18. Emrie

Iwoke up to the buzzing of my phone. Roarke, in bed next to me, reached over to pick it up. When he saw who it was on the caller ID, he sat up with a jerk.

"He's escaped," he said into the phone, in leu of a greeting.

I could hear King Garyyk on the other end. "He was already gone. We think one of our guards tipped him off. King Draven, Prince Virion and I are looking into it, but Roarke, you know what this means."

"He's coming," he said, in a voice completely devoid of emotion.

"Yes. And this goes beyond him wanting Emrie dead because she's a product of her mother and father. Now I'm betting he wants revenge on all of you. My team and I are trying to make it back to you to help, but I don't think we'll make it in time."

"We're on our own," my mate said softly.

Our door banged open, and I squeaked and pulled the covers up to my shoulders. King Draven, Rhys from the Laughing Elf, Prince Virion, and the rest of my Clan were all standing there.

"No, you're not. We're all here," Draven said.

Roarke said goodbye to King Garyyk and shook King Draven's, Rhys', and Prince Virion's hands. "Thank you for coming."

I hurried out of bed and bundled into comfortable clothing and tennis shoes, piling my long hair up on top of my head in a quick and dirty bun that would stay put even if I walked into a hurricane.

We waited in front of the lodge again, like we had last night. Roarke was doing flyovers over Moonhaven and the Clan property. We wanted to draw Drakis here to protect the rest of Moonhaven, and we all desperately hoped it would work.

A rampaging dragon could destroy villages and towns, and had done so many, many times in the past. There was a good reason most of them had been wiped out by paranormals and humans. Most dragons back then were vicious. The old human saying was true: absolute power corrupts absolutely. And dragons were at the tippy top of the food chain. The apex of power.

I just hoped everyone I loved stayed alive. I didn't want to lose anyone.

The Sheriff had put out an emergency bulletin in town, informing everyone to stay in their homes until he gave the all-clear. He and his officers were sweeping the town, keeping watch. I stood with my full Clan, including Virion, Draven, and Rhys. Some mates, the natural fighters of our group, had chosen to stay, but the rest of them were protecting the cubs at King Draven's villa, far from danger.

He's here, my mate told me.

I drew in a choking breath. Stay alive. Don't make me live without you. "He's here," I said softly for those around me.

The sun was just coming up on the horizon. The sky was alight with brilliant splashes of purple, orange and pink, but through the streaks of bright color I could see a black dragon coming in fast. Roarke met him in the air, and they came together like two boulders, the crash reverberating through the entire forest, and probably the entire town. My Clan surrounded me in the space of a breath. Mateo grabbed one of my hands and Alistair grabbed the other as we watched the two dragons try to gain dominance over each other.

My heart was in my throat.

I couldn't believe this was happening.

I hadn't wanted Roarke to take on Drakis alone, and none of the rest of us had wanted that either. That was why we were all here, ready to help in the fight. But most of had known...this was Roarke's fight. We couldn't fly. We were the shield wall in case Roarke failed.

I trembled. Roarke wouldn't let Drakis anywhere near me. Not unless he was no longer alive to protect me.

Steady, my bear rumbled. Our mate will win.

I nodded. He had to. I would accept nothing less.

Flames flashed across the sky, and Drakis' roar was one of fury. Roarke harried Drakis, ripping into him with his claws, then looping around him and ripping into his other side. Drakis roared flames at him, but Roarke evaded them and slammed into Drakis with his tail. It connected with a back leg and Drakis screamed in pain. Roarke spat flames at Drakis' face, flame, flame, flame. I lost sight of them. Trees burned, our forest burned, and the smoke was thick in the air and on the ground. Roarke flapped his gigantic wings, trying to clear some of the smoke from the air so he could see. But it wasn't enough.

We lost sight of Drakis; his black dragon hide was perfectly camouflaged in the thick smoke from the burning trees. One of the mates, a female mage, put out the fire with water, but it was too late, Drakis flew up out of the cover of the smoke and sliced my mate's stomach open.

I staggered and went down. I couldn't feel the severity of his wounds, but I could feel through our mental connection his confusion and exhaustion, and distantly, his pain. It was like he was shielding me from the worst of it. Mateo and Alistair went down on their knees with me, I could hear them, as if from afar, frantically calling out to me, but I couldn't focus on them or their questions.

"He's hurt," I said brokenly. "He's hurt really badly."

Roarke dropped like a stone from the sky, but before he hit the treetops, he rallied. His flying patterns were all over the place, and I could feel how muzzy-headed he was, how everything seemed like it was happening to someone else far away, but I could also feel his grim determination. Roarke shot vertically past Drakis and kept going until he was only a speck in the distant sky.

