Pearl Sky (Elemental Legacy Book 8)

It’s not just any holiday season in the immortal world. Elder Zhang’s oldest servant is reaching the century mark and Ben and Tenzin are ready to celebrate, but no sooner do they land on Penglai Island than a mystery falls in their path. A valuable seal has gone missing, and the artifact was a gift from an ancient vampire who just happens to be heading to Penglai for a long-overdue formal visit.

The Elders of Penglai may have asked Ben and Tenzin’s assistance to find the lost treasure, but that doesn’t mean that eight ancient vampires, their immortal children, and all the humans who serve them will suddenly become open books. Penglai Island is secret for a reason, and the heart of that reason may just reveal the motive behind the theft.

Pearl Sky is a brand new Elemental Legacy story by Elizabeth Hunter, ten-time USA Today bestselling author of the Elemental Mysteries, the Irin Chronicles, and other works of fiction.

Chapter One

They would know. How could they not know?

They were the wisdom of the ancient world; immortal warriors, scholars, and kings.

Nearly gods.

They would know, but he had no choice.

Fate had anointed this for him, though the act might—probably would—end in his death. Fate had given him one task to accomplish in his short, fleeting life. One gift he could give to the world, one song that must be heard.

She must be heard.

He was the only one, the only one who saw her dimming light. Unless he did this, she would die as he would, an insignificant human living an insignificant life. And he knew—he knew—she was destined for more.

The man stared at the golden seal before him. The luminous black pearl glowed with an inner fire, staring back at him from the dragon’s eye. Swirling milky-white-and-golden-brown jade surrounded the glowing dragon; intricately carved carp swam among lotus flowers and churning waves.

It was a priceless treasure.

No.

Everything had a price. Everything.

The man took a delicate hammer and chisel to the wood around the seal and methodically began to tap.

Chapter Two

Ben woke at dusk, the dark scent of his mate filling his senses. She surrounded him, her simmering amnis snapping in the air like electricity before a storm. Before he opened his eyes, he reached for her, and as their skin met, the spark snapped, then dissolved in the damp air of the river house.

“Did you sleep?” He kept his voice a whisper.

“A few minutes.”

He knew she usually slept longer but wasn’t surprised that her layers of armor hadn’t allowed her to dream. They were hours away from Penglai Island, formal seat of the Eight Immortals and home of their sire, Zhang Guolao.

They had arrived at the river house the night before, their last stop on the flight from the West Coast. They were going to Penglai for a celebration, but his mate was not in a celebratory mood.

He smelled the river that ran through the courtyard, the moss covering ancient stones, and the familiar aroma of bone broth simmering in the outdoor kitchen of their house in the water town east of Shanghai.

She moved over him, burrowing her face into the crook of his neck and filling her nose with his scent. He smiled because he knew what she smelled there, their joined blood and amnis mingling until he could barely distinguish one from the other.

To Ben, his mate’s blood smelled of heady spices, honey, and cold winter air. She was Tenzin, ancient daughter of the northern steppe, commander of immortal armies, heir of an ancient king, and legendary vampire assassin.

She was also his mate, the woman who made him question his sanity nightly, and the most frustrating, maddening, and addictive vampire in existence.

“I want to have sex.” She sat up, straddling his hips. “Why are your eyes still closed? You’re not sleeping anymore.”