Chapter Seven
It felt strange for Zorion to walk the halls of the temple his own race had once slept within, and to sense the power of the creatures he called kin, but who he had never known. Somewhere within these halls, his own parents waited. Would they greet him with fear and revulsion, or something else? Would they be as accepting of both his aspects as his beloved Neela was?
He caught Zil’s glance and met his darker half’s ebony gaze. Zil’s brow was creased, his lips pressed tight with the same dread Zorion felt.
Ahead of them, Asha practically dragged Naaz along by the hand, bouncing with eager enthusiasm. She glanced back and gave Zorion and exasperated look. “Come on, you two!” she called before running ahead. Naaz gave them an apologetic shrug before tearing off after her down the spiral staircase that seemed to have no end.
Neela pulled up short, tugging on his and Zil’s hands. She looked up at them both with eyes of glowing embers. She still radiated heat, but with practice, had learned to keep her raw phoenix power tamped down to a comfortable temperature, though they’d learned that only clothing conjured from Zorion or Asha’s breath could withstand being against her skin for any length of time. They’d arrived dressed like soldiers, because Neela and Naaz both insisted that was what would be expected of them.
“They will love you both,” she said with certainty. “I promise.”
He shared a dubious look with his darker half. “If you say so. We’ll believe it when it happens,” Zorion said, and reluctantly followed when Neela began walking down the stairs again.
He could feel them as he drew closer. There were thousands of dragons in residence, and he was acutely aware of them all around him, but even more aware of the pair of powerful minds that had joined eons ago to create him. He didn’t dare reach out; they seemed just as reserved as he was. He almost wished for Zil’s relative isolation—without the power of fire running through his veins, Zil lacked the same mental link to their origins and could remain comfortably oblivious.
They finally reached the bottom and found themselves in a huge foyer in front of a pair of double doors. Smaller doors branched off to either side, the presence of all the resident creatures buzzing beyond, but within the room beyond the bigger doors, Zorion only sensed five heartbeats.
Asha and Naaz waited by the doors expectantly. “We should go in together, brothers. The three of us.”
“You ready?” Naaz asked. Neela moved to her brother’s side, each of them grabbing hold of one of the big door handles.
Asha took Neela’s place between Zorion and his darker half and reached for each of their hands. She gave Zorion an excited look, then bestowed a matching one upon his other half.
“Reunion time,” Asha said, the subdued tone the only thing betraying her own nerves.
Neela shot him an encouraging smile before she and her brother pushed the big doors open.
Five sets of eyes shot to the door, and the instant Zorion stepped past the threshold, he was aware of the hopeful mood within. Not just hope, though… desperation greeted him as palpably as if he’d walked into cold water.
Relief quickly followed, and before he knew it, a strikingly beautiful, dark-haired woman rushed toward their group. She shot her blue gaze to each of their faces, her brows only twitching once when she darted her glance back and forth between him and Zil.
“You’re here! Oh, Sweet Mother, finally. My children are here, and safe. Come, my babies, let me hold you!”
Asha didn’t hesitate, and instantly released his hand and flew into her mother’s arms. Belah held her daughter with one arm, waving at Zorion and Zil with the other. He closed the distance to her and embraced both mother and sister in his big, glowing arms while Zil mirrored him on the other side. He didn’t care where this damned temple was, he was home.
After a few moments, Belah slowly extracted herself, though she kept reaching up and touching his face, her eyes wide as she marveled at his appearance. She did the same to Zil and Asha in turn, somehow unable to avoid touching them. She clutched Asha’s hand in hers on one side and gripped Zorion’s tightly on the other, then turned to face the room.
“My babies have come home,” she announced to the four men who waited solemnly by the big table that occupied the center of the huge space.
With only a glance, Zorion knew their souls and that each of them held a measure of uncertainty about him. However, it was most difficult to look at the one man who he knew he would be answering to as a soldier soon enough.
