Vicious forced himself not to take a step back from the dark earth queen. The woman was unhinged. Viscious had known that for years. And he had a theory about why. A couple of decades ago, when pollution had become a growing human problem, Nimue had acted more and more erratically. Viscious theorized it was because of the poor oxygen levels in the earth. Because she was so connected to it, he figured—much like humans without enough oxygen to their brains—the woman’s brain cells were dying. “You’re correct, Nimue,” he agreed. “I wouldn’t do anything that wasn’t in the best interest of us all.”

  What was he supposed to say? Nope. Not right. I would throw you lot under the bus in a second. Then I’d stomp on the gas pedal, run you over, stop, throw it in reverse, then back over you to make sure I’d gotten the job done. Probably best to keep that thought to himself.

  “We should reconvene in three days,” Radagast offered. “And report back on our progress. Fair?”

  Viscious nodded, and the other two royals did the same. At the moment, he would have agreed to anything just to get rid of the three fools. It was his own fault they always came to his home. He had been the one to suggest regular strategy meetings and had always offered his own place. He felt it gave him some advantage over the other dark royals if they had to come to his territory.

  The other three royals opened portals and stepped through, offering no sort of goodbye. They weren’t friends, and none of them had the illusion that their relationships were anything more than politically beneficial. Despite her insanity, Nimue was right. They had a common enemy. And the chances of defeating that enemy were better if they all worked together.

  Viscious slashed his hand through the air, opening a portal of his own. He was about to step through when someone knocked on his office door. “Enter,” he called.

  The door opened, and two dark fire acolytes, Jimmy and Jake, walked in. The pair were brothers who had been loyal to Viscious since the day he’d found them standing outside of a burning house. The boys’ parents were inside breathing their last smoke-filled breaths. Had the boys started the fire on purpose? Viscious still wasn’t sure. And he didn’t really care. The important thing was the brothers’ affinity for magic was strong. It had been so strong that Viscious himself had been drawn to their location.

  “Be on guard while I’m away,” he told the pair. “Do not interfere with the demons unless they attack one of our own.”

  “Yes, sir.” Jimmy bowed his head.

  “Of course,” Jake agreed and also lowered his head to Viscious.

  When he’d first appeared where they were, he’d only stood with the two boys on the sidewalk, watching their handiwork. But a few minutes later, one of Aviur’s people had arrived. Viscious had smiled as he took Jimmy and Jake’s hands and pulled them through a portal leading back to his realm. The dark fire king rarely took in such young acolytes, the boys being only eight and ten at the time, but he certainly would not let Aviur scoop them up. So, he’d taken the boys in and raised them himself. Now, twenty years later, they were his most faithful servants.

  He could see the questions in their eyes. Considering the eruption of thousands of demons from the underworld wasn’t an everyday occurrence, the questions were justified. But Viscious had pressing matters to attend to, so any explanation, not that he had one, would have to wait. He went through the portal and stepped into the Dark Heart Forest.

  “Why have you come, dark one? You are neither needed nor wanted.”

  Viscious’s head snapped to the right. “Sepheron.” The fire king turned his body fully to face the king of dragons. “I am surprised to see you grace the human realm with your presence.”

  “You should be more surprised I do not eat you where you stand for all that you and your colleagues have done to my race. It appears today is full of wonders.”

  Viscious raised his chin. “Your kind suffered no casualties. Haven’t you heard the human saying ‘no harm no foul?’ Perhaps it is time to put the past behind us. There need be no animosity between the dragons and the dark royals.”

  The dragon king shifted on legs the size of oak trees. His tail whipped around until it curled around his feet. “It is lucky for you I don’t have time to dwell on the past,” Sepheron replied. “For now, I’m completely focused on the present, which, as I’m sure you know, includes a horde of demons currently swarming through the human realm. As you can imagine, my kind will be busy cleaning up the mess.”

