“Yes, actually.” She sobered then. “And I’m expected to produce an heir as soon as possible. Unfortunately, my sweet little Astrid won’t be eligible to take the throne.”
Camille, Delilah, and I all gave a sharp turn of the head at that. While we had suspected this might happen, we also knew that Chase hadn’t said a word if the thought had crossed his mind. I hoped, for his sake, that the idea had already occurred to him and that he was working on accepting it. It wouldn’t be an easy thing for him—watching the woman he loved get pregnant by another man. But Sharah owed it to the throne and when dealing with royalty, duty almost always won out over the heart. Delilah opened her mouth but stopped when I shook my head.
“Then let us waste no more time. To the sky.” Vishana strode forward. Apparently she was at the helm of this operation. “Warn the officials in Ceredream that we are coming, if you can.”
I turned to Vapor, who motioned for me to step back. “If the sun begins to rise while we are there, I will instantly transport you into the Ionyc Seas, Mistress Menolly.” He grinned—a very engaging grin—and then shifted and a massive, skeletal dragon stood before me. I gazed up at him in awe. Shadow dragons were bonelike in their natural form, and unlike the rest of the dragons who lived primarily in the Dragon Reaches, the shadow dragons inhabited the Netherworlds.
I scrambled astride the massive, bony neck as Vapor lowered his head to the ground beside me, and managed to fit myself in between two vertebrae. It was time to rock and roll. As soon as I was settled, he launched into the sky and we hovered there, circling as the other dragons began to shift form and take wing. I glanced through the night sky to see Camille and Smoky nearby, and Delilah astride Shade. The others were soon near us and—led by Vishana—one by one they winked out of sight into the Ionyc Seas. I wondered how they all knew where to go, but then a current raced through the air, an undertow in the wind, and I had the strangest feeling they were talking without saying a word. Another moment and Vapor shot forward, and we—too—shimmered out of the skies over Elqaneve—and into the roiling mists of the Ionyc Seas.
Chapter 6
The Ionyc Seas were a brilliant swirl of sparkling mist—an ocean of icy energy currents. I had always seen it from being encircled with someone’s arms before, but now the bubble of protection that barricaded me allowed me full sight out into the roiling mists. The channels of energy running between the realms separated them so the energies wouldn’t go colliding into one another, which would be a bad thing, apparently. Very bad, though I wasn’t entirely sure exactly what would happen. Something about implosions and ripping through reality, neither of which sounded appealing.
I had ridden on the back of a dragon once, on Smoky’s back through the astral plane as Camille raced on ahead after a demon who was threatening Delilah. But this? This was different. This dragon was made of bone, and the energy of death swirled around him. I could feel it, being a creature from beyond the veils myself.
I seldom talked about it, especially not with my sisters or my wife, but there were times when I was exhilarated by the realization that I had passed through the veils of death and returned, when I reveled in my power and strength caused by denying death. During those times I watched myself carefully because the predator within would rise, feeling invulnerable and aching to exert her power. At other times, the thought of what I had gone through was a hellish memory, and I wanted to just walk outside during the next sunrise and cleanse my tainted body. But most of the time . . . I tried to focus on what I could do now. On the good I could do. The life I could live. The love I could accept? and the love I could offer.
Vapor was huge, about twice as big as Shade was in dragon form. I wondered if that was because Shade was half dragon or if there was some other reason, but it would never be a question I’d ask aloud. For one thing, men had a thing when it came to size comparisons, and for another, it wasn’t any of my business.