Her Elemental Dragons: The Complete Series
Her Elemental Dragons: Embrace the Dark: Chapter 5

While servants moved Parin’s belongings into his room, Erroh stood to the side with his arms crossed and watched with a scowl. I was on my way to see my mother, but stopped to nudge him in the side.

“I thought you’d be more excited to have your brother return home safely,” I said.

Erroh dropped his arms and sighed. “You’re right. I should be happy to see him. I’m just not sure about sharing you with him. The others, fine. But my own brother?”

“I know what you mean.” I swallowed, but for me it was because the thought made my heart race. “The gods must know it’ll work out.’

Erroh gave me a flat stare. ‘You can’t tell me you’re excited about this. We’ve always avoided Parin. He’s such a bore!’

I had to bite back a laugh. Was that what Erroh thought? The truth was that I’d avoided Parin because I hadn’t wanted anyone to know about my silly crush. But there was no hiding such things from the Gods, it seemed.

I gave Erroh a kiss on the cheek. “Be kind to your brother. He’s just as shocked by this as you are.”

He huffed. “I’ll try.”

My mother came down the hallway on the heels of a man carrying a big box. ‘You wanted to see me?’

I nodded. We stepped into my private quarters, and I shut the door behind us. “I was just about to come to your study. I thought you were in a meeting.”

“I decided to come to you instead.” She pushed back a strand of red hair with a smile. “Truthfully, I couldn’t wait to get out of there. As soon as I got your note, I used it as an excuse to cut the meeting short.”

I laughed as we headed over to the siting area beside an enormous window looking out over my mother’s garden. “Was it that bad?”

Kira sank into one of the chairs and poured herself a cup of tea. “Just wait ‘til you’re the one who has to listen to noblemen whine about their problems all day long. Now, what did you want to talk about? Is it your mates? It’s certainly odd that they’re all men you already knew, but it must be nice for you too. Or at least a lot easier than mating with four strangers.”

“That’s not it. Not exactly.” I sat across from her and twisted my hands nervously in my lap. ‘Did you ever dream about any men that weren’t your mates?’

‘No, never. Why?’ She furrowed her brow and gave me her full attention.

‘I’ve been having dreams like you did, but only of one man, and he’s… He’s terrifying.’ It was hard to say the word out loud. I wasn’t scared of anything. Few people could best me at combat, and soon I would have the powers of the elements and a dragon form of my own, and then I’d be unstoppable. Possibly stronger than my mother, thanks to my lifetime of training. Yet somehow the man in my dreams unnerved me. He made me feel…vulnerable.

Mom leaned forward and studied me. “A man who isn’t one of your mates?”

I nodded. “I thought he would be my fourth one, but then Parin arrived. Now I’m more confused than ever.”

‘You’re sure he’s not one of your mates? Perhaps it’s a dream from the future and he has a different appearance?’

‘No. I’m absolutely sure he’s a different man.’ His appearance haunted me even while awake. Not just his appearance. His ruthlessness. His cruelty. His darkness.

I described the things he’d done in my dreams to her in a halting voice, and when I was done, Mom sat back and sighed.

“This is very unusual. I’ll have your fathers look into it. I would help too, but there have been reports of missing elementals in the area and I want to investigate them immediately. I’m sure Auric or Reven will replace something about your dreams though.” She reached across and took my hand. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out.’

“I can’t help but be worried. The Death Goddess must be involved somehow.”

“If she is, we’ll confront her together. I defeated her once before, after all. She has no chance against the two of us and all our mates.”

I let out a long breath, hoping she was right. “They’re not my true mates yet. Not until we go to the temples and bond. I’d like to get started on that right away, especially if we’ll need to face the Death Goddess. We can head to the Air Temple tomorrow even.”

Mom frowned and studied my face. “You don’t need to rush into this. Focus on your mates. Get to know them.”

“I already know them. I grew up with them, after all.”

“It’s different now that they’re your mates, and not just your childhood friends. Your relationship with them needs time to flourish and grow.”

“We might not have time,” I grumbled.

“You have plenty of time. Your fathers and I are in no hurry to step down. We’ll only do so when we’re sure you and your mates are ready for the responsibility.” She ruffled my curls a little. “Patience, my love.”

I sighed. Patience never was one of my strong suits.

At dinner that night, I tried to follow my mother’s advice.

“Let’s all try to get to know each other better,” I said, once we were eating. The chefs had made one of my favorite dishes from the Air Realm, with chicken, bell pepper, lemon, and cheese, layered on thin pasta. “Which meal is your favorite: breakfast, lunch, or supper?”

“Dessert,” Carth said, with a lazy grin. “I like to get right to the good stuff.”

