“Ilon and the God of Life,” Caelan whispered.
“Please, can you bond with me instead of Caelan?” Drayce blurted out. “I know I’m not the Guardian of the Godstone, but I swear I’ll serve your will the best I can. I want to protect Cael. He’s already got three gods in his head. We’re afraid a fourth will kill him.”
Caris smiled brightly at Drayce, her eyes glowing so warmly. “Oh, my beautiful dragon. It’s already too late. Your Caelan has been destined to be mine since the moment he was born.”
Drayce’s breath caught and his hand grabbed at Caelan as if he could pull him free of the goddess’s hold. But it was like she said, it was too late. Caelan had known it was a long shot, but he appreciated his lover’s effort and concern.
“But I will give you a gift that will help you both.” Leaning forward, Caris brushed a kiss across the center of Drayce’s forehead. “As long as you love and protect him, you will burn with my power.”
Caris stood and held out her hand to the God of Time. “Come along, my wayward love. Let’s show the world how brightly we can burn.”
As Nyx grabbed her hand, there was a bright flash of light and then consuming darkness. Caelan rubbed at his eyes, trying to clear his vision.
“Cael! Cael!” Hands grabbed at him, helping him to sit up. Beside him, Drayce groaned and swore.
When his eyes finally focused, he found he was lying on the marble floor beside the sparkling godstone. The fires had gone out and the only illumination in the room was coming from their flashlights.
His head throbbed, but it was fading. A new tension rippled through his mind, possibly between Tula and Caris. There was also a softer, warmer feeling in his mind. Nyx and Caris. They were together in some fashion, and they both seemed happy about it.
Caelan rubbed his head. He’d have to sort all of that out later.
“How long was I out?” Caelan asked in a rough voice.
“A couple of minutes at most,” Eno immediately replied.
“Drayce passed out as well. Does that mean…” Rayne’s hopeful voice trailed off and died completely when Caelan shook his head.
“No, the goddess and I bonded. She wanted to meet Drayce, though. She liked him. Gave him a gift.”
“Fuck, I think I wanna give it back to her,” Drayce moaned loudly. Caelan’s gaze flew to his lover, who’d rolled over onto his hands and knees, his cheek pressed to the cold stone. “I feel like I’m on fire from the inside out. Like…like I’m going to explode open.”
Both Caelan and Rayne made a grab for Drayce at the same time, intending to use Tula’s healing power on him. Rayne had suffered no pain when he’d received a gift from Tula. It didn’t make sense that Drayce was in agony now.
Caris? Caelan demanded, panic filling his mind. What’s going on?
He had an image of the Goddess of Fire waving her fan at him. He’s fine. He just needs to shift into his dragon. It’ll even itself out.
That didn’t sound nearly as encouraging as he wished it had been.
“The goddess says you need to shift,” Caelan explained.
Drayce groaned and shoved to his feet. He was running for the stairs before anyone could argue. Thankfully, Drayce was aware of his space. Drayce’s dragon was so large, he would likely bring the building down on top of them.
Caelan darted after him, with Haru right at his side, his hand firmly on his elbow to help steady his steps. His legs were still loose and his knees were little more than jelly. His mind was climbing out of the fog with every step.
“You know, I want to hear all the details about the goddess,” Haru said as they neared the top of the stairs.
“The second we settle things with the Takahashi, I’ll tell you all about her,” Caelan promised.
“Deal!”
They tore through the building, his ears filled with creaking floors and Rayne shouting warnings to be careful. Caelan was only a few steps behind Drayce as he wove his way through the rooms. He exploded outside through a door and stumbled into the courtyard.
Caelan started to follow him, but Haru held him back, keeping him on the safety of the porch. As he tried to break free of his cousin’s hold, a scream was torn from Drayce’s throat. The sound stretched and deepened into a ground-shaking roar. Light enveloped his body and grew until a black-scaled dragon filled the space.
Drayce tossed his head up and roared a second time. Massive wings made entirely of flames burst from his back. The gift from the goddess. She gave him wings.
Shaking off a stunned Haru, Caelan leaped from the porch and ran to Drayce. The dragon lowered his head and Caelan laughed, placing both hands on his muzzle. “She gave you fucking wings!” he crowed.