Stone of Ascension (33 page)

She turned away and threw up a block against an incoming fireball. Panic fired in his gut as the dragon Tubal advanced on Amber. The long, serpentine dragon wound its way through the battle breathing fire and swinging its long, spiked tail at will.

Around you
, he yelled, trying to keep the panic from his voice.
Erect a shield entirely around you. And hold it. It will protect you.

Damian reached to the air and called another succession of lightning bolts down at Tubal. But the dragon swerved and dodged the blows, using his long body to twist around the attack. The dragon lifted its head, his eyes focusing up at Damian as another roar bellowed out of his mouth.

Damian swung his head, looking up and down the beach for an open place to port to. Desperation raced up his spine as the scent of fire, flesh and blood mingled with the wind that hit him in the face and slapped across his bare chest.

There was nowhere close for him to land. He reached out his senses to encompass the water only to find a crisscross of energy patterns blocking him there as well. As if to emphasize the point, a large wave was pulled from the ocean to careen across the beach and crash down on the back line of Shifter forces. The mass of water crushed the unsuspecting bodies, flattening them to the beach and sending sprays of mud and sand over the red clay of the cliffs.

From the corner of Damian’s eye, a rush of movement pulled his attention to the depths of the Energen forces. Within the mix of Shifters and Energens battling, two more dragons took form. Two identical black dragons, the color so rich and deep the scales gleamed almost blue in the reflection of the moonlight.

He looked back to Amber to see that she’d completed the shield.
Hold it, Amber
, he told her. He could feel the effort it was costing her. The energy required to hold the shield against the oncoming attacks was taxing. It pulled her strength and tested her newfound powers.

Her arms and legs were spread wide as if bracing against the frame of a doorway. She lifted her head as his words reached her.

It won’t last long
. The words were strained.

Sweat trailed down his chest and back, heedless of the icy wind. Flames lit up the night, the battle intensifing with each second that passed.
Then port out of there. Now!

I can’t,
she answered.
I’m not strong enough.

Tubal was almost within striking distance of Amber, his breathy flames clearing a path as he stalked his prey. Around him, the Shifter army fought. The evil, dark energy cloaked the pristine beach in a rank, vile stench that sullied the sanctity of the place.

The evil bastard couldn’t have her. Never. He’d already taken one person Damian loved. Tubal would not have another.

Damian pulled deep and called up a fireball. The white, gold and violet ball danced in his palm, taunting him with proof of his new power before he let it sail through the night at the fucking dragon.

On the other side, one of the black-blue dragons rose, taking flight into the night to float on the air. Its gossamer wings were spread wide to catch the wind before it paused and held mere feet away from Damian. He stumbled back, surprise catching him unprepared for the vision before him.

The dragon stared at him, its deep blue eyes nailing him with recognition. The energy pulsed around Damian, and he listened.

Loukianos. His brother.

How?

The large dragon blinked, a slow closing of eyelids as if to say he understood. The confusion, the denial, the doubt. All of it raced through Damian in an instant before he banished them all.

It simply was.

The matching dragon—Louk’s twin, only smaller—soared over the battle, shooting angry flames down on the unsuspecting Shifters from above.

Winged dragons.

Understanding dawned in Damian.

He inclined his head at Louk, then stepped back. Louk turned and soared toward the matching dragon, his mate, to fight by her side for the Energens. It was a beautiful sight. One that caused many to stop, watching in both awe and confusion at the vision most had never witnessed.

The winged dragons had returned.

An angry roar of denial fired through the night. It was a call of rage and frustration from the dragon Tubal that bounced off the clay cliffs and vibrated down the beach. The sound was so fierce, so primed with evil that the fighting came to an instant halt.

A pause that echoed with the abrupt silence.

In that moment, Damian took two huge steps and soared off the cliff into the cool air of the night.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Amber held strong, but her strength was waning. Under the heavy coat, her shirt was soaked with sweat. Perspiration beaded on her forehead and dripped unwanted down her face and into her eyes. The salt stung, and she blinked away the annoyance as she kept her arms braced wide to hold the invisible energy field in place.

The stone burned against her chest, hotter than ever before. But it didn’t hurt or sear her skin. The warmth invaded her body and mind as if an inferno burned until she felt consumed with the power.

Around her, the energy pulsed, power unfurled and, newly tested, rippled over the mass of gathered fighters. She watched, caught in the awe like everyone else.

The raven-black dragons soared with a beautiful grace in the night sky, their long bodies held aloft by paper-thin wings. They were stunning in their magnificence. The simple fact that something so large could float so effortlessly in the air was mindboggling on its own.

The dragon Tubal let loose with an angry roar of pure menace. He tossed his head high, shooting flames in the direction of the two dragons that circled in the night just out of his reach. The frustration and unbridled fury of the beast radiated over the crowd on the wave of cold energy that blanketed the beach.

With a joy that felt both foreign and welcomed, her dragon reared its head, took a mighty leap and soared into the air.

Amber gasped, her heart stuttering as she watched Damian leap from the cliffs high above. Too stunned to think, she dropped her shield and cried out in denial before she remembered that he controlled the air.

In the next second, he shifted.

In a blur of man and beast, a stunning white dragon took form.

The large animal descended to the rocky beach at a frightening speed. Her breath caught, panic assaulting her as the dragon plunged down. Then, in a smooth unfurling of grace, wings extended from his sides, expanded, then caught the wind and lifted him into the night.

Damian
.

