“Return to the elements, return to the void, return to the core of the universe to be cleansed and renewed. Go now, let the life force drain from you, let the power of breath flow out of you, may your sight dim, may your passion fade, may you rest in the arms of your ancestors—”

Lunging at me, the goshanti was a whirl of claws and energy. She could hurt me since I was partially linked on the astral, but I dodged her attack and she overshot, spinning around when she realized she’d missed me. She took stock of the situation, eyeing Morio, but shying away from another attempt. I could see the fear in her eyes but there was no place for her to run.

“Mordente reto, mordente reto, mordente reto despera.”

I raised my voice to match his, holding fast against the onslaught of energy that poured out of the Netherworld, through him, through me. A whirlwind of black and white, a vortex of death and annihilation, it shook me to the core.

“Rest now, sleep forever, dream deep and do not awake. Venture to the sweetness of oblivion, sink into the darkness, join the brilliance of the stars—to the void we cast you, to the void we send you, to the abyss we guide you, give over—let go, be one with the world and be no more!” As I forced out the last three words, the goshanti shrieked and then slowly coiled in on herself, the colors fading as she grew smaller and smaller and then, with one last whimper, vanished.

“It’s done.” Morio sucked in a deep breath. “She’s gone.”

I stared at the spot where she’d been. There was no room for remorse, no room to wonder if we’d done the right thing. I turned back to him and placed my hand on his chest. He lifted it to his lips and kissed each finger softly.

“She’s gone,” I said, exhausted and wanting only to rest in a warm chair, with a blanket and a cup of tea.

I motioned for Delilah to join us. Wide-eyed, she edged over in our direction, holding up her cell phone.

“You can tell Chase that he and his men can get in here now. We’ll purify the rest of it later, but they should be okay for now.”

“Good. There’s a call for you. It’s Iris. She said she’d wait until you were done, so it must be important.”

Immediately thinking that something had happened with Trillian, I grabbed the phone and answered. “Iris? Camille. What’s up?”

She was whispering, which was strange enough in itself, but she also sounded like she’d swallowed some sort of frog. “You need to come home. Now. We have visitors.”

“Who? Trillian?” My heart leapt in my throat. Had he gotten away early and come home without warning me to surprise me?

“No,” she said, sounding both amused and wary. “Smoky’s father is here. And he’s brought someone with him.”

Smoky’s father? I paled, dropping to the ground, not paying attention to the fact that I ended up in a mud puddle. “And just what the hell does Smoky’s father want?” I asked in a low voice. If Smoky was powerful and ancient, his father had to be terrifying.

“Apparently Smoky . . . well . . . there’s someone else here, too. A woman—a female dragon. She says she’s Smoky’s fiancée and he’s not disputing her claim.”

I stared blankly at the phone, unable to comprehend what I was hearing. Standing, I motioned toward the car. “We have to go home. Get the stuff and let’s go. Now.”

Iris heard me and whispered a quick good-bye. I flipped the phone shut and tossed Delilah the keys. “You drive. You’re never going to believe what I’m about to tell you. Hell, I don’t know what the fuck to think.”

But as we packed up everything and headed out toward the Belles-Faire District, I knew exactly what I was thinking. Smoky was mine. He belonged to me and to Morio.

Like it or not, a jealous streak rose up—a feeling I wasn’t all that acquainted with, and one I didn’t like. But I was seeing red, and the only thing I could think about was that I needed to get my ass home so I could beat the crap out of the bitch trying to lay claim to my husband, to my soul mate. Trouble was, how the hell was I going to convince a dragon to get her claws off my man?

“Very carefully,” a little voice inside me said. “Very carefully.”

CHAPTER 6

As I burst in the door, Iris took one look at my face and hustled me off to the kitchen where she pushed me into a chair.

“You cannot go in there half-cocked. I know you,” she said. “I know what your mouth is capable of and you do not want to make a mistake right now. We have three dragons sitting in our living room, and none of them seem happy. That should be enough to scare the hell out of you, but I can see that you’re beyond reason.”

