Pandora’s hands grew clammy as she gripped her hands together in front of her. Blood drained from her face.
Vesta must have noticed her reaction, too, for her lips inched upward in the semblance of a smile. “So, you do remember.”
Nausea rushed up. Pandora fell over on her hands and knees, chin dipping to her chest. She tried to puke, but her stomach was empty.
She was goading the Elysians. They were going to kill her, of that she had no doubt. At least her mate was safe. Now if only she could find a way to free Bran as well.
A feeling of despair washed over her. “You can threaten me all you like.” She pressed her lips together and pushed her knees into the floor. “I am not going to give in to your bullying, not this time.”
“Oh?” Vesta tilted her head, the black of her pupils spreading until they filled her eyes.
A heavy presence like that of a slimy oil spill brushed up Pandora’s senses. It slithered over her psychic shields before she had a chance to protect herself.
Finding a crack in her defense, Vesta’s psychic presence slipped through into her mind. It spread over the neurons, clogging her nerve cells and pushing down on her conscious mind. Pandora’s limbs trembled, and her breath caught in her throat.
“Stop.” Pandora gripped her neck. A sheen of sweat covered her forehead.
The heaviness increased, its shadows reaching out down her neck, her back, holding her limbs immobile. Her brain felt like it was on fire. Her eardrums felt like they were going to burst. Her eyesight wavered.
Then, she was free.
Pandora fell to the ground, still holding her throat. She drew a huge breath of oxygen into her starved lungs and coughed. The world spun around her.
“There is no link to the dragon shifter.” Vesta’s voice flowed over her like a sheet of freezing glass. “She’s cut the connection to him.” A fine edge of fury laced her words.
Footsteps sounded.
Vesta grabbed Pandora’s neck and pulled her to her feet.
Pain lanced through her head, firing red sparks behind her eyelids. She wanted to open her eyes and protest but found she didn’t have the strength.
“Her physical self is of no use. All we need is her emotions to stay connected to the Sian Web and anchor it.” Tibor’s voice was flat.
It echoed in her bruised ears, hurting her.
There was a coppery taste in her mouth. Her teeth chattered. She was bleeding inside.
The dark psychic presence once more pushed through her shattered shield, and this time she welcomed the tendrils that wrapped themselves around her neck. Her limbs felt heavy; her very life was ebbing out of her.
“Your punishment is that you will not be physically alive anymore, but your consciousness will be subsumed into the Sian Web to keep it flooded with emotions until we find another way to connect the dragon shifter to it.” Tibor’s breath was cold on her cheek. “You will be alive and yet not. You will sense your lover, watch him die when we find him, yet you won’t be able to communicate with him.”
She wanted to protest that Rage wasn’t her lover, he was so much more. He was her mate. But already her energy was being sucked out of her to be replaced by the cloying darkness.
Her breath hitched, and her lungs fell silent.
The thinking part of her brain shut out the pain. All there was left was that empathetic kindness that was so her. That emotional, feeling part of her withdrew deep into her conscious mind, where no one else could find her.
They could take her consciousness, even her emotions, but not her empathy, the part that made her who she was.
Rage. Her one regret was that she hadn’t told him how much he meant to her.
27
Rage
Rage, I am sorry…
The whoosh of waves sounded in his ears, as if the currents flowed over him and back. The noise was an irritation. It penetrated the warmth he’d been cocooned in.
The sun beat on his back, heating his blood. His nostrils flared. He could scent dragon fire.
It was familiar and yet not. It reminded him of the childhood he’d lost. He turned his head toward it and snapped his eyes open.
The beach stretched out in front of him.
His cheek was flush against the sand. A wave rushed in, tentative and soft, brushing foam over his limbs.
A screech from above had him raising his head. Up in the sky, the dragons flew.
Eve circled lazily, crossing another dragon, which was smaller, almost petite in comparison. The second dragon’s scales were a brilliant blue with flashes of green running through them. Indira.
Where Eve’s dominance was clear even in dragon form, Indira was just breathtaking.
A woman was stretched out higher up the sand well out of the reach of the water. Her tawny, dark-brown hair was a cloud around her shoulders. It hung down to her waist. She stared at him out of unblinking amber eyes.
She was a cat.
He wasn’t threatened by her. She was a friend, he could trust her.
“Serena.” She raised her chin. “I’m visiting my brother, Cain. I saw you at the bonding ceremony.”
Right, of course, she was Cain’s sister.
Another wave crept up to him, flinging its salty spray over his body.
He turned over onto his back and glanced down to find he was wearing a pair of pants.
“Nope, you didn’t shift back to human form with your clothes intact.” Her eyes gleamed in answer to his unspoken question. “Vance pulled those on for you.”
“Vance?” He rubbed his neck.
“That would be me.” A man glided over the sand toward them. He wasn’t a shifter, but not human either. The faint scent of dry ice drifted from him. It wasn’t unpleasant.
“You are a—”
“Vampire,” the man helpfully supplied.
He dropped down to sit next to Rage. His black pants were immediately soaked by the incoming wave, but he didn’t take notice.
