be very proud.”

  His frown faded and his weary eyes brightened slightly. “That I am, and her mother was too, before she died.” He shot another defeated glance at the clock.

  “I know how it works,” Assana said. “Though I don’t know exactly what it predicts. That event …” She pointed up to the glowing stones. “… isn’t supposed to happen for a couple more decades. Twenty-five years in the future, there will be a war with our enemy. We have plenty of time to prepare … but what worries me is this.” She tapped her finger beneath a lower stone. “This is much sooner, and I can’t fix my power on what it means.”

  “How soon?”

  Assana clenched her fists and turned to him, steeling herself for the conversation she would need to have.

  “Too soon to waste any time. I need to talk to your daughter. I believe events are in motion already and we need to prepare.” Though she hoped like hell that the timing marked by the glowing stone on the clock didn’t mean it was going to take that long to appease her mother and set things right with the ursa. By her calculations, that particular event would occur within days of the coming Spring Equinox. That was still more than two months away, but a far cry from the event that would be more than two decades in the making.

  If it was her mother who was the threat, Assana believed she could still fix this. Nyx was driven by fear and love, her heart broken by the loss of the three most important men in her life. Assana wasn’t immune to the same grief of that loss, and she wasn’t oblivious to her mother’s despair. So she knew she had to tread carefully to fix this, but ultimately felt confident that she could.

  However, if that ominous glowing stone suggested what Assana dreaded, there would be no good way to prepare for what came. Meri and the Ultiori she led were wildcards, but Meri was as good as invisible to Assana when she looked for her, as were her father and the other missing Thiasoi soldiers now. She had no way of knowing whether the Ultiori were in hiding as the rumors had suggested, or if they were merely biding their time for an opportunity to attack.

  All she knew now was that if Meri were the true threat the clock predicted, she needed to make sure all their alliances were intact. She only hoped that the ursa and dragons understood the lengths she had to go to in order to ensure they remained at peace.

  Chapter Two

  Assana

  Assana stood at the edge of the dry lake bed, trying her best to weather the stares of the four clan leaders in front of her. Emma Stonetree, the youngest of the four, thankfully looked more worried than hostile, though the other three glared at Assana with arms crossed in various states of anger, disbelief, and full-on rage. She briefly felt blessed to have grown up with a mother who was generally tolerant and understanding, even if she had completely gone over the edge now.

  In a brittle voice, Solina Windchaser said, “This had better be good.”

  “I’m afraid it’s not,” Assana said. She took a deep breath, rehearsing the words again to make sure she remained as diplomatic as possible before she spoke. “The Haven, as you know, is the core of earthbound power for the higher races. We must protect the Source at all costs. If we lose control of it to our enemy …”

  “Don’t beat around the bush, lay it on us straight,” Solina said, her pale hair and red-eyed gaze disconcerting.

  “My mother’s been diligent about ensuring the security of the Haven. Ever since my father and his squadron of Thiasoi soldiers were captured by the Ultiori, we’ve restricted access. You all know this already.”

  “That was when we originally erected the barrier around the Sanctuary,” Emma said. “It’s been thousands of years … I know things have changed recently, but what could have made her do this? Especially without any warning. The Sanctuary needs the Source’s power to survive. Nyx knows this.”

  “Our males are gone,” Assana said. “I think my uncle Neph may have been the only thing keeping my mother from losing her hold on her sanity. Our breeding pact was only the start of efforts to try to rectify the imbalance in the Haven, but it’s too soon yet to know whether it will work—whether any satyrs will be born from this arrangement. Recent occurrences …”

  Solina huffed and dropped her hands to her sides in exasperation.

  Assana winced. “I’m sorry. The dragons’ breach is the issue. Mother sees it as a betrayal of trust… that the ursa haven’t kept the Haven’s security at heart. When one of the dragons made it into the Haven …”

  “Girl, you’d best not whitewash the true events, not in front of me,” Solina said.

