Page 131 of I Am Salvation

“Dragon is in there! He went after his sister!”

Jameson grabs my arm.

I yank it away. “I can’t leave him!”

“There’s debris. There are cult members who made it out who are armed. You’re coming with me!”

“But—”

“My people will find him. But you have to come with me!”

His voice cuts through the turmoil around us.

Dragon.

Dragon would want me safe.

I let Jameson lead me away, but I glance over my shoulder.

I gasp.

A figure is emerging.

A male, with broad shoulders. Long hair.

It’s Dragon!

He’s alive!

And he’s holding the hand of a thin blond woman.

My God.

Griffin.

He got her!

I freeze in my tracks, even as Jameson tugs at my arm. Dragon and Griffin. His baby sister who he thought was gone forever is now clinging to him.

Dragon turns his head, and our eyes meet. There’s a second of perfect silence amidst the clamor, a moment where his gaze falters. Where he softens for a moment to look at me.

Jameson pulls at me again, harder this time, and I’m ripped away from the scene.

I’m pulled into the safety of one of the SWAT vans, my legs giving way beneath me as soon as I’m inside. Jameson shouts something into his radio, but his words are lost to me.

All I register is the slamming of the van doors behind me, the distant sounds of chaos growing fainter as the vehicle begins to move. My eyes remain glued to the closing gap, Dragon and Griffin a rapidly shrinking image in my mind’s eye.

“Dragon,” I whisper.

Jameson kneels beside me, his hand on my shoulder. “We’ll go back for him.”

I clutch on to his words as if they’re a lifeline—the only thing keeping me from drowning in this nightmare.

The van bumps along the uneven road, jostling me. I’m a maelstrom of emotions—fear and relief battling for dominance.

Fear that Dragon might get hurt trying to protect his sister.

Relief that he found Griffin.

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