Page 97 of Don't Fae With Dragons

Cory looks up at me, breathing ragged and his arm bleeding heavily, but smiles before turning back to the White Warlock, bloodlust taking over his expression.That’s my dragon man in full force, I think to myself with pride. He lets loose a ferocious roar before slicing his claws straight through Kar’s neck. After that final blow, Kar’s body disintegrates into blinding light, then he is gone.

The White Warlock is dead.

I run over to Cory, Max, and Port without another thought, tearing off the bottom hem of my shirt to make a quick wrap for Cory’s arm. Port and Max have both sustained serious injuries, too, though.

I ask them quickly, “Where are the herbs?”

Port points weakly at the satchels which lay strewn on the ground near the edge of the clearing, and I run to them. Once I’ve collected a few herbs which will work for a makeshift poultice, I start mixing them together with violently sharp stirs in the travel-size mortar.

Quickly enough, a poultice comes together and I rush over to Max and Port to apply it to their wounds. “This will hold you both off until I can heal you properly or we reach Chrysthinia’s,” I explain quickly. Once I’ve applied the appropriate amount to their injuries, I instruct them to spread it evenly for each other.

After they nod in understanding, I run over to Cory without another thought and catch him in a passionate kiss. I don’t realize it until now, but I really thought I might lose him. Loseallof them. I don’t know what I would have done, but I know it would have broken me.

“I thought–”

“I know,” Cory interrupts softly. “I was terrified, too.”

Then he wraps his arms around me and kisses the top of my head firmly. Only after letting him hold me a minute do I realize that I should check on Aurora. I pull back with a gasp, but the clearing where she stood is empty.

“She left?” I ask mindlessly.

Cory squeezes my hand in reassurance and kisses my forehead again. “I think she’ll find you when she’s ready. Come, my love.”

He guides me alongside the two shifters, then, back to town. We walk and walk and walk, slowly as we can, until we reach Chrysthinia’s. There, they heal the shifters and check to make sure I’m okay.

It would be a good ending to an otherwise horrible day, but I can’t stop worrying about Aurora.

CHAPTER 57: MILI

It’s the break of dawn after the battle and there is a soft knocking at my bedroom window. I gasp and sit up with a start – that’s how Aurora used to let me know she was leaving, if she had to head out in a rush in the evenings.

With a spinning head, I turn to the window and see that it’s really her. I motion for her to come to the front door, and she hesitates before nodding.

After that, I crawl out of the bed (where all three shifters slept with me for the night) and throw on a gossamer robe that Cory gave me, all those months ago in the volcano. I wrap it tightly around me and try to ignore the chill in the air. It’s almost Autumn, after all.

When I open the door, I see Aurora standing at the front gate, turned away from me. I sigh heavily and walk gently over to her.

Once I reach her, she holds up a finger to stop me from speaking. I close my mouth and wait for her to speak first, even though the waiting is agonizing.

Finally, she exhales slowly and turns to me. “I’m leaving.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “What? Why?”

She shrugs. “Why would I stay?”

“Why would you –everything you love is here, Aurora. You love Ethelinda! Why would you give that all up?”

Aurora laughs sadly, then sighs. “I thought that, too. But how can I stay if it doesn’t love me back? How can I stay ifyoudon’t love me back?”

I don’t know what to say to that. It’s true that I don’t love her back anymore, if I ever did, but I do care about her. Maybe that’s enough.

“Isn’t it enough that I care for you? Maybe not romantically, but–”

“It’s not,” Aurora says through gritted teeth. She rubs her face with her hands and forces herself to breathe, then says slowly, “Look, I’m sorry for being angry. It’s not your fault. You can’t force yourself to love me. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us, and –I don’t know. Maybe I don’t even know what love really is, either.”

I feel my brows furrow and my voice quivers slightly as I ask, “What do you mean?”

She smiles and a single tear falls down her cheek. “I just mean that I don’t think love should feel like this.”

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