Mated to the Earth Dragon (Elemental Mates 2)

“You’ve found me,” he said calmly. “Now finish it.”

Chapter Twenty: Damon

Terror and rage pounding

through his veins, Damon spread his wings. He needed to get to his mate. He couldn’t think of anything but the overpowering need to protect her.

With his powers, he probed the boulders that blocked the entrance leading down to the prison cell.

He could simply throw his powers at it, and the stone would follow his command, as it had always done. But this time, it wasn’t only the power of earth that had taken control of the stones.

The rocks were still hot. And he could feel the opposing power of fire threading through the mountain, although the same sensation of smoke and shadows blocked his view of what was going on below.

He could force the stone to obey his command—but Damon had no command over fire.

Heat had destabilized the rock too much. And he could feel enough to know that if he forced his way in with brute force, the entire tunnel might collapse—perhaps even the cave where Autumn was hiding.

Furious and terrified for his mate, Damon forced himself to concentrate.

One by one, he began to remove the boulders that blocked his way, his dragon’s senses pushing deep into the rock all around him to make certain that nothing he did would weaken the tunnel further.

Once or twice, he only managed to stabilize the rock at the last moment. His dragon furiously worked to fight back against the weakness caused by the fire, which had cracked the stony roof of the tunnel.

How much time was left?

He bared his teeth, roaring at the stone in frustration as he kept working as quickly and as carefully as possible.

And then, when he wasn’t even halfway through the blockade, he heard his mate’s voice in his mind again.

They’re here! Autumn shouted in terror.

Her fear flooding through him, accompanied by the sensation of unbearable heat and exploding rock.

That’s when pure dragon instinct took over.

Damon abandoned all pretense of carefully working through the collapsed tunnel. Instead, his dragon struck out with raw force.

Never before in his life had he wielded such power. The power of the earth itself rushed through his veins, energy sizzling in his blood until the sensation was too painful to bear, his tail writhing back and forth as he tried to contain it all inside himself.

And then he released the energy, sending it straight into the collapsed tunnel before him, and beyond.

Distantly, he could hear his own, furious roar as he flung his senses deep into the rock—straight into the heart of fire that had blinded him with smoke and shadows for so long.

At his relentless attack, suddenly the shadow gave way.

And at last, Damon could see.

His dragon’s awareness flooded through the rock, stone and metal singing to him as it always had. The energy that streamed through his body burned like acid in his veins, nearly tearing it apart, but still he forced it to do his bidding. Like a stream of blinding light, he forced it into the collapsed tunnel. Damon blasted it open with brute force, stabilizing the trembling rock all around it with nothing but the power of his dragon.

His chest burned. His heart was pounding fiercely, skipping a beat every now and then when the strain became too much. Still, the way was open now.

He was halfway down the stairs, shifted back into his human body, before he was even aware of what was happening.

It was very hot down here. That was his only warning, before he skidded around a corner and found himself face to face with four men clad in black leather. Their faces were smudged with soot, their hair dark and their eyes gleaming with the red of flame.

Fire dragons.

Even though his heart was beating so fast that every breath he took was painful, Damon channeled his power once more. Without slowing down, he forced his energy to go into the stone beneath them, yanking it up with all his might—and the rock obeyed.