Page 75 of Dragon Awakened

I knew I had my mates' support, but there's something about them declaring it now. About having my best friends literally holding my hands and batting away all of these secret fears that have plagued me. My stomach does a fierce dip, and a warmth that's more than dragonfire fills my chest.

"That said." Freya has her phone in hand, and she holds it up. "A patrol has encountered a group of Shadow Dragons at the border to Unity."

There goes my warm glow. I push back my chair, and so do my mates, their dragons rising, fight and magic in their eyes.

But Freya shakes her head and lifts her palm to stop them. She fixes her gaze on me. "Apparently, they're friends of yours."

Chapter

Nineteen

EMBER

“Thank Gods," I breathe, my hands over my mouth as I take in the three bedraggled figures sitting on the tailgate of a big pickup truck parked just beyond the border of Unity.

Freya was tight-lipped as she drove me and my mates here to meet them. In my heart of hearts, I scarcely dared to hope.

But here they are. Alive--if not entirely well.

I spill out of the van at a run, my mates not far behind. "Mariutza, Delaynie, I thought you were dead."

Mariutza crinkles her wizened brow, looking to her granddaughter. "Are we? Dead?"

"It was a near thing," Delaynie says, exhaustion making her voice rough. She curls her arm around Mariutza and shines a tired smile at me. "But a Shadow Dragon has ways of escaping even the stickiest of situations."

She would know.

I met Mariutza and Delaynie when I was a prisoner in the Citadel. They were being held in the cell across from mine, imprisoned for using "the old magicks." Mariutza was touch and go with reality, but her command of her Shadow Dragon abilities was strong. She helped me figure out how to create a portal out of my cell, and I was eventually able to return to them and help them escape as well.

The last time I saw them, they had decided to face the Shadow King's Sorceress, some old grudge lighting a dark flame in Mariutza's eyes. Together, they bought me enough time to make it to the top of the tower, but when the Sorceress confronted me again mere minutes later, I could only surmise the worst about their fate.

I throw myself at them now, gratitude and relief overwhelming me. Delaynie bristles at first when I fling my arms around her, but she softens after a moment, tentatively hugging me in return. Mariutza is less reserved, squeezing me tightly.

When I draw away, she catches me in a surprisingly strong grip. Holding onto my arm, she examines me with sharp, black eyes. "You found him."

My stomach sucks in, and a fluttering chill rushes across my skin. She's talking about my final mate. Storm. I'm sure of it.

I nod, swallowing hard.

"Good." She squeezes my biceps hard before letting go. "You're ready then."

"Ready for what?"

"For what has to be done," a third, deeper voice interjects.

Stepping back from Mariutza and Delaynie, I turn my attention at last to the final member of the group.

The man manages a weak smile, and my chest constricts.

I first encountered Lord Rook as my captor--a regal figure in a sharp black suit, with salt and pepper hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He was clearly a trusted member of King Erembour's royal court. Then he accidentally played witness to my meeting with my parents' spirits, and he revealed himself as something I never would have imagined.

My uncle. Learning the truth about my father--his brother--changed everything.

He, too, bought me time to escape. And he clearly paid the price.

His dignified suit has seen better days, tattered and ripped and maybe even burned. Dark bruising mottles one side of his face, and his arm is in a sling, his back hunching in a way that belies further injuries. He still has a proud tilt to his head, though, and a spark of fire in his eyes.

"No hug for your uncle?" he asks, dark humor in his tone.

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