Their son.
Wonder flowed through him, like a river through a forest. Pure and true. Until the vision faded.
As the rush slowed and his breathing returned to normal, Meira snuggled into his arms, giving a sigh of contentment. Samael echoed that sigh. At least until the outside world intruded. And it would. But for now, they were safe and loved, and his child grew inside her.
Samael shifted to the side and curved a protective hand over her belly, the image in his mind still startlingly clear.
“I saw him,” he whispered. “He’s beautiful, Mir. Amazing.”
She dropped a kiss on the underside of his jaw and smiled. “I told you.”
“I didn’t think a phoenix could have a boy,” he said.
Meira shook her head, her curls tickling his chin. “Before me and my sisters, there was only ever one. Always a girl. It’s a new and changing world, my love.”
He wondered if they’d ever discover why. “What’s his name?” Samael asked softly.
“Zilant Gorgon Veles,” she whispered.
His arms tightened around her convulsively as her words soothed the most painful, jagged edges of his grief. Samael closed his eyes and held his mate and their unborn child in his arms and counted himself lucky to have this one, incandescently perfect moment.
The world they lived in was cruel and deadly, and they’d face that soon enough. Together. Good luck to anyone who tried to take this away—especially the Rotting Red King. They could try, but they’d fucking wish they hadn’t.
Epilogue
Angelika stood to the side of the hangar in the mountain stronghold of Ararat. The room had been transformed into a banquet hall, glorious with twinkle lights, elegant place settings, and jasmine everywhere, the scent of it filling the air. One of many rooms transformed for Meira’s second mating ceremony. This one to Samael Veles, the onetime captain of the guard for the man Meira had originally made vows to.
Rather than wait months, they’d rushed the ceremony forward while all their allies were gathered together in the mountain. This time, Angelika got to stand at the front with her sisters. Her secret was out now, thanks to her father. Holding the ceremony might seem a bit backward to others, given that Meira already bore an intricately knotted mark, the design both her mate’s family and elements from the Zilant and Hanyu crests of their parents. Samael’s own brand had changed…to match Meira’s. But Angelika understood it. Her sister and her mate were making a statement, but also giving their people something to celebrate after a long patch of trouble.
Smart and also full of heart. Just like Meira.
At least they appeared to be supremely happy. Meira deserved that. Angelika had never seen her sister light up like she did around her mate. She practically glowed without the need for her fire to make her.
Just like Kasia. Just like Skylar.
Now it’s my turn.
Angelika played with the glass of wine she’d been nursing. Without Jedd and the wolf shifters here—now that her secret was out, they’d gone to seek safety among the Federation of Wolves—she might have felt at loose ends, but she’d never been one to be shy with strangers.
Her sisters were occupied elsewhere, so she’d been enjoying herself, getting to know new people. Not that the dragon shifters had all been welcoming, but they’d come around.
But now she stood by herself, finding herself alone for a moment. Something that gave her—sometimes unfortunately—active imagination a chance to kick in.
She gazed around the chamber and tried to picture it before. Picture where Maul had died. Picture the scene of her own father’s second death—a moment she had not been here to witness.
Pain speared her through the heart, and she gasped silently, breathing through it. Something that had happened out of the blue several times since she’d learned of it.
She should have been here. She should have had a chance to say good-bye to him. Taking a deep breath, she focused on the promise she’d made herself. She might have no fire, no power, but she was going to make a difference. She wouldn’t sit to the side anymore.
A man walked away from the tables. Here, with the Black, Gold, and Blue Clans together, along with a handful of dragons from the White Clan who’d chosen to leave and pledge themselves to the cause, he didn’t stick out as much. His short white hair and broad shoulders on a frame still too slender after his captivity, however, stood out as a beacon to her.
Airk.
Without making the conscious decision to do so, she started moving on a course to intercept, already able to see that he was leaving. He didn’t like being around so many at once. She knew that from the way he only stayed as long as he had to.
In the hallway leading behind the city at the base of the atrium to the human tunnels that would take him up to his chambers, she caught up to him.
“Airk.”
As he turned, his expression gave nothing away, as usual.
“Angelika,” he acknowledged.
She licked her lips, suddenly nervous. “I have an…offer to make you.”
Hands clasped behind his back, he faced her more fully, gaze taking in her serious expression, not a single emotion in his eyes. Not even a flicker of curiosity. “Yes?”
“Have you decided what’s next yet?”
He cocked his head, but no confusion lit his eyes. He remembered their conversation. “It seems to me,” he said in his slow, even tones, “my clan needs help determining what is and is not true about the High King they currently serve.”
“They need a new king.”
He said nothing, but he didn’t deny it.
“I think I’d like to help you with that.” She pulled her shoulders back. “For my father.”
“And how do you propose offering this help?” Airk asked.
Damn, she wished she could read him better. “Well…I am the daughter of the previous king, and a
