“He’s right, Alpha.” Rage met Vance’s gaze head-on. “I need him to take me to Pandora.” Saying her name had the pulse pounding at his temples. Another wave of tension rolled through his blood. His dragon snarled, urging him to get underway, to go to her. “Perhaps this discussion can wait until we are back?”
Eve stiffened. A muscle ticked above her jawline. It was the only outward sign that she was thinking things through. Then she nodded. “I’ll update Leana and ask her to stay until both of you are back.” Her gaze raked over Vance. “We can resolve your punishment then.”
Swiveling on her feet, she left.
Serena hadn’t moved since Vance had made his announcement. She raised her hand, her mouth open as if to say something. Then she just shook her head. She was pale under her tan. She made to follow Eve.
Vance leaped forward and grabbed her hand. “I can explain.”
“Don’t.” Her voice was a lash of pain. “You belong to the same species who tortured me. How did you expect me to trust you after this?”
Yanking her hand from him, she ran the other way.
“Fuck!” Vance balled his fists at his sides. “I screwed that one up fine all on my own.” His laugh was humorless.
“She loves you.” Rage surprised himself with that flash of insight.
Vance shot him a glance. “Perhaps, but I sure did lose her trust.”
“Then gain it back.” Rage moved to stand in front of him. “You don’t strike me as a man to be deterred by a challenge.”
Vance cut the air with his hand. “Let’s get you the right clothes and then go get your mate.”
28
Rage
They stopped just long enough for him to wear pants, a fresh T-shirt, and shoes, all borrowed from Vance.
“Ready?” Vance placed his hand on Rage’s shoulder.
The world merged and flowed, moving around him at dizzying speed. The hair on the back of his neck rose. His stomach lurched. His hands ran cold.
It felt like his insides were being twisted out of shape and then melded back together. Rage hit the ground, his body going into an automatic roll to break his fall.
He crashed into the trunk of a large tree and stopped. The breath was knocked out of him.
There was a slight shiver of air over his skin, and Vance materialized next to him. He held a finger to his lips and put out a hand.
Rage grasped it.
Vance hauled Rage to his feet.
His insides lurched from the teleportation ride. The sun beat down, and he had to shade his eyes. Rage realized they were back at the island where he’d been held hostage.
The Elysians were ruthless, and they had Pandora. They were going to hurt her. His mind spun as he imagined her at their mercy. He had to get to her.
Curling his fingers into fists, he pushed the thoughts out of his head.
He reached into himself to where the fledgling mating bond had once twined through his psychic shield connecting him to her.
He was greeted by blankness.
His leg muscles tightened, and his pulse sped up. He couldn’t feel her, not even a pulse or a shadow to indicate that she was still alive.
His dragon snarled, urging him to run to her. His pulse quickened, and the acrid taste of fear filled his mouth.
Without waiting for Vance, he took off in the direction of the building where he’d been held prisoner.
All his instincts told him she was there.
Crashing through the bushes, jumping over fallen trees, he charged straight for the tree line. His blood pumped at his temples. Too late, he was too late, his mind chattered with fear. His vision narrowed with focus. He had to get to her.
A body rammed into him from behind. He went down, his chest smashing onto the muddy ground. The breath was knocked out of him.
Vance dug his elbow into his back, pinning him down.
He tried to move, found he couldn’t. He shoved against the weight of the other man.
Vance grunted and grabbed the back of his neck. He ground his face into the mud.
Rage’s dragon roared against the inside of his skin.
The scarlet energy of his beast pulsed and flowed through his veins. Sparks of gold and red flared from his hands.
His blood thrummed with the need to transform. He wanted to spread his wings and fly toward the building; he wanted to ram into it and search for her.
Vance hissed in his ears, “Pandora’s in there. If you smash through the walls, you’ll only hurt her.”
Her name cut through the anger that bubbled inside. He shook his head to clear it and tried to rein in his dragon.
His beast shoved back, taking him by surprise. His dragon growled, impatient at the delay. He wanted to let loose, to use his new-found powers to fight for his mate.
He shoved against Vance’s hold.
The vampire let him up.
“I need to get inside the building.” Rage’s voice came out all gravelly. “At least I’ll have the element of surprise.”
Vance raised his hand, eyes narrowed. “We don’t know what’s happening in there. It’s best we get Zach first. As an Elysian, he can overpower them.”
Rage shot out his arm and grabbed Vance’s shoulder. “You get Zach.” Dragon smoke puffed out of his nostrils. “I am going in.”
Pivoting on his heel, he ran toward the building. On the psychic plane, his dragon pushed him on. The tendons on his neck stood out.
Sparks of red and gold leaped off his skin. His dragon raged, wanting to break out and push through the walls of the building, but he couldn’t risk it.
She was inside.
The still-thinking part of his brain cautioned that if he gave in to his beast now, he could hurt her.
His breath coming in puffs, he ran around the side to the entrance. It was unguarded. The hair on the nape of his neck stood up.
It was a trap.
