Stone of Ascension (36 page)

“They were the first in the series of steps that must be executed over this year, the Year of the Dragon.” Cronus looked at Damian and Amber. “You two are the key to the second. The most vital step that you must complete, or all the rest will fail. Our very survival is dependent upon you accepting who you are and your role in the coming war. You must ascend, Damian, with Amber at your side, or all your suffering will be for naught.”

“Why us?” Damian had to ask. “Of all the Energens in the world, why me? Why her?”

Cronus looked to the sky then turned to Amber. “Tomorrow, you will turn twenty-four.”

She smiled, a slight flush rising on her cheeks. “Yes. Tomorrow’s my birthday.”

Cronus returned her smiled. “Born on the vernal equinox in the Year of the Dragon, conceived by both Energen and Shifter. She who straddles light and dark, born of both positive and negative, will define the course of the Great War. Like your namesake—amber—you are the true connector: the balance that harmonizes yin and yang, as well as the past, present and future.”

“But it is only with Damian that I have that balance.”

“Yes.” Cronus nodded then addressed Damian. “You are the stabilizer. The rare one with a strength of character strong enough to endure a thousand years of pain and wrongful exile without losing himself in misery and self-pity. The second son and heir to the House of Air, you, Damianos Aeros, are the Chosen One for what you bring our world. It is through the Air bloodline that the winged dragons have returned. You are a descendant of the Royal House of the Winged Dragons and thus heir to the throne. I know this because a five-toed dragon is the mark of royalty reserved solely for the king.”

Damian’s gaze dropped to the dragon mark on his hand where one foot visibly displayed five toes. His focus snapped back to Cronus. “Did you know this when you played your game a thousand years ago? Did you know this about me?”

A spark of sadness flashed in the Ancient’s eyes. “There was never a certainty, only a hope. And it was never a game. Not when so many lives were—are—affected. We can only listen to the energy and trust that it will yield the results we need. There was no way to know that the winged ones would return. The energy picked you as being strong enough to carry the burden of the sacrifice required to trap Gog…now, we know why.”

“If that is true, then why did it take until now to manifest?” Damian could feel the truth in what Cronus was saying, but the doubt was still there. The turnaround in his position within the Energen world had happened too fast for him to just believe.

“The stone is the key,” Cronus answered as he tipped his head at Amber. “It is the key that unlocked the latent Energen gene in Amber and the dragon gene in you. Its power was forged when the earth was young, when the energy was purest.”

“So why didn’t you tell us this yesterday?” Amber spoke up, her eyes narrowed in thought. “Why did we have to play this game of lies and mystery for the last two days?”

Damian let a small smile show. Leave it to Amber to poke at the heart of the matter, and to identify the most important detail and seek the answer.

“Because each move had to be made by your own free will,” Cronus said. “Each decision on your path to this moment had to be made by you alone in order to obtain this end.”

“What end?” Damian asked.

“Louk and Airiana’s joining brought them the gift of dual power, the ability for both of them to wield his power of air and her power of fire, both in human and dragon form. Your joining has gifted the two of you with everything. The ability to shift shapes
and
to wield all five powers—air, water, earth, fire and spirit. This is a gift of true supremacy given only to ones who have the inner fortitude to withstand the lure of the evil that can come with holding so much power. A power the energy has never given to anyone—until now.”

Damian resisted the urge to stumble backwards at the impact of the Ancient’s words. It was only Amber’s strong grip on his hand that held him steady.

He closed his eyes and digested all that had been revealed. There was so much to understand, but little time to do so. The energy was pushing, the urgency building to accept his—their—fate and blindly follow. But could he?

“And you, Father?” Damian opened his eyes and held the steady glare of his father, who stood behind Cronus. “What do
you
think of this?” For the first time since arriving at the compound, sweat gathered down his back. His stomach muscles clenched as he waited for his father’s response, the man who had despised and blamed him for the death of Khristos.

The man whose opinion mattered the most.

His father, Kadmos, moved forward, each step aging his features until he stood before Damian looking old beyond his years. His blue eyes were dull, his cheeks sunken, his lips thinned in a grim line. Damian remained still and held his tongue as his father slowly regarded him, then Amber.

His father looked to Louk, blinked, then back to them. Slowly, as if the very movement would break his bones, his father bent to one knee before them.

The impact was instantaneous. Damian lost his breath and with it, the last of his resentment and doubt.

“I owe you much, Damian,” his father said, his voice low and filled with pain. “But mostly, I owe you my love. Something I stripped unjustly from you years ago. Now, I can only hope my actions don’t keep you from being who you were meant to be.”

Damian dropped to his knees, humbled by his father’s admission. The strong, formidable leader of the House of Air was admitting to his mistakes when he had been wronged just as fiercely as Damian himself. He reached out to grip his father’s shoulder. It was his first contact in over a thousand years with the man he had once admired and aspired to emulate.

Kadmos flinched, an almost imperceptible movement of muscles under Damian’s palm. Cautiously, the man lifted his gaze to meet his son’s. Unbelievably, tears shimmered in those eyes. Tears Damian hadn’t seen him shed even at Khristos’s death.

Damian cleared his throat, his words suddenly lodged behind the ball of humility that was stuck there. “It is you, Father, who have endured more than any one man should be expected to shoulder. The loss of two sons, the betrayal of so many. The weight is heavy for one man to carry alone. It is time you let it go and let the past remain where it is. I have.”

His father blinked, swallowed and then lifted his hand to grip Damian’s shoulder. A sharp squeeze, a nod, and they both stood. An understanding reached in a way only men can achieve.

Damian took Amber’s hand and spoke to the assembled group. “There is much for Amber and I to discuss. Much that has been thrust upon us in a very short amount of time. I hope you will understand if we take some time to ourselves.”

