Mated to the Earth Dragon (Elemental Mates 2)

Deeper and deeper he dove, following the fault line that even now groaned and screamed in the inhuman sound of rock under duress.

He’d communicated with the stone earlier. Despite all of the geological activity of this land, the stone had been calm, singing to him in praise of his mate. If it had been volcanic activity, he should have known. His dragon would have known.

Which meant that there was a different reason for this earthquake.

His dragon roared inside him with fury when they finally found the source of the fault line.

There, deep beneath them, was a pocket of magma—molten stone. Deep in the bowels of the earth, a sudden source of incredible heat had arisen. It was so hot that stone turned into a red-hot liquid. The pressure was so incredible that at last, it had been released in the sudden earthquake that had nearly swallowed Autumn.

Within him, his dragon spread his wings, his own power flowing through him.

Resilience. Quiet strength. Loyalty. The sense of home. These were the virtues of earth. Now, he allowed all of these to flow through him until he was filled by the power of his element to the tips of his fingers.

And then he sent his power bursting forth, driving it deep into the earth. On and on and on he channeled it, until it reached the unnatural pocket of magma. When he hit it with his full strength, the kernel of red-hot heat emitted an angry, thin scream.

Damon didn’t relent. He ground his jaw, forcing the earth to follow his command—and little by little, the magma began to cool, reluctantly turning back into stone.

This isn’t over, Earth dragon, the living flame within the earth hissed—and then, as suddenly as that, it vanished.

Damon groaned. His head hurt. It had taken an incredible amount of his strength to beat back the fire dragon’s attack—because that was what the source of heat deep within the earth had been.

A fire dragon’s power had turned stone to magma. A fire dragon who knew who he was, and who’d targeted not just him, but also his mate.

He needed to inform the council as quickly as possible—if the chimera hadn’t already sensed this outburst of power all the way from Sky Home.

Autumn shifted against him. She was still shaking, even though the ground beneath them had stopped trembling.

Forget about the council. I need to make sure Autumn’s all right.

“There. It stopped,” he said, gently taking a step backward. Before them, the water of the Gullfoss waterfall was still angrily rushing past the newly exposed rock, the path ending right in front of them.

“It’s okay. You’re safe,” he said, and she gulped down a deep breath and then nodded shakily.

“We have to leave,” she said. “I know earthquakes. There might be more.”

Damon nodded. “We need to get back. Walk very carefully, and don’t let go of my hand. I’ll lead us past the worst bits. I know rock, remember?”

“Mining,” Autumn echoed faintly, clinging to his hand. “Okay. Lead on.”

Moving slowly and carefully, Damon led them towards where the path curved back to the parking lot. Fissures had opened in the rock, and with his dragon’s senses, he could make out the faint hum of discontent stone.

The earthquake had upset the area, releasing pressure in some areas, building pressure in others. The entire path was unstable, the rock they were walking on split in several places.

Holding Autumn’s hand tightly in his own, Damon kept his power focused on the rock, holding the path steady with nothing but the sheer force of his will as they walked past fissures and fault lines.

Only when they finally made it past a bend, the parking lot awaiting in the distance before them, did he dare to release his tight grasp on the stone.

“We made it,” he said, taking a deep breath.

Within him, his dragon roared in vengeful anger at the fire dragon who’d very nearly killed his mate. He wanted nothing more than to shift and hunt down the dragon who had dared to attack them—but he couldn't leave Autumn, not now, with a fire dragon on the loose.

Chapter Five: Autumn

When they finally made it back to their waiting bus, Autumn nearly broke into tears when she saw that everyone else had made it back safely. She gave Sarah a tight hug—the formerly so confident teenager was pale and wide-eyed, but seemed to deal with it much better than Autumn herself.

But then, it seemed that no one else had come as close to vanishing in a gaping hole opening up underneath her as Autumn had done.

All around her, people were chattering excitedly while police and ambulances arrived, rangers hastily closing down the entire area. Damon was still standing next to her, an arm loosely wrapped around her waist. Gratefully, she leaned against him.