Page 26 of Bound By Roses

He was so damaged after colliding with the beach, like the last star to fall in an endless spill of night. The only thing that saved him was that he was a dragon—and even then, the fire should have burned that out of him. His own blood was setting him ablaze from the inside, and the image of his once-brown skin blackened and cracked still haunts me every time I close my eyes. The only part of him that didn’t lose moisture was his eyes, ever as green as the Jade Coast he was named for.

I stand and Quinn follows closely behind. His arms wrap gently around me as we stare out through the crumbled wall at the sunrise. His nose presses into my hair and he breathes me in, grounding himself and banishing the horrors that plagued his dreams. He hasn’t told me about them and I haven’t pressed. I have no right when I don’t want to talk about mine.

“Dawn,” he says, and that single word carries with it two meanings. With it, Quinn is both telling me it’s time to go and asking me if I’m ready to face this.

Anxiety floods me, but I do my best to keep it from showing on my face. It doesn’t matter though, because Quinn seems to know exactly what I’m thinking. Whether it’s because of the bond or because he just knows me that well, I can’t be certain.

“Hey,” he says, turning me around to face him and cupping my face in his newly calloused hands. “We don’t know anything for sure. Let’s go into this hoping for the best instead of fearing the worst.”

“If he feels what we felt…” I don’t have to finish the thought. The flicker of pain in his eyes tells me Quinn knows exactly what I’m talking about. When our bonds broke, so did our hearts. We may have found each other again, but Jade will be left with that nothingness. That same unrelenting agony that I would sooner die than face again will probably be his new reality—and it will be my fault. Because I was too selfish to let him die a peaceful death. Too selfish to accept another loss that I was willing toforce him into a life of physical and emotional agony just so that I didn’t have to say goodbye.

Quinn’s arms slip around the small of my back and he pulls me in for the warmest of hugs. My breath quickens in response and I allow myself to sink against him as silent tears spill down my cheeks. No matter what happens, I won’t cry when we wake Jade. But here, in the only truly safe place I have left? I’ll allow a momentary lapse in the facade I’ve been working so hard to maintain since my world nearly crumbled.

“We’ll help him. Whatever it takes.” There’s so much conviction in his words that I know he means it.Feelhe means it. Jade was once his enemy, but all that changed when he sacrificed himself to save Quinn so that I wouldn’t have to lose him. He was willing to give his life for us, and now Quinn owes him just as much as I do.

I pull in a deep breath and force my emotions back down where they’ve been buried for the last three weeks. Pulling away from Quinn, I take his hand in mine and move for the tower stairs. “Let’s get this over with.”

We amble down the whirlpool steps. We’re already late, but Quinn makes no move to rush me. He allows me to set the pace, only giving my hand a reassuring squeeze anytime I slow. I know everyone else is likely already waiting for us, but I can’t bring myself to move faster. I’ve been dreading this day since it was decided exactly one week ago, and now that it’s here, I want nothing more than to turn around and run right back up to my tower.

When we finally arrive at the infirmary, the dragons, Aurelia, and a few curious sirens are waiting, just as I knew they would be. Even Erwyn is here, which might be the most surprising thing about this assembly. He stands in the corner, arms crossedtightly against his chest and eyes narrowing on Quinn. I guess they haven’t yet worked out their differences.

“It’s about time,” Petra says with a roll of her eyes when we enter the room, though her tone lacks its usual edge. My best guess is that even in her annoyance, she can’t begrudge me for my hesitation. Jade was my mate once—even if it was just a curse. Petra knows how it feels to think you’re losing a mate, probably better than most. She can appreciate that this isn’t easy. Especially since waking Jade might risk what I have now with Quinn. What if he opens those eyes and a second bond with him snaps into place? I hadn’t even thought about that possibility until this moment, and the thought alone has me feeling sick to my stomach.

There are significantly less wounded here now than there were the last time I was here, but I don’t want to think about how many didn’t survive their injuries. Over the last few weeks, there have been three separate funerals at sunset, and although I didn’t attend them, I’m almost certain that multiple bodies were carried out to sea for at least two of them.

“Sorry.” What else can I say? It’s probably obvious that I’ve been crying and even if it wasn’t, my voice will give it away. I steel myself as best I can with a sharp intake of breath and will the quake in my voice to settle. “Is he awake?”

“We were waiting for you,” Merrick says. Unlike Petra, there’s not an ounce of annoyance in his tone. There’s only kindness and concern, which I know isn’t for me. Jade is his cousin, and although they don’t always see eye to eye, they’re family.

Rhett steps forward. He’s looking so much better than he did the last time I saw him, though the absentminded rub of a hand to his shoulder tells me that there’s still some discomfort there. Dragons heal fast, but the arrows that hit him were poisoned by the same black smoke that now shrouds Lunae. He’s lucky to bealive, so some residual pain and slow healing is a fair price to pay.

He offers me a half-smile, but the light that’s normally behind it is dimmed. “He’ll be confused and scared, though he’d never admit that. He’ll shift. If we can’t calm him down, you’ll have to change him back before he hurts someone or himself.”

“Can he shift?” I may not have been present for the discussions that led up to the decision to wake Jade now, but surely this has been debated. The reason Jade is like this in the first place is because he disobeyed a direct order from Merrick, and his dragon blood burned him from the inside out. He should be dead, but since he isn’t, it’s likely the part of him that can take the form of a dragon is. Suggesting he can still shift is madness.

“We think he will,” Rhett says with full confidence. “The markings on his skin are hot to the touch and the water in his pool is significantly warmer than the rest of the ocean.”

What markings? I don’t ask the question aloud, but there’s something in Merrick’s eyes that tells me this is why he wanted Quinn to get me down here sooner, just to see Jade and mentally prepare for today.

I clear my throat so it doesn’t betray me. “His entire body was covered in burns. I think being a little warm is normal.”

Rhett looks to his right and I follow his gaze to the healer who is watching us in silence. Her arms are crossed, and she looks almost as angry as Erwyn.

“His burns have healed,” the woman snaps. “Which you would know if you bothered to visit.”

Great. Even the healers are upset with me.

“She doesn’t mean that—” Rhett starts to say, but I cut him off with a wave of my hand.

“She’s right. It’s fine. Let’s just get this over with.”

The brutally honest healer doesn’t wait for permission and moves to the closed door at the back of the room that separatesus from Jade. She’s the first inside, followed closely by Rhett, Merrick, and Petra. Quinn gives my hand another squeeze and I know this is his way of asking if I’m ready.

I’m not, but I squeeze it back and together we walk into the last place I want to be.

It looks just as I remember it, despite those brief memories being clouded by exhaustion and devastation. The room is dim, the only light source coming from the blue and green algae that line the bottom of the natural rock pool where the silhouette of a body floats.

WhereJadefloats.

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