Her Elemental Dragons: The Complete Series
Her Elemental Dragons: Ride the Wave: Chapter 17

We stopped that night at a small fishing village where everyone knew Doran and greeted him warmly—a reaction I’d never seen before. Most people cowered in fear from the Dragons, but he’d flown right into the village and had shifted in front of them. Instead of hiding, people had run out to say hello with smiles on their faces.

“I saved them from a group of elementals a few years ago,” Doran explained, as he led us to the small building that served as a tavern and inn for sailors.

“I thought we were supposed to be traveling in secret,” I said.

“Trust me, no one from this town will go running to the other Dragons, and it’s such a small, inconsequential village none of them will bother coming here.”

I glanced across the town, with its wind-battered and sun-bleached buildings, some of which had straw roofs. Palm trees blew lazily overhead, and the air smelled of saltwater and fresh fish from the nearby harbor. Memories of my childhood, living in a place just like this, came rushing back. “This town reminds me of Tidefirth.”

“Does it?” Doran asked. “I suppose it is similar.”

“Is it possible to go back there?”

“No. Sark burned it down after you left, probably to punish me for making him spare your life. The entire village is little more than ash, along with all the people who once lived there.” He rested a hand on my shoulder briefly. “I’m sorry.”

Pain gripped my heart. Sark took all those innocent lives…and for what? Some petty rivalry between the two of them? Maybe he and Nysa had started out with good intentions, but they’d done many terrible things over the years too, which couldn’t be forgiven. They had to be stopped.

As night fell across the quiet town, I wandered through the small harbor, eyeing the various boats docked there. I spotted Reven sitting on the end of the pier, his legs hanging over the water, the breeze teasing at his black hair. He was so handsome it took my breath away, even after all this time, and I couldn’t help but be drawn to him.

He didn’t look up as I sat beside him. We sat in silence for a few minutes, simply enjoying the sound of the waves, the feel of the wind, and the way the stars appeared as night crept over the ocean.

His voice finally broke the silence. “The Water Realm brings back old memories.”

“Good or bad?” I asked.

“Both.”

I nodded, understanding what he meant. “This village reminds me of the place where I grew up. A tiny fishing village like this one. Until Sark came and destroyed it all.” I turned toward him, watching the profile of his face. “Where did you grow up in the Water Realm? A town like this?”

He shrugged. “All over.”

“You moved around a lot?”

He fell silent, and I worried he wouldn’t answer. Reven hated talking about his past. I knew almost nothing about it, and every time I’d tried to ask him, he’d ended the conversation and made it clear he wouldn’t say anything more. When he did give me some tidbit about his past, I hoarded it like treasure and pored over it for days. He’d gotten his twin swords from his father. He knew how to sail a boat. His parents were members of the Resistance and had been killed by Sark. But the rest? It was still a mystery.

“I grew up on a ship,” Reven said, surprising me.

“Were you a pirate like Doran?” I asked. It would explain the swords and how his father had trained him to use them so expertly.

An amused smirk made Reven even more gorgeous. “No. I was in a traveling carnival, actually.”

I blinked at him. Of all the things I’d expected to learn about Reven’s past, that was not one of them. “You what?”

“My family’s ship was part of a performing troupe that sailed from one island to another, putting on a show in each one.”

I had a hard time imagining Reven growing up in such a life. “What kind of performers?”

He shrugged. “Jugglers, acrobats, magicians, animal tamers… We had it all.”

“Your family did all that?”

“My parents were known as the Twirling Blades, and they had an act where they danced with their swords, threw knives, and performed other stunts that few could believe.” He ran a hand over one of his swords at the memory. “They raised me to be one of them. I never knew any other life. Until Sark took it all away.”

“I thought your family was killed because they were in the Resistance.”

“They were. Our role as traveling performers made it easy for us to carry messages and to transport or hide people. The carnival was the perfect front for what they were truly doing. I had no idea at the time.” His face turned grim. “One day I got into a fight with my parents over something stupid and ran off. I left the boat and went into the city to try to get into trouble. When I got back, all our ships were destroyed. Every single one of them. My parents. My sister. My aunts, uncles, cousins… In one blow, Sark had taken everything I had ever known.”

I took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’m so sorry.”

He kept going, as if he hadn’t heard me. “I didn’t know what to do. I blamed myself. I told myself if I’d stayed behind, I could have stopped him, or helped some of them escape, or something.”

“How old were you?”

“Ten.”

“Oh, Reven. There was nothing you could have done. If you were there, Sark would have killed you too.”

His hand tightened around mine. “Yes, I know. But the guilt of surviving is hard to get rid of, even if logic tells me there was nothing I could do to save them.”

“I understand. I have the same guilt.” I leaned my head against his shoulder. “What did you do after that?”

