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There were no walls or ceiling, just a glowing glass bridge that led the way to a giant stone pedestal.

She had to get close to make out the scenic carvings of mountains flush with pine trees, the view of waves crashing on a glittering shore, and a field of tall prairie grass lazily blowing in the wind.

Carefully, Rowan peered down at the endless void underneath the glass. Were those stars?

“It’s been ages since I’ve seen one of these.” Terra’s voice echoed in the room as she entered behind her.

Rowan raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“A teleporter. It allows those without magic to phase, even in between dimensions.” She touched the top rim. Inside the bowl, there were millions of shining particles that reminded her of small nebulas.

“It’s beautiful.” Axel peeked in from the other side, Miasma stood, clutching onto the warrior’s arm for dear life. Her eyes avoided looking down. Was the good doctor afraid of heights? Why had she entered the room? Rowan didn’t have time to contemplate further as Terra explained.

“They only work in places like the Traveling Cabin, anomalies of time and space. Like the Traveling Cabin, most places like that are particular of who they allow to enter. That’s why they’re so rare.

” The earth-dragon played with a wooden bangle on her wrist as she tilted her head up.

“This could help you get into Alessandro’s hoard even without his invitation. ”

Rowan gripped the side of the bowl before taking a step back. “If he has lost total control, what’s the best way to calm him down?”

Terra raised an eyebrow. “Princess Rowan, you’re the best way to calm him down. His dragon wants you as his mate. He won’t harm you.”

“But what if the dragon wants to mark me? Your king made it clear to me that if he had it his way, he would prefer not to.”

Terra took a deep breath and glanced around the room. “May we have a word in private?”

Axel shot her a questioning look, and Rowan gave a small nod.

For a moment, she looked like she wanted to argue. Rowan had never seen her sister so protective. It hurt her pride to know it was because she’d allowed herself to get so injured.

But, she let whatever she was going to say slip away, leading Miasma, who’d shut her eyes and dug her face into her sister’s shoulder, obviously uncomfortable with the height, back out onto the porch.

Stone looked like he also wished to dispute, but Terra shot him a simple look and that was enough to encourage him to leave.

“He told me you were his adopted sister.” Rowan took charge of the confrontation she felt building in the woman.

She searched for a flinch, a tick of a muscle, but the title elicited only relaxation from the woman.

“But when you walked up with Stone at your side through the neighborhoods, I saw the way the dragons were with you. I understood, you’re more than a sister to the king. You’re his queen.”

With the wind taken out of her sail, Terra’s jaw looked slack. “Our relationship is not like that.”

Rowan crossed her arms. “Terra, my father is one of the greatest kings of the Eastern Elven Kingdom. I know what it looks like when subjects lay eyes on their leader. You fill that role.”

Terra squared her shoulders. “I can see where you might get that idea, but it isn’t like Alessandro and I have ever had anything but sibling love for one another.

When I was born, my mom and dad had already taken him in and considered him their own.

He is as…” The earth-dragon searched for the right words, “…annoying and as overprotective to me as most brothers are to anyone else.”

Rowan nodded, “Okay, so as his sister. I need you to help me protect him from a decision he really has no control over. How do I calm him down without giving him my neck?”

Terra let out a groan and Rowan watched, surprised as the facade of a cool and collected dragon fell as she grasped Rowan’s shoulders and shook her. “Listen to me. He wants you. Both his dragon and his more sane side. What he’s worried about is burdening you!”

Rowan’s eyes widened. “What?”

“Gods, you two are going to be the end of my sanity!” She growled as she let Rowan go and began pacing the width of the bridge.

“Once he marks you, I won’t be able to say anything, so let me get it out now.

Only you affect him the way you do. I was there on the mountainside.

You want him as much as he wants you. I knew as soon as you two came together that anything that would get between you two would turn to dust. Even your stubbornness.

I know you’re not a dragon, so it might seem like everything is going too fast, too hot and that it’s terrifying but, as a succubus you also have an alternate being inside you that lives for those base desires.

