They’d barely had time for breakfast with the other two dragon shifters and their mates when they were hastily summoned back to the council chamber.

When they filed in, Liana saw that the cave was illuminated by the eerie light of the symbols that decorated four huge plinths of rock.

Each plinth was the seat of one of the council members, large enough for a dragon to perch on it.

Timothy had told her all about it while they’d lazily rested in each other’s arms in bed this morning. There was one plinth each for the dragon of air, earth and water. And the mysterious fourth plinth bore the symbol of fire—even though there’d never been a fire dragon on the council before.

No wonder everyone was so worried.

Liana really didn’t like the thought of one of those scary fire breathers reclining on a plinth, staring at her from evil eyes and ready to set her on fire any second.

The only fire dragon she’d ever met who seemed almost like a normal human being was Braeden.

But Braeden had vanished—and in any case, he wasn’t the mysterious new dragon of fire. That could only be the scary fire dragon who’d nearly killed Timothy.

And that knowledge didn’t exactly fill her with reassurance...

As soon as they’d made it into the large cave, they were greeted by the sound of huge wings. A second later, the griffin shifter came flying into the cave. He didn’t even bother to shift back. Instead, he was in such a hurry that he flew straight towards them, only shifting back at the last moment so that he nearly stumbled right into them.

“They’re coming,” Jared gasped. His face was flushed and he looked wrung out, as if he’d been flying at top speed for a long time. “They’re coming—and they’ve got Braeden.”

From the shadows, the chimera growled in sudden anger.

“No fire dragon will have a seat on the council,” he roared. “Not after what they’ve done.”

“Hurry,” Jared panted, grasping hold of Timothy’s shoulder to steady himself. “You’ve got to take your mates somewhere safe.”

“I’ve increased Sky Home’s defenses,” the chimera hissed. “No ordinary fire dragon will break through—”

At the exact same moment, there was a flash of blinding light somewhere near the entrance of the cave.

A strong smell of acrid smoke suddenly filled the air. Beneath them, the rock itself seemed to groan in agony.

For a long, terrifying moment, it seemed as if the earth itself stood still.

Liana stopped breathing as she stared towards the cave’s opening. She could feel something immensely old and powerful throwing itself against whatever shield the chimera had erected to protect Sky Home.

And then, just like that, the rock beneath them trembled. Another flash of light rent the darkness of the cave—like the fabric of space and time itself ripping apart.

There was a shrill sound ringing in her ears, and for a heartbeat, it was impossible to see.

Blackness had oozed into the cave.

Desperately, Liana blinked, her eyes tearing up. It felt like she was breathing in stinging smoke—but when she finally blinked away the tears, there was no smoke to be seen.

Instead, four fire dragons had entered the cave. One of them was the large, shadow-flecked dragon who had wounded Timothy.

And in his claws, he held Braeden, who was still in his human form. The obsidian cuffs around his wrists gleamed, blocking his powers.

“I am no ordinary fire dragon,” the new arrival roared. “I am Steele, Master of Fire, Lord of Dragons, Scourge of Humans. I have come to claim what is mine. The reign of fire has begun, and you will bend your knee or die.”

“Never,” Timothy shouted, protectively stepping in front of Liana.

When she looked around, she could see that the other two dragon shifters had done the same. And despite her earlier declaration that she’d ride into Mordor itself on Timothy’s back, her throat was suddenly tight with fear, every instinct telling her to run.

Timothy had been right. She could feel it now. The fire dragon’s power was immense—but it felt tainted somehow.

It wasn’t just clean, hot fire. It was surrounded by a terrifying darkness that tasted like bitter smoke and oppressive shadows. Even now, safe behind Timothy’s back, it seemed to reach out towards her with tendrils of darkness.

Silly human, something whispered in her mind. Run. Run now, or we will devour you. Leave behind your mate or you will die here. Do you think he’ll protect you like he promised? Don’t you know that promises are all smoke and shadows? He’ll betray you. After all, you’re just a silly human girl. What are you to a dragon? He only used you to increase his power. Now that he has the power he wanted, he has no use for you anymore...

For a moment, Liana couldn’t see. The cave had vanished. Instead, she was enveloped by clouds of darkness wavering all around her. The gloom was so oppressive that she could feel it against her skin, darkness pressing in on her until she felt herself inhaling it with every breath she took.

Her heart was racing in her chest. She couldn’t see Timothy. She couldn’t even feel the warm glow of the mate bond anymore.

She was all alone and lost in darkness.

She was all alone...

Suddenly, she heard the sound of laughter in the shadows surrounding her. The sound of it was familiar. It was the mocking laughter of Benny, the day he’d broken up with her.

“Stupid uptight bitch,” he’d called her.

She could hear him whispering it now from the shadows.

You really think anyone could want you? You’re just pretending to like comics for attention from guys like me. And then you won’t even put out. You should’ve been grateful I wanted you. Do you really think anyone else is going to bother with someone like you? Everyone laughed when they saw your ridiculous cosplay photos on Facebook.

