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Anger vibrated around the room as outraged beasts railed against their human counterparts. These were their own brethren, and they wanted to hunt for who’d done this to them.
“They are not dead,” Julian said to calm the dragons. “I would feel it if they were. Someone is taking them and transporting them to another Realm where I cannot pinpoint their location.”
Xana nodded her head. “I’ve collected all the human mates of the missing and put them in the front parlor.” She waved her hand and the large doors to the gathering hall opened by an unseen force. It was then I could hear the low, keening wails of the grief-stricken. It was a sound I’d never heard before, and one I hoped to never hear again. Maybe human emotions weren’t so great after all.
Julian’s face was a mask, but I could feel his pain at the loss and heartbreak of his people as if it were my own. Then something crossed my mind. Maybe all of this could have been prevented if Julian had actually put some effort into finding The Destroyer when this all started. He’d obviously known about it from the start, and more extensively than I did, since I didn’t have complete access to other clan information like Julian. He could have at least gone to meet with the other Council members to determine The Destroyer’s true identity instead of ignoring him. There must have been something he could have done to prevent this.
The thought passed through my mind like a gentle breeze through a windstorm of emotions before I could stop it, and Julian’s anger shifted to me. I was in exactly the place that I didn’t want to be. Right in the line of fire. Literally.
There was a swift decompression of air around my body that made my ears pop audibly. My body flew across the room like a rag doll, and I landed with a thud on my hands and knees in front of Xana. The air closed in around me and it felt like cinder blocks were pressed against my chest. My hair hung limply in my face and sweat beaded on my brow.
“Who are you to pass judgment on me, Enforcer?” Julian said.
I couldn’t get a deep enough breath to bother wasting the oxygen to refute him, so I stayed silent.
“You are the one who speaks of the law and your rights as Enforcer. This is your responsibility, but you’ve done nothing. Maybe you’re the one responsible. Is this your way of proving a point? Is your power so great that I’ve been deceived into thinking you were merely untrained? It was foolishness on my part not to keep you under a more watchful eye, but I was somewhat distracted by our chemistry. It’s the oldest trick in the book, no? Did The Destroyer tempt you? Do you already belong to him?”
I shook my head no. It was all I could do. The rage of his words lashed out at me like a whip, though his voice never escalated in volume. Then it was over as quickly as it had begun, my body frozen in terror in the eye of the storm. I somehow got the courage to look up and realized that Julian’s anger hadn’t diminished—only his target. Xana stood in front of me, taking the full force of his power.
“You protect her?” Julian asked, surprised.
“No, my brother,” Xana said, bowing her head in submission, “but I’m protecting you. She is your lifemate and the daughter of another Archos. You would bring war to all the clans and your own death.”
I thought Xana was wise for reminding Julian that they were indeed family—their father the same cruel man who begot them both, though I was afraid Julian was past the point of caring.
“You need not remind me of who she is,” Julian spat. “And you need not remind me of who I am, Xana. We are already at war.”
“Fine,” Xana said. She stepped aside and the pain hit me full force. It was a good thing I was still on my knees. I didn’t have far to fall.
Xana continued in her mocking tone. “I defer to your wishes, my Lord. You are correct that it is your decision as to whether or not you sacrifice your true lifemate, though it seems a shame to ignore the mating fire when a child might be the result. I’m sure Dimitris would approve if he were alive.”
The entire room gasped at the mention of the mating fire and silence reigned. I hadn’t noticed until that moment how Julian’s power affected his people. His anger intensified their own, and already some of them had shifted to their dragon form, ready to tear me to shreds as soon as he gave the word. Julian’s own fire engulfed him and swelled with his anger. The little girl with pigtails I’d noticed earlier had shifted completely, her scales gunmetal gray and her body no bigger than a baby cub. She wiggled for freedom against her father, her talons clamping tightly around his forearms, wanting to take part in the possible carnage.
Xana bowed low before Julian, her braids brushing the floor, and the sarcasm was thick enough to cut with a knife. I couldn’t decide whether or not she was the bravest woman I’d ever met or the stupidest for provoking his attention back on her.
The temperature in the room increased until beads of sweat dripped down my face and body like a river. I looked around the room through a fiery haze and realized the other Drakán were feeding off his fire, though they all stood back far enough to not get trapped in its flame.
A towering inferno of the brightest orange swirled around Julian in a rage and licked at anyone who stood too close. This was not the gentle blue mating fire I’d experienced earlier. This was a fire meant to destroy, and if he unleashed it, Xana would be dead. And I’d probably be caught in the aftermath, though I was pretty sure I’d much rather be incinerated alive than eaten first.
I could understand Julian’s anger at the disappearance of his people. I could even understand the need to punish Xana for her insubordination, but I knew if Julian destroyed Xana he’d never forgive himself. She’d been his protector for most of his life, and she was his family.
The force of Julian’s power brought Xana to her knees. Blood dripped slowly from her nostrils and plopped to the black granite. His fire grew, and if he wasn’t careful it would consume the entire room.
The human mates in the room had all been shuffled out the doors at the first sign of fire. I had to do something. I couldn’t let any more deaths happen on my watch. I was already guilty of losing too many. I prayed to the gods for a strength I knew I didn’t possess.
I hadn’t appreciated until that moment what great control Julian had over his powers. If Julian wasn’t really The Destroyer and he wielded this much power, I was afraid to run into the real thing.
I stood up slowly, fighting against the waves of heat that pressed against me. My eyes burned with the intensity of Julian’s flame, and I felt a moment of such despair that I almost sunk back to my knees and let the fire destroy us all.
And then I remembered, and I realized what I had to do. I took a deep breath and felt for the tug of familiarity between myself and Julian that we’d shared earlier. It was there, though hidden partially by the strength of his power. As I focused on it, I felt the thread strengthen and grow until I could grasp on to it with my own power. As his flame swelled, I opened myself further, until his fire was part of me.
I took a deep breath and absorbed as much of the volcanic heat as I could into my own body. When I could take no more of its intensity, I blew gently from my mouth until his flame was snuffed out completely. It flickered and dissipated as if it were no more than a candle.
I collapsed on the ground from exhaustion, but I knew I’d succeeded. Everyone was still alive. The room swelled with voices and drowned out the pounding of my heart. My brain was in better shape than my body, and I knew I needed to find the energy to get away. I was easy prey.
I looked up and watched as Esmerelda began running in my direction. I turned to Xana and saw an identical expression of horror on her face. Everything moved in slow motion, but their warning was clear.
Run.
