Page 138 of Dream Reaper

His thoughts asked for the dark magic again, and this time she released her hold, letting the darkness slide into him. He tugged and pulled, winding it around himself—no, he was plating himself with it, like armor. An armor of stolen darkness.

His fingers slid off her hips as he withdrew, his eyes bright with dragon fire but tinged with something dark and dangerous. Her breath caught in her throat, and panic flickered through her mind.

Had she given him too much? Was it more than he could handle? Would he succumb to the temptation the darkness promised?

But he lifted his fingers, trailed them down her cheek, and spun away.

The shadow screamed in rage and shifted its attack from her to the dragon shifter coated in shadowy armor.

You think you can steal from me? it raged at her, tentacles exploding in all directions.

And in that moment, she feared the world would end. Because the shadow was everywhere, all around her, slamming into a shield that grew weaker with every drop of magic she fed into Jerrid. But she couldn’t stop. He needed that power to defeat the monster.

They would save Brynja and the others, no matter what.

No matter what, Jerrid whispered back to her.

And then he was slicing through tentacles, his form only half shifted—half dragon, half man—her everything.

His wings spun his body in a violent spiral, the spines on his back shredding through the shadow’s weakening tentacles like a blade through tender flesh. Smoke and ash exploded with every slice, filling the air with the bitter tang of sulfur and scorched brimstone.

She choked on the bitter fumes and the stench of rottenness. Yet beneath the foulness was something else, something sweeter but just as powerful. Spice. Burning cedar. And something older, stronger, hotter…

It made her think of a crushed star.

No. Of a star reborn.

As Jerrid collided into the shadow again and again, hurling its own magic against it, using it like a blade of nightmares, her shield cracked and popped like shattering ice. She looked up just as it broke, and a tentacle slammed into her, knocking her sideways.

She plummeted toward the earth with a scream.

The ground rushed toward her, but then it jerked away, and her vision clouded with earth and sky. Fingers gripped her wrist as she spun in a controlled arc.

Jerrid’s eyes stared into hers as he released her. She ground her teeth together as she rolled across the ground, pain pounding against her body. She was bruised…but not broken.

After dragging herself to her knees, she shoved herself to her feet, vision spinning as she staggered, dizzy and unsteady. Inhaling several deep, stabilizing breaths, she lifted her face as Jerrid and the shadow collided in another frenzied attack.

Ash dusted her shoulders, filling the air like falling snow.

Jerrid sliced through half a dozen more tentacles, but the shadow quickly replaced each one. Jerrid flapped his wings and ripped through more limbs, but the shadow screamed and threw more at him. They were locked in a standstill, evenly matched, each waiting for the other to break first.

Her breath seized in her chest, and she knew she needed to tip the scales. This was their last chance—they wouldn’t get another opportunity.

Exhaling slowly, she rotated her hands and summoned her fire. It flickered weakly in her palms. Her body was so tired, but she had to try one last time. She poured herself into the fire, feeding it with lingering shadow magic, lacing it with the shadow’s own darkness.

Then arms pressed against hers, a solid chest against her spine.

Jerrid?

But no, when she lifted her gaze, he was still locked in combat above her head. Panic sizzled, her stomach clenching as she realized the arms stretched alongside hers weren’t human arms.

They were dark, bluish gray.

Dark elf arms.

Had Talos returned to take his final revenge? She tensed, ready to fight him off with the last of her energy, but those large hands only pressed over hers, his palms against the back of her knuckles.

She inhaled a stabilizing breath and forced her mind to focus.