Beyond reason was right. All the way home, all I could think about was why the hell Smoky hadn’t told me he was engaged, and how that was going to affect the Soul Symbiont ritual we’d performed. I had never been jealous, never been one to worry about my lovers having other partners. I just wanted to be their primary. But knowing there was a female dragon in my living room who had come to sink her hooks into my husband, well, that little fact had triggered off a latent tendency. Embarrassed at my feelings, and angry, I tried to calm down.

A moment later Smoky entered the kitchen. I glanced at him, not saying a word. He motioned to Iris and Delilah and they withdrew with Maggie to Iris’s room. I didn’t know what to say so I did the next best thing for once. I kept my mouth shut and mutely stared at him. Morio knelt beside me, holding my hand. He knew better than to interfere but I was relieved that he wasn’t in a hurry to leave me alone with this mess.

Smoky let out a long sigh and pulled a chair over to my side. “Camille . . . are you all right?”

I shrugged, still not trusting myself to speak.

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way. I meant to tell you at some point, but with everything that’s gone on, there never seemed to be the right time.” His voice was silken, caressing me even as a strand of his hair slowly reached up to gently stroke my face. I thought about brushing it away, but decided to wait.

“So . . . you’re engaged? How long have you been seeing her?” I swallowed my pride. Might as well get the truth out and know where I stand.

He shook his head. “It isn’t like that. It’s an arranged marriage that I never agreed to. Among my kind, our parents arrange the match. It’s more political and financial than anything else. I’ve been engaged since birth, but I didn’t think . . . I didn’t think that this would be an issue for a long time to come. I’ve never dated her, in human terms, never even touched her beyond a simple handshake.” His eyes flashed but—as deceitful as dragons can be—I had the gut feeling he was telling me the truth.

“So, what happens next? Why did your father come? And why is she here?” The thought that he hadn’t been the one to propose, that the marriage was arranged and he had no say about it made me feel better. The question was: What were we going to do about it? Or rather, was there anything we could do about it?

“My father found out I’m married, that I performed the Soul Symbiont ritual with someone who isn’t a dragon. I warn you, he’s not happy. We’ve never gotten along. I’m the ninth son of a ninth son and I’m expected to carry on tradition and have nine sons of my own. I can’t tell you why, at least right now, but the fact that I came Earthside from the Northlands and stayed had everything to do with my father.” He frowned, staring at the floor.

Morio stood, moving his hand to rest on my shoulder. “So your father came to force you to do your duty and marry the woman?”

“That’s essentially the picture.” Smoky shoved himself out of his chair and paced over to the counter. By the look on his face, I wouldn’t want to be his bride-to-be—at least not one being foisted on him. “I’m not ready to return to my kin. Not enough time has passed for me to forgive—” He paused, staring blankly at the wall.

“Forgive what?” There was something he’d left unsaid, something that had driven him from his home. I could see it, could feel it from our connection and Morio could, too.

Smoky blanched, turning a whiter shade of pale. “I can’t talk about it. Not now. Not here. Leave it that I have choices to make and I have to make them now, sooner than I thought I would. Either I return home and marry her, or I return home and relinquish my birthright. I can’t see any other option.”

A wave of dread swept over me. I clutched at the table. “If you leave . . .”

He stared at me, his eyes meeting mine squarely. “Then the bond will be stretched too far, and tear at both of us. All three of us.”

“And if you stay . . .”

“I turn my back on my heritage and chance being excommunicated from the realm of dragons.” He shook his head. “If you could only come with me. If you could live with me there. My only duty to her is in name only, and to father her children. She would have claim as my lawful wife, but she wouldn’t be able to object to you. It’s common in dragon society to take paramours and second wives or husbands.”

I didn’t like the sound of being second place, but no matter—the thought was out of the question. “I can’t come with you. You know that. My duty is here, my obligation is to my family and the war we’re fighting.” And then, because I couldn’t help myself, I added, “You said you loved me.”

