They were finally home.
He allowed Chiara to climb from his back before he shifted back into his human body. She barely had eyes for him; instead, she was staring at the large opening before them.
“This is incredible,” she breathed. Her hand came up to touch the golden disk that hung around her neck.
“Let’s introduce you to the chimera.” Jared gently pulled her into his arms for one last kiss. “And remember, don’t let him intimidate you. He’s really not all that bad.”
Chiara raised an eyebrow. “Just a little bad?”
“If you could deal with Zane, I promise that Gareth will be a walk in the park. He can be curt and gruff—but he’s dedicated his life to keeping the shifter world at peace and the human world safe.”
“Definitely someone I’d choose over Zane.” Chiara exhaled, then reached out for his hand. “Let’s go.”
The cave was dark. Their steps echoed eerily. The only illumination was provided by a gentle, distant glow—but the glow increased the further they walked in.
When they made their way towards the back of the cave, five symbols lit up. Each was carved into a large plinth of stone—each big enough for a dragon to perch on.
Today, no dragons were in attendance. On other days, this was where the elemental dragons that formed the council gathered. There was a plinth each for the dragon of air, earth, water, and fire.
And now, there was also the mysterious fifth plinth, with the symbol of the triangle with the three straight lines.
Chiara gasped when she saw it and let go of his hand, hastily making her way over to the plinth instead.
“That’s it! That’s the symbol!” Excited, she pulled off the golden disk, holding her necklace up next to the glowing symbol.
A moment later, the disk burst into brilliant light.
For one endless moment, the gloom of the cave was filled with dancing spots of light, so bright that Jared’s eyes hurt, even though he couldn’t force himself to look away.
The lights danced all around them across the walls, forming strange patterns that burned themselves into his eyes—and when the brilliant light died away a heartbeat later, he could still see them.
Dots of light, connected by lines. Forming familiar patterns.
Star constellations.
Chiara had apparently come to the same realization. She’d whipped out her phone and was hastily taking notes.
“Hydra,” she muttered, “Cygnus...”
Then, while Chiara was still distracted, Jared saw that the shadows at the end of the cave had begun to shift.
There was the shadow of a serpent’s tail. A heartbeat later, the shadow was gone. Instead, for a split second, he saw the shadow of a lion’s head, before that too morphed back into the swirling shadows and vanished.
Gareth the chimera had arrived.
“Welcome, griffin,” his voice boomed out of the darkness.
Chiara gave a sudden start, almost dropping her phone. Jared held out his hand to her, briefly tightening his grip on her fingers again in encouragement before he led her further towards the back of the cave.
“I see you have brought a human with you,” the chimera growled from the darkness.
“This is Chiara,” Jared said. “She is searching for the same thing we were searching for.”
“Interesting,” Gareth murmured. “I did not tell you to go find a human mate—strange. It cannot be a coincidence...”
“I was kidnapped and nearly killed by a dragon,” Chiara said. “I don’t care what you told him to do; I’m glad he was there. And I don’t even like shifters. I used to think you were all either big bullies or horrible monsters. I’ve changed my mind about Jared. The jury’s still out on you, though.”
Jared couldn’t hold back a surprised huff of laughter. In all the time he’d spent working for the council of elements, there hadn’t been a lot of people who’d dared to talk to the chimera that way.