Page 74 of Chase Me

The only other thing he'd ever seen any of them tried to get, was his soul shard. He had no idea why they would want it, but twice in as many days they had tried to nab it off his neck. One of the two pieces of shit left in Ciara's apartment had gripped it in its very paws, and instantly seemed to know exactly where she was.

If their mission from God knows who was to capture Ciara and get his soul shard, maybe, just maybe they would be dumb enough to turn their attention to him. They would be more likely to attack if he was less of a threat.

With so many demon dragons around, and Ciara's life in danger, it was difficult to push his dragon back down. The shift took longer than he wanted it to. He could hear the horde and the ensuing battle getting closer.

He prayed to the First Dragon that this would work.Please, help me save her.

He finally shifted into his human form and gripped his soul shard in his fist. He knew dragons who had taken their shards off and had lost their ability to shift along with it. He never had taken his off.

He yanked on the cord, breaking it free from his neck. His heart stuttered and for a second, he thought he might fall to his knees from the sensation that shot through his body. Hegritted his teeth and pushed through the waves of weakness washing over him.

He wrapped the remnants of the cord around his fingers, held his hand aloft, and dropped the shard to dangle from his hand. “Hey assholes, look what I have for you.”

The two demon dragons’ heads snapped around and stared at him. The soul shard shined like a beacon, green light filling the apartment and the night sky.

“Yeah, that's right. Come and get it.” Behind them, he could see Ciara shaking her head and reaching her hand out for him.

Jakob’s energy drained and his vision blackened. He hadn't expected that. No other dragons had reported something like this happening to them. But then again, he had never heard of anyone else's soul shard glowing or helping them find a mate. This kind of information would've been nice to have been passed down through the generations. Not that he had another plan to distract the demon dragons, even if he had known.

He called upon his reserves to give him a small partial shift, turning his hands into claws and talons. The longer he could defend himself, the more time it gave Ciara to get to her friend and get away. That little cocksucker had better take care of her.

“Go, Ciara. Run. Get your friend and get out of here.” Jakob's knees buckled underneath him and he fell to the wooden slats of the porch. The structure wavered under the weight of his fall, and the damage he had done to it.

“No, I won't leave you. No way. I can't. I love you, you asshat.”

The words filled his heart with hope and joy. He thought her lost to him forever, and even if he only lived a few moreminutes, he would die a happy man knowing she'd been with him at the end. But he would haunt her from the afterlife if she put herself in danger now. “The others are coming. They will save you.”

The two demon dragons snarled and continued their approach. They were rightfully cautious of him, but he could see in their eyes that they understood probably better than he had that any defense he put up would be no more than that of a newborn youngling. He shook the ends of the cord, swinging the shard back and forth in front of their eyes.

“Here, demon, demon, demon. Here, demon, demon. Come and get it.” His voice came out raspy and weak, but it got the point across. He had the shard, and it was theirs for the taking.

Of course, he had no intention of actually letting them get it. He had saved a tiny bit of strength, fueled by the memory of his first kiss with Ciara, the first time he'd been inside of her, the first time he'd made her come, and her final words to him. I love you. Technically, her last words were you asshat, and even those words gave him the strength that he needed.

With the demon dragons half a meter in front of him, he called out an ancient war cry and rose to his feet thrusting his talons through one of them and throwing his soul shard, with all of his might across the room to Ciara.

He heard her wail as the final demon dragon attacked him using its fangs and claws to tear into him.

It was a good death, even though he hated to leave her. It was with the knowledge that in the end, he had finally given her his soul. It had always been hers anyway.

READ MY LIPS

Ciara picked a damned fine time to decide she was in love. Maybe she had known it all along, she was sure that was what she was denying herself when she left Jakob in the Czech Republic. But even that felt nothing like the joy shredding her from the inside out right now.

Jakob had come for her. He was here, and he was dying right in front of her eyes.

Fuck that.

No way, José.

Nuh-uh. Not gonna happen.

Read my lips. No new taxes.

Fire, wind, water, and white light swirled around her. The only element missing was earth. Jakob was her world, her connection to mother nature, herself. Without him, she would never be whole.

He had given himself to her, mind, body, and soul, never questioning that they belonged together. She was the one who had never been able to see it, when the one thing she wantedmore than anything in her whole life, real true love, had been given to her freely.

She'd been too scared to reach out and take it. She'd learned over the years that love offered meant that it came with obligation and compulsion. It wasn't free and what was owed in return for it was more than she had ever been able to give, even as hard as she had tried. Somewhere along the way, she'd given up, and sheltered her battered heart, cutting it off from all the commotion. If she didn't have to feel, then it wouldn't hurt.

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