Immortal Dragons: The First Four: Prequel + Books 1-3 Page 23

  The dragons were the only race bound by their own law to only breed with humans. There had been only the six immortal siblings born, and so their Mother and Fate encouraged Belah and her brothers and sisters to take many mates among the primitive, yet plentiful mortal race that walked the earth at the beginning of time. They should not dally with each other. Mingling their magic would result in undesirable consequences. Specifically, an offspring conceived of two immortals would upset the fragile balance of magic in the world. Human genetics were simpler and would allow the dragon’s magic to prevail, producing as pure-blooded a dragon as possible with the dragon parent’s magic undiluted by any other magic.

  Four of the six siblings had obeyed, knowing the risks were too great not to. But humans were too simple for Belah—too fragile for the blue dragon who wished for a mate strong enough to be her equal, not one that would be reduced to insanity the second she chose to mark him. She convinced her brother to disobey, and they had come together out of frustrated need to connect on a deeper level with someone less filthy and primitive, less prone to breaking. Belah would forever regret that mistake.

  The son Belah had borne to her brother had been taken from her at birth and hidden away. Even though her old lover, Nikhil, had been human, her unorthodox marriage to him was similarly rejected by their Mother, and the daughter Belah had given birth to taken from her as well.

  Any other dragon who risked breaking the laws would wind up standing trial before Belah and her siblings—together, they made up the long-feared Dragon Council—and if found guilty, would be compelled to submit and become the sexual playthings for one or more of the six immortal siblings until their sentence was complete. On the surface this sounded like a blessing, but in reality, the dragon forced to submit would be rendered incapable of finding pleasure with their mate and would complete their sentence with little sexual desire for some time.

  When Belah or her siblings broke laws, they had an even greater power to answer to, and their Mother and Fate could be very unforgiving. Belah had let her dark cravings lead her astray, had wed a man who should not have been hers, and had allowed him to violate her body and shed her blood for the sake of her own pleasure, and his.

  Her daughter had been taken while Belah lay unconscious after surviving Nikhil’s brutal attention on their wedding night. It didn’t matter to her Mother that she had begged him to do what he had done.

  What mattered was what Nikhil had become. And now both Belah’s children were at the mercy of their worst enemy.

  Were these dreams Fate’s message that those unions would finally be sanctioned by their gods? The Dragon Council itself had agreed to allow dragon pairs to mate each other without fear of punishment. There was ample magic in the world now that it would take more than a few creatures of their power interbreeding to upset things. If the higher races could now mate with each other as well, that changed every precedent.

  When Belah’s pool lay placid, the six siblings looked around at each other.

  “We aren’t going to find them sitting in here,” Belah’s red-haired brother, Gavra, said, stabbing his finger at the pool. “My true mate is somewhere out there, and for the first time in my entire life, I feel confident I won’t drive her crazy by marking her.”

  “Any female who tolerates you is already insane,” Aurum said, earning herself a splash of water that made her laugh.

  “Why now?” Belah asked. “After all we’ve been through, why weren’t we shown these visions before we locked ourselves away? Why couldn’t we have interbred with the other races ages ago? So much pain could have been avoided!” She caught the slightest wince cross Ked’s features and regretted her words, despite how true they were. If they’d had the freedom to couple with the turul at the beginning, rather than the dirty, primitive humans who walked the Earth, she and Ked would never have done what they did.

  Aodh nodded his white-haired head. “True. And yet Fate allowed everything that came to pass. We are different creatures than we were three thousand years ago. The world is a different place, and our entire race has very different priorities now. Your faction was on the verge of civil war with Gavra’s before your wedding ritual, sister. We were well on our way to killing each other.”

  “So we allowed our enemy to do it for us? How does that make any sense?”

  Ever the most patient sibling among the six, Aodh, simply dipped his head. He exhaled, and his white smoke covered the pool for the second time. When it parted, Belah was shown a revolving view of the entire planet. At first, she recognized the concentration of dragon populations that she recalled from her height as Pharaoh of Egypt. Colorful, glowing clouds swirled around, highlighting each of their six Ascendancies. The clouds clashed and merged together, the sizes of each fluctuating wildly, then shrinking little by little until they were a fraction of what they’d been.

  Abruptly, the clouds separated and remained static for several moments, as though time had stopped, yet the globe kept spinning. Soon the colored clouds shrunk by half in the blink of an eye, but every few revolutions of the globe, they’d double in size, then triple, before shrinking again, but never as much as they had grown. The cycle repeated over and over—grow, grow, shrink—and never again did the colored clouds clash.

  “The enemy only succeeded in preventing us from growing our numbers, at first. But before the Ultiori existed, we were in true peril of rendering ourselves practically extinct. Without the threat of death from some force outside ourselves, we would not have grown so strong. Now it is finally our turn as the leaders of our race to ensure the race thrives. None of us had the freedom to truly love before, and now we finally do. We’ve been shown how to keep that love, too.”

  Belah met her brother’s eyes, acutely aware of the excitement Aodh held in check. He had his own dark secrets and had long since been forgiven for them, but like the rest of the family, he still longed for lasting love.

