Her Elemental Dragons: The Complete Series
Her Elemental Dragons: Embrace the Dark: Chapter 20

The door burst open and Varek swooped inside, wielding a large knife. He immediately leaped forward and put himself between me and the attacker, then grabbed her by the arms.

“What are you doing?” he demanded, his voice angry.

Flames danced across the Unseen leader’s skin and Varek was forced to let her go. I blasted her with water to douse the flames, then used air to circle her like a hurricane. When Varek got to his feet, he reached through the torrent of water and air and grabbed her mask, yanking it from her face.

I let my magic go with a gasp when I saw Varek’s twin standing before him. We’d suspected it was her, but seeing the truth was still shocking. Especially since she’d just tried to assassinate me in my sleep.

“I knew it.” Varek threw the mask aside in disgust. “I just hoped I was wrong.”

Wrill looked up at her brother with an angry slant to her mouth, but made no move to attack again. “You shouldn’t have stopped me.”

‘What were you thinking?’ he asked. I’d never seen his face so raw, utterly stripped of all the walls and masks he put up to keep himself aloof. ‘Sneaking in here to try to kill my mate? How could you?’

Wrill’s gaze moved from him to me, and murder glinted in her eyes. ‘I did it for you, brother. If she’s dead, you don’t have to mate with her and become the thing we hate the most—a Dragon. How could I? How could you?”

“The Death Goddess chose me. She set me on this path. I could not refuse.” His eyes flicked to me. “Nor do I want to.”

She lurched forward and took his hands in her own. ‘Varek, please. There’s still time to change your fate. Walk away from this. Return to the Quickblades. Help me run the Unseen.” Her eyes gleamed with hope and righteousness. “We’re doing great work. Righting the balance between humans and elementals. You can be a part of that too.”

He shook his head. “What you’re doing is wrong. Yes, there is a power imbalance, but murdering elementals is not the way.”

“We’re changing things,” she snapped. “You can either be a part of that change, or you can be the enemy.”

‘I am where I am meant to be.’

Wrill glared at him and then turned it to me. “Then you’ve chosen to side with the oppressors. So be it.”

She leaped out the open window into the night, and then used air to lift her up and fly away. Varek and I rushed after her, but then we stopped. Varek didn’t want to go after his own sister, and even if I could catch her, what would I do? Kill my mate’s sister? Lock her up?

All I knew was that this new development wasn’t going to make our bonding any easier.

My bedroom door burst open and my other mates rushed in wielding weapons. They looked around, but saw only me and Varek standing there, and then relaxed.

“We heard a commotion,” Zain asked. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes, we’re fine,” I said, though I was still a bit shaken by everything that had happened.

Varek’s jaw clenched. “The leader of the Unseen is my sister. We’ve confirmed it now.”

“She was here?” Erroh asked.

“She tried to kill Sora.”

“She did what?” Carth asked, and the other men echoed his statement.

I held up a hand. “It didn’t work, obviously. We stopped her and no one was injured. At least now we know for sure it is her.”

“We need to double your guards,” Parin said. “No one should have been able to get in here.”

“My sister has control of all four elements, plus death magic,” Varek said. “She is almost unstoppable. More guards won’t help much.”

He was right. Wrill was the dark version of me, with death magic instead of life. My equal, at least until I bonded with Varek, gained his death magic, and then became a dragon myself. Only then could I have any hope of defeating her one-on-one.

“I’d like to speak with Varek alone, please,” I told my mates.

Erroh nodded. “We’ll patrol the area in case other members of the Unseen are about.”

My other mates headed out the door with him. As soon as it was shut, I let out a long sigh, feeling exhausted again. I sat on the edge of the bed and looked up at Varek, who stared out the window where his sister had vanished.

“I can’t believe she came here to kill you.” He shook his head. “I knew she was the leader of the Unseen and what she was doing, but I never thought she would go so far.”

“Why does she hate the Dragons so much?” I was especially curious since she’d implied Varek hated them too.

“Our childhood did not leave us with much love for the Dragons. Or the elementals.”

“Tell me.”

“Very well, but it’s not a nice tale.” He pulled out a chair from my desk and sat in it, facing me. “Our father was a general in the Onyx Army. He was killed in the last battle against the Black Dragon.”

That meant he was one of the men that fought against my parents—and lost. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.”

“Wrill and I were only two at the time. When the new regime took over, my mother was left a widow with two small children. No one would help her, because of who her husband was and how he’d died. The Onyx Army was disbanded and disgraced. She tried to replace work, and often took in sewing and laundry, but it wasn’t enough. She even applied here at the palace, but was turned away.’

My heart broke, imagining a tiny Varek coming to the palace with his mother, looking for help. “That’s awful.”

“She was young and pretty though, so she had one other way to make money. A way I preferred to pretend wasn’t happening.’ He scowled as he stared off into space. “She got involved with some bad people and got hooked on alcohol. Wrill and I were on our own for the most part, growing up on the streets, and I did everything I could to take care of my mother and my sister.”

“That must have been difficult for all of you,” I said.

He shrugged. “There are many who went through similar things when your parents took over. It wasn’t an easy transition for anyone who supported the Black Dragon.”

