Immortal Dragons Book 4: Dragon Rebel
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Ophelia Bell
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Prologue
My color had always acted as a lure to me, and the blood that emerged from the cut Iâd made in the tender part of my wrist was no different. I couldnât take my eyes off it.
Red. The color of my scales in my true form, the color of my breath, my fire. The color of my loversâ auras when my nearness promised passion beyond the scope of their imagining. The thick liquid emerged like a subterranean beast, slowly at first. The pain was a red fire behind my eyes, beneath my skin.
Red. All red.
My color infused all these thingsâpassion, pain, rage. Beneath their skin my brothers were no different from me; their blood ran just as red, their pain flared just as brightly. Their own auras were tinged with the same mixture of love for our sister, anger at our enemy, passion to do whatever it took to ensure the survival of our race, our children.
Red.
I owned this color and all the things it branded. The color was as sacred to me as the night was sacred to my Black brother, Ked, or the winter snows were sacred to my White brother, Aodh. I owned it and rejected the thought of sacrificing what belonged to meânot to the beast of a man who stood before us with his strangely shifting gaze that reminded me of shuttered windows with a secret resident hiding somewhere beyond.
With that thoughtâthat reversal of intentâmy blood changed course, the flow running backward, retreating into the vein Iâd opened.
âNo. This is not the way. There must be something else we can bargain for. Take my seed ⊠take my entire body. I will give myself to you in exchange for Belahâs blood. Just donât take our blood.â
My brothers stared at me in wide-eyed alarm. Their own sliced wrists flowed red, their lifeâs blood draining into the open basins our enemy had provided. My basin remained dry and I backed away, raising my voice so my objections could be heard.
âThis is not the way. We must keep our bloodâevery drop. We cannot let ⊠it ⊠have that much power.â
Ked gave me a pained look but didnât cease his own bloodflow. âOur power is nothing compared to what he has with Belahâs blood. We agreed, brother. Please.â
Our enemy turned his empty eyes on me. With one blink, his eyes were occupied by that thing that heâd become. Nikhil was no longer Nikhil. The thing that heâd become I only knew as unworthy.
His lips twisted in a sneer. âIf you dare break our bargain, you will never see your sister draw breath again,â he said, though his voice had a strangely high-pitched lilt that sounded nothing like the fearless warrior Iâd faced countless times across the battlefield.
âWe must do this,â Ked said.
âCome back, brother,â Aodh said.
Both my brothers moved away from their vessels, their blood-covered wrists still dripping as they advanced on me, but this would not stand. I couldnât let this happen.
âItâs the wrong way! Not our fucking blood. It gives them too much power over us!â
âThis exchange takes away more power than it gives,â Ked said, his human shape expanding as he came nearer. Ebony scales emerged and massive black horns erupted from his head. His eyes flooded with darkness that was all at once empty and denseâa void that sucked in all feeling, all light. My brother may be no match for me in passion, but I was always impotent in the face of Kedâs cold determination.
Red was the color of my terror when the darkness surrounded me and showed me how empty my life had become. I sent a silent plea to Aodh, who answered with a useless platitude: âItâs all right, Gavra. We agreed. Belah needs us to be united in this.â
What did a few measures of my blood matter when I was empty inside already? I sagged and my brothers propped me up between them, dragged me back to the vessel that awaited its offering. Aodh held me still while Ked raised the bladeâthe one tempered by all three of our immortal dragon firesâand reopened the vein in my wrist.
I watched in a detached haze as my blood flowed freely. Within moments, the bowl was filled but I didnât have the presence of mind to command my body to heal and staunch the tide.
âItâs for family,â Aodh said in my ear. âIf thereâs any cause worth shedding our blood for, itâs family. Nothing else matters ⊠we sure as shit donât have anything else worth bleeding for, do we?â
I knew he was right, but despite the exchange that day, our enemyâs relentless onslaught never ceased. In the end we retreated, hiding like thieves, forsaking all we had built and leaving it for our descendants to divide amongst themselves.
Mother forgive me, I did love my sister, and her resurrection gave me hope, but I would always wonder if thereâd been a better way to save her. One that didnât require me sacrificing my truth.
Red was the color of sacrifice, but what good is sacrifice when true love was not at stake?
I vowed that day that I would find the love to make that ancient sacrifice worthwhile. Never again would I shed my blood for anything less.