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “I know. I let Aurum and Nicholas in. I believe we need to foster these alliances … these bonds between our races, but Mother isn’t so flexible. Not when the Haven is at risk. That the dragons even made it past your barrier is a threat, as far as she’s concerned. It adds insult to injury that one of them has disappeared with my brother …” She took a deep breath to steady herself for the last part. “And my uncle helped them escape.”

  The three older clan leaders all glanced at each other. In a rich, low voice, the mahogany-skinned Sathmika said, “Why would they need to escape?”

  At the same time, Emma said, “Is my brother all right?”

  “They’re all fine, as far as I know. Neph left the Haven with them two days ago. Mother …” She took a deep breath again, struggling with the thought of divulging the full extent of her mother’s insanity. For the sake of this alliance she should be completely honest, but she hated the idea of allowing the strong, beautiful, woman who’d borne her seem weak in any way. Voice trembling, she finally let it out. “Mother isn’t well. She’s taken an extreme measure none of us could have predicted, and I fear it’s put everything we’ve worked for at risk.”

  “That’s clear,” Solina said. “The Sanctuary is dying without its water source. If it weren’t for the dragons, the barrier would have failed completely by now—thanks to their magic, it still holds. If we had known it would take air and fire magic to truly fortify the thing, we’d have done it long ago. But that doesn’t help what’s happening to the Sanctuary itself. What has your mother done?”

  “She has blood melded the Thiasoi maidens… the entire squadron, except for me. Their minds are compromised. I have to get back inside to fix this, but I’m stuck until I can prove to her that the ursa have met her demands.”

  All four clan leaders cursed. The Autumn shaman, Brigit, bowed her head.

  In a smooth, warm voice, Brigit said, “As unthinkable as it is that Nyx has resorted to blood melding to accomplish her goals, I understand your mother’s pain. I nearly lost my son due to my inability to see past my own desires to what he truly needed. He is happy now, as I must believe your brother is. The dragons are not our enemies—their methods may be risky, but what they do is in the best interest of the wellbeing of all the higher races. What are Nyx’s demands?”

  Assana met Brigit’s golden-eyed gaze. The Autumn clan leader’s jaw was set and her expression cautiously expectant.

  “You are right. Mother won’t restore the Source’s power unless the dragons are taken into custody. You have to lock them up.”

  “No!” Emma said. “They’re our friends. Our allies, and they came here in good faith to find their mates. They brought my brother home. They fixed the damage they caused to our barrier, and even improved the Sanctuary’s security by doing so. I won’t betray their trust. There has to be another way.”

  Assana closed her eyes, struggling to keep her emotions in check. She’d feared this reaction from the ursa queen, but Emma wasn’t a sovereign power here. She may have the final say as queen, but the other three together could override her decision.

  “There is no other way,” Solina said. “But we will not lie to them about the dilemma we face. The dragons may be impulsive and emotionall
y driven, but they aren’t stupid.”

  “They also hate being locked up. Can we even hold the likes of the Council themselves?” Sathmika asked.

  “If we pool our power and call the Guardians home to help, we can contain them long enough to find another solution. At least long enough to keep Nyx happy and convince her to turn the damn water back on,” Solina said.

  Emma nodded, worry clearly etched on her face. “As long as we agree that this is a temporary solution. I don’t want to hold them any longer than absolutely necessary. They’re family now, at least to me. My brother is mated to their sister.”

  “You’re sure they went through with it?” Sathmika asked.

  Solina laughed. “There was no way that cub was going to give that dragon up. If they’ve caused this much trouble, you can bet it’s because they followed through and found the satyr they both loved, to boot.”

  Emma’s comment about family hit Assana with a jolt. The dragons were family to her too, now that her brother shared Aurum with Emma’s brother. And when she finally found a way to be with Aurum’s intense red brother, her ties to them would be even closer.