Her muscles sagged, relief and amazement consuming her. A white dragon. Damian could shape-shift into a white dragon. And he was good. He was positively striking in his dragon form. Primarily white with hues of gold and violet shimmering on the scales, he appeared like a piece of the moon streaking through the dark. A dusting of fine, golden hair lined his long jaw, the soft strands catching and fluttering in the wind as he soared. She itched to touch that hair, to run her fingers through it and feel the texture against her skin.

“Awesome,” she yelled to him. “You’re amazing.”

The joy pounded through her in time with her inner dragon. The white bird screeched with happiness to see its mate free and soaring by its side.

Lost in the moment, focus totally on Damian, Amber turned in the sand to watch the dragon coast on the wind, glorying in its freedom. Desperately, she wanted up there with him. She belonged with him. The energy told her that, but it was her heart that finally admitted the truth of the feelings.

She jumped and yelled with the joy that filled her. Battle forgotten, there was nothing but her and Damian on the beach. His long tail switched behind him as his wings flapped and his head turned to look down at her. She smiled a big, cheek-splitting grin as she watched him glide through the night.

Amber
. Damian’s sharp cry broke her thoughts.
Look out.

Too late. Flames hit her, surrounding and engulfing her.

Pain. Hot. Smothering. Unbearable.

Amber dropped to the ground, instincts pulling her down and pushing her to roll away from the heat, away from the flames. Her coat smoked and smoldered on her back. The scorched scent of burnt hair reached her nose as her cheek burrowed into the refreshing coolness of the wet sand. Her thoughts sputtered as she realized one major fact.

She’d messed up.

Amber
. The panic of Damian’s voice thundered into her numb mind.

Forcing herself to move, she pushed on her arms, ignoring the pain until she was able to flop over on her back. Above her, Damian let loose with a streaming wall of flames that hit the dragon Tubal on the back.

Around her, she felt the battle closing in. The Shifters outnumbered the Energens. The coldness was getting closer, numbing her and chilling her to the bone.

She struggled to her knees, a need for survival forcing her up. The backs of her hands were red and tender with burns, the skin peeling away in spots. But the pain was distant, almost disconnected from her.

The scene around her was a mass of blood, beasts, swords, men and elemental gifts. Phenomenal and frightening.

“Damian,” she whispered. Somehow the softness felt appropriate amidst the clamor of battle.

Within her, she felt Damian’s panic. His anger and frustration at his inability to reach her. But more importantly, she felt his love.

For his people. His family.

For her.

The love had replaced the guilt that had hardened within him for a millennium. It freed him to claim what was rightfully his. More importantly, to claim himself.

I love you, Damian
.

His attention snapped back to her. His wings flapped, a hard beat of rejection.
Don’t give up on me, Amber.

In front of her, Tubal stalked closer, his big, black eyes dancing in victory as his tail slammed against the sand, a plume of loose sand shooting up to emphasize his triumph. Around her, she felt his army closing in. They had her.

I never did. Ever,
she told Damian.
I’m sorry I failed.

Port, Amber. Damn it. Get out of there.

I can’t.

Overhead, Damian roared, a fiery burst of denial.

Tubal shifted, moving seamlessly from dragon back to human form. His head dipped down, and his dark hair hung across his forehead shadowing the evil eyes that locked on her. His leather coat snapped in the wind as flames illuminated the air behind him. He was a vision of destruction. Using the last of her strength, Amber pushed to a stand, refusing to die like a sacrificial lamb at his feet.

“You’re mine.” The evil snarl cut at her.

At her sides, the Shifters had moved in to block the Energens. A steady stream of fireballs lit up the sky in their constant bombardment to hold off Damian and the two black dragons. Another set of Shifters battled the ground forces that fought to reach her. She knew the Energens were trying to protect her. The energy was clear on that.

“You’re too late,” she told Tubal. “I’m already Damian’s.”

The evil man laughed, a deep, chilling rumble that scraped against her nerves. “That can be changed.”

“No. It can’t,” Amber insisted. “I belong to him.”

Tubal scowled, his eyes widened then turned to evil slits. “He’s
fucked
you
.
” He cursed again, a foul string of expletives that hit the air in a sharp, hard beat. “But I still have time. You’ll forget him as soon as you’re with me tonight.”

“That’ll never happen.” Amber lifted her hand to draw up a fireball, but got nothing. A flame sparked then fizzled, her energy exhausted.

Tubal laughed at her pathetic display. “Not so powerful now, are you?”

The stone still burned against her chest, but the energy seemed to be locked within it. As if it were preserving itself for something. The mystery of the stone frustrated her beyond thought. Why would it quit on her now when she needed it most? Was there a trick to it that she was missing?

She reached out to the sand, trying desperately to lift it into Tubal’s face. Nothing. She had nothing. It was like the power had never existed within her.

Tubal took another step forward, and behind her the Shifters closed in. There was nowhere for her to go. No escape.

The wind gusted off the ocean, a long howl of denial as it funneled around her to beat at Tubal’s chest. He leaned into the force and bared his teeth at the invisible element, meeting the challenge and plowing through it with ease.

Amber slipped her hand into her pocket to clench the handle of the dagger. Her last defense, as measly as it was. Useless, really. She wasn’t going to kid herself. Reality was just ten steps in front of her.

The icy coldness crept into her bones, extinguishing the fire that had burned there just moments before. The energy felt malicious and evil as it surrounded her. It smoothed over the tender flesh of her cheek in a blatant attempt to seduce her. Her pulse slowed, her eyes felt heavy, the alluring call of the dark power whispered to her.

Wanted her.

It coiled around her neck, a serpentine caress that snaked under her collar and slithered down her spine as it whispered sweet words of enticement.