“You brought me here?” Images tugged at the edge of Rage’s mind.
Rage was bare-chested. Sweat trickled between his pecs. He reached down and touched the skin. It was smooth. There was something different. It took him a few seconds to register why.
The scars he’d worn from his fights in the pits of London were gone, all his tattoos, too. How was that possible?
“Your shifter healing kicked in.” Vance’s voice broke through his thoughts. “Your dragon decided it was time to show himself. He accelerated your recovery.” Vance nodded to Rage’s chest. “The recuperative powers of the dragon also healed your scars.”
Rage scratched his beard. “You know all this, how?” The growth of whiskers indicated he’d been out for a while. He should ask how long he’d been unconscious, but it didn’t seem to matter.
“He’s a doctor.” The lioness rose to her feet. Her eyes gleamed. “He’s also the most knowledgeable person about shifter healing there is.” She ambled past Vance. “It’s why Eve asked him to stay back to make sure you were all recovered.”
Vance darted his arm out and circled her ankle. “A compliment, and from you…” He raised his chin and smirked. “Does that mean I’m wearing you down?”
She flushed. “Don’t let it go to your head, Doc.” She tossed her hair.
“You need to get your facts right, though.” His lips pursed.
“Oh?” Serena’s eyes narrowed. She folded her hands over her chest.
“I stayed back not because Eve asked, but to make sure you were okay.”
“I can take care of myself.” She pulled her ankle from his grasp. “You just make sure your patient’s all recovered, so you can head off.”
She flounced away toward the waves.
Vance’s didn’t take his gaze off her. His forehead was furrowed, his gaze narrowed.
The vampire was head over heels in love with this woman.
“How do you feel about that?” Vance jerked his chin toward Rage’s chest. “The loss of your scars, your ta
ttoos.”
“They were a reminder of my past.” Rage’s mouth twisted. “I was a fighter, I had to be to survive. It was something to channel my energy, to keep the monster inside at bay—” His dragon raised its head and snorted. The beast was alive and no longer in hiding. A curl of dragon smoke wafted from his nostrils.
He, Rage, was one with the monster. Scarlet energy pulsed through his veins. It felt right. The dragon had meshed its form with his.
It was a new sensation and yet so familiar. Every part of him hummed with tension. It was as if his cells had been given a massive boost of energy. As if the years during which the dragon had been suppressed had been ripped away to expose the coiled power of the beast.
He looked up at the dragons circling above.
Eve tucked her wings into her sides and dived toward the sea. She plunged through the waves, disappearing completely, only to come up half a mile away and shoot back into the air.
Water flowed from her. The sunlight glittered off the water droplets and split into a myriad colors.
He shielded his gaze with his hand. There was something else more urgent…something that was prodding the edge of his subconscious.
“How much do you remember?” Vance’s attention was on the woman stretched out on the sand ahead of them, her arm folded behind her neck, her body making a curve against the sand.
“Pandora.” He drew out her name on a breath, and the images crashed over him. He shook his head to clear it. “She…cut the mating bond, and then the Elysian male teleported out with her.”
Vance stiffened but stayed quiet.
Rage sat up and rubbed the part of his chest above his heart. “She deceived me. It was a sham all along; she never felt anything for me.”
Vance leaned forward, his hands loose between his legs. “Perhaps she did. Perhaps she broke the mating bond with you so she could save you?”
“She could have just spoken to me, told me she needed help in saving her brother. I would have helped her, would have done anything for her. Instead, she lied to me.” Rage’s heart hammered. Even now, thinking of how she had just sliced through the mating bond and let him go, twisted his insides. “She didn’t love me. If she did, she would have trusted me to take care of her.”
Vance picked up sand in his palm and let it run through his fingers. “Perhaps it’s your ego that’s hurt?”
Ahead of them, Serena paused. Taking off her sarong, she bared her tanned, lean body in the bikini.
There was an indrawn breath from Vance.
Serena walked toward the edge of the waves.
Swearing, Vance threw the sand to the side and made to rise to his feet.
“Don’t be stupid.” Rage caught his arm and pulled him back. “I may not have much experience with women but even I know that the sure way to lose one is to try to control her and make her do what you want.”
Vance sat back on the sand with a thump. “She’s showing off her body knowing every single male gaze on the beach would be on her.” He huffed.
“Look around you.” Rage jerked his head to the beach.
“What?” Vance’s gaze slid to him before swiveling right back to the lioness who walked into the waves.
“Who else do you see here?” Rage circled the air with his forefinger.
Vance looked around. His eyes narrowed. “There’s no one else.” His jaw hardened. “So all this demonstration is for—”
“You.” Rage nodded. “She wants you all right, she just wants you to court her, make her feel like the queen that she is. All that glowering and moodiness will only get you this far.”
“Right.” Vance cleared his throat and ran a finger around his collar. “I was going to give you advice, but it seems you understand the female of the species better than me.” He blew out a breath. “That puts me in my place, doesn’t it?”
“If only it was as easy to keep perspective on one’s own problems.” Rage realized the fire that had threatened to engulf his emotions had calmed down somewhat. He was not the only one trying to figure out how to woo his mate.