  She couldn’t let her desire for the red dragon distract her from her responsibilities, though. The Haven came first. Her mother and her fellow Thiasoi came first. She understood her brother’s need to put his brothers-in-arms ahead of love. Now the soldier-nymphs who had taken the place of her father’s lost squadron were in danger, and Assana was the only one who could help them.

  She met Emma’s gaze and saw the desperate worry deep in the ursa queen’s heart. They were sisters now, through the bond their brothers shared. And they had to tread carefully. Her own family might be falling apart, but Assana would be damned if she let their troubles drag everyone else down with them.

  Emma took a deep breath and gave Assana a comforting smile. “We will do what we must, sister,” Emma said. “But it would be good if you were there to help the dragons understand.”

  “Unless she can be in three places at once, I don’t think that’s a wise idea,” Sathmika said. “We need to coordinate the dragons’ capture. While we can hope for a reasonable response from them, we need to be prepared if they aren’t receptive to being locked up, even if it’s temporary. When the Guardians return from their duties outside the Sanctuary, we close down all the portals and have the Guardians prepared to detain each dragon at the same time. The lives of all the ursa in the Sanctuary are at stake here … we’re not fucking around.”

  Brigit looked at Assana. “That means you should choose which of them you want to witness first. Your mother will have you make a blood link to see them each trapped, will she not? She’ll want proof that we’re complying with her demands.”

  Assana swallowed, realizing that this was the moment she had to decide whether to stand by and watch the man she desired get trapped, or first see one of his siblings locked up. She owed Gavra that respect … to be present when it happened, since she was in part to blame. But she couldn’t be there in the thick of it. The idea of seeing the wildness he embodied bound by whatever magic the ursa used to control a dragon as powerful as he and his siblings destroyed her.

  “Mother will want to see them all locked up, but as to which I witness first, I will stay with the Queen,” she said. “The white one is at Stonetree, if I recall … Aodh … Of all of them, I think he’s the best option for me to speak to. He strikes me as the most reasonable. Then he can communicate to the others the wisdom in submitting, and hopefully they will agree to remain your prisoners for the time being without a fight.”

  Emma nodded. “Good. We will call the Guardians home immediately. If we time the dragons’ capture right, we may not need a confrontation at all. We will cast barriers around all three dragons just before dawn while they rest.”

  Chapter Three

  Gavra

  “I still don’t get why you won’t fuck them.”

  “They aren’t mine to fuck,” Gavra said, gamely fielding the same round of commentary he’d been repeatedly forced to endure from the pair of ursa males he’d been spending his days with.

  “But they want you. Every single female we’ve serviced together has begged for your cock. And you actually can fuck them without consequence. Yours or not, you can be damn sure if Theron and I were in your shoes, we wouldn’t say no.”

  Gavra didn’t want to burst Bekim’s bubble by explaining why he had no real desire to fuck any of the ursa females he’d helped the two ursa males service through her estrous.

  “It’s more complicated than mere desire, Bekim. If fucking was what I wanted, I’d be doing it. I don’t need to fuck them when I can fill my well just by tagging along with the pair of you.”

  “That’s just fine by me,” Theron said. “Because we don’t need any competition. It’s better if the females are aware that you’re just a bystander. Do us a favor, though … if you ever do get the urge to mate one of them, let us know, all right?”

  “Fate has already chosen my mates for me. Until I can be with them, I’m happy to do what I can to help the fertile Rainsong females through their estrous. Who are we visiting today?”

  “The clan leader’s niece, Revna,” Theron said.

  “The closest we’ll get to Sathmika’s daughter,” Bekim added with a sigh. “I keep hoping Vrishti will hit her estrous and ask for us.”

  Theron laughed. “In your dreams, brother. She barely gives us the time of day, even with a red dragon in tow.”

  Gavra smiled to himself. Vrishti was not only fated to mate his brother, but she also knew Gavra a little too well to care whether he came or went.

  “Let’s just focus our attention on Revna today. Every female deserves to be the center of your world when you service her.”

