Page 49 of Devoted to the Dragon

With heavy limbs, I go to my dragon. Her hair glows in the early light streaming through the window. I brush it off her shoulder and caress her cheek, brushing my lips against her forehead.

My voice comes out in a choked whisper. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust my instincts when it came to protecting you. I won’t make that mistake again.” I slip the fang from my pocket into the palm curled by her chin.

I make one final check on the wolves. My shadows extend, sending a cloud of alertness that cuts through the sedatives in the air. In the fledging bond between us, I vow myself to her, knowing she won’t be here when I return.

Chapter 24

Randi

Acrow caws. I squint into a harsh midday sun, the taste of scorched earth thick in the air. The riverbank is strewn with my past. Bodies lie in an endless sea of devastation that makes it feel as if the world under my feet will split wide open.

The earth doesn’t quake, but I do—because Gunnar and Fennik sit at my feet. Erik too. Their wolves are lifeless before me, eyes open but unseeing.I scream for help until my throat is raw, wishing for death to take me too. The scream comes out as a stream of fire, and the world burns.

But I remain.

A silky, swirling smoke surrounds me, a cooling caress that ices the raging fire.

I blink, and I’m standing in front of the Alpha King. Only I’m not me. I’m watching as the all-seeing crow.

“Where is she?” the king growls.

The serpent—the one who claimed me—shrugs, his shadows calm. “Turns out she was right.”

“What?” the king snarls, his eyes flashing. He shreds his human skin, fangs bared.

The wolves closest to him crouch, taking a defensive position.

“Apparently, we can’t be trusted not to switch sides.”

The serpent strikes with a slice to the throat, his movements so quick they’re over before he finishes the words. The wolves around the king attack, but the serpent’s smoke swirls, a cyclone of death until they all fall.

The serpent bends over the destruction and yanks out one of the king’s fangs, stuffing the trophy in his pocket.

Smoke creeps into the edges of my vision until the world fades.

I’m transported to the dark Northern Forest, the smell of blood thick in the air. The same serpent is on his knees, pleading with another of his kind, the mating rune on his chest glowing.

“She is my mate. My fated mate. Look at the rune.”

The raven-haired serpent from the Council meeting looks torn.

The serpent sounds devastated. “You know what that means. It changes everything. You are bound to honor my mate. We are sworn to protect her.”

Before I’ve processed his declaration, I’m in the king’s office, watching myself while the serpent hides in the shadows. He doesn’t speak, doesn’t move, but there is a tugging. He’s drawn to me, fascinated and curious.

The smoke comes before I’m ready, then I’m in the hallway outside the door where we stayed for the Council meeting. The serpent watches impatiently, his anxiety rising with each hour I don’t run.

Too quick, I’m back in the forest. I see his eyes widen, the rune glowing brightly on his chest. His desire to claim me is so overwhelming that my teeth ache in sympathy.

I’m whisked through scene after scene, with no order or clear path between them. There are too many to process,moving so fast I barely see them. The experience is dizzying, twisting something deep inside my chest.From my strange crow position, I feel the scenes as much as I watch them. Some scenes are so out of context all I can understand is what he feels.

His emotions are overwhelming, my body vibrating with the energy around me until smoke rises once again, blocking out this strange world of dreams. A voice calls from the edges of the smoke, soft and sorrowful, but I can’t make out the words. The smoke is a silky lullaby that sings of safety with each caress, and my eyes close.

“Randi.”Fennik’s panic-filled voice pulls me from a deep sleep.

I shoot up, bleary-eyed and heart racing. “Where are we?”

It’s late afternoon, the golden light spilling in from a crack in the long, plush curtains. I don’t recognize the swanky crimson-and-gold room with its Art Deco patterns. The last thing I remember is the riverbank.

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