Liana’s face burned, humiliation churning in her stomach. For a moment, she thought she was going to be sick.

She’d thought she was over Benny. What he’d said had hurt her a lot at the time—but she’d moved on. She’d found new friends.

She’d never met the right sort of guy, that was true—but she wasn’t a fake fan. She had a real job in the gaming industry now. She got to code dragon adventures for a living—it didn’t get more real than that.

And maybe she was a very curvy Wonder Woman... but so what? She liked her curves, and the costume had made her cleavage look amazing.

Keep lying to yourself, Benny’s voice hissed from the shadows. I bet your mate laughs about you behind your back when he tells his friends that you like to dress up like a silly comics character. He only wanted you because he wanted to come into his full power. Now that he’s had you, you’re useless to him. He could have anyone he wants. Do you know how many women he’s had in that fancy penthouse of his? You’re just the last in a long line. He’ll grow bored of you in a week and throw you away like all those other women...

Liana’s heart ached at the thought of life without Timothy. It was impossible to imagine now. He’d brought such magic into her boring life.

Real magic—not just the daily grind of coding and fixing bugs and finishing a game update, only to immediately get swamped by their players’ complaints.

Maybe Benny was right. Maybe her job wasn’t anything to be proud of. It paid the bills and that was it. She’d never change the world by coding colorful dragons.

But even if that was true, he was wrong about Timothy.

There was a small throb of warmth inside her now. Just one tiny pulse of it, like a golden seed in her heart. But it was enough to lift the oppressive darkness a little.

Slowly, the warmth increased. As she concentrated on it, it grew brighter.

It was the mate bond, she realized at last. It was still there—it had always been there. Despite the tendrils of darkness trying to suffocate her, it had always been with her.

With a deep breath, she reached out for it, opening herself up fully to the golden light.

And then, like a dam that had broken, it rushed into her, filling her with Timothy’s love and that overwhelming joy. She surrendered herself to the steady throb of rightness, the sense of fitting together seamlessly, like two pieces of a puzzle.

Maybe it was true. Maybe Benny had broken her a little.

And maybe Timothy, too, had been broken a bit, always wearing masks and pretending that he wasn’t lonely, keeping everyone at bay.

But together, they were whole, two halves coming together to form one perfect, strong union.

And together, they were stronger than the menacing fire dragon could ever be. Because someone like Steele would never be able to understand the power that could be found in real love.

“We will never kneel to you,” she declared and took a step forward.

Just like that, the darkness vanished completely, as if a curtain had been ripped in half.

Timothy was still standing protectively in front of her. When she reached out to take his hand, she felt the golden light of the mate bond swell until it felt like she was carrying the sun itself.

“Neither humans nor shifters will acknowledge you. You want destruction. We want life. And life will win. It always does.”

At Liana’s defiant words, the fire dragon roared angrily. He was still holding Braeden in his claws—and now he hurled him forward.

Braeden groaned as he hit the floor, rolling across stone until he came to a stop at last in the center of the cave. For a moment, he remained on the ground, motionless. Then he stumbled to his feet, his face a grimace of pain and determination.

“You thought you could turn him against us,” Steele hissed. “I hope you’ll enjoy watching your friend die. I saved that moment just so that you could enjoy the sight.”

“You will leave,” the chimera roared now out of the darkness. The shadows at the back of the cave were shifting quickly, sizzling with power. “You will have no seat on the council. I will kill you myself if I have to!”

“As if you could keep me from claiming what is mine, old monster.” The fire dragon moved forward, shifting effortlessly back into his dragon form. He parted his jaws, flames flickering in his nostrils. Shadows rippled across his fiery scales—and then he exhaled, a lance of red-hot fire racing straight towards Braeden.

In reflex, Braeden had hastily raised his arms, trying to shield himself. But the obsidian cuffs were still encircling his wrists, locking his powers.

Right now, he was just as defenseless as an ordinary human. Liana cried out in terror as she saw the flames rushing towards him.

And then, there was a sudden flash of light.

The symbol of fire on the fourth plinth abruptly burst into flame. From out of nowhere, a shield of fire appeared, surrounding Braeden.

When Steele’s attack hit the shield of fire, it sizzled. For a moment, it burned so high that the flames reached the ceiling of the cave—but the shield kept its form.

And when the flames burned down again, Braeden was still standing in the center of the circle of flames. He was completely unharmed, his eyes wide with shock.

With a roar of anger, Steele shifted back to human. His eyes were completely black, Liana realized, and there were flames dancing in them.

He bared his teeth in rage. Then he raised a hand. Flames were dancing in his palm, quickly growing until a ball of fire was hovering over his hand.

“More chimera magic? It won’t save you now,” Steele growled. “You’ll die here like the traitor you are. You’re no longer one of us, Braeden. You have betrayed the fire, and so you will die by it.”

Liana cried out when Steele hurled the ball of fire straight at Braeden.

