I glared at the man in front of me with his all-too-familiar hazel eyes. Doran, the Azure Dragon, was one of the men I’d spent months training to defeat. It was my destiny to help overthrow him and the rest of the Black Dragon’s mates to restore balance to the world. They’d only brought chaos, misery, and death to the four Realms, and now they’d kidnapped the woman I loved. I wanted to rip his head off, set fire to his body, and watch his bones turn to ash, but I couldn’t—because he’d just told us he was Kira’s father.
Doran had the tanned, weathered skin of a man who spent his days in the sun, and his long sandy hair was wind-tossed and a little wild. While Isen, the Golden Dragon, had the bearing of a prince, and Sark and Heldor, the Crimson Dragon and the Jade Dragon, were obviously warriors, Doran looked more like a sailor or a pirate, especially with his scruffy beard, plain white shirt, black trousers and boots. I wasn’t fooled by his appearance though. The man was dangerous, and he was our enemy.
“Why should we believe anything you say?” I asked, while my hand lingered on the hilt of my sword and fire burned inside me, begging to be released. Slade and Auric tensed beside me, ready to join me if things turned ugly. We stood in the ruins of the Earth Temple surrounded by shimmering crystals on the stone walls, a broken Dragon statue, and two bodies on the ground. One of them was Reven’s.
Doran held up his hands as if in surrender. “I realize you have no reason to trust me, but Kira’s life is in danger and we need to rescue her before it’s too late.”
“You knocked her out and carried her away, but now you want to rescue her?” Slade asked, his voice a low growl. His green eyes were hard as stone and a thin layer of sweat coated his dark skin despite the chill in the air. He’d been unable to stop Kira from being kidnapped, only minutes after he’d completed the bonding with her that allowed him to turn into a Dragon, and it obviously weighed heavily on him.
Auric’s gray eyes flashed with anger. “If you’re her father why would you kidnap her in the first place, knowing it would put her life in danger?”
“Kira was obviously going to be captured one way or another,” Doran said. “I took matters into my own hands to make sure she wasn’t injured in the process. The others would not be as careful with her life as I was.”
“You could have helped us stop them,” Slade said, crossing his thick, muscular arms.
“Perhaps, but I’m not ready for Nysa or the others to know my true loyalties yet. The Black Dragon still trusts me, which allows me a great advantage.” Doran’s eyes narrowed. “But I won’t let my daughter be killed either. I’ve spent my entire life protecting her and making sure the other Dragons never found her. I’m not about to stop now.”
My fingers still hovered near the hilt of my sword despite his words. I wanted to believe him, but we had no reason to trust anything he said. “I don’t like this,” I said to Slade and Auric. “For all we know he could be leading us into a trap.”
“I could be,” Doran agreed. “But you’re never going to be able to rescue Kira without my help. Especially with one of your men down.”
Reven’s body was encased in a thin layer of ice, the only thing keeping him alive after the Dragon attack. Beneath the ice, his black hair was thick with dried blood, and his side was horribly burned. He’d sacrificed himself to protect Kira, and her magic was the only thing that could heal him. By saving her, we’d be saving him too.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t save the life of the man lying beside Reven. Parin had been the leader of the Resistance and despite his uncomfortable past with Slade, he’d led Kira and the others to the Earth Temple. He’d died trying to protect Kira from the Dragons, and he’d be remembered as a hero once this was all over.
Auric ran a hand through his short blond hair, his face pinched. “I don’t trust Doran either, but he has a point. Without our bond it could take us a long time to find Kira.”
At his words, I searched for Kira again and found only emptiness. Ever since I’d bonded with Kira at the Fire Temple, I could feel her presence, but something was blocking me now. Somehow the Black Dragon was making sure we couldn’t find her.
“Tell us where she’s being held,” Slade demanded, squaring his broad shoulders as he faced down the Azure Dragon. “Then we’ll decide whether or not we need your help.”
“She’s in Soulspire,” Doran said, naming the capital of the four Realms, where the Black Dragon ruled with her mates. “Inside a secret part of the palace.”
Damn. He was right that rescuing Kira would be nearly impossible for us. I’d been to Soulspire once, back when I was a soldier in the Onyx Army, and the palace was heavily guarded. Not to mention, the other Dragons would be there, and we weren’t yet a match for them. Having Doran on our side could tilt the balance toward us, but I still wasn’t convinced this wasn’t a trick. For all we knew he was luring us to our own deaths or to a prison cell beside Kira’s.
“What’s your plan exactly?” I asked. If he told us how to rescue her, perhaps we’d be able to accomplish it without his help. “Do you even have one?”
Doran gave me an amused look. “I’m not that much of a fool. If I tell you my plan now—and yes, I do have one—you’ll rush ahead without me, and then you’ll all be dead. Not that I care, but Kira needs you alive.”
Well, it was worth a try.
He spread his hands. “Listen, I can’t prove to you that I’m her father or that I’d do anything to protect her. All you have is my word, and my promise that if we do nothing, Kira will be dead within a few days.”
Auric glanced between me and Slade. “As much as I hate to admit it, I don’t think we have a choice. We need to work with him, even if it is a trap.”
“If it’s a trap, we’ll be ready,” I said, slamming my fist into my other palm. “But what are we going to do with Reven? We can’t leave him here in the ruins of the Earth Temple.”
“We could stop by the Resistance hideout on the way and leave Reven with them,” Auric said. “He’d be safe there, and we can return Parin’s body at the same time so they can bury him.”
“No,” Slade said immediately. “We can’t lead Doran to the Resistance. I won’t put all those lives in danger by revealing their location to a Dragon.”
Doran chuckled. “No need to worry about that. I already know where it is. They’re in the mountain by the two rocks that look like breasts.”
“How do you know?” I asked.
“I’m the Black Dragon’s…scout, you could say. It’s my job to know these things and many more. But don’t worry, I haven’t shared this information with Nysa or the other Dragons yet. I have no interest in seeing the Resistance wiped out.”
Slade scowled at him while Auric looked thoughtful. I tried to come up with another place where we could leave Reven, but all I could think of was Slade’s village, except we’d put all those innocent people in danger too. I briefly considered leaving Reven with Auric’s father, the King of the Air Realm, but Stormhaven was too far out of the way and time was of the essence. Taking Reven to the Resistance hideout was our best option.
Doran rolled his shoulders and turned toward the tunnel that led out of here. “Enough debating. I don’t know how much longer the Black Dragon will keep Kira alive. Right now, Kira is an amusement, but she’s a threat to Nysa’s rule and will have to be eliminated soon. We need to get moving.”
“There’s one more problem,” I said, rubbing the spot on my back that hurt even in my human form. “Auric is the only one of us who can fly at the moment. One of my wings is busted, and Slade just got his Dragon form a few hours ago.”
Doran shrugged. “That’s not an issue. Someone can ride with me.”
Ride on the back of our enemy? As if this day couldn’t get any worse.
