Page 28 of Wynter and the Stone Dragon

Hope and love soared through her at his declaration. She turned in his arms, rose up, and captured his lips with hers. She wound her arms around his neck as his lips parted and he took control of the kiss. Familiar heat exploded deep in her belly, drawing a moan from her. Their breathing grew louder, more desperate, fed by their fear of being separated.

“We’ll make this work,” she promised.

With a determined expression in his eyes, Khalid captured her lips in another breath-stealing kiss. Wynter’s body melded to his. Sliding her hands down his back, she let the powerful wave of need take over.

This is where the true magic is.

The thought no sooner flashed through her mind than she sensed a shift in power—the familiar power of a mage.

She broke away from Khalid and glanced wildly around as the distinctive essence of a magical wave swept over the palace, freezing those caught within the spell. In order to protect Khalid, she needed to know who was creating the spell. She focused. There was no malice in the spell. In fact, she sensed her mother’s essence in it.

“Wynter—” Khalid said, his eyes widening as he felt the paralyzing effects of the spell sweeping over him.

Her heart pounded as grief threatened to overwhelm her. Pulling a knife from her boot, she cut a strand of her hair that had come loose and braided it into a bracelet. She tied it around Khalid’s wrist, pressing a kiss to the knot to seal it.

“I will return to you… I promise,” she said, trying not to cry.

He reached out for her as she stepped away. His hand froze in midair. She turned, following the pull of the magic. It led her back into the garden.

Your father, mother, and a Mage Council Member,Pow-pow warned.

The stone dragon landed in front of her, turning with a growl in the direction of an open portal. This one was different from the portals the Rings of Power created. This portal belonged to Enyo’s ancient mages, and it was an incredibly rare sight that very few could manage.

“Wynter,” Lyia cried with relief.

Wynter stepped around Pow-pow and looked at her parents and the Mage Council Leader, Eirene. The gray-haired woman dressed in red velvet robes stared back, her eyes widening when she took in Wynter’s unusual appearance.

Wynter lifted her chin, regal in her defiance, her power swirling around her. Her body glowed. Her hair lifted and flowed around her as if caught in an underwater current. Power danced between Wynter, Arastan, Lyia, and Eirene, the intensity of which would have terrified this world’s humans and most mages.

“So, it is true. The young Princess of Erindale lives,” Eirene said, her voice ringing with striking clarity and strength.

ChapterTwelve

Khalid stumbled forward as the paralysis holding him disappeared. His eyes were wild with confusion and fear when he realized he was alone in the library. He twisted around, frantically searching for Wynter.

He froze when he saw the open French doors. Striding over to them, he stepped out onto the patio and scrutinized the garden. He noted the dazed expressions on Farid and Hagar’s faces. They looked as if they were waking from a deep sleep. A moment later, Adham burst through the doorway behind him with an alarmed expression.

Adham frowned, his hand on his sidearm, and turned in a tight circle, searching the garden before facing him again. The older man’s eyes held a mixture of fear, caution, and confusion.

“Khalid?”

Khalid shook his head. He had no answers—except that Wynter had disappeared. A muscle pulsed in his jaw. Tension stiffened the muscles in his neck and shoulders. His eyes moved to the gouges in the wall. He paled, feeling a brief flash of rage and then… he just felt hollow.

“She’s gone,” he said, his voice not quite steady.

“Gone? Where?” Adham replied.

His eyes locked with the other man’s, and he clenched his fists as helplessness and hopelessness weighed on his soul. Not since his parents’ deaths had he felt this overwhelming sense of despair—as if a void had opened up and swallowed his heart.

“I… don’t know,” he choked out.

He looked up at the stars. His eyes burned, and his vision blurred. Drawing in a shaky breath, he thought of their kiss, of Wynter’s body entangled with his, and he knew that he would never want to taste another woman.

“Come back to me, Wynter,” he whispered to the glittering stars. “Come back to me,janiat alsahra' aljamila.”

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Council Chambers for the Order of Enyo

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