Page 1 of Clash of Storms
Prologue
Iceland, 1871
Everydrekidreamedof meeting their true mate, the other piece of their soul, but when the almighty Blackfrost laid eyes upon his, he knew the Great Goddess had gotten it wrong.
It happened on All Souls Day.
Bonfires burned on the mountains surrounding Hekla, the enormous volcano where the great court of theZiniclan who ruled Iceland resided. Thedrekicourt inside the volcano was a world outside the natural one, a bubble in time and space formed of pure Chaos magic.Drekisoared around Hekla's peaks, alighting on the tallest crags and spreading their wings as they greeted the actinic blue spirit forms of thosedrekiwho'd moved beyond mortality. All Souls Day. The one day of the year where their long-dead ancestors rode the skies above Hekla, instead of the horizon.
Sirius Blackfrost stalked through the crowds ofdreki, feeling eyes scurry away from him as if they did not dare linger.
And the first drift of a female's scent crossed his path, stopping him in midstride.
Her.
The woman who owned the other half of his soul.
Every male instinct he owned suddenly clamored at him, demanding he follow that scent. Thedrekiwithin scraped its claws on the inside of his skin, hissing its claim:Mine.
Drekimales were always the ones who knew first, but he'd never expected it to be this intense, this instant.
And a part of him had always wondered if he would ever be blessed with so great a gift, cursed as he was.
A mate. His soul-mate. Damn it, where was she?
How had he not scented her before?
Was she new to the court?
Sirius could smell her despite the press and crush of bodies, the wine, the roasted meats. Hisdrekihoned in upon that single thread of scent, picking out its trail and following it like the predator he was.
It led him directly toward the delegation from Norway.
King Harald and his three daughters stood apart from theZinidreki, watching the celebrations carefully. Harald had been close allies with the previousdrekiking, and made it clear he disapproved of the current ruling queen.
You and me both, Harald.
But Sirius didn't give a damn about Harald.
Or the queen.
No, his gaze raked across the three daughters. It had to be someone he'd never seen before, which left these outsiders. Breath catching in anticipation, he surveyed them with a hungry glance.
A blonde, a redhead, and a brunette who narrowed her eyes upon him as if she caught a hint of his predatory intentions and didn't like it at all.
"Ah, Sirius." His elder brother, Magnus, already sought to ingratiate himself among the newcomers. Though they'd been born from the same mother, Sirius had always been aware this male saw him as a threat.
But until this day, he'd never considered Magnus to be competition.
"Magnus."
The pair of them shared a razor-sharp smile. He never felt this way with his youngest brother, Andri.
"Allow me to introduce King Harald and his daughters." Magnus gestured, and Sirius tensed at the thought of another male so near to what belonged to him. "King Harald, this is my brother, the Blackfrost."
"A worthy male," King Harald replied, his eyes dark and clever. "Your reputation precedes you, Sirius. They say you've never been beaten in battle. Would you care to duel before our visit is over?"
"Of course. Though perhaps I should wait until our father's business with you is concluded." Sirius flashed a hint of a smile.