One thing at a time. He faced the big dragon whose dark power was barely held in check. Zil moved up to his side and for the first time, his darker half’s presence gave him comfort as they stood facing their father for the first time in their entire lives.
Ked … the Void … was true to his name, and Zorion sensed the depths of a darkness that even he had trouble comprehending. Ked looked between them both, his expression a solemn mask. He was taking their measure, not just as dragons, but also as his own blood.
Zorion and Zil waited, and Zorion sensed the same dark dread in his other half that he felt roiling inside his own gut. Would their father accept them? Zorion couldn’t see beyond the emotionless void to know his thoughts. He only knew they shared a darkness that would bind them as closely as their blood.
Just when he was nearly certain Ked was going to curse his existence, two new figures joined the group, slipping up behind the big black dragon to flank him. A petite waif of a woman whose belly was swollen with the first signs of a healthy pregnancy touched Ked’s arm gently. “Are you going to introduce us?” she asked in a soft, melodic voice.
On Ked’s other side, a russet-haired man as solid and sturdy as Naaz came up and lifted an eyebrow at the big dragon.
The change was minute, but powerful. Ked’s gaze softened and he swallowed. Then his mouth spread into a subdued smile.
“Evie. Marcus. I’d like you to meet my … my sons?” He glanced between Zorion and Zil. “I must truly be the luckiest dragon alive.”
Before Zorion could react, he found himself hooked behind the neck by Ked’s huge arm and drawn into a half-embrace, with Zil suffering a similar fate beneath Ked’s other arm. His father made no sound, but his big chest vibrated with satisfaction. When Ked finally released Zorion and Zil, his eyes were glassy with emotion.
Reunions and introductions continued. The red-haired man Ked had introduced as Marcus eyed both Zorion and Zil carefully. This was the man Neela had said was one of her brother’s closest friends—one of the three other Elites who had once served under Nikhil as the commanders of the Ultiori army.
“She’s special to us. You take good care of her. Or else.”
“Marcus,” Neela admonished. “There are two of them because they were taking care of me. I’m fine. Better now, thanks to Z.” She grinned and lifted a hand, her fingers outstretched. Flames flared from each of her fingertips. “I can fly now too.”
Marcus relaxed and gave in to the smile that Zorion had sensed under the stern mask he’d displayed since arriving. “I’m glad you guys are here. More firepower … literal fire power …” He glanced at Neela with a smile. “… will go a long way. On that note, I think the boss needs us.”
Zorion’s veins chilled, the steady glow from beneath his skin dimming at the thought of facing the one man he hadn’t yet been introduced to after meeting Evie, Marcus, and Evie’s two brothers, Iszak and Lukas. Nikhil and Belah had been preoccupied talking to Naaz and Asha, but now they’d moved to encircle the big table and glanced up when Marcus led the way over.
He supposed he owed his sister’s father more respect than he felt capable of offering. In his mind, this was the only other man his mate had ever made love to, and part of him despised Nikhil for that. He met the man’s gaze across the table. For a second, Nikhil darted a quick glance to Neela, and then to Zil on her other side before looking at Zorion again and giving him a slight nod.
“We found the child,” Nikhil said, holding Zorion’s gaze for another second before looking at Neela. “Our child.”
Neela let out a gasp, her skin heating to nearly searing. “The baby Meri took? You found her?”
Nikhil nodded. “Calder found her in a tank inside a secret lab within the depths of Meri’s base. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get her out before Meri took her, but we know she is now safe, thanks to Neph and his mates.”
“Where? Can I go to her?”
“That’s the tricky part. Belah’s sister is inside the Sanctuary now, and is on the verge of being able to open a portal for us to join them and to finally end this war.”
“What can we do?” Zorion asked.
Nikhil waved his hand over the surface of the map, and a quartet of colorful, glowing orbs appeared. He tapped one and it enlarged. “Unfortunately, nothing but wait until we get word from Numa. The Sanctuary and the Haven are on lockdown. No one is getting in or out. And even if we could get into the Sanctuary, the time it would take to reach Numa to help would make no difference.