“I fled back into the city, but I knew no one there and had nothing but the clothes on my back and my father’s swords, which I’d managed to save from the wreckage. I ended up living on the streets, trying to use my skills to make money, but no one wanted to pay a kid to play with swords. I became a thief in order to survive.” He tilted his head back and stared up at the stars. “Turns out those same skills that made my family a good group of performers also made me a good criminal.”

“Is that when you become an assassin?”

“No.” He scowled and pushed himself to his feet. I could tell by the shuttered look on his face that he was done talking, and probably regretted revealing so much to me. “I think that’s enough reminiscing for one night. We have another long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

He began to turn away, but I was tired of him always pushing me away. We would be at the Water Temple soon. Something had to change.

I jumped up and caught his arm. “It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about your past. I know it can be painful. But don’t shut me out, please. In a few days we’ll be pledging our lives to each other and I have to know that you’re serious about this.”

“I told you I was.” His eyes narrowed and he jerked his arm away. “You want to know how I became an assassin? Fine. I thought I’d spare you the dark details tonight, but since you insist…”

I sighed. “Reven—”

“A man named Harman found me and convinced me to work for him,” Reven said, his voice menacing as he spat out the words. “He had a whole gang of street kids and he made us do terrible things. Stealing was the least of it. He sold our bodies to monsters who liked children. He murdered anyone who disobeyed or questioned him. But at least we were fed, and we had each other. I found a new family. A girl.”

I wanted to take Reven into my arms and hold him as he spoke about what was obviously a painful tale, but I kept my distance. I worried if I made even the slightest movement, he’d get spooked and run away again.

He stared across the dark waters as he continued. “Her name was Mira. I was fourteen by then, and she was a year younger than me. It was innocent, or as innocent as it could be for two kids who had been forced to grow up way too fast. She was beautiful and kind, and I told her I’d do anything to protect her. When Harman decided he’d sell her off to a man five times her age, we made a plan to run away…but we didn’t get far. Harman’s men caught her, and she was killed while trying to escape them.” His hands clenched at his side. “At the sight of her blood, I lost it and murdered them all with my father’s swords. They were the first lives I took. And then I went back and killed Harman too, along with everyone else I could find. I hunted down every single man and woman he had ever worked with and made sure they’d never prey on children again. That’s when the Assassin’s Guild invited me to join them.” He met my eyes again and spread his arms wide. “And now you know everything. I’ve been a thief, a whore, and a killer. There’s only darkness and death in my past. Forgive me if I don’t like talking about it.”

Reven’s voice was cold and his face was hard, but I could sense the pain inside him. I wrapped my arms around him and held him silently, until some of the tension in his body relaxed and he reluctantly embraced me in return.

“Thank you for telling me,” I said. “I’m sorry you went through all that, and I know it must have been difficult to talk about. But your past shaped you into the man you are today. A man I love.”

“Don’t say that.” He took my face in his hands and stared into my eyes. “Don’t say those words.”

I gazed back at him defiantly. “I’ll say them if I want. I don’t care if you don’t say them in return. But I love you, and I know you care for me too.”

“Dammit, woman.” He covered my mouth with his and kissed me hard. I melted against him, my curves molding against his strong body, trying to get closer. His tongue glided across my lips, parting them, as his hand gripped the back of my hair to hold me tight. He claimed me with this kiss, branding me as his, showing me how much he cared, even if he couldn’t speak it out loud.

When he released my mouth, his voice was rough. “I’ve lost everyone I’ve ever loved. I told myself that love made me weak and swore to never do it again. But when you were kidnapped and that cave fell on me, the only thing that kept me alive was the thought of you. I might not be able to say those words, but I feel it too.”

“I know,” I said, kissing him over and over. “I know.”

Reven may not be able to tell me he loved me, but I knew his heart belonged to me. His face was tormented as he stared down at me, and I ran my thumb across his lips, wishing I could get him to smile. Enough with the bad memories. Maybe I could remind him of some of the good ones now.

“I see now why you’re such a good assassin and fighter,” I said. “Did you learn anything else while working as a performer? Something fun?”

He looked confused for a second, but then he smirked. “I’m a damn good juggler, actually.”

I laughed. “I don’t believe it.”

He pinned me with a dark look, then retrieved six throwing knives from his belt. With a grace I could never possess he launched them into the air, juggling them back and forth with movements almost too fast to see. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was using air magic as he made the blades fly high, catching them mid-air and throwing them again with the flick of his wrist, before finally collecting them all in one hand and performing an elaborate bow.

I clapped with a big, silly grin on my face. “I have to admit, I’m impressed. And surprised. I never expected that.”

He gave me a wink. “What can I say? I’m good with my hands.”

“Are you?” I pulled him close, my fingers gripping his black shirt. “I’m going to need a demonstration once we get to the Water Temple.”

“I think we can arrange that,” he said, before capturing my mouth again, making desire race through me.

Only a few more days, and then Reven would truly be mine.