And he realized a third thing as Blaze destroyed the last fiend. There was more locked away in his mind than an average Love fairy should be aware of.

  Blaze’s gasp brought Griff’s focus back to his bonded. Blaze’s eyes were still glowing with an eerie glint of silver in their amber depths. His face was flushed, and his features slightly altered, as if blurred. It took Griff a moment to realize he was seeing flickering, shadow images flitting over Blaze’s features. It was eerie and terrifying.

  “Blaze?”

  Blaze gasped again. He reached for Griff’s cheek, his mouth moving and with a lost look as he trembled.

  “Blaze!” Griff didn’t know why he was so scared, didn’t know what was happening to his bonded.

  Then Blaze threw his head back and screamed.

  Griff stumbled back, propelled by a supernatural force that burned when it slapped at him. Blaze’s entire body convulsed, and an orange-gold glow encompassed him.

  He levitated off the ground just as the colors around him grew brighter.

  Griff shouted his name again. The light was too much—he squinted and shielded his eyes. Heat rolled off Blaze in waves.

  With his retinas close to being singed, Griff had only a second to see the flames shoot from Blaze’s appendages, from his mouth and eyes. Griff felt the pain of it, his insides burning torturously as Blaze screamed.

  Then as suddenly as the agony had begun, it ceased. Griff collapsed, though he’d no sooner hit the ground than he began crawling, forcing his eyes open, searching for his bonded.

  When he saw Blaze, Griff’s heart almost stopped. Blaze was on bended knee, head down, puffs of smoke leaving his nostrils with every exhalation. Ahndwa stood before him, one hand in Blaze’s hair, the other holding the Sword of Synchrony.

  Griff didn’t dare interfere with the goddess. He managed to crawl to Ahndwa’s side where he knelt, head bowed in a show of respect.

  When Ahndwa touched his head, Griff whimpered in a mix of fear and gratitude. The goddess’ touch could be a blessing or a curse.

  She stroked her fingers over his scalp, then moved them down to his face, her touch leaving a heated trail behind. When she reached his chin, Ahndwa pressed up, and Griff raised his head just enough to look at her knees.

  Another push, and he dared look higher. When he gazed past her smiling lips, past her strong nose and to her dark green eyes, Griff felt a pressure in his head, like someone had stuffed it too full and it was close to bursting.

  He winced and would have reached for his temples but was unable to move.

  The goddess stared at him, and he felt exposed, vulnerable and elated at the same time.

  “What have they done to you, my brioghi?” Ahndwa asked with such tenderness that Griff’s eyes welled.

  He couldn’t answer. His mind was still a chaotic disaster. Yet with each sweep of her fingers over his skin, Griff’s panic and fear ebbed, to be replaced with a peace that was pure and comforting. There was no need for him to feel anything other than what the goddess gave him. Griff accepted it, sinking into the gift of her touch.

  She murmured words he didn’t understand, and Griff’s eyelids grew heavy, too heavy to hold open. The sensations he felt altered. A new energy flowed into him, a familiar, loving one. Blaze’s presence was mingled with his, and Griff’s with Blaze’s. It was another gift from their goddess, a blessing, and that was all he knew of it.

  Then slowly, the feeling of safety and comfort waned, though it didn’t leave him altogether. The connection with Blaze was still there, too, yet not as strong as it had been.

  It was still a treasure, a bond unlike any Griff had ever heard of. He slowly opened his eyes and found that Blaze was still kneeling. The goddess was fading out, her smile still fond, her touch still on them. The Sword of Synchrony was strapped to her back.

  Griff was relieved she hadn’t left it with Blaze. The sword was a blessing and a curse.

  Ahndwa grew dimmer, then was gone as a breeze wafted over them. Blaze raised his head, his gaze seeking out Griff’s immediately.

  Blaze reached for him, and Griff moved into his arms.

  Behind him, Griff heard someone clearing their throat.

  He ignored them in favor of holding on to his bonded. Blaze held on to him with equal strength and need.

  “You do realize that a goddess never blesses without there being a cost.”

  Griff squinched his eyes shut upon hearing Jade’s words. He had no doubt Ahndwa had blessed him and Blaze.