“Neph and his mates have created a temporal bubble around the entire Rainsong Lodge. Time is moving swifter there, but we still have no idea how great the time displacement is between us and them. It’s only been an hour since Aodh let us know they were about to create the bubble. It could be hours longer, or only minutes. We essentially have to be ready at any moment.”
“But what about the baby?” Neela asked. The edge of the table blackened and began to glow with molten heat beneath her grip.
Nikhil directed his attention back to her with no hint of impatience or condescension. He was direct and honest, qualities Zorion found he could admire.
“Meri made the mistake of using a fertile ursa female as an incubator for our daughter. Vrishti is the Summer Spirit’s daughter—now the host of the summer spirit herself. She attacked Meri after they made it into the Haven. This is the first good news we’ve had. Meri’s body has been neutralized within the Haven. All we need to do is get there and destroy the rest of her army.”
Neela tensed, and her temperature rose about a hundred degrees, forcing the human members of their party to flinch and step backward. “She is not neutralized,” Neela said in a brittle voice. “She had the power to get to me halfway around the world.”
“When was this?” Nikhil asked, leaning against his closed fists on the map. “She entered the Haven at midnight, taking Vrishti and her army with her. The attack happened shortly after. Calder’s mother confirmed her body’s a broken shell, though her heart still beats. They’re keeping her alive to keep her soul tethered. If she dies, they fear it’ll release her spirit to head either into another blood-melded host, or straight to the Source, now that she’s in the Haven.”
“Eight hours ago, I was dead,” Neela said. “Meri tried to recapture me and nearly succeeded. You’re telling me she lost that child because Vrishti escaped, right? She must have needed me back because she believed I was the only one capable of giving her a viable baby. There is no fucking way she’s out of commission and locked inside the Haven. Somehow, she still has Hunters out in the world, controlling them.”
“This is bad,” Nikhil said. “It means her power is greater than we feared. There’s no telling where her spirit will land when we finally kill her, if her armies aren’t completely contained. Belah, ask your sister and her mates to come. We need Calder’s help.”
Within moments, three more figures appeared, and somehow the mood of the entire room lightened. It was as though a ray of sunlight had broken through the clouds when Zorion’s golden aunt swept in, two large men on her heels. Nikhil explained the dilemma to them, and the lankier of the two men let out a filthy curse.
“That bad, is it, Calder?” Nikhil said.
“Worse, I’m afraid. If she can reach beyond the Haven to the outside world with her mind, that means she has another power source. It shouldn’t be possible without a proper blood meld, but we all know she’s not above breaking our laws. We can’t discount the possibility that she has another way into the Sanctuary without passing through the Source. We have to warn my uncle.”
“The problem is that we don’t have a way into the Sanctuary. Not the way Aodh and Neph got in. We’re a bit light on immortals who could risk the toll the barrier takes.”
“What if I told you I have a way to get a message to them within a blink of an eye?” Zorion asked. “Would I be able to lend aid inside?”
Neela squeezed his hand, acknowledging his unspoken ulterior motive. If he could get her to her child first, he would.
Nikhil regarded him for a second before nodding. “Every second matters. If you can get into the Sanctuary without a portal, can you get others in?”
Zorion cast a glance around the room, mentally tallying the multitude of auras within the temple beyond. “Not that many. I can take Neela, her brother, and my sister without issue. If we can help speed things along once inside, we will. We have power of our own to offer.”
“Should I waste time asking how you can do this?” Nikhil asked.
“I can’t promise it will actually work,” Zorion said, “But it got us through the barrier to this place.”
Nikhil chuckled and shook his head. “I was afraid to ask, but Belah was too happy to see you all. The barrier is still intact?”
“Like we were never there.”
“Then go now. Hopefully we will see you in there soon.”