  Viscious narrowed his eyes on the dragon. “And how, exactly, did the mess happen?” Viscious hated that he had to reveal his ignorance to the dragon, but he had no choice. He needed to know what had changed to allow the demons to escape. The earth was his domain, and he was one of the most powerful beings on it. Osiris was a fool and a pawn, but he’d done a good job keeping the demons in hell where they belonged. Viscious didn’t mind working with the devils; he’d summoned some recently after all, but he wanted to make damn sure he could control them before he did so. The present situation was definitely beyond his control.

  The dragon made a sound in his throat that Viscious could only guess was a chuckle. “So, the mighty fire king hasn’t heard the news?”

  A sinking sensation developed in Viscious’s gut. “What news?”

  “There’s a new sheriff in town, Viscious,” said Sepheron. “Osiris no longer rules the underworld.”

  Viscious unsuccessfully tried to keep his eyes from widening. “How in the hell did that happen?”

  Sepheron did his best imitation of a human shrug. “Nothing is permanent, Viscious. You know that.”

  “Then who has taken the reins of hell?” Osiris, fool though he might be, wasn’t a pushover. It would take someone extremely powerful to oust the lord of the underworld from his grisly throne.

  “Hell has returned to its original ownership,” Sepheron said, his tone even.

  The words fell like weights at Viscious’s feet. “But that means . . .” He was afraid to finish the thought.

  “Lucifer is waking,” said the dragon.

  For a moment, the fire king was speechless. Lucifer? Viscious’s mind lurched into gear. This changed things as far as the demons being a problem topside. It was more than an opportunity. This could be the best thing that had happened to the dark elementals in a millennium. If the demons remained unchecked, their influence on the humans would grow. As their dark influence on the world increased, hatred and divisions would multiply. That kind of hatred would weaken Lucifer’s chains. Eventually, when enough hatred permeated the world . . . snap! The lord of hell’s chains would break.

  The light elementals would be desperate to stop the demons. They would commit all their resources to defeat the monsters, completely forgetting about the dark elementals. And that’s exactly when Viscious would strike. The dark fire king had to stifle a laugh. He inclined his head to Sepheron. “Thank you, dragon king. This chance meeting has been most informative.” Viscious opened a portal back to his own realm. “And please remember what I said. If ever you should like to make amends, let me know. I hold you in the highest regard. My kind would benefit greatly from having one such as you as an ally.” Without waiting for an answer, the dark king stepped through the portal. But just as it closed behind him, Viscious could have sworn he smelled smoke and felt heat at his back.

  Sepheron stared at the spot where the dark fire king had just been standing, his mind full of all the consequences brought on by the release of the demons. He’d seen the eager twinkle in Viscious’s eyes when Sepheron mentioned Lucifer. When he’d spoken the lord of the underworld’s name, Sepheron had expected Viscious to be confused. Like the light elementals, he’d figured that the dark fire king would ask who Lucifer was or where Osiris had gone. But he’d done neither. In fact, he hadn’t acted surprised at all at the mention of the fallen one’s name.

  “What does it mean?” he asked himself. The dragon turned toward the portal leading back to his realm. Lucifer’s memory should have been lost to all the supernaturals. Perhaps the opening of hell’s gates had somehow broken the magic concealing the knowledge of Lucifer’s existence. If so, then did Lucifer’s name need to be mentioned before they really remembered? Because, Viscious hadn’t known until Sepheron had revealed it. Did that mean the other dark elementals wouldn’t know until they were told that Lucifer had awoken? They were questions he would need to find the answers to soon. Sepheron added it to his mental list of things that needed to get done.

  When he crossed back into his realm, he saw the sun beginning to rise on the horizon. A new day was drawing, as was a new era for the supernatural world. The war between light and dark elementals was child’s play compared to what they were facing. The time for rest was over. Now, his kind would prepare to fight for humanity, for good to overcome evil, and for the balance to be restored.

  Sepheron threw back his head and released a roar that shook the ground beneath his clawed feet. Fire erupted from his mouth and smoke billowed from his snout. There, he thought with mild amusement, that should wake everyone up.

  CHAPTER 4

  “This should be fun . . . said no one ever when it came to sparring dragons.”