“Breakfast.” Erroh tilted his head. “No, lunch. No, breakfast. I can’t decide.”

“How is this supposed to help us get to know each other better?” Zain asked.

“Just answer the question,” I said.

He shrugged. “I don’t really have a favorite.”

I sighed and turned to Parin, who had been especially quiet ever since he arrived. “And you?”

He gave me a warm smile. “Supper. I like salty foods, and the more pepper the better.”

Erroh made a gagging sound. “Parin is obsessed with pepper. He puts it on everything. I’ll never forget when Daka and I were sick and Mom and Dad were out, so Parin made us some soup. He put so much pepper in it we nearly gagged.”

“Pepper soup!” I laughed. “I remember that.”

“Oh,” Erroh said, his face falling. “Of course you do.”

“My favorite is supper too,” I said quickly. “Followed by dessert.” Silence hit the table as we all continued eating. I wracked my brain for another question. “Favorite animal?”

“Owl,” Erroh said.

“I’ve always been partial to dolphins,” Carth said.

Zain waved a hand. “These questions are silly. We already know everything about each other.”

“Not everything,” I muttered, but I had to admit it did feel silly asking these questions.

“No? What’s the next one—favorite childhood memory?” Zain snorted. “Most of our memories feature each other, I bet.”

I leaned forward. “Well, what is your favorite childhood memory?”

Zain looked at me with his intense blue eyes. “The four of us—you, me, Carth, and Erroh—sneaked away one afternoon and headed into the woods. I’m sure it was your idea, Sora.”

“It always was,” Erroh muttered.

“Shush.” I threw a bread roll at him.

“We found that one large, gnarled tree, and Carth challenged us to get to the top first. I was determined to win, but I fell and broke my ankle.” Zain paused and something smoldered in his eyes. “You climbed down and healed it.”

I remembered the moment. We were young then, but I was right at the age when I was beginning to realize they were boys and I was a girl and that meant something. I turned to Parin, who had gone quiet again. “And then Parin came and found us.”

Carth chuckled. “Yes, if I remember correctly, he made us all go back inside.”

Parin ducked his head. “I was simply trying to keep you out of trouble.”

“That’s your favorite memory?” Erroh asked. “Getting injured?”

“I think he probably enjoyed the healing part the most,” Carth said with a wry grin.

“I enjoyed being with my friends,” Zain snapped.

“I love that memory too,” I said. “The best times were when we were all together.” Zain has grown up in the Fire Temple or the nearby town of Sparkport, while Carth spent much of his time at his parents’ estates in the Air Realm. All my favorite memories were when they came to visit Soulspire with their families.

“Exactly my point,” Zain said. “You already know us, better than anyone.”

It was hard to argue with that. I did know them, through and through, and there was no way to force the change in mindset from friends to lovers. Only time and togetherness would do that.

I knew Mom said not to rush, but frankly I was already tired of being patient. I wanted to bond with my mates and to gain my elemental powers and my dragon form. Especially if the Death Goddess was rising again.

I set down my fork and looked at the men one by one, even Parin, though the fact that he was one of my mates still hadn’t fully sunk in. ‘We should leave for the Air Temple tomorrow morning.”

“I agree,” Erroh quickly said.

‘Of course you agree,’ Carth said with a snicker. ‘But the sooner we head to the Air Temple, the sooner we can go to the others too.”

Zain looked as though he was about to speak, when we heard shouting outside and the sound of running footsteps. We all exchanged a worried glance and shot to our feet, then headed out the door to see what the commotion was about.

The guards were all heading outside toward the front gates, where a large number of soldiers crowded together. Erroh pulled a female guard aside at the door, and asked, “What is this about?”

“They caught the criminal Varek trying to enter the palace!” she said.

My stomach dropped. Varek was the most notorious criminal in Soulspire, leader of a gang called the Quickblades. He was incredibly mysterious, and although the guard in Soulspire had been trying to capture him for years, he’d always eluded them. I’d never seen him before, only vague sketches from the few witnesses of his criminal activities. Witnesses who usually went missing later. Why was he here?

My mates and I pushed through the crowd to where the soldiers surrounded a tall man with long, black hair and muscular arms covered in tattoos. As soon as I laid eyes on him I jerked to a halt, my heart lurching.

He was the man in my dreams.

Jasin moved forward and leveled a sword at Varek’s throat. “Explain your presence here quickly, before we slap you in chains and drag you to our prison.”

Varek appeared unphased by this, and way too calm considering dozens of soldiers surrounded him. “I’m here to speak with her.”

His head turned and when his eyes landed on me I sucked in a sharp breath. As our gazes met, I felt that spark, that connection, that something I had with the other men too.

There was no denying it. Varek was my fifth mate.