Oh no.

I knew what he was going to do!

I stumbled to a standing position and yanked on the arms of Mateo and Alistair so they would stand, too. "Clear the area!" I shouted. "Stand back! Clear the area!"

Everyone listened immediately, scrambling as far back as they could while still being ready to help Roarke if he was able to bring Drakis down.

"Here he comes," King Draven said. He stood next to me, his sword out. It glinted with High Elvish runes, and was veined with gold and reinforced by High Elf magic. I could tell from the glow. Only High Elven blades shine that brightly.

"Dice is here," Rhys assured me. "She's in the lodge. She'll take care of your mate."

I shivered. "Thank you," I whispered.

Drakis watched as Roarke dove at him with impossible speed, and in what must have been absolute arrogance, he chose not to move. They clashed again. Roarke roared, and I could hear the fury and pain in his dragon voice. I held my breath and squeezed Alistair and Mateo's hands like crazy.

The force of Roarke's dive, coupled with his massive size—he was easily one third bigger than Drakis—brought both dragons down to the ground with a tremendous crash. Everyone moved en masse, but no one was faster than King Draven. King Draven, who'd been Roarke's best friend for centuries, and who was extremely teed off at the moment because his friend was lying on the ground not moving, moved forward in an insane burst of speed, and in an acrobatic move that looked looked like it must have taken ninja skills to pull off, ran up Drakis' body, flipped over Drakis' wildly swinging arm with its razor-sharp claws, and stabbed him in the heart with a High Elven blade. The only blades that could cut through dragon scales.

Virion handed me one of his swords, and I swear they were now singing a battle dirge, harmonizing together in increasing complexity. The sword vibrated in my hands and glowed a brilliant green and gold.

"Dragons have three hearts," Virion said, almost casually. The rest of my Clan had all moved forward and were holding Drakis down. The other mates were hitting him with their magic. Most of it bounced off, but he roared in annoyance and tried to flame everyone anyway, and my alpha—holy honey he was strong—jumped on Drakis' head and held his jaws shut with his bare hands.

He hurt mate, my bear said. He killed Emrie family. Must put down.

I nodded at Virion, who nodded back at me. We rushed forward into the fray, and my Clan instantly made space to let us through. We ran up Drakis' flailing tail, me only managing to stay on by some kind of miracle, and met Draven, who was still viciously twisting his sword into one of Drakis' hearts.

And he didn't look all that broken up about it either.

Virion immediately pierced the second heart. The dragon convulsed and roared, throwing off my alpha. Mateo and Mathan rushed in and took his place, and by sheer strength kept Drakis' mouth shut. Drakis, in a last-ditch effort to win, starting heating his skin to impossibly high levels, but even though the soles of my shoes were melting, I stopped and stared at Roarke.

He still wasn't moving. The crash had thrown him more than thirty feet away. His eyes were closed and he lay crumpled on the ground. I couldn't see him breathing at all, and my eyesight was really good.

My heart shattered, and it was suddenly impossible to breathe. It felt like someone had my lungs in their fists and were squeezing. He looked broken. My mate looked broken. My strong mate, who'd always made sure I was safe. Who'd protected me...loved me. Tears streamed down my face... In that moment I felt like I'd lost everything. My mom and dad. My mate. My future... Every good thing that had ever been given to me had been stolen by the twisted creature fighting my Clan and the royals beneath my feet.

He had to die.

Not for the pain he'd caused me, even though vengeance was tempting, but because he was too powerful and too evil and he would keep coming after those I loved, again and again and again.

I turned resolutely back to the fight happening a few feet from me, and moved determinedly on gummy, melting tennis shoe bottoms to Drakis' head. His dark eyes followed my movement, and even though he was about to die, there was a chilling coldness in his eyes that I knew I would never forget.

"My mate will heal, and I will live," I whispered to him. "You lost."

Then I stabbed his third heart.

When I saw the life leave his eyes, I leapt free of him and ran for Roarke. Dice was already there, urging him to shift.

"Roarke, Roarke, shift baby," I begged, climbing on top of his chest. "You have to shift! Dice's medical tools won't pierce your dragon scales."

Draven and Rhys came up beside me, followed by Alpha Riggs and Virion. "I can try to rouse his dragon," my alpha said. "The dragon might be able to wake Roarke up."

Alpha's eyes turned pure gold has he gathered power, wild spokes of visible spectrum light shot from him, and he commanded Roarke's dragon with so much power that every shifter in a fifty-foot area grunted as his power hit them and forced them to spontaneously shift. Except for me, because I was bonded to Roarke, a stronger alpha.

