Mated to the Earth Dragon (Elemental Mates 2)

He turned his head to stare straight at the fire dragon who’d gone pale, his hair disheveled from the way he’d tugged at it in frustration.

“You don’t know anything,” the fire dragon said, but there was no heat in his voice. After a moment, his eyes slid away.

Damon reached out to wrap his free hand around one of the bars between them.

“Look,” Damon said quietly. “I don’t hate you. That’s not why we had to lock you up. But as long as you’re a danger to others, you stay in here. You could have killed so many people when you attacked the storm dragon.”

The fire dragon scoffed, then gave him a suspicious look. “Spare me the lectures. Why are you here? Why are you really here?”

Damon shrugged. “Your friends nearly killed my mate. They attacked us three times in Iceland. There were five of them coming at us when we left. I’d like to know what you know about that.”

The fire dragon snorted. “I won’t talk. You can torture me, or kill me, but I won’t betray my people.”

“I pity your people,” Autumn said softly, and the fire dragon flinched again, giving her a wide-eyed look. “To bring up their children to hate the world they live in... What sort of childhood is that?”

“You don’t know—” the dragon growled, but Autumn didn’t let him speak.

“I know that centuries have passed since the Middle Ages. You were the ones who chose to keep hiding, planning your revenge. You were the ones who deprived your own children of the sunlight, of friendship, of freedom.”

The fire dragon remained silent.

“You’re not what I expected at all from a fire dragon,” Autumn finally said.

The fire dragon fought with himself. Damon could see the confusion on his face as he swallowed.

“Human women are not at all what I expected either,” Braeden said heavily. “I wouldn’t hurt you, you must believe that. And if I were free now—I don’t know what I would do. But I know I would be careful not to harm anyone who didn’t deserve it. Still—I’m not a traitor. I won’t betray my people. I’m sorry.”

“Fair enough,” Damon said after a moment.

He didn’t quite know what he’d expected. It had been foolish to hope the fire dragon would just give up all of their secrets.

Still, there were definite cracks showing in the dragon’s facade. Perhaps, over time, Braeden could be made to see reason...

Damon didn’t like the thought of a full-out war against the fire dragons. For one thing, it would be impossible to keep their secret from humans. For another, it would be just as impossible to keep humans safe from the fire dragons’ mad idea of revenge.

No, if they wanted to stop the fire dragons, they’d have to strike quickly and decisively.

If they knew their hiding place, they could take the war to them. A battle somewhere far away from human settlements was probably the best outcome they could hope for.

But Braeden wouldn’t give up the information willingly. And having seen him just now, Damon was pretty sure that force wouldn’t cut it either.

If there was a different way to get the information out of him, perhaps the chimera would know.

Chapter Seventeen: Autumn

They were halfway up the stairs again when a loud rumble made the stones shiver around them.

Autumn found herself clutching at the wall, feeling it vibrate against her hands.

An earthquake...?

“Shit,” Damon cursed.

He’d jumped forward to shield her with his body, Autumn realized. She reached out a grateful hand to rest it against his back—both to show him that she was alright, and for the reassuring feeling of his muscles shifting against her palm.

He was so tense that he felt hard like a statue. Autumn had to swallow against her sudden fear.

“What’s going on?”