“’Tis going to be all right,”I said, pushing my dragon’s body to the limit to get closer, lest I need to catch her, slipping deeper into my brogue because of my heightened emotions.“Just concentrate on my voice. Do ye ken? Dinnae focus on fear, only my voice.”
“Okay,”she replied, clearly starting to sense my dragon’s distress.“Could you be a little more specific because I’m getting a weird vibe off you.”
She was about to say more when I saw they had reached the top, a spacious area to be sure that could fit several dragons if need be. The wind was gusty enough to rock my dragon here and there but not as strong as it might have been, and for that, I could only be grateful.
The battlement they stood on offered a sizeable drop to the treetops below, but not nearly as far as she would have had if she’d leapt from MacLeod Castle, so there wasn't as much time to shift and save herself. I looked for Flame but saw no sign of him. Why wasn’t he with her? Not that he could do much right now, but still. Biting Elspet’s leg might at least slow her down some.
“How is it again that you’re hoping to get me to shift?” Aspen asked Elspet and Dugal. “Because I can’t see how—”
That’s all she got out before Elsbet thrust out her hands and chanted, flinging such a heavy gust of wind at Aspen, she was tossed right over the railing. My heart slammed into my throat because I wasn’t close, nor did I have eyes on her, so I kept talking and dropped altitude.
“Let go of your fear,”I urged her, feeling the terror surge through her as she plummeted downward.“See through the eyes ofyour inner beast and know I’m waiting for you, Aspen. I’m right here and eager to see your beautiful beast, so embrace her and come to me. Be with me.”
She screamed and flailed, fighting the feeling, so I kept encouraging her, speaking not just to her now but back in a life we had forgotten.
“Remember our yesteryear and come be with me again,”I coaxed.“Run to me…fly to me, and I will catch you…I will scoop you up all over again.”
I felt her beginning to calm despite the forest racing toward her. Then, I saw through her eyes as they hazed red with her inner beast, and her dragon screamed toward the surface, eager to get to me. Be with me.
“I’m right here,”I kept saying.“Waiting for you, my love. Eager to be together like we always should have been. Eager to…”
My internal words trailed off when I felt an incredible surge of energy rush through her and had the pleasure of dropping beneath the clouds just in time to witness her shift for the first time, and it was magnificent.
Shewas magnificent.
A stunning shade of violet that matched her eyes, she was long, lithe, and perfectly formed from her glorious wings to her spiked tail. Glittering under the fading moonlight, I felt her exaltation as she eased into her serpentine body with such perfect fluidity that being a dragon clearly came naturally.
“Holy…oh my holy wow!”she exclaimed, her dragon’s internal voice as lovely as her human’s as she flapped her wings once, twice, then swooped up over the treetops seconds before crashing down.
“Keep flapping and let the wind guide you,”I coaxed.“Dinnae fight it, just go with it.”
Truthfully, there was no need to tell her what to do because she quickly got the hang of it, gaining altitude as she left the trees behind and soared over the water. Despite how much she reveled in flight, I felt her need to find me and lay eyes on my dragon for the first time.
“Here, lass,”I said.“I’m coming in from the south.”
Almost the moment I said it, her gaze turned my way, and I felt the impact of ourdragon’s eyes connecting for the first time despite the distance. An intense impact that confirmed she was very much my fated mate. An undeniable connection that was impossible to describe as she banked my way and headed in my direction.
Or at least she tried before Dugal’s massive dragon came out of nowhere and snagged her up, even though she had no red gem over her dragon’s heart, proving it was just as I feared.
He had no intention of honoring the pact.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
–Aspen–
LEAVE IT TO me to be thrust into a Fairytale Gone Wrong with the grand finale just shy of being sacrificed to a dragon. No, in my little tale, I was tossed off the top of a battlement with no choice but to pray I would become a dragon and save myself. Fun, huh? Not so much.
At least not at first.
The truth was, however terrifying, I wasn’t alone in my fear because Broderick stayed with me the whole time, lending me support the best way he could. As the world rushed by me at a dizzying speed, thanks to Elspet shoving me off the battlement to see if I was her witchy wonder girl, having Broderick’s dragon in my mind lent me the courage that usually came so naturally.
More than that, it called my inner beast to him, making it scream to the surface and shift me effortlessly. After that, it felt like I had shifted hundreds of times before. I soared over the treetopsand out over the water, getting the feel of my amazing wings and the power of my body.
If all that wasn’t exhilarating enough and by far the best adventure of my life, it only got better when I locked eyes on Broderick’s massive and truly magnificent black dragon in the distance. He was gorgeous and ferocious all at once, and I was drawn to him so intensely there could be no question he was my fated mate. There was no red gem over my heart telling me what I already knew.
I wasnotDugal’s.
Yet as I sailed toward Broderick, desperate to be close to him, an equally massive dragon came out of nowhere, and I knew Dugal had me.
