“Help me wake Dagan up, we have to find Isola. Something is wrong,” Elias says, panic all over his face as he runs to his brother. I pull myself up, feeling for Isola, but not sensing anything. How is that possible?
“Get lost,” Dagan grumbles as Elias shakes him. Elias starts pouring water over him when he doesn’t wake up.
“Isola, wake up for Isola,” Elias demands, and Dagan sits up, rubbing his face. My dragon pounds in my mind, its relief at finally being back clear.
“Find princess, find mine,” it hisses, trying to push me to shift in the middle of a store.
“Are you guys alright?” a woman asks, running down to us as Dagan gets up. I reach into my jeans and pull out my wallet.
“Can you put all this away for me? I’m so sorry,” I say, as her eyes widen at the packed trolleys and then the wad of cash I get out, leaving it on top.
“Wait!” the woman shouts but we all ignore her as we walk out the store and into the parking lot.
“We have to do what we were tasked with, we must protect Isola and get her to Dragca,” Elias comments.
“The curse…” I let my sentence drift off, and start pulling my coat off.
“We will pay the price,” Elias says, but there’s no hate in his words. We all shift, shooting off into the skies as we hear some humans scream that see us.
“Protect mine, and the curse will fall,” my dragon says. He is prepared to lose himself for her. I know it.
“I will lose you,” I reply.
“But you will have her, and she will be safe,” my dragon whispers, and I know he is right. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to save her, and I’ve known that for quite some time.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Isola
Everything is blurry as I open my eyes. I feel cold, and someone is ripping something. A shadow is lying on top of me, pulling at my clothes, kissing my neck, and pushing their hardness into my stomach. Fear swallows me as I try to fight the darkness, I feel so out of sorts. Everything is cold again in a blink, and when I open my eyes, my surroundings are still so blurry that I can only make out shapes. Yet I can hear them, feel the body moving off mine.
“Shit, she is waking up and freezing stuff. You said that stuff knocks dragons out for a whole night!” I hear Michael shout at someone.
“Just be quick, and then I want my go before she really wakes up. My dad will lose his shit when he finds out I stole that stuff from the labs,” the other guy says, in a whiny voice. Oh my god, I need to move, I can’t let them do this to me. Fear strangles me as I try to do anything, only to fail, only to feel like I don’t control my body.
“Shut up,” I hear as I feel Michael pulling at my leggings. I try to move, to fight him as he pulls my underwear down but I can’t move. I can’t do anything as I hear a belt being undone, every little sound making me utterly terrified. This is worse than dying, I would rather die than let him do this to me. I feel a tear slide down my cheek, the tear being the only thing I can focus on as I try to forget where I am. Panic, fear, and revulsion fill me as Michael spreads my legs and puts a knee on the bed, making the bed dip a little. I scream in my mind for my dragon but I can’t hear her. I can’t do anything, and no one is coming to save me. The sound of a door slamming open fills the room, followed by the smell of smoke.
“You will die for this,” Thorne’s growly voice exclaims, but my mind refuses to believe it. He isn’t really here. He can’t be.
“It’s not–” I hear Michael beg, and then he screams and screams. The smell of burning flesh fills the room as more screams follow Michael’s. I try so hard to move, to know if what I’m hearing is even real, to see anything other than the blurriness in front of me. The warmth of the fire in the room eventually takes over the sound of Michael and the other’s screams, and then something is wrapped around me.
“I know you hate me, but not like this, not before I can even tell you how much of a fucking idiot I am,” Thorne whispers near me, and I feel hands on my face.
“I hate you,” I mumble, trying to make the words ring true. I don’t even know what I’m saying, I don’t even believe it’s really him.
“No, you don’t, and you hate that,” he says gently, and picks me up in his arms. I try to reply, but I can’t, only seeing a shadow carrying me out of a fire. When Thorne’s face comes into view, I can finally see the burning house just behind his head.
“You saved me, why?” I ask, feeling numb.
“Because in the end, I always will,” he tells me, kissing the top of my head. I rest myself against him as I let darkness take me away.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Isola
I didn’t do a thing to her! I saved her, you fucking idiots!” I hear Thorne shout as I wake up. The memories of Michael and my resulting terror making me jump, and I fall off the sofa I’m on. I slam onto the wood floors, flinching at the coldness and how the room spins. I put a hand on my head, and I look around, somehow expecting him to be there, trying to force himself on me. I feel down my body, knowing I’m not in pain so he couldn’t have... I can’t even say the word.
“Shit,” I hear Elias say, and then he is standing above me, leaning down to help me up. I grab the blanket, scooting away from him, and he holds his hands up.
“Hey, it’s me, princess,” he coaxes gently, not taking another step closer. I look around the lounge, trying to relax now that I’m home and not in danger.
“I told you what happened, don’t push her,” Thorne says, coming to stand next to him.
“I remember, princess, we all do,” he says gently.
“How?” I croak out, and clear my throat a few times. Dagan walks over, seeing me hiding in the corner of the sofa, and frowns. I look at the glass of water in his hand, but I don’t really want him close enough to me to take it.
“Here, it’s just water,” he offers me the glass of water he was holding, reaching out so he doesn’t get too close. I accept it, and he backs away, sitting on the edge of the sofa. They all watch me with fear in their eyes, all of them look as worried as the next one. Elias and Thorne sit on the floor where they were, and it shocks me that they aren’t arguing. Or not trying to kill each other.
“I got you some clothes,” Korbin says as he walks in the room. He places them on the back of the sofa I’m hiding next to and then backs away, knowing I just don’t want anyone near me right now. He sits by Dagan, all of them looking at me as I pull my blanket close around myself.
“How?” I repeat, needing to know what happened to make them remember, and they all look at each other.
“We were shopping, just about to check out another aisle, when it happened. We felt your fear, your pain, and it overwhelmed us into remembering. We shifted outside, and flew straight here just as Thorne carried you in, and explained,” Dagan explains. “I think we all passed out for a moment there.”
“That’s not possible, only mates or blood bound souls can feel each other’s emotions in times of need,” I point out, and they all look at each other.
“How do you know that?” Elias is the one to ask.
“Jace wanted to share blood with me before we mated, so he would know if I was in any danger. I decided I didn’t want to, because I wanted our blood to be swapped at our mating,” I explain, and there’s an eerie silence between us all. They are hiding something from me, and I’m not sure I even want to know what it is they did.
“Tell me what you did, what you all did,” I demand, knowing guilt when I see it in each of their eyes. I keep looking over at Thorne, not really believing that he is here.
“Wait, before you answer that, how are you here? How did you know?” I ask Thorne.
“I didn’t know, but Melody must have as she came to me. She demanded I leave right then. She said she would meet us when we come back to Dragca,” Thorne tells me, and I look down at the floor, taking a deep breathe. I have to thank Melody and Thorne at some point.