Page 54 of Blazing Reactions

“Dimitri’s people took her.” The words came out as a growl. “Twenty minutes ago. She was on her way back from a meeting-” He broke off, dragon rage bleeding into his eyes.

Asher moved instantly to her computer, fingers flying across keys. “Pulling up her last location data. Did she have her emergency beacon?”

“Active but stationary. They must have found it.” Levi paced like a caged animal. “I should have been with her. I should have-”

“Stop.” Asher’s tone cracked with authority born from years of managing crisis situations in the lab. “They took her to get to us. Guilt later. Action now. Show me exactly where she was last seen.”

As Levi indicated positions on the display of the city, Talon moved to study Dimitri’s compound layout. His tactical mind worked in parallel with her scientific analysis, both seeking solutions.

“They’ll take her to the secure levels,” Talon said, highlighting sections of the schematic. “Same area we suspect houses the transformation experiments.”

“Of course, they will.” Asher’s smile held zero humor. “Because why make anything simple when you can layer your catastrophes for maximum efficiency?”

Pain spiked through her shoulder again. She gritted her teeth, focusing on the data streams. Talon’s hand found the small of her back, energy flowing between them as he supported her without comment.

“The neural shields will still work,” she said, making rapid adjustments. “But we’ll need to modify our approach. Levi-”

“I’m coming with you.” His tone left no room for argument.

“Obviously. I was going to say you’ll need the backup shield I designed for Lori.” Asher moved to a secured case, removing a device identical to her own. “Since she’s clearly not using it at the moment.”

The attempt at humor fell flat, but Levi managed a ghost of his usual smile as he strapped on the shield. “She’s going to be furious that she missed field testing the prototype.”

“Then we better make sure she gets a chance to complain about it.” Asher turned back to her screens, but her vision blurred briefly. Strong arms steadied her immediately.

“Your powers are getting worse,” Talon said quietly.

“Which changes nothing.” She straightened, electricity crackling along her skin. “Except possibly making me more annoyed. And slightly less combustible.”

His dragon’s protective rage warred with respect for her strength. She sent back waves of determination and love, letting him feel her absolute certainty.We’re doing this. Together.

His response flowed through their connection - pride, worry, and unshakable faith in her. Out loud he simply said, “Then let’s move. Levi?”

“Ready.” His eyes had shifted fully to dragon gold, power radiating off him in waves. “Let’s get her back.”

Asher gathered her equipment - tablet, disruptors, emergency med kit, and enough processing power to give most supercomputers an inferiority complex. Her shifter powers might be failing, but her mind remained sharp as ever.

“Stay close to me,” Talon murmured as they headed for the door. “The dragon’s already fighting every instinct to lock you in a secure room.”

“Funny, my scientific instincts are fighting the urge to remind you how badly that would end for everyone involved.” She bumped his shoulder gently. “Especially the room.”

His laugh was rough but real. Love and fear and absolute trust in each other flowed between them.

FIFTY-ONE

They moved through the night like shadows, closer to Dimitri’s lab. The night air carried a metallic tang that made their dragons recoil. Magic twisted into something wrong, corrupted by Dimitri’s experiments.

At a perimeter fence, Asher paused to study the defenses. Guard rotations followed precise intervals - twelve minutes between patrols, overlapping coverage zones creating three-second blind spots. Security cameras swept in predictable arcs, their patterns as reliable as any scientific constant.

“Southeast quadrant,” she whispered, pointing out the weakness. “We’ll have exactly 2.7 seconds between camera sweeps.”

“Cutting it close,” Levi muttered.

“Story of my life lately.” She ignored another spike of pain from her shoulder. “Ready to stress test these neural shields?”

Talon’s wing mantled protectively around her. “Stay between us. If your powers fluctuate-”

“You’ll be my extremely attractive backup generator.” She squeezed his hand. “I know the protocol. I wrote it, remember?”

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