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Julian turned his back on Erik and took hold of my elbow, leading me toward the exit. I had to concentrate to put one foot in front of the other. I was numb.
“Is this what you wanted, Rena?” Erik yelled across the room. Pain laced his voice, and his breathing was erratic. “He could be the very one who took our father away from us. Yet you stay with him and condemn the rest of our people to be led to slaughter like cattle.”
“You’re wrong, Erik,” I said, turning around to face him. I knew what I had to do, and hated myself in that moment almost as much as I hated Julian.
“I am your Archos, and he is my lifemate. He is not The Destroyer. He is the one who will save us all. Go home, Erik.”
I held back the tears until I’d turned away from the room. The silence was deafening, and our footsteps echoed across the hard wood. It was the moment of truth for all the clans. They would have to decide if they were with us or against us. The line in the sand had been drawn.
“I will follow you into battle and fight at your side, Julian of the Belgae.”
I recognized the thickly accented voice and dreaded what was coming next. Feng took a step forward and bowed mockingly, his hands placed in the position of prayer above his chest. “I will fight beside you, but when the battle is over we will have our own to contend with. I challenge you, Julian of the Belgae, for the kingdom of our people, until the day The Promised Child is delivered.”
I stared at Feng and saw straight to his soul. To his future. And in it was Julian’s death.
Julian returned Feng’s bow and arrogantly raised his brow. There was a small smile upon his lips, and I realized he was elated at the prospect of a good fight.
“So shall it be,” Julian said. The words rang like a death toll.
We exited the room. My legs shook and my heart thundered against my chest. Excitement shone in Julian’s eyes, and I decided then and there that I would never understand the male psyche. My mind and my heart were both frozen. I either needed a good cry or a good fight.
I picked the fight.
ChapterTwenty-Six
As soon as we crossed the threshold, I drew from Julian’s magic and slammed the doors shut with a resounding thud. I sealed them with our combined powers and ignored the pounding that came from the Drakán on the other side. They could all stay in there forever as far as I was concerned.
“Are you out of your mind?” I said.
The calmness of my voice was the complete opposite of the turmoil that wreaked havoc inside of me. My inner dragon roared and fire spread beneath my skin. But something kept me from bringing her completely out and unleashing her rage against Julian. My dragon’s anger was an aphrodisiac to Julian, and I knew he’d never get the point if I used her. So for the first time in my life, I sent her away.
But once I’d locked her away and could no longer feel my beast, magic still pulsed within me and filled me to bursting with the need to break free. It wasn’t power I was drawing from Julian. It was my own. And it felt comfortable inside my skin like it had always been there. Maybe it had. The room dimmed to a soft glow around me, but the target of my rage stood out like a beacon.Julian. His eyes flared and he called on his dragon, but for once I didn’t react as his animal came to the surface. It was as if I were no longer Drakán. And while there was a part of me that was terrified at the unknown, my body embraced it fully. And wielded it.
A great wind swept through the hallway from out of nowhere. Gale-force winds that tore priceless paintings from the walls. Antique vases crashed to the floor and shattered into tiny pieces. Julian’s hair swirled violently around his face. But he kept his balance against the rage of my storm and leaned into it.
“How could you do that to Erik? Don’t you have any compassion? You ridiculed him in front of everyone. Brought his greatest shame to light.”
The hallway was long and narrow, and we faced each other like gunslingers. My dragon wanted to come out and play, but I held her back, reveling in the new power that coursed through my body. This power didn’t need my dragon. Didn’t want her. And it felt wonderful.
“I did what I had to do,” he said. “Your brother is weak. And I would have lost ground with the other clans if I’d let him get away with questioning my authority. You know this. You’d been having the same thoughts about your own clan and their disobedience. Don’t question my authority. You agreed to this, lifemate.”
Thunder echoed in the narrow walkway and lightning crackled horizontally along the ceiling.
“What has come over you, Rena? You feel different.” Julian didn’t seem worried, only curious. “Your thoughts are projecting in shapes and colors. I can’t read you.”
“You’re no longer welcome in my head. And besides, you did this to me. You asked me to give you all my power last night, to open myself to everything. This is my power. And it has nothing to do with the Drakán. This power is not something that is yours to control. I’m free of you.”
“Not completely. You just aren’t as fully mine as you once were. But we are still lifemates, and there’s nothing you can do to change the fact other than sell your soul to the Shadow Realm.”
“It’s a tempting thought. You swore to protect my family, to treat them as your own.”
“And I’ve kept my promise. Erik is still alive.”
The violent wind rushed past me, the force of it aimed straight at Julian. But still he stood his ground. The chandeliers rattled and shook, and pieces of them slashed down around us like daggers. Another violent rumble echoed in the chamber and the windows cracked at the concussion of sound.
“Control yourself, Rena.” Julian stepped aside as the chandelier fell from the ceiling and shattered at his feet. “You know I had no choice.”
“And what about Feng? Could you not see your death in his soulless eyes, Julian? Could you not see mine? He is determined to see you dead. By any means possible.”