"Shift!"

I started to despair when nothing happened. Roarke's alpha dragon was just too strong. To him, we must be like ants trying to get the attention of a giant.

I cradled Roarke's face, nuzzling my cheek against the smooth dragon scales of his forehead. "Shift. Please. I can't live without you."

"Please," I whispered, brokenly.

His eyes suddenly opened as though he'd been tasered awake, and he moved to cradle me to him, despite the immense pain he must have been in, then he gathered all of the energy he had left and shifted. I hurriedly scrambled off of him, but stayed by his head as Dice used her Insight to repair the damage to his internal organs and sew them up.

Rhys spoke up. "I can use my star magic to seal his skin. In this form it's a flame. It should promote faster healing because he's a dragon."

Roarke nodded, and Rhys' purple and gold magic flared across and out of his hand like a mini-blowtorch. I winced as Rhys, with very pinpoint precision, cauterized Roarke's skin together, while Dice held the edges until they matched evenly, using tools that gave her a longer reach so her hands didn't get burned.

I looked at the end result. Roarke's skin looked red, raw, and angry, but despite Rhys having literally used starfire on him, the wound and the area around it weren't burned to a crisp like I thought they'd be. The benefits of being a dragon, I supposed, and holy honey badgers, was I extremely grateful for it.

My Clan got him into the house, and Alpha Riggs got him dressed in athletic shorts with an elastic waist, then they moved him to our bed. Dice gave me ten vials of shifter painkiller and the sharps to get it into his system quickly. She explained that I should give him one vial every ten hours, then she and Rhys got ready to leave.

I hugged her before she could escape. "Thank you," I whispered, tears coming to my eyes. I tried to laugh, but it came out all croaky. "It's so nice having a doctor who does house visits."

She grinned and hugged me back. "No problem. I was glad to help." She slung her medical bag across her body. "I need Mexican food," she announced to the room. "Rhys, honey?"

He wrapped an arm around her middle and kissed the top of her head. "You want me to run by Tres Hermanas?"

"I love you," she said.

"I know," he replied.

I couldn't help but laugh.

Draven was talking in a low voice to Roarke, hovering around him like a mother hen, fluffing his pillow and helping him drink some water.

I stood there bemusedly. "Would you like me to leave you two alone?" I asked with a grin.

The whole room cracked up. "They have a bromance," Rhys said, laughing as he ushered Dice out the door and they said their goodbyes.

"Aww, big guy I thought I was your bromance partner," Taco teased. Mateo growled and started pushing the rest of the Clan out the door, clearing the room until only Draven, Roarke, Alpha Riggs and I remained.

I toed my mostly melted shoes off and climbed gently onto the bed beside Roarke. He lifted an arm and I snuggled carefully against his side. I could see he was getting drowsy because of the medicine Dice had given him.

"Thank you," I whispered to the Vampire King and my alpha. "And please tell Virion thank you as well. His High Elven blade was amazing."

"I will. Can you please have Roarke call me when he wakes up?" King Draven asked.

"I can hear you," Roarke grumbled, his eyes still closed.

Draven laughed. "Just checking your hearing, old buzzard." He gave me a swift hug and left, probably heading home to assure Consort Mia that he was fine, and that we'd all survived. I was surprised that Mesmer hadn't come, but when I thought about it for a minute, I was sure King Draven had asked the gargoyle to stay with Mia, just in case.

"My dragon felt your alpha power," Roarke said to Riggs. "Why are you here, alpha of this small Clan?" The unspoken message being that he had enough power to be the alpha of a much larger Clan.

Alpha Riggs hugged me and gently squeezed Roarke's shoulder. "Because here is home," he said simply, then left, shutting the door quietly behind him.

"Sleep with me, little warrior," Roarke sighed. "I can't keep awake any longer."

I snorted. "I'm no warrior. I was terrified. Literally shaking in my tennies, terrified. I thought I was either going to pass out or throw up."

"And yet you did neither," he said softly. "Instead, you stabbed his third heart. Do you know what a dragon's third heart is said to represent?"

"No."

"A dragon's first heart is honor, their second integrity, and their third is love. And, mo chroì, his third heart was dead long ago. His third heart had become corrupted. You did the world a favor when you stabbed it."

I sniffed tears back and snuggled closer to him. I didn't want to let him go after the awfulness of the day. I just wanted to hold onto him forever. "I'm sorry you were hurt, and I'm so sorry you're in pain right now."

He groaned and opened his eyes. "No crying; you'll kill my third heart." I giggled. "Lean over me and kiss me, please?" he begged. "I can't move."

I did just that, kissing him softly, then we snuggled together and fell asleep.