  Glancing around at them, Belah realized how much they had all given up—entire kingdoms left to the control of their descendants while the six of them locked themselves away, all to control the flow of magic to the rest of the race. Their sacrifice for the last three thousand years had ensured there was never a clear trail of magic that could lead the Ultiori to any of the six power centers of the dragon Ascendancies. They’d given up the love of their human subjects to hide in the Glade while their race took care of itself.

  Now their dreams promised something even greater than what they’d had before. None of them had ever found lasting love, even in the thousands of years before Belah’s tragic miscalculation of her own feelings. They’d only ever had each other, and Belah and Ked were the prime example of why that was never going to be enough.

  “But we can’t leave the Glade unprotected…” she protested. The newfound freedom they possessed was almost unfathomable. The very idea of leaving the comfort and security she’d come to rely on for so long was understandably terrifying. But it shouldn’t border on paralyzing her… which was exactly what it was threatening to do.

  “We won’t,” Ked said. “Only one of us will go at a time. The rest will remain behind until we’re certain the Ultiori aren’t seeking out the path to the entrance.”

  Belah breathed a slow sigh of relief, but the feeling was short-lived when she became aware of all her siblings’ eyes on her. The back of her neck prickled with realization.

  “No,” she said, her voice quavering. “I can’t be the first to go. It shouldn’t be me!”

  Ked gave her an understanding look. “It has to be you, Belah, and you know why.”

  Belah closed her eyes and grimaced. Her brother was right. If the Ultiori—if Nikhil—had discovered the shift in the flow of magic, only one thing would distract him from following it into the Glade itself. Over the centuries, he had never wavered in his craving for human women who resembled her, nor for female blue dragons. Her presence in the world would be the best
deterrent to keep him away from the Glade and the source of their magic. But perhaps this was a blessing in disguise.

  She opened her eyes again and fixed her gaze on Ked. “Fine, but if I do this, I am going to do whatever it takes to learn where Nikhil is keeping my babies. The turul mate I dreamed about won’t mean a damn thing if I can’t get our children back.”

  Deep in her belly, her old craving reared its head. The beast that slept inside her had lain dormant for centuries, but the prospect of contact with the one man who had fed that craving roused it from slumber. A wave of nausea overtook her and she buried her head in her hands. No, she couldn’t let him have that kind of power over her again. If there was one thing her winged dream-lover had made her realize, it was that true love was coupled with joy, not oblivion.

  She knew she would need to find him, too, if she were going to be able to endure a meeting with Nikhil. Because without the armor of the turul’s love, she would be powerless to resist the lure of that old addiction.

  Chapter Two

  “What’s your type?” Erika asked.

  The human woman stood on the other side of the bar counter Belah was seated at, chopping vegetables while her dragon mate stirred something aromatic in a pot. Geva’s muscular forearms flexed as he tilted the pot for Erika to toss more ingredients into it. Then he set the pot back on the burner and adjusted the heat, covering it with a lid before he moved to the side and went to work, delicately filleting the fresh fish they’d picked up at the market earlier in the day.

  Belah was mesmerized by the way he held the meat, the strength in his hands such a contradiction to how adeptly he handled the fragile flesh.

  Erika laughed and waved a hand in front of Belah’s face. “Yes, his hands are just as good at whatever you were imagining as they are at cooking, but they’re mine.”

  Belah forced herself to focus on the woman’s words rather than the novelty of the experience of watching a Court dragon cook for her. When she glanced up, she caught Geva and Erika sharing a secretive look, one she read easily as an agreement to make sure Belah was kept satisfied, regardless of how successful they were at tracking down a turul mate for her.

  “My type? I don’t know what you mean,” Belah said.

  “I mean, do you like your men clean-cut or rough around the edges? Conservative or adventurous? Tall or short? Dark-haired or blond?”

  “Or redheads?” Geva offered, smirking as he placed the large, well-seasoned fish into a pan and slid it into the oven. His eyes twinkled and Belah was blessed with a flash of his thoughts—an image reminding her of the day when Geva and the First Shadow, Kol, attended her for a short time with their mouths and their glorious tongues, but there hadn’t been time for much more than that.

  “Babe, you are off-limits,” Erika said, eyeing her mate. “I don’t care how important she is. No offense, Bel.”

  Belah laughed at their banter. “None taken. But I don’t think I can afford to be picky, can I? Turul are known for having mates they are fated for from birth. That means there is likely only one male out of all of them who is the one Fate intends for me to mate.”

  Erika frowned. “Is that so? I don’t suppose there’s a magical races matchmaking website you can sign up on, is there? ‘Single Blue female seeks fated turul mate. Loves sunset flights over the beach, expensive gifts, and orgies in the park.’ ”

  Belah raised both eyebrows. “What have you guys heard about my past?”

  “The preferences of the immortals are legendary,” Geva said. “You six set the precedent for the rest of us, which we followed for centuries. Taking multiple human mates was how we broadcast our wealth. It’s only been the last two generations that scaled back. We do still love our orgies, though—that, at least, is not likely to change.”