I bowed my head. “I…I had no idea.”

“Of course not. You grew up in a palace with everyone telling you how special you are.” His voice was harsh, but then he paused and sucked in a breath. “As I was saying, things were tough for us, but we managed. Our mom took a new job with some elementals, helping them as an assistant in the warehouse. Then one of them lost their temper and burned the place down. She died from the smoke.”

I gasped and covered my mouth. “That’s horrible. Was it the same warehouse where the Unseen had their meeting?”

“Yes. That’s when I began to suspect it was Wrill. We were thirteen when Mom died, and she never got over it. She blamed the Dragons for our father’s death, and the elementals for our mother’s.”

“That does explain a lot.” I sighed. “Do you blame us also?”

He gazed at me for an eternity. “No,” he finally said. “Perhaps I did once. But not anymore. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here now.”

I let out a relieved breath. “Good.”

“After my mother passed, I did whatever I could to take care of Wrill. Many of the things I did were…not exactly legal. Before I knew it, I had people working for me. I formed the Quickblades, with Wrill at my side. Though you think we’re nothing more than criminals, we did have a code, of sorts. We didn’t kill without being sure of guilt. We didn’t steal from those that would be hurt by the theft. We didn’t force anyone to join us. We tried to give back and protect those who were overlooked by the rest of society. Widows, orphans, the disabled.’

“So there is honor among thieves after all,” I said, feeling something almost like respect for him. How unexpected.

He leaned forward, his gaze intense. “Honor, yes. But your other mates are right. I was a criminal. I fought. I stole. I killed. I am no stranger to death. That’s why the Death Goddess chose me as her champion.”

“You’ve walked away from all of that now.”

“I have, but it’s still a part of me. That darkness will always live in my past, and in my heart.”

“I’m not afraid of the dark,” I said. “But I do need to know where you stand. Will it be a problem if we face your sister again?”

“No. She’s gone too far. I always knew she’d gone to some human rights rallies, and I supported that, but not this.”

“I feel like such a fool. I didn’t even know there were rallies about this sort of thing until recently.”

“I’m sure that knowledge was kept from you. Surely you must realize now there is inequality between Dragons, humans, and elementals. Humans are defenseless against the might of the elementals, and though the Dragons now are more just than the previous ones, many still remember the old days and worry this peace won’t last. The elementals or the Dragons could enslave the entire human race all too easily.’

“We would never do such a thing,” I said, horrified at the very idea. “The Dragons exist to keep the balance between humans and elementals, and between the four Realms. My family has no interest in ruling.”

“Your grandmother ruled for hundreds of years. I know you and your parents are different now that I’ve met you, but before that?” He shrugged. “Many just assumed you were another set of overlords.”

“That’s preposterous! My parents brought peace, freedom, and prosperity to the entire world.”

“And yet, the elementals still are a threat. They want more land, and humans are defenseless against them.”

“Which is why they need the Dragons!” I huffed.

Varek spread his hands. “I’m only trying to show you the imbalance of power in the world. I never said it was your fault. I know you didn’t ask for this role either. But in order to stop the Unseen, we must understand their purpose and why so many people are joining their ranks.”

I ran a hand through my curls, tugging on them. This sort of talk was upsetting because it made me rethink everything I’d believed my entire life. Yet at the same time, it felt good to open my eyes to the truth too. If humans were suffering, it was my duty to do something about it. Even if the Unseen’s methods were wrong, their message resonated with a lot of people. The imbalance of power between the elementals, humans, and Dragons had to be addressed at some point, but not with violence and murder. If the Gods would give the humans powers, or at least some of them, they could protect themselves. It might balance the world out.

But the Gods had abandoned us.

“Thank you for telling me all this,” I said. “I’m glad someone can speak honestly with me about these things, and I appreciate you telling me about your past. I feel as though I know you better now.”

“And what do you think of everything I told you about my past?” His words were a challenge, but there was something vulnerable in his eyes. Whatever I said now would determine the fate of our relationship.

I stood and moved in front of him, so he had to look up at me. “I can embrace your darkness, if you will let me.”

His large hands rested on my hips, sending heat to my core. “I felt it when Wrill was here, you know. I didn’t hesitate coming to stop her. I couldn’t let her kill you.”

“Because the Death Goddess wants you to bond with me.”

“Not only that.” He pulled me down into his lap and rested his hand on my thigh. “Even if we weren’t mates, I’d want to claim you as my own.”

“Is that so?” I asked, stroking his rough jaw.

“You’re smart, tough, and loyal. Not to mention, damn gorgeous. I’m too old for you, but I don’t much care. You see me as a criminal and a villain, but I don’t much care about that either. You will be mine.”

His mouth captured mine, putting his words into action, while his fingers dug into my hips. A soft moan escaped my lips as his tongue plundered my mouth and our bodies pressed together. If I was worried about the bonding before, now all doubts fled my mind. We both wanted this, and there was no reason to wait any longer.

I pulled back and gazed into Varek’s eyes. “Let’s go to the Death Temple.”

“Now?” he asked, as he slid his hands up my thighs.

“Do you want to wait any longer?”

“No.” He set me down on the floor and stood. “No, I don’t.”

“Then let’s get going.”