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“No. She can’t be.” The younger one, Kendall, reaches for the dead woman, but the leaves tremble, and she yanks her hand away.
I tense, sensing for the threat, but Torissa says, “It’s all right.”
“Tor.” Kendall stands and backs away. “What’s happening?”
“She is returning to the Earth,” Torissa says quietly. “It’s part of the process of dying for her kind.”
Kendall looks at her, eyes wide and already red-rimmed. “The trees are coming for her, aren’t they? Like she always said they would at the…at the end. Like they did for Mom.”
Torissa nods, and the branches above our heads begin to tremble, shaking and creaking as they bend. Slowly, the leaves coating the woman’s body cover it completely, shifting and spreading until they’ve formed a blanket. The tree sways, gathering momentum. Around us, all the trees nearby do the same.
The wind whistles around us.
I step closer to my mate, my dragon still on edge from the fight. We’re exposed out here. There could be more of them coming. But I don’t rush this. I know it won’t work to try.
Around the woman’s body, the leaves rustle, and the earth beneath gives way. A moment later, the woman’s body is gone—swallowed by the ground and ushered into her afterlife by the trees.
In the silence, Kendall sniffles as tears track down her face. My mate, however, is dry-eyed and stone-faced. Her shoulders are rigid, and I can sense the grief she’s holding in.
My dragon strains to do something—anything—to help her.
“What was her name?” I ask.
“Juniper.” Her expression is slack with shock.
“She was important to you,” I say quietly.
“She was like a mother.” Her voice is laced with pain.
“I should have been faster,” I say.
At my words, the younger one, Kendall, turns to me. “You’re him, aren’t you? Her mate.”
I cast a glance at Torissa, but she yields nothing.
“I am Legion Razginath.”
“I’m Tori’s sister, Kendall Sage.” She gives me a once-over that’s more shrewd than I might have expected, considering her fresh grief and her young age.
“Tori,” I say, testing out the nickname.
She shudders but refuses to meet my gaze. I tuck the reaction away for later.
“You saved us,” Kendall adds.
“Not all of you,” I say, glancing at the place where Juniper’s body disappeared. “I should have been here faster.”
“It’s not your fault,” Kendall says.
“Are we sure about that?” Tori puts in.
Some of her color has returned—and a look of accusation along with it.
Kendall gives her sister a withering look. “He saved us, Tor. Do you really think he’s the enemy?”
“I think we can’t know anything for sure right now.”
“Who were these men?” I cut in.