  “I heard you had a harem before,” Erika said, leaning on her elbows and looking at Belah expectantly. “What was that like?”

  “It was a necessity,” Belah said with a shrug and followed the pair of them to the dining table, where Geva began serving the salad. While it wasn’t unusual for a lower-ranking dragon to serve an immortal in this fashion, she had expected one as high in rank as Geva to have human servants. Somehow the intimacy of the dinner was comforting, though, and she found herself relaxing and enjoying the company. It allowed her to feel normal for a change, as though she belonged in their world and the burdens of her former life were far, far behind her.

  “Well, I know that,” Erika said. “Geva enjoys reminding me when he’s low on energy. But didn’t you ever play with your pets for fun? Let yourself indulge every once in a while just because it felt good?”

  Belah smiled to herself at the memories of how often she had done just that, though it had been a rare occurrence. She’d avoided creating bonds with the humans who were only intended as sources for the sexual energy she subsisted on. The times she had indulged for her own pleasure were the most memorable for both her and her pets, she was certain.

  A darker memory seeped into her reverie—one that involved Nikhil directing her harem in an orgy that rivaled any other she’d experienced—and she shut down the thought before it could ruin her contentment.

  “I haven’t indulged purely for pleasure in so long, I’m not sure I remember how to,” she finally said.

  “I’m sure it’s like riding a bike.” Erika patted her arm. “If you need a little push, we can help.”

  Geva paused in the process of refilling their wine and stared down at his mate. Belah glanced between them, amused by the red dragon’s surprise.

  “What?” Erika asked, looking innocently up at him. “The poor woman hasn’t gotten properly laid in… how long?” She looked at Belah for confirmation. “Three thousand years?”

  Belah nodded.

  Geva’s brows creased as he returned to the kitchen to collect the main course and brought it back. “My love, you seemed determined a moment ago not to share even what my hands can do.”

  “Oh, I plan to keep you for myself. That doesn’t mean Belah can’t indulge with me if she wants. I’m definitely willing.”

  Geva sat with a somewhat playful scowl and began dishing food out onto their plates.

  “See how infuriating it is to have a human mate with a mind of her own, Belah? You and the rest of the Council were lucky not to have to deal with mates at all for so long. Are you sure you want to try again now?”

  A wave of sadness overtook Belah and she reached for her wine in an attempt to disguise her frown. After a hard swallow, she plastered on a smile, but Geva’s look told her he’d seen through her already.

  “My life isn’t what you thought it was,” she said, too weary from her journey to elaborate. She was hungry in too many ways and reached for her fork, digging into the fragrant meat on her plate. While she ate, she watched the pair across from her and regretted that she would have to refuse Erika’s invitation. The young human’s aura glowed with the vibrant energy of a pregnant female. Glancing between the couple, she doubted that they even realized it yet. Erika’s status meant that Belah could give to them, but shouldn’t take any of their offered energy for herself—not when there was an unborn child who needed it far more than she did.

  Her mood lifted at the prospect, the idea of new motherhood for this young woman causing a sense of well-being to swell inside her. Smiling to herself, she let her worries go for the moment and dug into her food, choosing to imagine what color dragon the pair might produce, and what kind of wonders the child would discover in its life. Even though Belah’s trip was the beginning of another chance for her to experience the same thing, it didn’t hold the same sense of glorious possibility for her.

  As long as two of her cherished children were being held captive by the Ultiori, she would never be fully content in her own life, even if she did find a new mate and conceive a child with him. It seemed ridiculous to even go through the motions of mating again without k
nowing where her son and daughter were. All she knew was that they’d been put into hibernation somewhere safe—yet the enemy had found them with the aid of a pair of Blessed twins who had been corrupted into becoming Ultiori Elites. That knowledge broke Belah’s heart, because she knew those twins. She was the dragon who had bestowed their blessing when they were still inside their mother’s womb. That day had been the day she’d agreed to wed Nikhil—which had become the biggest mistake of her life.

  She forced her attention back to the table and her two hosts. The contentment and love that brightened Erika and Geva’s auras was as cleansing as a cool breeze to her own state of mind, and she took a deep breath as though she could inhale their emotions. She should at least try to enjoy this experience while she could. Perhaps she really would find love again.

  Quietly, she rose from her seat and began clearing dishes.

  “Please, no. Let me take care of this!” Geva said, rising abruptly.

  Belah waved a hand dismissively and he sat again, as though he’d been pushed by some invisible force. He let out a little “oof” sound and the chair creaked under his sturdy weight.

  Belah grimaced. “I’m sorry. I haven’t used my powers in such a long time, I’m out of practice. You two are my hosts while I’m here. It would make me feel better if you let me at least try being human. Don’t coddle me, please.”

  Erika eyed Geva, who frowned but didn’t move, and looked back at Belah. “Be my guest. The trash is under the sink and there’s dish soap down there, too—it’s in a green bottle. Geva thinks we need a housekeeper, but they just get in the way.”