Page 34 of Dragon Awakened

"I can't--" I stammer, trying to fight the tide, but it's too strong. I don't have enough control.

"Ember..." Rhiannon gasps.

And then her jaw goes firm, determination furrowing her brow. In a rush, Rhiannon's magic reaches deeper into me. Its warmth flows through my veins, and something within my heart releases. She pulls the magic out and up and through my arm. As the spell pours forth, my bracer burns.

Lightning cracks the cloudless sky.

With the magic free, Grace's voice rises to a booming, deafening pitch. She draws a sigil in the air with the smoldering herbs.

The portal roars and flickers. And then in one rush of blinding purple light, it collapses into the locket.

Rhiannon snaps the locket closed.

Just like that, the sun comes back out from behind Rhiannon's veil. The crackle and roar of our combined magic is gone, replaced by an eerie silence.

I stagger backward, clutching at the bracer.

"I'm sorry," Rhiannon says, her breathing ragged. "I didn't mean to interfere so much--only to guide--"

"No..." My bracer has returned to a warm hum. Rhiannon coaxed the magic out and into the air, but she did it with a gentleness that reminds me of being small, a huge, black dragon hovering over me.

It reminds me of my father.

It reminds me that Shadow Dragon magic is so much more than we were ever told.

The corners of my eyes sting.

My doubts about my own dragon and my own magic nearly destroyed everything.

"It's okay," I promise Rhiannon. Gratitude and shame battle within me. What would I have done without her? "Really."

My mates, who have been standing back this entire time, take that as their cue to approach.

"Are you all right?" Malik asks, reaching me first.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It was..." I finally settle on the word. "Intense."

Rafe laughs as he curls an arm around my side. "It was 'intense' just watching. I can't even imagine being in the middle of all of that."

"You glowed," Jianyu says, awe in his eyes, and something in my chest flutters at his praise.

But it falters when I catch the way Rhiannon is still regarding me. She felt me floundering in a way that my mates--even with our soulbond--did not.

I brace myself, expecting some sort of a censure, but instead, her mouth curls up into a soft smile. "You were magnificent. With your fourth mate and your dragon by your side, you will be unstoppable."

I let out a rough exhalation, desperate to believe what she's saying.

But I still can't shake my doubts.

Pulling me out of my thoughts, Amy picks that moment to fling herself at Grace. "Talk about magnificent." She kisses Grace full on the mouth. "That was fucking hot."

I laugh, and Rafe draws me in tighter against his side. "She's not wrong," he mutters.

"Did it work?" Grace asks. She really is glowing, her dark skin damp from exertion, and she sags into Amy's embrace.

Rhiannon passes me the locket.

The dark metal pulses, giving off a purple aura of power. As I extend my hand to accept it, the locket strains against its chain, all but leaping into my palm.

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