  “She freed my fire,” Blaze rasped. “She freed my dragon. She brought us closer together.”

  A small, angry part of Griff wanted to know why she hadn’t given him his wings back—or his memory. He snuffed that part of himself down. All that mattered was that Blaze had recovered that which had been taken from him.

  “I’ll pay whatever the cost for that,” Griff murmured to Blaze. He wasn’t taunting Ahndwa.

  “There’ll be a cost,” Jade said. “There always is.”

  Blaze hugged Griff tighter, then loosened his hold and leaned back. Griff opened his eyes and saw that Blaze was looking beyond him.

  “Where’s Grlind?” Blaze asked.

  “Here.” Grlind sounded pained.

  Griff wiggled and, in short order, stood along with Blaze. Grlind was sitting with his back against a tree. Blood had pooled beside him.

  “Healed,” Grlind added. “For the most part.”

  “Is that through your own power?” Griff asked.

  Grlind cast a look at the Storm King. “No.”

  Before Griff could ask what he meant, Jade huffed and took one step, only to whimper and collapse.

  “Shit!” Grlind scrambled toward the fallen elf.

  Griff and Blaze reached him first. Griff smelled blood. “He’s hurt!”

  He shoved at Jade’s robes and found them heavy with blood. The dark red and black material had hidden it well.

  Griff grabbed the ripped fabric and tore. “Gods!” Three deep gashes marred Jade’s side.

  “Is he hurt anywhere else?” Blaze asked.

  “Let me see!” Grlind demanded.

  They stripped Jade quickly and found another deep wound on his left thigh.

  “And he used his gods-be-damned powers to heal me?” Grlind growled. “Foolish king!”

  Griff shook his head. He didn’t understand any of it—Ahndwa coming to his and Blaze’s aid, the sword, the release of Blaze’s abilities, blessings and debts and healings—and he couldn’t concentrate on any of it. Friend or foe, or something in between, the Storm King needed their help.

  If he died, the chaos wouldn’t be confined to the elven world.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Even as Blaze tried to help Griff and Grlind treat the Storm King, he was aware that something was different inside him. Killing the fiends with the Sword of Synchrony had affected him all the way to his soul.

  Every time he’d killed with it, he’d felt the sword grow warm and heard it sing just as it did when slicing through the air. He’d felt the lives leaving the bodies, felt the fear and pain and that final moment when life had blinked out.

  And those souls were utterly destroyed. There’d be no coming back for them. He’d have to carry that knowledge, the guilt of his responsibility in the fiends’ deaths, with him forever.

  Just as he’d be at the goddess Ahndwa’s beck and call. That was the price he’d paid to defend his bonded. Jade had been right when he’d said the goddess didn’t bless freely. Blaze would be her champion in the living realm. He had a feeling Griff wouldn’t be happy about that at all.

  And he also believed Ahndwa would require payment from Griff, but in what manner, Blaze had no idea. He and Griff needed to talk, alone, once they had the chance.

  With Jade growing ever paler and having long since ceased speaking, Blaze worried the elf wouldn’t make it. He didn’t know much about the elven world politics, but they were probably just as screwed up as the dragons’ were, if not more so.

  Everything was becoming more complicated, and Blaze wasn’t smart enough to figure out how to fix any of it. He wanted to bang his head against the nearest tree, he was so frustrated with himself.

  Then there was that creepy word Ahndwa had called Griff—brioghi. What did that even mean? The way Ahndwa had caressed Griff’s hair, too, had been…almost possessive or fond or…

  “Argh!” Blaze closed his eyes and tried to get his emotions under control. He was in such a weird state and had never experienced anything like it before.

  He couldn’t hide behind his eyelids, however. Grlind had sent him to find some staggo weeds. They weren’t far from the encampment. The black-stalked plants had thick veins running through them. Those veins pulsed rhythmically as the blue-petals of the flower swayed back and forth.

  They were fucking weird plants. “Weeds,” Blaze muttered. “They’re just weeds.”

  He knelt and swooped up a handful of them.

  And shrieked when each plant emitted a keening sound. “Oh my fucking gods!” Blaze yelped, dropping the plants. “Fuck! Fuck!”