The thought brought him up short. Without Pandora his life it was meaningless. She may have set out trying to use him to infiltrate the dragon shifters but it was clear that along the way she’d developed feelings for him. As had he for her.
She had saved his life, had given him a reason to live. It was thanks to her that he was here with his family and his clan, back home, watching his sisters soar through the air.
It was thanks to her that he’d found his dragon.
Rage dug his fingers into the sand. His beast pushed against his psychic shield, wanting to break out. A tongue of fire flamed around his arm.
His vision sharpened. His hearing deepened. The pores of his skin popped as all his senses came into focus.
He heard Vance taking in a breath, felt the foam of the retreating waves as they crackled through the grains of sand.
The acrid scent of dragon fire filled his nostrils. His dragon was close to the surface.
Rage…I am sorry.
Her voice whispered in his ears. His chest heaved. He swiveled his gaze around the beach.
Where was she? How could she still reach him?
His dragon snarled. The beast’s amber heart glowed. He slammed against Rage’s skin so hard that his shoulders shuddered. He had to be somewhere else.
Rage sprang up. The pants Vance had put on him barely reached halfway up his calf.
He took a step forward, then another. His heart thudded, and his mouth felt dry. A fluttering inside his chest pushed him to move, to keep moving. “I need to go to her.” His voice was gravelly.
Dropping inside himself, he searched for Pandora, but all that greeted him was a static blankness.
She wasn’t there. She’d cut him out. Perhaps she didn’t want to see him anymore?
His dragon stirred, restless. His muscles tensed.
He couldn’t feel her on the psychic plane, and yet…he was sure he could hear her. Somehow, despite Pandora having broken the mating bond, he was still able to sense her.
His heart thudded. There was an empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. She was in trouble. He had to find her.
A screech above him rang out as Eve came in to land farther down the beach. Flashes of violet and amber swirled through the air as the woman took over from the dragon.
By the time she reached them, the clothes she had worn before transforming had materialized on her again.
“You are growing stronger.” Rage slid his gaze over her long shirt and tailored pants. “Only Mother had evolved to the extent that she could shift her clothes along with her animal self.”
“It’s a power that I’ve come into recently. Mer-people are the only other species elevated enough to transform along with their clothes, I am told.” She stalked toward him. “You’ve come to your senses?” Stopping in front of him, she thrust out a hip and propped her hand on it.
His chest constricted, and his throat went dry as he remembered his actions. “The city… Did I hurt anyone with what I did?”
Eve shook her head. “There was no one at home in the buildings you destroyed. There was loss of property, though.” She raised her chin. “I expect you to compensate them.”
Rage’s shoulders relaxed. “I’ll help them rebuild the homes.”
“You are too dangerous to let into the city until you’ve found your mate.” Her nostrils flared. She was every inch an alpha. “You went on a rampage and lived up to your name. You are in the throes of the mating dance. Only she can calm your beast.”
His chest rose and fell as he drew in a breath. ““I must go to her. If I am late, I’ll never forgive myself.” The band around his chest tightened. His pulse raced, insisting he needed to leave. “If I can borrow a boat I can—”
“I can take you,” Vance cut him off.
Something in his tone, a hint of carefulness, a studied casualness, drew Rage’s attention. He turned his gaze on the vampire. “You’re not telling
us everything, are you?” His jaw hardened, and he drew himself up to his full height.
Vance snapped his gaze on Serena who had emerged from the waves.
Twisting the sarong around her waist and tying it around her neck in a makeshift dress, she walked toward them.
Halfway through, she broke into a run. Panting a little, she came to a stop next to Vance. “What’s happening, Vance?” She gripped his hand.
Her eyes darted to Rage then back to him.
Vance deliberately looked away. “I can teleport you there.” He addressed Rage.
“You can teleport?” Eve’s voice was cold.
A breath rushed out of Vance. “I am half Elysian.” His jaw hardened.
Serena let go of his hand.
Vance hunched his shoulders. “I worked with Zach running missions for him when I was still a mercenary. He anticipated a rebellion brewing among the Elysians. He didn’t trust his brother and suspected that Tibor would lead a rebellion.” His gaze flicked to Eve and held. “Zach asked me to infiltrate Bombay. He wanted me to report back on how trustworthy the mayor was to work with.”
“Zach has since been imprisoned by Tibor. Is that why you offered to teleport me? So you could help free him?” Rage asked.
“Not just that.” Vance’s gaze locked with Rage’s. “You deserve to rescue your mate and be united with her.”
Vance straightened his spine. “Personal reasons.” He clasped his arms behind his back.
“You just revealed that you are a spy. The penalty for it is death among shifter communities.” Eve’s lips thinned.
Vance angled his head. “I understand.”
Eve tapped her feet on the sand. “Zach agreed to work with Leana a few months ago. Your mission completed with that. There was no reason for you to have stayed on.” Her gaze landed on Vance’s face. “So why did you?”
“You maybe alpha of the shifters, but I owe allegiance to the Mayor of Bombay. I am answerable only to her for my actions. Besides, you need me.” He glanced at Rage.
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