“You are welcome to your old room at our house,” his father said. “Your mother will want to see you.”

Damian’s heart twisted at the thought of his mother. “Thank you, Father. But right now, we need our own space.”

“You know what is next,” Cronus said solemnly. “I know the energy has told you what needs to be done to protect the city.” He gave a sharp, assessing look to both of them. “We will expect you back here in time to complete your ascension.”

Damian gave a nod then tugged Amber to his side and dissipated out. The break was as much for him as her. He needed to hold her, to ensure that she was okay. She was his first priority and all that mattered in his world.

Right now, the rest of the world could wait.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

They solidified in the living room of Damian’s safe house, the comfortable surroundings instantly relaxing him. But it was the warmth of the woman in his arms that gave solace to his soul and peace to his heart.

Somehow, at a rate too fast to comprehend, she had broken past every barrier he’d erected around his emotions and exposed them to the glaring light of reality. He could hide no more, nor did he want to.

“Amber,” he breathed against her hair. The long, silky mass drove him mad with a desire to feel it wrapped around them, caressing their bare skin as he made love to her.

“Damian,” she answered just as softly, her warm breath stroking the skin of his neck, igniting a burning craving to touch her, to feel her heated skin beneath his hands, against his body.

Pulling back, he tugged her hand to follow him as he moved to the bedroom. The energy was thick with anticipation as they walked past the large bed that beckoned and into the master bathroom. He felt her question, her emotions so tied to his that little could remain hidden between them.

Instead of terrifying him, the sensation was one of rightness. Of what he had been waiting to find only he never realized it until it was there.

He dropped her hand and started the water in the shower, the pattering sound of the spray filling the space and echoing off the marble. Turning back to her, he had to laugh at the unsuppressed delight that covered her face.

“Shower first,” he said around the deep chuckle that lingered. “Then we’ll talk.”

A coy smile curved over her lips as she began to unbutton his big coat, the one she’d worn for almost two days now. The one that now belonged to her more than him. He stepped up to help slip it off her shoulders, the scent of cinnamon surrounding and drugging him with its intoxicating lure to her.

“Maybe we could shower and talk,” she said, shooting a shy but calculated look over her shoulder as he hung the coat along with his ruined leather jacket on a hook.

He turned and pulled her back to his chest, the soft strands of her hair rubbing against his skin in a taunting slide of seduction. Her head settled on his shoulder, a low moan escaping her lips. He ran his hands under her shirt, the smooth skin of her stomach burning hot embers of desire into his flesh.

“That is the best suggestion I’ve heard all day,” he murmured into her ear.

She laughed, a throaty sound that notched up his need. “It wasn’t hard to top the offers we’ve been given today.” She turned, her hands sliding around his neck as his palms skimmed across her stomach to rest at the small of her back. A spot he fully intended to explore with his lips in the very near future.

She looked into his eyes, the golden tones of her own eyes darkening to the color of deep, aged amber found in ancient trees. “Do you question this?” she asked, the snippet of doubt and fear threading through her energy.

“No,” he answered honestly, pouring all his conviction into his energy, his voice. “Not you. I can’t question such a gift after so many years of emptiness.”

She looked down, her lip disappearing between her teeth. “Not even the speed of it all?” Her gaze met his again. “Is there a chance it’s all wrong?”

“No. Not a chance,” he insisted, tugging her against his length. “There’s no way this is wrong.”

He bent his head, descending upon her with a heated kiss of affirmation. She opened her mouth in acceptance and met his passion with an urgency that matched his own. The desperation of the connection speared him deep in his chest and almost dropped him to his knees.

She dug her hands into his hair, pulling his head down tighter into her embrace as she sucked longingly on his lip. The steam from the shower billowed out of the stall, banking the space in a moist, heated cloak of seduction.

His erection rubbed tauntingly against her lower stomach, aching for release from his jeans. A demand he needed to heed.

Pulling back from her lips, Damian slipped her shirt over her head to drop it carelessly on the floor. He disposed of her bra just as quickly so she stood before him naked from the waist up, the stone shimmering seductively between her breasts. His breath left his chest, one big exhale of disbelief at his fortune.

Her breasts were round, fuller underneath and tipped with coral nipples that begged him to take them. Touch and suck them until she moaned in bliss.

“Gorgeous doesn’t even begin to describe you.”

Her cheeks darkened to a deep tint of red, a beautiful part of her that only complemented the midnight hues of her hair and made her even more alluring. But she didn’t look down or shy away from him or his words. Instead, she reached for the waistband of his jeans, the brush of her fingers against his stomach his undoing.

He groaned and stepped away, jerking a hand through his hair. “Shower.” He pointed. “Now or we’ll never make it there.”

She laughed, her head tossing back in levity, causing her hair to shimmer and dance down her back. “Right, shower.”

He turned away. It was either that or take her on the cold tile floor, and she deserved better than that. He stepped into the closet and stripped away the rest of his clothes. He took a deep breath and waited until he heard the click of the shower door closing.

His erection bobbed hard and insistent against his stomach as he walked to the shower. The blurred outline of her naked body taunted him behind the glass as she tipped her head back into the water, her beautiful chest thrusting upward with the action. The smoky tendrils of heat curled around her, weaving a dance his hands itched to follow.

He bit his cheek and cursed. How did he deserve her?

Whatever the case, he wasn’t letting her go. Their future was still up in the air, but he knew without doubt that his would be with her, whatever she decided.

Opening the door, Damian stepped through the steam and into her arms. His dragon growled and tightened possessively around the phoenix, a deep sense of connection rippling over his nerves and into his heart.