Page 105 of Stolen
This infection of SoulTakers, of power hungry madness, isworsethan I feared.
Did the fall of our Prime truly send so many spiraling into desperation?
Has Nightfall forgotten what it means to fight for honor? Forhope?
I don’t have time for answers.
Not yet.
Because right now, my only thought—my onlypurpose—is to protect mymate.
Someone dares shout over the chaos. “Kill the Dragon!”
I twist toward the voice. A SoulTaker general stands atop the outer wall, blade raised.
Fool.
I rear back andexhalea blast of fury.
Flame roars from my throat—pure silver edged with violet fury—and incinerates him where he stands.
It sweeps across the wall like a tidal wave of fire, obliterating the entire battalion at my gates.
Their screams are short.
Their punishment is eternal.
I land hard in the courtyard, stone shattering beneath me.
The last of the creatures scramble backward—but there’s no escape.
I look up to see my brothers fighting for my homeland and I’m filled with a mix of pride and humility.
Thorne crashes down like a storm beside the eastern wall.
Dagan barrels through the gate, smashing everything in his path.
Kael flies overhead on glowing mists that look like rainbows in the light, hurling spears of lightning into the fray.
Then I turn, and I see her.
Right beside the doorway wheremy viyellawaits for me.
I shift back in a blur, still steaming from the battle, and the moment I can, I grab her.
“Kiss me later,” she snaps, breathless, eyes wild with adrenaline.
But I do it anyway.
Ikiss herlike the world is ending—because for a second, it almost did.
And then I press my forehead to hers, whispering the spell through gritted teeth, weaving ancient power into armor that blooms over her body.
Scales of my own dragon form, hard as myth, molded to fit her perfectly.
“You’ll still be able to move. Still fight,” I promise her.
She blinks, then looks down at herself. “Is this?—”
