The Dragon Legion Collection(38)

“The firestorm,” Drake murmured, and the other men looked at him.

Orion frowned. “You mean that the darkfire crystal took us to Alexander’s village, precisely so he could be reunited with Katina?”

Thad nodded with enthusiasm. “It makes sense! Darkfire doesn’t have to be irrational. It’s disruptive and it’s unpredictable, if you don’t understand what it’s doing or why, but mostly, I think it makes unlikely things happen.” He nodded at the others. “And it’s linked to us. It’s a force associated with the Pyr. Why wouldn’t it enable the firestorm?”

“So, it sent Alexander back in time more than two thousand years to be with his wife and son,” Ashe said thoughtfully.

“So he could keep his duty to defend his mate and son,” Iggy agreed. “Makes sense to me.”

“If they’re there,” Peter said. “If she still wants him.”

Another beat of silence passed. “That’s all well and good,” Orion said, pacing around the group with his usual impatience. “But what can we do? How can we guide it? How can we guess where we are and why, or control where we go next?”

“Who else has had a firestorm?” Ty asked. “If Thad is right, the crystal will take us back to the mate.”

Excitement now passed through the small company, along with a sense of possibility that Damien didn’t share. He knew that Petra was dead. If Thad was right, he was going to end up alone with the crystal, which wasn’t an enticing possibility.

The more implausible possibility was even less enticing. Damien shivered.

“I left a wife and son,” Drake admitted, his words soft. “Theo was a little older than Alexander’s son and Cassandra...” His voice faded and he stared into the distance.

“I don’t think you should tease yourselves,” Damien interjected, knowing he had to say something.

“Why not?” Iggy demanded.

“It’s better than doing nothing,” Orion said.

“Because now one of you is thinking that your destined mate must be here,” Damien said, his tone harder than usual. “And each of you who hasn’t had a firestorm is going to want to break rank, no matter where we end up. You don’t know what the darkfire crystal is planning, if it’s planning anything. You could end up doing something stupid.”

Peter gave him a hard look. “Did you have a firestorm?”

“Yes,” Damien admitted, noting their surprise. “And no power is ever going to take us to where she is.”

Ty nudged Iggy. “We’re right. He doesn’t have a heart because he already gave it away.”


“You don’t know anything about it!” Damien snapped, and the rare glimpse of his temper silenced the two of them.

Orion caught his breath suddenly, drawing the attention of his fellows. He lifted his hand and his eyes widened as fire began to glow around his fingertips. The flames grew, becoming a dancing halo of flame.

“Great Wyvern,” Orion whispered in awe. “So this is what it feels like.”

Damien got to his feet, knowing what he was witnessing. Sure enough, a woman had come into the square and was knocking on the door that the older women had unlocked. Her hair was dark and long, and he guessed she was in her mid-twenties. Her shoes were flat and her skirt short, her legs perfect.

A spark exploded from Orion’s fingertip and arched through the air toward her. An answering spark rose from the woman, and the two sparks collided in a brilliant burst of yellow light over top of the fountain.

She turned to look, her eyes wide with astonishment.

“She’s the one,” Orion said and began to march across the square. Damien watched with mixed feelings: he was glad that his friend was experiencing his firestorm, but hoped Orion’s ended better than his own firestorm had.

Even given his experience, though, Damien wouldn’t have missed his firestorm—and knowing Petra—for the world.

“You were right,” Iggy whispered to Thad, whose mouth was open in surprise.

“Not again,” Drake muttered.

Damien turned to see the blue-green light beginning to pulse in the center of the darkfire crystal.

“Run!” Ty shouted and Orion did, bolting across the square, drawn to the woman who could bear his son by the heat of the firestorm. Damien saw her smile at Orion, then the darkfire became a blindingly brilliant flash.

Once again, they were tossed through the air and lashed by a vicious wind. Finally, Damien was cast to the ground and grunted at the force of the impact.

The darkfire faded to nothing, leaving the air as dark as pitch. It was still, wherever he had landed, and it was cold.

As cold as the grave.

Damien got to his feet, sure that his guess had to be wrong. His heart was pounding, even as he saw the deadened trees, the starless sky, the inky black river that separated them from a land filled with shadows. His heart felt heavy in this place, burdened by sorrow as it seldom was, even though his fellow warriors still surrounded him.

Petra had to be here.

Damien knew he’d made the right choice in leaving her, knew there was no point in dwelling on the past, knew there certainly was no chance of changing what he’d done. There had been the prophecy. It had all been so clear.

Why had the darkfire brought him here? He and Petra had no future... Damien had no sooner wondered than the answer became clear to him. The darkfire was giving him a chance to save his son.