Page 339 of Sigils & Spells

“Everyone, stand down!” someone yelled, and I felt the whip of magic lash across my very soul.

“Brandon,” I murmured, too depleted to pick myself off the blood and magic soaked field.

“I’ve got you,mo spréach.”

His warmth engulfed me, and I realized I was shivering, shaking in the aftermath of expending so much magic. My foggy brain tried to process what was happening.

I saw Stolbright kneeling on the ground, her hands cuffed behind her, along with the few wizards who’d traveled here with her.

The sentinels were back in their skin. They seemed to be helping my friends, and I was grateful. I recognized Headmistress Armstrong there, giving orders, and looking furious as fuck. The green medallion around her neck was pulsating angrily and swirls of power seemed to surround her.

“Everyone okay?” I whispered, so weak, I knew I was minutes from passing out.

“Yes,mo spréach. You protected us all,” Brandon growled, and I smiled. I knew he was pissed, and I kinda liked having that effect on him.

“Bring her here,” Armstrong called, and I felt my mate tense.

“S’okay,” I murmured, reassuring him.

“Ah, Miss McKenna, I see you are spent. Bring her to the infirmary. Our discussion will wait.”

Brandon nodded and whispered for me to hold on. I didn’t understand why I’d have to do that until I felt his body heat and grow. Hard muscles became glossy scales, impossible to clutch, but he held me in his claws, and I knew was safe.

You have no idea how safe you are with me, his voice whispered inside my head.

“Oh, really?” I answered softly.

Aye, Tana McKenna, witch of my heart. You have the dragon’s fealty.

“The fealty of a dragon? What does that mean, exactly?” I asked, safe from the wind in the cocoon of his claws.

Means you have my body. You have my heart. There is nothing I wouldn’t do, no world I wouldn’t burn to keep you safe. Everything I’ve been taught, a thousand years of dragon tradition, tossed out the window, mo spréach. You’ve changed everything.

“Is that good or bad?” I asked, suddenly scared of his answer.

It’s everything. You are everything. Now rest, we’re almost there.

“One more question,” I asked, as the heaviness started seeping in. “What doesmo spréachmean?”

Ah, I wondered if you would remember. First, let me explain, to a dragon, our fire is life. Without our flame, we die.

“That’s terrible.”

Yes, it can be terrible. But it is also what makes it precious. There’s no fire without a spark, mo spréach. And that is what you are. My spark.

Brandon’s heartfelt words whispered into my ear with powers of our bond, and I felt my very soul rejoice. He’d likened me to his spark, and I’d never understood until just now what to make of our tempestuous relationship.

Now, I knew.

I was his spark, and he was my flame. Together, we could destroy worlds, but that was not on my agenda. I just wanted to know the truth, find my father, and maybe get back to school.

Sounds good, mo spréach. Now, sleep.

Bossy, I thought, and lost consciousness as the rumbling laughter of my dragon lulled me to sleep.

CHAPTER13

I awoketo the familiar click-clacking refrain of high-heeled shoes on a tiled floor. It smelled like antiseptic, burned paper, and olive oil. A weird combination until I remembered I’d been in a fight, was cradled in my dragon’s claws and brought back to Westwood’s infirmary.

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