  He heard the thud of footsteps and spun around to see Grlind barreling toward him.

  “What the fuck!” Blaze shouted at him.

  Grlind slowed down and almost smiled. “Oh, aye. The weeds are also known as banshee blooms. That’s a horrible sound they make.”

  Blaze glared at him. “I killed them!”

  Grlind cocked his head and scratched his rounded chin. “Were you gonna kill them any less if they didn’t make noise? Because you were gonna fetch them for me. We need them for Jade.”

  Blaze looked from Grlind to the weeds. “It’s different when they scream.”

  “Still kills the plants just as much as when they don’t.” Grlind stalked past him and picked the plants up. “A few more should do it.”

  Blaze slapped his hands over his ears but still heard the gods-awful racket as the weeds were snapped off.

  Then Grlind nudged him, and they hurried back to Jade and Griff.

  Jade’s breathing was labored, but the bleeding had ceased.

  Grlind looked grim as he began mashing the staggo between his palms. In short order, he had a thick, disgusting looking paste that he applied to the Storm King’s wounds.

  Thunder clapped overhead, and the skies turned dark.

  “Must hurt,” Grlind observed. “I’m sorry, Jade, but I’ve got nothing else to use. It’s this or death.”

  Jade shuddered just as lightning split a tree in half, way too close for Blaze’s comfort.

  After another bolt hit, Jade opened his eyes just enough to see a hint of the irises. “I might…prefer…death,” he panted out.

  Grlind clucked his tongue. “Now, now. Don’t be a brat, Storm King.” Then Grlind took Jade’s hands in his. “Take back some of what you gave me,” he urged. “I can recover from you using a bit of my life force.”

  Jade started to shake his head, but Grlind leaned over and growled at him. “You’re the king of your people. Do what you must do to help them. You dying won’t help them, will it?” He leaned even closer. “Just enough to keep yourself alive and give the staggo time to work. That’s all you have to take from me. It’ll mean a day off my lifespan, at most, and if you die, I’ll kill myself just to spite you.”

  “You wouldn’t,” Jade gasped, eyes finally opening wide. “No!”

  It’d be the height of insult, Blaze assumed.

  Jade stared for a moment, then he began chanting softly. Despite that tone, the power of the chant was evident in the way the storm suddenly burst free, rain and hail pounding down around them.

  None of it touched them. The wind swirled, sending the leaves and dirt into a panicked dance, a tornadic melody of nature’s madness—or the Storm King’s anger.

  It lasted less than a minute, then there was complete silence and eerie stillness.

  Until they all had to breathe.

  Grlind sat back on his haunches as Jade sprung up into a sitting position. At the same time, he threw a hard punch that caught Grlind right on the jaw.

  Despite his size, Grlind went flying backward and landed with a thud.

  “What in the world is wrong with you?” Griff snapped at Jade.

  Jade was shaking as he pointed at Grlind. “That…that fool didn’t give me a day! He pushed years into me. Years! Do you know what that means?”

  Blaze noted that the wounds were only very fine, very faded scars now.

  Jade didn’t wait for an answer. “It means he could drop dead at any time! A day is a day, but years? Years!”

  The Storm King wasn’t the selfish bastard Blaze had thought him to be. Jade was clearly, honestly distraught over Grlind’s sacrifice.

  “Well, trying to knock his head off could sure shorten Grlind’s life span,” Blaze pointed out. “I’d bet a thank-you would have been the appropriate response.”

  “And you are healed up completely,” Grlind said, rubbing his jaw. “I didn’t mean to give so much, but what’s done is done, and what have I got to do in my life other than this quest? Nothing. There is no place in this world for a solitary orc.”

  He didn’t sound sad or as if he wanted pity. Instead, Grlind spoke as if what he said were merely a fact.

  Jade began to argue with Grlind. Blaze blocked them out as he focused on Griff. “What did the goddess demand from you?”

  Griff frowned at him. “Demand? Nothing. I don’t think she did. I mean, I could have forgotten, but I don’t think that’s the case. She touched me and it felt…felt good, like a mother’s touch. And she called me brioghi, which I’ve never heard before.”

  “Brioghi?” Jade asked, standing as he held up a hand toward Grlind. “Wait, orc. Griff, who called you brioghi?”