  “Any other words of wisdom, oh dragon master?” Theron asked with a smirk.

  Gavra shook his head, chastened by Theron’s remark. After seeing the pair in action for the last few weeks, he knew how capable they were at pleasing women. They sometimes put him to shame. Today would be no different.

  “I will follow your lead, as always,” he said with a nod.

  Theron paused outside a heavy wooden door on the upper floor of the Rainsong clan lodge and knocked. From the other side, Gavra heard plaintive moans before the door opened and an anxious young woman peeked out. Her expression relaxed and she opened the door wider.

  “Thank Gaia you’re finally here,” she said. “Revna’s in the bedroom.” She stood back to let them in, her curious gaze drifting over all three men, then lingering on Gavra’s face for several seconds.

  Gavra glanced around the room, aware of the young woman’s curious stare. He would let her look her fill. His presence at the Rainsong clan lodge was well-known, but he tended to keep to himself. He’d only started accompanying Bekim and Theron to help fulfill their duties out of necessity. The two males alone weren’t quite enough to fill his well, especially since he wasn’t interested in fucking them—or anyone, for that matter. But a female ursa in the throes of her estrous was an incredibly potent source of sexual energy that more than made up for it.

  This young female wasn’t old enough yet, though she was certainly old enough to wonder, and Gavra could feel the curiosity flowing off her in waves as she regarded him.

  Had he met her a couple months ago, he would not have hesitated to introduce her to the pleasures of coupling with a dragon. But ever since meeting the mates Fate had sent him visions of, he had very little desire for anyone else.

  Still, he needed to maintain his energy, and what awaited them through the next door would more than satisfy that need.

  “We will tend to Revna, love,” Gavra said, finally gracing the young woman with a direct look and the full power of his gaze.

  She breathed in sharply, her aura flaring with her sudden arousal. It only took a look? This one was primed for sampling and Gavra almost wished he w
ere interested. His cock stirred at the idea anyway—too bad this pretty thing likely wouldn’t hit her estrous before he had to leave the Sanctuary. He had no idea exactly when that would be, but it had to be soon. Events were converging already, and quickly, now that his sister Aurum had found her mates. There were only three of them left … He, Aodh, and Numa still had to find and mate their fated partners. He hated that knowing the identities and locations of his own didn’t make it easier to complete the task.

  He would be ready for them when the time came, and that meant ensuring he had a full well for whatever eventuality occurred. It hadn’t been an easy task to get Aurum to her mates, so he had to be prepared for anything.

  The fact that one of his mates was the daughter of a Dionarch worried him. Assana had only hinted at the potential instability of her mother. He had known Nyx a long time, but hadn’t seen her for thousands of years. In that time she had lost both a son and a mate, neither of which were likely to have helped the ancient, immortal demi-goddess’s already shaky hold on sanity. Now that her son had returned, Gavra hoped she’d recover somewhat, but Assana’s lack of contact since her trip back to the Haven didn’t bode well.

  She should have returned to the Sanctuary by now to gather additional ursa males willing to mate any of the hundreds of nymphs hoping to produce male offspring. That description matched roughly every unmated male in the Sanctuary—eligible ursa females weren’t exactly plentiful, and even though almost all of them required a pair of bonded bachelor males like Theron and Bekim, the prospect of being sent to the Haven where they would have females tripping over themselves just for a taste of virile male had all the single males itching to be chosen to go.

  Assana had departed less than a week ago with the first collection of around a hundred males, and had smuggled Gavra’s sister and her ursa lover into the Haven as well. Gavra hoped Aurum and Nicholas had found their third and were happy.

  Not knowing the outcome of their particular quest was yet another thing that made him itch. The lack of communication left him with a distinct sense of foreboding. His last contact with Numa and Aodh confirmed what he felt—they needed to be on high alert, because they already knew too well how much damage a mentally unbalanced nymph could do.