He’d never spoken about his past. He might have mentioned he was the last of the black dragons, but he couldn’t be too sure. Who the hell wanted to talk about a realm stolen by an insane,narcissistic asshole, who’d terrified a world with his sadistic, despotic rule?
You can open up, if you want to, my love,Ash’s warm voice brushed through his mind.They care about you.
He looked up, and she smiled.
Ash was right. He could no longer keep up the three and a half thousand years of distance he’d worn like armor.
He gripped the edge of the pool table. Before he could speak, the door opened, and Nik sauntered inside. “I heard you were back. And in one piece, I’m glad to see. So, Malcarion’s taken care of?”
“Yeah,” Race murmured. “Being a Guardian helped, maybe—hell, it wouldn’t have mattered. I would have killed the bastard either way. Ash’s Storm Summoner power didn’t just even the fight, it turned the tide.” His voice dipped. “But it came with an almost unbearable cost when she went over that mountain.”
“Is that where your Guardian advantage came in?” Týr asked quietly.
He frowned. “My sword was a huge help… But after the secret chamber collapsed, Malcarion’s black magic stifled my powers. Couldn’t dematerialize.” He exhaled roughly. “Had to rely on my dragon form. Flew blind…”
Because he didn’t have their soul-joined tether after she snapped most of it. Nothing to guide him.
He shook his head. “Let’s just say something pulled me. Like a force I couldn’t control. I just went with it, down into the mountain’s abyss. I saw her falling?—”
His whole body tensed, just remembering.
“It was her obsidian dagger,” Aethan murmured, understanding dawning in his gunmetal gray eyes. “She must’ve used it, and it called to you. The same thing happened to me when demons tried to drag Echo through a portal into Hell.”
Race slowly nodded, utterly grateful for the weapon’s mystical alert.
“I did use it,” Ash said quietly, and Race looked up as she crossed to him. “That she-dragon wanted to kill me. I stabbed her, but she pulled it out and tossed the dagger aside.”
He drew her close. “Then I’m damn glad for your weapon.”
“For God’s sake, please, tell us what happened,” Kira begged. “All Ash says is that she’s fine. And her wounds are just badges.”
With a deep breath, Race said, “Let’s just say everything I believed was a lie.”
He kept it brief about Malcarion’s coup, the downfall of Lemuria, the children’s stolen powers, and both Malcarion’s and Vaesarra’s treachery and eventual deaths.
“All because you rejected a woman, your family was slaughtered, and you were thrown into Tartarus?” Kira whispered.
His fellow Guardians remained quiet because some of them had suffered Tartarus’ horror as well.
“Jesus Christ,” Nia murmured, her eyes wide. “He hunted children?”
“It’s all over now,” Ash said softly. “They’re gone. At least those poor people will have a chance at a real life again.”
“Oh, so you’re going to govern the dragons?” Týr frowned. “Gonna be kinda tough—Guardian workandLemuria, don’t you think?”
“He did bring down the usurper,” Blaéz said, eyeing Race. “So, they probably see him as their savior now.”
Race snorted. “I’m no one’s savior. I just righted a wrong.”
“Wait, wait—” Kira flashed up her hands, frowning at them. “Is no one seeing the big picture here? Or, are we just not mentioning it?”
Race had no idea what the female was going on about.
“If he’s gonna rule the dragons, wouldn’t that make him like, their overlord or something?” she asked.
“Actually,” Ash said, a smile brightening her beautiful eyes, “heisthe rightful heir to Lemuria and the last of the royal dragon line.”
Silence.
