Carpathian 23 - Dark Storm

grateful he was alive. He looked tired,
     the lines in his face etched deep. Beneath them, Mitro’s worshippers had succumbed
     to smoke and flame without their master’s blood to sustain them.
    Dax and Riordan exited through the ceiling, leaving nothing but ashes behind. “Mitro
     had been searching for centuries in volcanos,” Dax told Riordan and Riley. “Somewhere
     he must have acquired the knowledge that when dragons die, their hearts remain behind
     and become petrified. They turn to gemstones. The heart kept him alive until I restored
     it to its rightful owner.”
    “I want to go home,” Riley said. “Take me home, Dax.”

20
    D ax set Riley down on the mountain that had been home to him for the last few centuries.
     The Old One had been born here, as had his children. They had all died here. Riley
     had been born here. Her mother had died here. The heat fed him, the earth called to
     him. This volcano was as close to home as he had to give her.
    The ruins of the Cloud People stood valiantly, undeterred by the volcano or the passage
     of time, the stone guardians staring out over the edge of the cliffs, daring anyone
     to come close. He was surprised that he was the one tense, even trembling a little
     inside. Riley was as steady as a rock, absolutely resolute, while he was wavering,
     afraid if something went wrong, he would lose her.
    He slipped his arm around her waist as they looked up into what remained of the cloudy
     forest. “It truly is beautiful here.”
    “Isn’t it?” Riley smiled up at him. “When I was a little girl and my mother would
     bring me here, I’d pretend I was climbing up a ladder of stars and when we reached
     the clouds, I would be in heaven.”
    Dax wrapped a length of her thick braid around his fist and brought her hair to his
     face. He would never tire of the feel of all that blue-black silk. “Nothing can happen
     to you.”
    She looked up at him from under her feathery lashes, her generous mouth curving into
     a smile of pure love. His heart actually hurt in his chest. Sometimes, like right
     at that moment, when she was so certain of her love for him, he couldn’t find words
     to express the way he felt about her. There were no words adequate enough for the
     truth.
    He knew she had changed everything for him. She had something about her he couldn’t
     resist. She moved inside of him, wrapped herself deep, and there was no way he could
     get her out even if he wanted her gone. There was no hiding from her. No running from
     her. She turned him inside out with just one look from under those long, feminine
     lashes. She lit up his world with her smile, with her soft, contagious laughter. Her
     smile took away every bad moment in his life, replacing them with—her.
    He was a warrior from centuries past, from a species on the brink of extinction. A
     predator who survived on the blood of others. There was a wildness in him, and she
     saw that clearly. She looked into him and saw everything he was, every part of him,
     and still she stood with him. Calm. Serene. Standing side by side in the face of utter
     evil, no matter how afraid she was. Her courage was terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.
    He turned her to him and she came to him without hesitation, circling his neck with
     her slender arms, leaning her soft body into his. Her eyes and soft skin held the
     coolness of the earth. He was flames and heat, the very core of the earth. The moment
     he touched her she caught fire.
    He didn’t wait, but lifted her, cradling her in his arms against his chest. He took
     her into the maze of chambers deep in the mountain. The magma chamber had collapsed
     in on itself, but he was heading for a special chamber he’d found, located a mile
     from where the magma pool had formed. He regulated her temperature for her, knowing
     some of the hallways were far too hot for her tender skin to tolerate. Her lungs wouldn’t
     find enough air.
    The opening to the gem-studded chamber was small. He had to set her down to allow
     her to slip through. He actually had to shift enough to fit, but the interior was
     well worth the effort. He waved his hand to light the chamber. He heard Riley’s gasp
     of awe and surprise. His heart stuttered in answer. She was pleased.
    The walls glittered with rough, uncut diamonds of all sizes. Dark rubies blazed fire
     across the ceiling. The small natural mineral spring bubbled, steam rising in the
     cooler air he’d provided. The soil was