Dark Possession - Aja James Page 0,69

been shattered upon impact into a thousand broken shards of fractured bones and torn skin and muscle. Instead, his rock-hard body rammed through the stone and debris and drilled a crater into the center of the mountaintop as he landed.

While he withstood the collision, the Elemental had to bite back a grunt of pain.

Because, fuck, that hurt!

The eagle landed gracefully on a rock overhang some distance away and peered down at him with interest.

It is good that you are so strong. We can use more warriors like you.

What was he talking about? Who’s we?

But the Elemental was single-minded in his focus. He had a Challenge to win.

“Come down here and fight me!”

I don’t want to kill you, the eagle said again. It would be a regrettable waste. We need strength like yours on our side.

“I don’t give a shit what you need,” the Elemental shouted up at him. “I only know what I want. I will win Ashlu’s hand. I will become her Champion and Consort, and you’re the only thing standing in my way.”

The eagle tilted his head, his brilliant amber eyes keen on his opponent.

What will you do once you are her Consort? Will you help her expand the empire or help your own Kind win their freedom?

Frowning, the young Elemental finally stopped to listen.

“My own Kind? I am a Dark One. Of course I will support my queen in fulfilling her Destiny.”

You were not born a Dark One. I can tell. I was created as I am. We are not the same.

The Elemental bristled with fury, as well as hidden shame.

“I am a Dark One,” he repeated low, “I shall Claim my queen.”

What about your fellow Elementals? Do you know that they’ve scattered to the four corners of the earth, hiding in fear? Just like my Beasts. Hunted, ostracized and feared. Why do you support a queen who rules through oppression and tyranny? Join us. Help us. The Dark Ones must be stopped.

“You are a Dark One, you said so yourself,” the Elemental retorted. “Why are you plotting against your own Kind?”

I am a Beast, the eagle declared firmly, with pride. I am a King. A Dark One may be my base form, but it is not who I am.

“Then why are you fighting to Claim the Dark Queen? Go back to your own Kind. Go back to the mountains and forests and stay hidden. Perhaps I’ll let you have a few years of quiet before I hunt you down again.”

The eagle considered him silently for a long while.

The Elemental was getting increasingly frustrated while he waited. He didn’t give a shit what the Eagle King wanted. He knew what his own goal was, and he was impatient to achieve it.

The eagle seemed to come to a decision, for he revealed his intentions with the next words.

If I become Ashlu’s Consort, I will bind her to me. She must then alter her plans to conquer all Kinds, for she will physically depend on me for survival. It is a sacrifice I am willing to make for my people. For yours as well, Earth Elemental. Help me. I do not want to kill you.

At the mention of any other male Claiming his queen, the Elemental’s temper boiled, and the Fire Mountain reacted by grumbling and shaking on its massive foundations.

“You. Will. Not. Claim. Her.”

He gritted out each word like a vow.

“Ashlu is mine!”

The Eagle King considered him with those piercing eyes from his lofty height.

For what seemed like an eternity he considered the young Elemental. And then he said with a disappointed release of breath—

So be it.

What followed was a fight to the death the Elemental could never have prepared for. He was strong, but he learned that there were others who were physically much stronger.

Over and over, the eagle attacked. With the hurricane gales of his wings, sending the Elemental crashing against sharp rocks and the unforgiving mountainside. With the sharp talons and beak, scraping across the Elemental’s hardened skin like steel against stone, and the Elemental knew that when he turned back to his humanoid form, he’d have deep gashes everywhere in his skin.

But he was desperate to win his queen. His love.

He had no one. All his life he’d only had one person. If he didn’t have her, he had nothing. What would he live for? He couldn’t lose her!

With a roar, the Elemental sank to his knees and unleashed all of his power, fueled by his roiling emotions, need, and desperation.

The Fire Mountain answered,