  ~Shelly

  Kimba had never understood why humans needed coffee to wake up. In her experience, nothing beat a dragon king’s roar at the break of dawn. It was efficient, effective, and, judging by the string of curses coming from the various caves, universally unpopular.

  She grinned, smoke curling from her nostrils in the chilly morning air. Sepheron’s roar echoed off the mountains, bouncing around the dragon realm like a toddler on a sugar high. Honestly, it was a little extra, but dragons weren’t known for subtlety. That was more of a pixie thing.

  One by one, the soul-bonded pairs, now eight in all, stumbled from the divided cave, hair sticking out at odd angles, eyes puffy and blinking against the morning sun. Gabby led the pack, muttering about “inhumane reptilian alarm clocks.” Liam followed, still pulling on his shirt. Rory wore a look that said she might try to set Sepheron’s tail on fire if he did that again. Shelly clung to Ra’s arm, her glare daring anyone to comment on her fuzzy socks that peeked out of the top of her boots. Aston and Elias looked remarkably put together, which Kimba found suspicious. They both might be early risers, or perhaps being young and newly bonded just made them eager for morning activities. She was not about to dwell on that possibility. Or the fact that she’d been separated from her mate for so long that she couldn’t even remember any type of activities, morning or otherwise. Tara yawned widely, and the four new couples–Riggs and Lark, Lawson and Cara, Rush and Brianna, and Crey and Tinely–all had some pep in their step and looked as if they got up at the crack of dawn every morning, ready for battle. Probably because they did, considering they actually were out in the field fighting the dark elementals.

  Riggs, a wide grin on his handsome face, saluted Kimba. “Morning, your majesty. Or do we call you Highness . . . because you’re a dragon.” He paused and looked around. Blank faces stared back. “You know, Highness, because she can fly high?”

  Lark patted his shoulder. “We don’t even have kids and you got the dad jokes, Babe.”

  Rory, never missing an opportunity to attempt to get under Kimba’s scales, snorted. “She responds to ‘Queen of Secrets’ too. Or ‘By the way I forgot to mention sometimes I don’t have a tail.’”

  “That seems a little long to say,” Gabby pointed out.

  Kimba rolled her eyes at her dragon bonded. “Good morning, sunshine and destruction,” she called, shifting from dragon to human in a shimmer of magic. Her pale hair tumbled down her back, and she was, of course, fully clothed—dragons had standards. “Hope you slept well. Not that it matters, because you won’t be sleeping again until you can fight as one.”

  Liam groaned. “Is there a waiver for that? Because I’m pretty sure Gabby will kill me if I accidentally blast her with water magic before breakfast.”

  Gabby elbowed him. “You blast me, I burn you. That’s the deal.”

  “Couple goals,” Liam said with a flirty wink.

  Aston adjusted his glasses. “Should we stretch first, or does dragon boot camp skip warm-ups?”

  Kimba snorted. “If you need to stretch, do it quickly. The dragons are eager for breakfast.” She motioned for the others to gather close as three more dragons landed nearby, their wings stirring the snow into miniature cyclones.

  Tara inched closer to Elias as she eyed the dragons. “Just an fyi, I don’t taste like chicken. In fact, I have a distinctly skunky flavor.”

  Rory raised her hand. “I won’t taste good because I’m pissy and it’s a well-known fact that pissy females are nasty.”

  “Bloody hell,” Elias muttered.

  Gabby roared with laughter. “Why didn’t somebody record that? That needs to be her ringtone or text alert or something equally embarrassing.”

  “Roar, Babe,” Shelly said with a gentle smile. “Maybe you should just not talk today?”

  Rory shrugged. “ Whatever I say is because I’m still recovering from the fact that my dragon bff is actually an elemental, and a royal one at that,” Rory said, raising her hand. “So there should be no judgment if my concentration is a little off.”

  “Or if you say crazy shite?” Elias asked.

  “Exactly.” Rory nodded.

  Kimba shook her head at her dragonrider. “You know me better than that, little one. I give no grace when it comes to being able to protect yourself. I still reserve the right to fry you if you do something stupid.”

