Embrace the Dark

11

Chapter Six

I

pushed my way through the crowd toward Varek, vaguely aware of my other mates following behind me. Everyone’s eyes were on me, until large silvery dragon wings blocked out the moonlight. People scrambled out of the way as my mother landed with a heavy thud, then bared her fangs at Varek.

“What business do you have with my daughter?” Kira roared.

Varek stared back at the dragon without fear, and then bowed, but not out of respect. He made it seem flippant or cocky somehow. “The Death Goddess sends her regards.”

Mom let out a roar that would have most men quaking in their boots, but Varek just crossed his arms. Unbelievable.

As I moved beside my mother, my other fathers showed up too. They weren’t in their dragon forms, but they were just as intimidating. “Explain yourself,” Slade demanded.

Varek’s eyes landed on me again. “The Dragon Goddess has named me her champion, and she demands Sora take me as her fifth mate.”

A chorus of gasps went up from the soldiers and other onlookers, making me wish we’d gone somewhere private for this conversation.

“Impossible!” Auric said. “The Ascendant has only ever had four mates.”

Varek lifted his shoulder in a casual shrug. “Not anymore.”

“This is preposterous,” Parin said behind me. “Send the man away.”

“No,” I finally said, my voice ringing out through the courtyard. “He speaks the truth. I’ve had dreams of him.”

“What?” Erroh asked.

Mom shifted and shimmered back into her human form, her brow furrowed. “He is the one from your dreams?”

I nodded, swallowing hard. This dark, deadly, dangerous man was one of my mates. There was no escaping it, no matter how much I wanted to resist the idea. Yet as much as it horrified me, I was drawn to him too. I couldn’t look away from his skull tattoos, or the wicked gleam in his eye, or the sensual curl of his lips.

“Prove it,” Zain said, and Carth nodded in agreement.

“I don’t think you’d like to see my powers in action,” Varek said, his voice dripping with threat. “But perhaps a small demonstration is in order.”

He bent down and ran his fingers through the grass, and a wave of death and decay spread out around him, instantly turning it brown and dry. The entire crowd gasped, and the hollowness inside me grew. There was no denying it now. The Death Goddess had given him her magic.

“You don’t need him to gain your elemental powers or your dragon form,” Reven told me. “You could refuse him.”

Varek let out a cruel laugh. “If you refuse, the Death Goddess is prepared to unleash the Realm of the Dead upon the living.”

“She wouldn’t dare,” Mom said.

“She would. She has been denied respect for far too long. Every other God has a Dragon, and she demands one as well.”

Hushed mutters and whispers rippled among the crowd, until Jasin called out, “Silence!”

I stepped closer to Varek and faced him, keenly aware of the eyes upon us. “Do you even want to be my mate?”

“I’ll serve the Goddess however she requires.” His dark gaze turned hungry as it slowly roamed down my body. “Though I can’t say it will be a hardship to mate with a princess.”

“I’m not a princess,” I snapped.

His only response was a harsh laugh. I hated him already, even as the look he gave me sent desire racing through my veins. It wasn’t fair—the mating bond made me want him, no matter how awful he was.

“You have a week to accept this, or there will be a war between the living and the dead,” Varek said. “Find me at the Lone Wolf Pub in the north end of Soulspire with your answer.”

He turned on his heels and began to walk out the gate, but Jasin and Reven raised their swords. “Halt!” Jasin shouted.

Varek laughed. “What are you going to arrest me for? Coming to see my mate? I think not.”

No one made a move against him, because he was right. No one would defy the Gods like that. As we all watched, he strolled out of the gate and disappeared into the night.

“I’ll follow him,” Reven said, before he slipped into the shadows. Having a former assassin as your father had its perks. Or it was going to make everything worse. I couldn’t be sure yet.

"Leave us,” Jasin commanded, and the guards departed and the crowd reluctantly dispersed.

As soon as they were gone, Mother rushed toward me and pulled me into her arms. I was too horrified and shocked to do anything but let her hold me.

"You’re certain he's the one from your dreams?" Mom whispered with her head against mine.

I lifted my head away and nodded. "Yes. I'm sure of it."

"That doesn't mean you have to accept him," Kira said. "We will deal with the Death Goddess. We've done it before."

“I appreciate that, but we can’t have a war against the dead,” I said.

“I think you need to tell us about these dreams you’ve been having,” Carth said.

I turned to face my mates, who did not look happy—not at all. Erroh was scowling, Parin had his arms crossed, Zain’s jaw was clenched, and Carth’s usual flirty smile was replaced with a frown.

"I've been having dreams of only one man every night—a man I’d never met until now. At first, I thought he was my Earth mate, but then Parin came and set that to rest."

“You never dreamed of us?” Zain asked.

“No, only of him. I can’t deny it—he is my mate, just like the four of you are.”

"It's completely out of the question," Jasin, said. "He's the most wanted criminal in Soulspire. The Silver Guard has been trying to dig up something concrete on that man and the Quickblades for years. Every time we get something, there never proves to be enough evidence to charge him, and no one will speak up against him. He cannot be your mate.”