“Levi, what’s happening?”
The craze. His voice sounded as scared as she felt hearing those words.
Quinn didn’t know a lot, but she knew what that meant. She charged after her dragon.
“Henrik!”
Her dragon didn’t even flinch. Tears stung her eyes. Was he already gone? It hadn’t been that much time. If he could just see that she was alive, that he didn’t kill her, he’d snap out of it, right?
Warren didn’t stop her, but he followed behind her.
“Talk to me, Quinn,” Warren urged.
“I don’t know what to say,” she whispered to herself.
She got as close as she dared.
“Henrik, listen to me. It’s me, Quinn. I’m alive. You didn’t have to kill me. It was another woman. It wasn’t me.”
Henrik didn’t respond. He shot a burst of fire toward Levi instead.
She closed her eyes and willed herself to tap into their connection. She knew it was there between them. No matter how small, he had to feel that she was still there. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to strum the chord between them.
Hear me, Henrik. I’m here. I love you. Please hear me.
The crying wouldn’t subside. She kept sobbing while she tried to get him to hear her.
Henrik roared and her eyes popped open. Her dragon was staring at her now. He snorted and stomped toward her.
Imposter.
The word filled her head and she shivered.
“No, Henrik. The woman you killed was the imposter. It’s me. You have to feel that it’s me.”
Henrik reared back, his wings fully extended. His throat filled with fire, seconds from being unleashed. He was going to burn her to ash and then he really would never return.
“Henrik, please don’t.”
She closed her eyes and willed him to see it was her.
It was her last hope.
27
The Craze
The world around Henrik was nothing but a bleak darkness. He could hardly see in front of him. Everything was dangerous and attacking. All he could was strike back. Destroy.
His enemy had gone down, hitting the earth, creating fire.
Fire. Henrik understood fire. His enemy was destroyed.
His new foe wouldn’t leave him alone. Kept trying to make him remember the pain. The ache instead his chest.
No. He wouldn’t go. He wouldn’t return to where she wasn’t.
“Henrik.”