“Is this the section for brotherhood mates?” I ask her.
“I think so,” she says. “How’s your head?”
I got to know Reagan last night over a few bottles of wine. “Surprisingly fine.”
“Gotta love dragon magic.” We both laugh.
A lanky, silver-haired woman on my other side offers me her hand. “I am Jada, Solomon’s mate. I’m afraid this will be my last time in this section, but also my first time in a long while not sitting alone.”
“Your mate is stepping down so that Mason can ascend?”
She nods once. “I’m so happy to see both Connor and Mason mated. Creator willing, I hope the trend continues. The brotherhood needs the steadying force mates bring, especially after what happened with Donovan.”
Reagan grips the arms of her chair. “Does it truly mean we’re at war?”
Jada frowns. “It means the peace accord is no more. Now, with Stefan and Roman dead, it’s the Order’s move.Whoever rises to lead them will either reach out to negotiate a new pact or take the first shot.”
I lean back in my chair and stare out across the sandy field at my mate and wonder what’s to come. Unconsciously, I reach up to toy with the cross around my neck, one Connor bought me to replace the one I lost. We can never know the future, but maybe, with enough faith, we can accept whatever part we’re called to play in it.
“It’s starting,” Jada says, staring up into the sky.
Quiet falls over the crowd. The moon arcs toward the sun and then slowly over it, darkening the sky. A roar comes from the north, and two enormous doors pull open.
“The Oracle,” Jada whispers.
A massive red dragon walks into the arena, wings spreading until her shadow is cast across the compass, and the sands begin to shift, reordering the field into something else, something more.
“In the beginning…”The Oracle’s voicereverberates in my head, coming from inside me like my mate’s purr. When she pauses, I feel the ocean breeze on my face, smell the salt air, but I hear only her when she begins to speak again.“The creator descended from our world and birthed man into being, blessing the earth with fruitful life. Of all their creations, humans were the ones, the only ones, with the power to build, to invent, to design, to make purely for the joy of creation. Art, music, dancing, acting, poetry, stories, and every other beautiful thing belonged not just to dragons and the creator any longer but to man.
“All was well until the destroyer saw what the creator had done. Jealous that they had never been able to createthemselves, they brought their own gifts to man: greed, pride, wrath, gluttony, lust, sloth, and envy. Some men began to destroy the creator’s work, scheming for control and hiding the beautiful things from the world, keeping them only for their own pleasure. So the creator sent us dragonkind to inspire, to free humans from the chains of the destroyer, to spark again the creator’s gift within.
“Today we continue the battle for human minds that was forged in our ancient beginnings, by naming these twelve warriors as the defenders of our race and our mission.”
The sands shift, darkening to look like the night sky, and I gasp as constellations form on the field, the wheel of the zodiac taking shape before us.
“As Aries, Connor Drexler.”
Wings out, Connor steps onto the constellation of stars winking from the north, right in front of the Oracle. The image of a ram lights up beneath him, encompassing him in light, and then fades away. My heart swells with pride, and when Reagan squeezes my hand, I realize I’m beaming.
“Sebastian York as Taurus.”
Unruffled, Seb slides into the constellation to the northeast of Connor, releasing a dazzling grin as the symbol of the bull ignites around him.
“Remus Townsend as Gemini.”
Remus’s head is bowed, his tattooed arms coupled at the hands as he steps onto his constellation, the twins lighting up and disappearing.
“Ellison Weber as Cancer.”
I chuckle as Ellison smooths and straightens his suit before taking his position in the crab constellation.
“Lucas Oliver as Leo… Morwyn Fitz as Virgo.”
Memories of Morwyn coming to see me at the lodge warm my heart as the men step onto their constellations.
“Finnegan Bell as Libra, Quinn Adira as Scorpio, Hunter James as Sagittarius, Atlas Moore as Capricorn, Jordon Azzurro as Aquarius.”
Reagan sits up straighter, and I squeeze her hand in support.