Likely the Elysians had been anticipating that he was coming. But he couldn’t stop himself. His pulse quickened, his mouth went dry. She was there. His mate was inside the building.
He pushed against the door. It slid open.
Bursting in, he came to a stop. The space was empty, just as he remembered. In the middle was the glass cell where he’d been held previously.
There was a lone figure laid out in the center of the cell. The light from overhead haloed her.
A faint glow radiated from her skin.
His heart hammered. He wanted to race toward her.
His dragon growled at him to break through the glass and carry her away from there.
Her features were drawn and her lips looked bloodless.
His heart twisted.
A part of him wanted to delay finding out the inevitable.
Her golden braid hung over the side of the raised platform. Her arms were folded over her chest.
Reaching the glass cage, he pressed his palm flat against it.
The glass walls dissolved.
It was a trap, but he was past caring.
His dragon thrashed, frantic with need. He wanted to be close to her.
The lines of her body were stiff. She was so still.
His chest tightened.
His dragon quivered. He wanted to gather her close and take her away from here.
Fear laced his blood. A ball of emotion clogged his chest, making it difficult to breathe.
He covered the distance between them.
Her features were pale, her forehead unlined. Those dark lashes lay flat against her cheek.
He dropped to his knees, his fists curled at his sides. He hesitated then, stretching out a hand, he laid it over her forehead. Her skin was cold.
His mouth went dry.
He placed his finger at the base of her neck hoping to find…
Silence.
Heat rose behind his eyelids.
Leaning down, he placed his lips against hers.
A faint whiff of jasmine on a warm night laced his breath. Her scent. But Pan
dora stayed still.
Terror gripped his heart. A shudder ran through his body. His dragon went quiet. All traces of anger, of any emotion simply slipped away, leaving a pool of grief so profound he felt he was sinking inside. Taking her in his arms, he cradled her against his chest.
“Even in death she served her purpose. She brought you here.” Tibor’s voice rang through the space.
Rage didn’t look up.
Holding Pandora’s body close to his chest, he wound that braid of spun gold around his palm. Tucking her head under his chin, he rocked her. His dragon brushed up against his skin, wanting to be closer to his mate.
She was the one, there could be no other.
She’d cut the fledgling cord that bound her to him. She’d never deceived him. She’d been doing what was needed to protect him.
He was going to take her out of here and back to his home, where she could find peace.
The scent of aluminum irritated his nostrils.
“She gave up her life so you could live.” Vesta glided across to stand next to Tibor.
His dragon growled. Vesta was responsible for hurting his mate.
They both were.
His body tensed.
“Come, dragon shifter, let her death not be in vain.” Tibor slanted his head back.
Rage placed Pandora’s body on the floor. His touch was gentle.
Her features looked so calm, she could just be sleeping.
Arranging her braid over her shoulder, her arms over her waist, he brushed his fingers against her cheek. Her skin was cold.
His stomach knotted, and fear skittered down his spine. Rage’s dragon shuddered. It was like his heart was breaking. His stomach churned, and his knees hitched.
He wanted to get angry, to draw on that anger inside him that he’d stored for so long and that had driven his every waking moment. Yet, when he reached inside, all he found was grief so profound it welled up in a white sheet of nothingness that threatened to engulf him and pull him under. He fisted his hands by his sides.
Life was meaningless without her.
He couldn’t go on without Pandora.
His dragon reared up, its energy gathering, crimson heart glowing. His beast pushed against the restraints he’d placed on it. Its energy welled up from deep inside, from a part of him he’d locked away for so long from the world. The vulnerable part of him that she’d exposed, that he couldn’t hold back anymore.
He let the energy flow through him, and it filled him. White grief rushed through his veins.
The back of his eyeballs prickled.
The world seemed to slow down. He saw everything clearly. Her pale skin, her still body, the sterile cell they’d placed her in.
His mate was dead. There was no reason for him to live. Blood pounded in his ears.
His dragon writhed with the pain of separation.
Not even the destruction of those who’d killed her could fill the emptiness that gnawed inside.
There was only one way out. Reaching inside, he dropped his psychic shield. The energy of his dragon flowed out. Smoke drifted from his nostrils, and the muscles of his shoulders bunched.
His vision narrowed, and his claws slid out. He let his dragon come to the fore. The pores on his skin popped. The tendons on his neck expanded.
The energy of the transformation took over, filling his cells, spilling over, consuming him. With a roar, he leaped forward.
Vesta raised her hand.
The hair on the nape of his neck rose, and the air around him thinned. Rage crashed into an invisible psychic barrier.
His dragon roared in pain, trying to pour out of him but was slammed back. A growl of frustration ripped out of him. Rage staggered to his feet, his dragon urging him on to complete the transformation.
He tried to draw a breath and failed. His vision blurred.
Tibor gripped Vesta’s hand. Together they raised their entwined palms. “We’ve learned from our mistakes.” Tibor angled his head. “We know we must use our joined energies to overcome you.”
Rage’s chest tightened with the pressure. Reaching inside once more, he drew on the pain. The grief, the sheer sorrow at having lost his mate, his need to see her again. He pulled on all of that, balling the emotions into a fiery mass.