In two strides, Smoky was back at my side. He pulled me out of my chair and held me by the shoulders, staring straight into my eyes. “I do love you. I love you more than you think possible. My Witchling, you are my wife.”

“But I won’t live as long as you. How can I ask you to give up thousands of years with your own kind just to spend perhaps a thousand . . . with me?” I burst into tears, more out of frustration than anything else. “Can’t you marry her and then go back to her after I . . . after I’m . . .”

“Sshh . . . hush, my love.” Smoky pulled me into his arms and kissed me gently. “This is not your concern. Please don’t worry yourself. I’ll take care of matters. I’m not leaving you. I’ll figure out some way to smooth things over.”

I blinked hard at the tears, angry that I’d broken down in front of him. “If you need to stay there, maybe you can come back every month for a few days when the link weakens . . . just to keep us all from going nuts.” I didn’t want to sound hysterical. His fiancée probably never got hysterical. In fact, being a dragon, she was probably in the living room listening in, laughing at me.

Smoky shook his head again. “Camille. Stop crying. I’m not going to let anything happen to our connection. You are my wife and that’s just the way things are.”

“My wife, too,” Morio spoke up, his eyes twinkling.

Smoky gave him a guarded look, then let out a low growl. “Yes, well, there’s no helping that. But I think it’s best that you stay in here while I introduce Camille to my father. The less confusion, the better. I’m lenient with mortals but my father isn’t . . . so friendly. As for . . . her . . . I have no idea and I’m not that interested.”

Morio shrugged. “I’m a demon. I doubt either one of them can do me too much damage if I shift, but you’re right. Things are skewed enough as it is. I’ll wait here. But I warn you—if either of them hurts Camille—”

“Enough,” Smoky said, glowering dangerously. “If either of them even attempts to hurt her, I’ll put a stop to it. No matter what the cost.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “Wash your face, now, and then I suppose you’d better meet your fatherin-law.”

Since I couldn’t get upstairs without passing by Smoky’s father and fiancée, I slipped into the laundry room and found a skirt and bustier that were nearly dry. I hurried into Iris’s room and quickly used her shower, then touched up my makeup and made sure my eyes didn’t look puffy. Both Delilah and Iris stared at me, waiting, but I just shrugged as I slipped into the clean clothes.

“I’ll tell you everything later. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I can tell you this: Next time one of us gets married, be sure you ask if they have some fiancée or girlfriend hidden out somewhere.”

Delilah colored, blushing like a bruised peach. “Yeah, I found that out the hard way, too. But at least I wasn’t married to Chase.”

I grimaced. “Smoky says he’s never even touched this . . . dragon . . . before. It’s an arranged marriage. I don’t know whether to believe him or not, but with the Soul Symbiont ritual, it’s hard for him to lie to me. Or me to him. Same thing with Morio. Anyway, do I look ready to meet my fatherin-law?”

Iris gave me a strong smile. “Cheer up. How can anybody resist you?” She leaned up on tiptoe to kiss me on the cheek.

“You look beautiful. Now go in there and wow them. Just watch that mouth of yours, and whatever you do, don’t let on you have the unicorn horn.”

Cripes. She was right. Smoky was good about not swiping it from me but other dragons might not be so circumspect. I lifted up my skirt and unbuckled the garter that held it strapped to my leg. “Hide this. Please. I don’t want to take any chances.”

Delilah took it and gave me a nod. “I guess you’d better get in there.”

I steeled myself and marched back into the kitchen. Smoky gave me a nod of approval as he cast an eye over the clean clothes and my tearless face.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, as I looped my arm through his. Morio patted me on the butt as I passed by and I tossed him a wan smile. This wasn’t the way I’d envisioned meeting the in-laws, but then again, nothing in our lives ever seemed easy. Taking a deep breath, I allowed Smoky to lead me into the living room, right into the dragons’ lair.