  Griff shivered. “What does it mean?”

  Jade walked over to Griff, a troubled look on his face. “Who called you brioghi?”

  Griff bit his bottom lip and shook his head. Then he finally answered. “Ahndwa.”

  Jade took a step back. “Who are you really, Griff? Stop lying to us and tell us.”

  Blaze spun to face Jade. “Don’t call him a liar. Storm King or not, I will kick your ass!”

  Grlind moved to stand behind Jade. “Why would you ask such a thing, Jade?”

  Jade raised those damned kingly eyebrows of his and said, “Because Ahndwa called him her son.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Griff stumbled back. “Son? No, you must be wrong, or…or she meant it in that non-familial way. And we’re all her sons and daughters anyway! She’s a goddess and—”

  Blaze was staring at him, mouth open. Jade had his head cocked to the side—those damned imperious eyebrows arched. Grlind merely watched him.

  “What?” Griff demanded.

  “You…” Blaze gulped and glanced at the others, then back at him. “You kinda look like her?”

  Griff shook his head, in full-blown denial. “No! I don’t!” He had parents, real fairy parents…somewhere. “Gia’s my sister! I remember her! We grew up together.”

  Jade tutted. “Dear fairy, that doesn’t mean shit. She could be your sister in fact or in name only if you’re a foundling.”

  “I’m not a foundling!” Griff shouted, angry and scared and ready to hit someone. “Stop it! Stop lying to me!” His head throbbed, and he dropped to his knees, cradling it with his hands.

  “Griff!” Blaze was right there, wrapping him in strong arms. “Shut up, Jade, and get away from us!”

  “I’m only trying to help,” Jade said in something close to a whine. “I wasn’t being deliberately cruel.”

  Griff ignored Jade, ignored Grlind. He didn’t pay much attention to Blaze, either, because the pounding in his head was excruciatingly painful.

  The fear threatening to smother him was even worse.

  “Can’t think, can’t think,” he muttered between gasped breaths. Nothing would slow down in his head. He had flashes of memories and snippets of conversations that he was trying really hard not to doubt. What was real, and what wasn’t? He’d asked himself that for a long time now. “I don’t know.”

  “Get the fuck away from us, asshole,” Blaze snapped.

  “I didn’t mean to upset him,” Jade said. “I—”

  Blaze roared, and his skin heated up to an almost uncomfortable temperature. Griff opened his eyes just in time to see streams of flames shoot from Blaze’s mouth.

  Jade scrambled back, eyes huge, and Griff felt it.

  Blaze’s body shook and grew hotter. His skin rippled and thickened, and his bones popped and shifted.

  From one second to the next, Blaze transformed. Griff was no longer held in a man’s arms, but instead had a huge, powerful beast wrapped around him, sheltering him from the world.

  It stopped the spinning in his head. How could he freak out when Blaze was suddenly this glorious, gorgeous dragon?

  Griff twisted around to see more of him. Blaze was a vibrantly colored dragon, his scales shades of red, orange, yellow and gold. His paws were tipped with long, sharp black talons, and his wings—they were stunning, with thick tendons and bones covered in those bright colors.

  He had ridges along his spine, and a long, sharp-tipped tail that he was twitching, thumping it from side to side on the ground. Griff returned his attention to Blaze’s head. The triangular head and broad jaw set off the foot-long canines that were exposed when Blaze gnashed his teeth.

  He had a thin, bisected tongue that was a deep red, and his eyes were still the same color, only much larger as he looked at Jade and snarled again.

  “You’re beautiful,” Griff murmured, reaching up to touch one small, pointed ear. “Gods, Blaze. You are truly amazing.”

  Blaze cut off mid-bellow and swung his head around to press the tip of his nose to Griff’s.

  Griff giggled, the soft warm puffs of Blaze’s breath tickling his neck. He stroked Blaze’s face and was surprised at how smooth the scales were. “I would have thought they’d be rough, hard.”

  Blaze puffed and sent Griff’s hair fluttering. Then he licked Griff, and Griff started imagining things he probably shouldn’t have, all things considered. Blaze grunted and nudged Griff closer to him, tucking him in and curling up around him again.