Page 92 of Marked Dragon

Saphira’s face twisted in confusion, and she blew out a breath as she stabbed a large bite of her food. “Forget I asked.”

“I’m more than happy to do that.” Thorn took another bite.

Something dinged. Vlad leaned over in his seat, removing his phone. “Dad texted me. That’s odd.” After he swiped the phone and read the message, he jumped to his feet, his plate crashing to the ground.

Thorn was a second behind him. “What’s wrong?”

I swallowed the bite I’d just taken, the food almost lodging in my throat. I climbed to my feet too, putting my half-eaten plate on the seat.

Vlad answered, “Dad received a text from Theron. Theron wants us to run. The warriors are there, and they’re picking up our trail from a few hours ago.”

My stomach heaved, and it wasn’t because of the food. “They can’t do that, right?”

“If they know we were there earlier today, they’ll assume we’re close.” Thorn assessed the area as if he expected Drake or the warriors to pop out at any second. “They’ll eventually find us here. We need to fleenow.”

Chest constricting, I shook my head. “What if Theron and Hydra are in trouble? They helped us. We can’t turn our backs on them.” I understood wanting to get away from danger, but running would mean abandoning our allies.

He turned to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. He lowered his forehead to mine and said, “I helped them, Ev. I healed Sol. We’ve done our part to give back. All I care about is keeping you safe.”

We always came back to the same conversation. “Running won’t keep us safe. The only way we become safe is by facing the threat together, which means we can’t abandon the people who could be our allies.”

“You heard Wyvern.” Thorn lifted his head, his determination wafting through me. “He had no interest in giving me a chance, despite Sol, Hydra, and Theron telling him I helped Sol. He was ready to hand us over to Drake. Staying here will only lead to our capture. I can’t lose you again. I can’t survive that.” His fear and agony crashed through me.

My insides knotted, and my dragon whimpered. I’d hurt him so much when I’d handed myself over to Drake. It didn’t matter if my intentions had been good; we’d come so close to losing each other.

But if I hadn’t tried to do the exchange and someone had died, I would’ve had to live with that regret my entire life. “These areyourpeople. Drake is hunting down the weak and old and slaughtering them. I understand you feel abandoned and betrayed, but Theron didn’t turn his back on you…and that was before he knew you could help Sol.”

“She’s right.” Cassidy set her plate on the grass. “Thorn, the dragon shifters never turned their backs on you. Your parents did. And they feared you because they haven’t been given a reason not to. We willneverbe safe. Isn’t it better to go there and help—which Drake and the warriors won’t expect—than let them attack us when they’re prepared?”

Thorn cut the air with a hand. “The thunder isn’t under attack. The warriors are looking forus.”

“Oh, please.” Saphira crossed her legs and finished chewing her bite. “Weallknow Drake will be with the warriors. He wants to be there when you get captured. He’ll hurt some, if not all, of the thunder to make sure no one knows your real location. Theron may have told you to run, but that doesn’t mean they’re safe. He just feels indebted to you.”

Thorn closed his eyes, chest heaving. I could sense how much he wanted to leave, but he was in the minority.

Sometimes, the hardest part of life is doing the right thing when you don’t want to,I connected to him and squeezed his hand.And you’re the type of man who knows right from wrong. If we run, you’ll regret it. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but eventually, it will catch up to you.

Something strange passed between us, and his voice popped into my head.I’m not that guy, Everly. The world could burn to the ground, and I wouldn’t care as long as you were safe.When he opened his eyes, his pupils had slitted.

My traitorous body warmed as my dragon purred. His overwhelming love for me was intoxicating.

I also want to be the man you deserve, which means I’m willing to do this…for you.He brushed his fingers along my cheeks, leaving them flush in their wake.But at the first sign of something going wrong, we leave. I will not allow Drake to capture you again and force you into something you’re unwilling to do. Keeping you away from him matters most to me.

Of course. The same for you.Though I wanted to help Theron and his thunder, I couldn’t watch Thorn be taken. If they caught him, they’d kill him.But Vlad is right. They won’t expect us. This could be our best chance to end this.

“We’ll go.” Thorn took my hand and moved to face everyone else. “But if the warriors aren’t harming or threatening the thunder, we leave.

Vlad and Cassidy nodded, while Saphira arched a brow.

“We better get going.” Saphira took her last bite, chewed, and swallowed. “If Drake is involved, as I suspect, it’s probably already bad.”

The five of us headed into the barn and found the others in the kitchen and den. We informed them of what was going on, and everyone was on the same page as Vlad, Cassidy, and me. Brenton and Errol were especially determined to help. They couldn’t stand idly by while Drake acted the tyrant, and Tyson hated Drake even more after learning that Drake had been targeting people with injuries like his.

We also decided that Eva, Elliott, and Peter needed to stay. It would be too risky to take three humans into battle.

As everyone got ready, Thorn found some rope and tied Peter to a chair in the kitchen. We didn’t trust him enough to leave him free to roam.

Everyone headed outside with Thorn and me in the rear. As we left, I heard Elliott mumble, “If he’d changed me, they would’ve had another dragon on their side.”

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