He raised his head. The cords of his throat heaved, and he screamed his fury.
No noise emerged.
The hold around his neck tightened. The hair on his forearms stiffened. His body shuddered, and sweat dripped down his back.
“Scream, dragon shifter. Show us your sorrow.” Vesta’s psychic grip on him forced his chin up so he had to meet her gaze. “There is such ferocity in your love, such passion and possessiveness. Let me in so I can feel it, too.”
Vesta’s hair flowed over the damaged part of her face. Her gaze was unblinking as she surveyed him.
Rage coughed. His throat felt like it was on fire. “She was innocent, you used her.” His lungs burned.
“Her death has made you vulnerable.” The cords on Tibor’s neck bulged. “It’s what we needed to hook you into the Sian Web.”
“You brought us together knowing she was an empath and could reach out to me. You played both of us, hoping she’d form a connection with me?” The crimson energy of his dragon deepened, swirling through his blood, fighting against the telekinetic leash.
“That was a coincidence.” Vesta lay her head against Tibor’s shoulder. “She was an empath. We’d hoped that she would draw out your beast. It was a bonus when she bonded with you.”
Blood dripped from his nose. “You let us escape hoping that we would mate, so you could use the mating bond to get to me?” His eardrums felt as though they’d popped.
“She cut the bond to stop us from getting to you.” Vesta wound her hand around Tibor’s waist “It was the pain of separation that killed her.” Her features were still. “You killed her, dragon shifter, not us.”
His stomach twisted.
No, it wasn’t true. He loved her. He wouldn’t have hurt her. Yet the rational part of him insisted that Vesta was right.
He had accepted Pandora’s help and allowed her to bond with him. Then he hadn’t been able to protect his mate when they had taken her.
“Your emotions are so intense, your grief throbs and seduces me. The darkness in you calls to me.” Vesta’s voice wrapped itself around him. “I want to absorb your essence.” She pulled at him, coaxing him to open up to her on the psychic plane. She was manipulating him.
He should stop her…but wasn’t she right? He should punish himself for not being able to save his mate. He should give in and put an end to the loneliness that clawed at him.
He didn’t want to live without her.
“You are so powerful, dragon shifter. Allow me into your mind. Let me hook you up to the Sian Web, so you can flood your emotions through it.” She peered up at Tibor. “Give me a chance to feel what you feel. See my love the way you see yours.”
The energy of Rage’s dragon tried to push against the psychic barrier, only to flicker.
Rage’s vision blurred.
The attraction that simmered between the two was so strong. A part of him even empathized with why they had lured him here.
They wanted to express their emotions for each other. He was the conduit to bring emotions into the Web and into their lives.
Vesta moved forward and placed her hand against his cheek. “You get it now, don’t you? She had to die so the rest of us could feel.”
Rage felt her dark psychic presence brush up against his psychic shield. It pressed down, asking to be let in.
He had to resist. He should push back the psychic presence and try to survive.
“Give in.” Vesta gazed into his eyes. “You know you want to.”
Her dark obsidian gaze bored into his, drawing him in. Her psychic presence pressed against his shield, tightening its hold around his throat.
Grief welled up, overflowing his senses, pulling at him, seducing him.
His shoulders shuddered. It would be so easy to give up and not have to carry the monster he was inside anymore. To not have to carry the burden of the guilt of what he’d done. He’d killed his mate. He deserved to die.
Vesta’s dark presence swooped in on him. It closed over his mind, homing in straight to that amber burning heart of his dragon. The darkness flowed over him, beginning to smother him. He let the murkiness subsume him and pull him under. The amber fire of his dragon weakened.
Fight.
A voice on the psychic plane brought him up short. The scent of jasmine tugged at his senses.
Pandora, she was alive? His dragon struggled, but it was too late. Vesta’s dark, greasy presence wrapped around him and squeezed.
He tried to draw in air and found he couldn’t. Gasping, his hands wrapped around his neck, he dropped to his knees.
His beast reared up.
His dragon broke free of the shield and reached out to Pandora to form a mating bond.
29
Pandora
The scent of sea breeze and cinnamon, of sunshine on a hot summer’s day, filled her senses.
The part of Pandora that had retreated inside into the deepest, darkest depths of her stirred. She felt him on the psychic plane.
Grief overpowered her, making her heart beat fast and twisting her stomach.
He was in pain. His dragon writhed, calling out to her.
Reaching inside, into that section of her she had hidden away from the world, she yanked it forward. The mating bond slammed into place.
Swooping through the renewed connection, she twined her energy with his. Her silver-green merged with his amber.
The mating bond slammed into Pandora, poured through her, into her lifeless body, through her blood, into her connection with the Sian Web.
Dora gasped, air pouring into her lungs. Her eyes flew open.
On the psychic plane she was aware of their combined energies flowing into the vast psychic network of the Sian Web.
She struggled up through the layers of confusion that mired her senses.
By bonding with her, Rage was linking to the Web. He was giving the Elysians exactly what they wanted.
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