  “Damn,” Rory huffed. “You’re just as grumpy in your two-legged form as you are when you’re a giant reptile.”

  “Classy, Rory. Now, moving on. Meet your chariots for the day,” Kimba announced. “The blue one with the chipped horn is Zephyra. The green one with the scar across his snout is Brontes. And the gold one with the attitude problem is Solyn.”

  Zephyra dipped her head in greeting. Brontes gave a rumbling snort that rattled the pine needles. Solyn just rolled his eyes—which, for a dragon, was somehow even more dramatic than when Gabby did it.

  Brianna glanced at her mate and then to Kimba. “Do we get to pick, or are we assigned to the dragon least likely to eat us?”

  “They don’t eat soul bonded,” Kimba said, deadpan. “Usually.”

  Aston paled. “Define usually.”

  Rory grinned. “Relax, nerd. I’ll protect you.”

  Crey nudged Tinley, and his deep voice rumbled as he said, “Will you protect me, Babe?”

  She patted his shoulder. “Love you, but I got no plans to be dragon brunch.”

  “Ouch,” Crey clutched his chest as if she’d physically wounded him.

  Riggs chuckled. “Good to know it’s not just my female who’s brutal.”

  Rush grinned at Brianna as she bounced on her toes. “I call the blue one. Looks fast.”

  Brontes, the green dragon, snorted.

  Lark shook her head at Riggs. “You called it yesterday. It’s my turn.”

  “I’m the dragonrider, I get first dibs,” Rory announced, “And I’ve been slighted. Everyone knows the slighted gets preferential treatment.”

  “You do remember that I am your bonded dragon, right?” Kimba crossed her arms, pinning Rory with a look. “That means I’ll be the one you’re riding. It would be a shame if I hit some wind turbulence and your sassy butt fell off. But I’ll gladly give you some preferential treatment if you need to feel special.”

  Rory grinned. “No need for threats, Beasty. We all know who wears the pants in this relationship. Even if you hid your pants for, oh, centuries.”

  “And now I’m picturing all these dragons in pants,” Liam snorted.

  “Seriously, can we just take a moment?” Cara piped up, grinning. “Our dragon instructor is literally a secret queen. This is the best plot twist since we found out Crey can’t cook.”

  Crey rolled his eyes. “One time. I almost set the house on fire. One time.”

  Osiris’s voice slid into Kimba’s mind, smooth as the black silk he favored. “You know, if you let me handle this, we’d be sparring already. I was a king who no doubt led warriors, after all.”

  Kimba mentally rolled her eyes. “When you accept who you are, and who you are to me, I’ll let you run a boot camp. Until then, you’re on cleaning duty. Straighten up the caves and keep the fires going.”

  “I am not a servant, woman.”

  Kimba smirked. “And yet, here you are, cleaning the spaces of elementalist students and fetching wood.”

  She turned her attention back to the group. “Mount up,” she ordered. “We’re headed to the training clearing. Get on whichever dragon doesn’t growl at you. Yes, they can all speak. It doesn't mean they will.”

  By the time they reached the vast, open meadow—big enough for even Sepheron to do a victory lap—the sun had burned away the worst of the chill. The dragons landed with a thump that rattled teeth and scattered a flock of startled crows.

  Kimba shifted to human again, hands on her hips. “Gather round, children.”

  Rory raised her hand. “Are there snacks?”

  Gabby elbowed her. “If you ask for juice boxes, I’m out.”

  Kimba waited until the laughter died down, then schooled her features into seriousness. “Listen up, because this is important. You need to know why you exist. Why Mother Gaia created the soul bond.”

  Tara leaned forward, all business. “Elias and I learned about some of it, but I’m sure there’s more we don’t know.”

  Kimba nodded. “The soul bond was never just about love, or even power. It’s about saving each other from the darkness. When a child, a future elementalist, loses a parent, when grief or trauma rips away too much of their soul, there’s a risk. An open door for the darkness to creep in. Mother Gaia pairs that soul with another elementalist, one with a whole, unbroken soul. The bond protects the broken, keeps them from tipping over the edge.”