But again there was a sudden flash of light. And this time, there was no shield of fire springing up. Instead, there was a high, ringing sound.

The cuffs of obsidian around Braeden’s wrists split in half and dropped to the floor.

Then Braeden raised a hand. And just like that, Steele’s fireball halted in the air.

Braeden closed his hand into a fist. The fireball vanished.

Shocked, Liana suddenly realized that there were flames dancing in Braeden’s eyes as well.

“You’re wrong,” Braeden said calmly, his voice echoing through the cave. “You are the one who has betrayed the fire. And the fire has judged you, Steele.”

“You know nothing,” the dragon shouted, his words coming out in a furious howl. “And your tricks won’t save you. You’ll die now—”

Again Braeden raised his hand. He stood there, calmly, as Steele rapidly shifted and breathed another jet of fire at him.

The fire vanished before it ever touched Braeden. Steele roared in rage.

“Your reign is over,” Braeden said. There was something old and powerful echoing in his voice now. “The fire has chosen a new champion.”

Then Braeden shifted, and Liana couldn’t hold back a gasp.

She had never seen Braeden in his dragon form before. He looked somewhat similar to the other fire dragons. His body was clad in red scales from head to toe, his wings black.

But unlike Steele, whose body seemed covered by shadows that raced across his scales, there was a warm glow to Braeden’s body. His scales were gleaming in brilliant hues of yellow, orange and red, promising warmth and light in the darkness.

“The dragon of fire,” Timothy said, awe in his voice. “It was Braeden all along. But how can that be?”

Braeden spread his wings—and then he rushed at his enemy, breathing a gust of fire that enveloped Steele.

Could fire burn a fire dragon? Liana wasn’t certain.

But whatever Braeden’s attack did was strong enough that their enemy took step after step backwards. He was roaring and hissing in anger, but unable to break past Braeden’s fire.

Liana grabbed hold of Timothy’s arm, her heart pounding in her chest, when the fire dragon at last succeeded in lashing out. His massive tail was raking straight across Braeden’s head.

But even though the attack made Braeden rear back for a second, blood dripping from a cut at his jaw, he didn’t relent.

Braeden took another step forward, breathing another gust of fire, and his enemy took another step back—at last reaching the edge of the cliff.

Without losing a single second, Braeden hurled himself forward.

He bowled straight into Steele. Together, they plunged downward in a bright trail of flames.

In the heat of the battle, Liana had completely forgotten to pay attention to the other fire dragons that had arrived together with their enemy. But now, as soon as the other two shifters had hurled themselves across the ledge, the three remaining dragons saw their chance.

Liana cried out in terror when the three dragons suddenly erupted into flame. Like living balls of fire, the dragons raced towards them.

The cave was lit by an eerie hue of red. Liana’s fingers clenched around Timothy’s arm. From somewhere behind her, she heard Autumn cry out.

Everything seemed to happen very slowly.

A shiver ran through Timothy. She could feel a wave of power coming off him.

The fire dragons were so close she could already feel the painful heat on her skin. There was no time left for Timothy to shift...

Then Timothy’s power erupted.

Cool, blue light seemed to fill Liana. It was as if she’d been transported back to their secret cave behind the waterfall. She could almost feel the cool moss against her back and the gentle touch of clear water cradling her.

Everything had been quiet when she’d sunk to the bottom of the river. Everything had been calm and cool.

And then the blue light seemed to burst, as if a dam had opened.

From wide, shocked eyes she watched as the huge cave was filled by a giant bubble of water. It trapped the burning fire dragons, immediately extinguishing their fire.

And then the bubble exploded.

Suddenly, water was everywhere. It hit her face like a rain shower, rushing past her feet.

The majority of water immediately streamed towards the exit of the cave, and the helpless, defeated fire dragons were carried with it. For a moment, the cave seemed to turn into a river, the current carrying their enemies away.

Everything had happened within a few seconds. Liana’s heart was still racing, and she realized that she’d forgotten to breathe.

The dragons were gone. The cave was strangely silent. She was still standing in what looked like a vast pond of water filling the cave. It reached to her ankles, and she began giggling as the tension began to leave her.

And at that exact moment, Braeden returned.

With powerful beats of his wings, he soared into the cave once more. Gracefully, he landed, shifting at the same moment—only to stare in consternation at his suddenly wet feet.

“What the hell—” he began, trying to wade out of the pool. Instead, he ended up walking straight into a spot where the water went up to his knees.

As Braeden cursed, Liana gave Timothy a suspicious look. Was the floor of the cave really that uneven?

Timothy, who’d been smirking, quickly sobered as he saw her look. With an apologetic grimace, he stretched out his hand. The remaining water immediately began to stream towards the exit of the cave.

“Sorry for that,” he said, not sounding sorry at all.

Braeden glared at him, and Liana felt a sudden, overwhelming sense of relief.

No matter that they’d just almost died, some things would never change. And it felt damn good to see things return to normal again.