Page 86 of Devoted to the Dragon

I let myself mull it over as I watch over my anxious dragon and brooding pup.

Eventually, warmth creeps back into the serpent, some of his color returning as Randi’s scent thickens in the room.Movement catches my eye, and Ithrow back the covers to see smoky shadows emerging, little wisps that seem to float on the surface of his skin.

“Look. It’s working.”

Gunnar scrambles away from Knox, but I place my hand on Knox’s chest where the shadows are thickest. It tickles at first as the little wisps lick my skin. The smoke becomes stronger, the band wrapping around my wrists and holding me to Knox. It doesn’t hurt, but I know he’s feeding because I can see the black veins nearest my touch lighten.

“Help me feed him. He needs our strength.”

A shaky hand claps Knox’s shoulder. Knox’s shadows wrap around Gunnar’s forearm.

“Now what?” Gunnar asks.

I gaze back at Randi, still in her dragon form, eyes on me, pleading. “We fix it.”

Chapter 41

Knox

Someone says my name louder this time. I squeeze my eyes tightly, desperate to hold on to the mossy green forest alive with my dragon’s scent.

My serpent strikes at my cheek, impatient. I attempt sitting up, batting my shadows away, but I’m too dizzy to stay upright.

Randi’s mates are in my face, hovering.

“Where the fuck am I?” I ask, blinking into twin expressions of fear.

“You’re outside of Randi’s nest. You were passed out when Gunnar got to you. It’s your bond,” Fennik says, big palm cupping my face.

He and the younger wolf help me sit. I’m lightheaded, but their weight is grounding, and my shadows openly use their strength. I look myself over and know that whatever happened is not good. My rune is dying, the bond fading.

But the dream? She forgave me in the dream.

Fennik keeps talking, the words fast, but I can’t catch them all.

“Slow down. What do you mean we can’t get to her?”

A burst of fire catches my attention, and I freeze, staring in wonder at the icy flames cutting through the room and my hissing dragon agitatedly flapping her wings behind the fire.

I’m on my feet and trying to get to her before I think. Strong arms hold me back, but I desperately fight against them, pinning both wolves to the stone wall with my shadows.

Our dragon roars.

Without thinking, I drop the wolves, needing to get to her. The fire burns, but I push against it, my shadows searching for a way across the invisible barrier. The acidic taste of the magic hits me, and I’m thrown against the wolves. The three of us land in a heap.

“I think I liked you better passed out, vamps,” the Viking grumbles.

“I’m not a vampire.” I shove the wolf off, my head smarting and my arm burning.

“Have you looked at yourself in the mirror?” he asks.

“There wasn’t one included in the prison package.” I hold my head, wincing as I stare between them. “What the fuck was that?”

The older wolf helps me back up, explaining the last twenty-four hours again: Randi wanting me here, Gunnar finding me, the witch’s warning. Apparently, I missed a lot.

I must have dream-walked to her, which is totally badass. Only my mother can do that shit. My soul was so desperate to see her I’m not surprised though. I’m lucky as fuck that I did because she wants me here. Without that, my ass would be dead.

It takes me a minute to sort through what Fennik’s saying. All the static in my brain makes my thoughts slow. “The barrier… it’s like a test? The final part of bonding a dragon?”

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