“How sad,” Jessenia murmured, and Furio put his hand on her shoulder in comfort.
“My kind has been hunted and killed for our magic, our fire, our hoards, for thousands of years. It was not long before the Loyalists brought the fight to us. The very day Edgar and Neela made their vows at sunset on the shores of the Atlantic with me as their sole witness, we were attacked.”
“Were you prepared?”
“How could we be? We were young and naïve,” Kingston’s eyes looked at the wall, but in his mind he was taken back to that fateful day on the beach.
Neela was resplendent in her blue sundress with her blonde hair bouncing around her shoulders. She’d cut it shorter than usual and it suited her, Kingston thought as he walked his brother’s bride down the makeshift aisle they’d lined with shells and rocks along the sandy beach to where Edgar stood waiting for them.
Barefoot in linen pants and a button-down shirt, his brother’s near white hair gleamed brightly in the orange and yellow rays of the setting sun. Kingston was often taken aback at how different they looked, and yet both were Diamond Dragons as their father before them.
His own hair was a deeper, darker shade of blond, almost brown really. Instead of Edgar’s blue eyes, his were gold. Both men were tall and fit, as were most Shifters, and even Neela had the body of an Olympian swimmer. She-Dragons were rare and cherished creatures, and envy stabbed at him at his brother’s good fortune.
A truth which shamed him, so he buried the feeling deep. He knew in his heart that the Fates were tasked with pairing souls, and as much as he cared for Neela, had even once lusted after her body, she was not his. His fated mate was somewhere out there. He had only to find her. But this day was not his, it was theirs.
It was a simple truth. One he took in stride as his brother’s blue eyes glowed with his beast as he took his bride’s hand in his. Together, the two young Dragons spoke their sacred vows of love and devotion to one another. Kingston knew the mating marks had been exchanged the previous night, but this ceremony was tradition and he stood and witnessed their promise.
The couple gazed at each other with such perfect love and understanding that his Dragon’s heart longed for the day when he would make such promises to his own fated mate. How he would treasure her!
Yes, his beast agreed, but his daydreams shattered into a million pieces when they were suddenly attacked. Ambushed by a dozen or so supernaturals wielding magic and weapons. The three Dragons were caught off guard and unprepared to defend themselves, but still Kingston turned to fight, to give his brother and Neela a chance to escape.
Edgar shifted and clutched his mate in his claws, but he was too slow. While Kingston fought off various attacks, a Warlock hurled a magicked spear at Edgar. He had been aiming for Neela. She was most vulnerable, unable to shift as quickly as her male counterpart, and Edgar had thought to fly her to safety. Instead, he’d put her in greater danger. At the last minute, his brother turned his enormous, scaled body and bared his side where he was most vulnerable, taking the hit himself.
After Kingston had finished off his enemies in a berserker-like rage, he went to his brother. Edgar’s head lay in Neela’s lap and she cried and held him as his life leaked away. He was dying and there was nothing either of them could do to save him.
“Promise me you will keep her safe, King,” Edgar begged, “you will take her as your own and guard her with your life. Promise me,” Edgar’s grip on Kingston’s hand was damned near painful, but not as much as watching him die.
It was the way for most Shifters. And for fated mate’s, it was worse. Edgar knew what he was asking. He had to know, but he was counting on Kingston to help him save her.
Neela wept with raw pain as his fire went out, and as she lay gasping, he made up his mind.
“You gave him your word?” Furio asked, jolting him from the past.
Kingston looked up and nodded. Jaw clenched tightly, he looked down at the tight fists he’d unconsciously made on his lap. His claws bit into the soft parts of his palms.
Funny, he didn’t even realize he was doing that. Kingston relaxed his fists and watched the droplets of blood well up even as his own healing abilities closed the wounds.
“Oh, Kingston,” Fergie said and laid her head on Storm’s shoulder, “I am so sorry.”
“But you loved Neela?” Elena asked.
“Yes, I loved her, but I was not in love with her. I gave her my bite to heal her, placed her under my protection. I tried. I promised my brother I would save her, and I tried. Afterwards, I joined the Guardians of Chaos to help keep her safe.”
“But why? Why did they want her?” Elena asked.
“Because a she-Dragon is rare. They can use her blood and organs in all manner of dark magic,” Jessenia whispered the answer and Kingston closed his eyes at the thought.
“That’s why she was cut up like that,” Furio trembled and Kingston could feel his horror.
“Yes,” he cleared his throat.
It had taken hours to tell the tale completely, and the sun was creeping up over the forest. Fuck. He had kept these things buried for so long. It was like having a raw wound. One he wished to never feel again. But even as he metaphorically bled, he felt himself healing. This was meant to be. Kingston understood a little better now.
He’d wanted to shield this truth from his Guardians, but it was time to let the whole truth out. They deserved that much.
“Part of what we have uncovered, ever since Fergie was abducted, is that Offner has had his minions out gathering all manner of information on the history of magic in this area. He wants to expand his dark arts, and he’s hunting for ley lines. Magical vortexes to further his own stores for whatever hostile takeover he has planned. Dragon blood would only further his cause.”
“But she knew this,” said Furio, “she knew the risk, so why would Neela go out alone? I mean, one of us was always with her when she went shopping. It makes no sense!”
“She wasn’t shopping,” Kingston growled and expelled an angry breath.
It was embarrassing, a betrayal of confidence, and his own fucking fault. The hush of silence was deafening and he hated to break faith with her memory, but they all needed to heal. The truth was the only way to do that.
“I failed in my promise to my brother,” he announced, “Neela was not shopping, she was in the process of getting artificially inseminated. After a hundred years of being platonically mated to me, she desired offspring. I’d dedicated myself to protecting her, and to serving the Guardians, but I was never able to give her that part of myself. I am not sure she wanted it, per se, as she loved my brother. Still, it is my fault she is gone-”
“What the fuck? No. No fucking way. This is bullshit,” Furio pushed off his chair and stormed out of the room.
“I’ll go talk to him,” Jessenia stood up to follow the Stallion Shifter, her expression somber.
Kingston sighed heavily and looked around the room. Elena’s arms were crossed and tears fell from her eyes. She’d known Neela the longest, but not as well as she’d thought.
With his Alpha powers, he sifted through the emotions of his Guardians. He wanted to know how they received this information. Dragons were private creatures. News about his supposed mating to Neela was hard for him to share, and probably just as difficult for them to hear.