Maybe ask what the fuck she wants instead of letting your stupid little insecurities have their way. ”

Tears forming in the woman’s eyes startled Rowan.

“When we are without a mate, we are constantly battling with our base desires. It would be pure anarchy if we allowed our beasts to have their way. Alessandro himself is always fighting his beast unless they’re in the middle of combat.

It’s been decades since he last knew real peace.

You bring that to him. So as a little sister, I am begging you, don’t be afraid.

He’ll take care of you. I vow here and now that if you take the crown to stand by his side, I will protect you.

And if this doesn’t sound like something you’re interested in because you decide to hold on to your stubbornness, if you really don’t want it, Alessandro won’t mark you. Trust me.”

Well, that wasn’t as comforting as Terra was trying to make it seem, but as a little sister who would do anything to see her sisters happy, it was moving.

“I’ll trust your judgment, but if I come out with his mark, know that my first order as his queen will be to make you take all the responsibility, while I only take advantage of the perks. ”

Terra snorted, “I’m telling you, it will only happen if you want it.”

That was kind of the problem, wasn’t it? She did want it, consequences be damned.

Terra gave a soft smile as if reading her mind, “Just picture him in any moment you bonded. It should be enough to take you right to him.”

It was surprisingly tough to figure out which memory she wanted to use.

Memories of them in bed that overwhelmed her, but they didn’t feel quite right.

A vision of his distraught face as she destroyed his scale rolled into her mind.

She supposed it was the most vulnerable she’d felt in front of him.

Sure, she’d been angry, but the anger had nothing on her heartbreak.

She closed her eyes to help empower the vision.

Chapter 27

Three days of knowing little peace. Alessandro was exhausted. His bones shook from the intense inner tug-of-war he’d spent three days engaging in with his dragon.

He was sane enough to know he wouldn’t succumb to the rage lust that had taken his father, but there had been a few dark moments where he felt his will faltering. The first time it happened, he felt the wall he kept between himself and his celestial side crumble.

Panic from both the dragon and himself forced them to join efforts in reinforcing that wall.

With the wall refortified, the tug-of-war resumed.

He initially allowed the dragon to destroy their precious collection as an outlet, but when he turned the last chalice in the cave into a pool of molten gold, the beast had nothing left to distract him.

Three centuries’ worth of treasures disintegrated in a matter of hours.

He’d wished there was a way to physically get a hold of his dragon to let out his frustration with a good beat down, but as was always the case, Alessandro had to use words and reasoning.

Something he lacked practice in even as the King of the dragons.

His dragon had developed a bad habit of responding with one word.

Rowan.

Then the dragon spent hours pushing images of his ultimate desire on Alessandro, nearly convincing him to leave the cave and just do what they both now agreed they desired.

But no. Rowan deserved more than the paltry benefits of being a mate to Alessandro, who so far had nothing to offer her. Nothing that she didn’t already have or could get herself.

His dragon, enraged that he couldn’t convince his sane side, spent hours trying to figure out how to release them back into the world.

But the beast was all brawn, no brain. In physical combat, he was invincible, but puzzles were not his strong suit.

He tried clawing the magic out of the cavern walls, blasting it with ice, fire, lightning, even tried biting at it with massive teeth, but the walls remained impenetrable.

Alessandro remained in his full dragon form through all of this. It consumed energy he wouldn’t be able to replenish until he ate. Which is something he tried to entice his dragon with, to which the dragon replied with a chorus of ‘Rowan’.

He felt the shift in the air. A sweet, familiar brand of magic caressed his icy scales. Her scent exploded from her, finally full of health, and his body sagged with the relief and peace at last washed through him.

XOXOXOXO

There were sound of soft huffs and hot air brushed through the strands of her hair

Her eye opened. She had appeared on a single claw of the massive beast that was curled before her.

She had known Alessandro was colossal in his dragon form. She’d seen him fly overhead during her years of working in Black Cove, but nothing had prepared her to realize one of his claws was two times larger than her entire body.

It was impossible to tell the details through the darkness, but she could feel he had been sleeping before her appearance. She could hear the displacement of air as he moved his head to examine her.