The Dragon Legion Collection(54)

* * *



Petra dared to hope.

She’d known all her life that she wouldn’t find happiness with a mortal man. That was the curse of her kind. But she’d always hoped that she would be one Earthdaughter who found a man with his own powers. When she’d met Damien, she’d imagined that future with him, one filled with love and trust. It had been devastating to learn that he was afraid of her.

She’d made a mistake by reacting in anger.

They had a second chance and he was willing to see the truth.

Even given that, Petra had concerns about showing him the fullness of her powers, lest she frighten him again. There would be no third chance.

Yet the truth offered the only way forward. Damien had to see it all, trust her, and still love her, or she’d never be able to put her hand in his again.

At least he was willing to try.

She had to meet him in the middle. That was the essence of partnership.

Petra closed her eyes and slowed her breathing, turning her thoughts inward. Deep in the core of her mind was a place of stone and rock, a center that couldn’t be moved. It was her anchor and her sanctuary, her source of confidence that the world would be as it always had been.

Because there always would be Earthdaughters, and they would keep custody of Gaia and her legacy. Petra had thought that she and Damien had common ground in this, so to speak, since the Pyr were the guardians of the earth and the custodians of the elements. She’d expected them to understand each other.

Maybe this was their chance to do so.

The key might lie in the prophecy, the one she’d heard only once and didn’t recall. As the power built within her, Petra realized that her dragon warrior would remember every word of the prophecy given to him.

Dragons had long memories, after all.

First things first.

The kernel within Petra grew as she bent her attention upon it. There was a connection established between the relatively quick rhythm of her human body and the unhurried cycle of the earth. She felt her heart slow and her breathing become shallow. Her muscles became more rigid and her movements were imperceptible. She stood outside of time as she knew it, answerable to the wind and the rain, and the years.

And then she hummed.

The hum began deep in her chest, growing gradually in volume until her sternum vibrated in time. She felt the resonance slip through her body and coaxed it to build. She felt the ground beneath her feet start to vibrate as well, felt the fissures in the stone open into gaps, felt the ground crack and shake. She felt the creatures of darkness come to her, the snakes rising in the earth, the moles and voles and bats that took shelter in Gaia’s embrace, the spiders that lurked in the dark chinks between stones.

The power rolled through her, as ancient and powerful as that of Gaia herself, and Petra was glad to have no secrets from Damien any longer. He would see, he would know, and he would still love her. She believed because she had to. It was their shared destiny and she would make it come true. Petra roared, the sound of an earthquake bursting from her mouth, and the earth jumped in sympathy with her triumph.

Suddenly she felt her son go still.

Too still.

The baby was like a rock in her belly again, a leaden weight that felt wrong and horrible. It was just as he had been before she’d taken the ferry. Not again!

Petra gasped, even as her hands fell protectively to her stomach. She couldn’t have to pay this price. She spun in place, turning her back on Damien for fear that he would see her reaction. He was perceptive, thanks to his inner dragon, and she only wanted to hide this fear from him. It was kinder if he never realized his presence in this realm had awakened his son, better if he believed the child lost all along.

But Petra was distraught. She folded herself around her belly, whispering to her unborn son, even as she forced her power to retreat.

The underworld came into focus again, but Petra didn’t know where she was. A deadened plain stretched in every direction.

She had time to fear, then her son kicked hard. In fact, Petra was winded by his powerful kick. It was as if he wanted her to have no doubt that he was alive.

Alive. Petra felt tears on her cheeks. She glanced over her shoulder at Damien, intending to tell him the truth this time.

But her dragon warrior was gone.

Petra was alone in the underworld, no sign of a living being in any direction.



* * *



Damien was determined to face Petra’s truth.

Even with snakes.

He swallowed when Petra’s eyes burned with brilliant light and refused to think that she could smite a man with a glance. She looked powerful and immovable and he felt the ground vibrate beneath his feet in response to her summons. He knew she could create an earthquake and an avalanche, and he told himself to believe in her. He knew he should trust her, just as she’d trusted him, and he believed her claim that she could control her powers.

Even so, he felt sweat on his brow when the snakes erupted from the ground and slithered around her feet. They were black and glossy vipers, long and thick and sinuous. Damien swallowed as they began to wind over her body, as if they couldn’t get close enough to her. His heart pounded when the fissures opened in the earth, radiating from her body in response to her low cry.

When the darkfire sparked all around Petra, he was concerned but resolute.

He gripped his dagger and waited, ignoring the way the darkfire shone off the scales of the snakes. He refused to think of how numerous they were. He refused to think of his own safety, or the fact that he couldn’t shift shape to defend himself. His fate was in Petra’s hands, and the earth was crumbling on all sides.