Page 23 of Dragon’s Rebel

She remembered the feeling of being held safe in his arms, the heat and the joy, and the intensity of his kisses. Was that really possible?

Then another voice broke in. Thorne? You’re back! This one sounded like Tyr. The relief in his voice was palpable.

Wow. She hadn’t expected him to be that worried about her. And how come she could suddenly hear everybody?

Yes, Thorne replied. We’re heading towards the Batcave now. Come down and—

Already here, Tyr said. All of us. We had a—

Rebel unconsciously removed her hand from Thorne’s shoulder, and Tyr’s voice suddenly cut off.

“What is it?” she asked.

Security breach while we were gone. Corwyn.

“What?” Rebel and Thorne looked at each other for one shocked second. Then they began to run.

Thorne strode through the atrium and shoved the control room door open with his snout. Zane and Blaze were cuddled up on one of the sofas, Blaze sleeping with her head on Zane’s shoulder. At the sound of the door opening, she raised her head and looked up blearily, pushing her hair back.

Tyr sat on the other sofa, looking as serious as Thorne had ever seen him. Tempest was asleep with her head on a pillow in Tyr’s lap, and his hand rested possessively on her shoulder.

Thorne was so surprised to see them looking like mates that it took him a second to realize Tempest had half a dozen bandages on her, including a big one right under Tyr’s hand.

What the hell happened?Was Tempest hurt?

“She got a little banged up,” Tyr said wearily. He’d clearly been up all night watching over her while she slept. “The rest of us are okay, but—”

Rebel slammed into the room and pushed past Thorne. “What happened? Is Tempest okay?”

“I’m fine.” Tempest, now awake, sat up and stretched, then winced. Clearly at least one of her wounds was still hurting her. Humans healed so slowly, it was a wonder any of them survived at all.

Rebel turned on Tyr. “For fuck’s sake, I left my sister with you for one night, and she’s all cut up. Weren’t you watching her?”

Tyr opened his mouth to answer back, but Tempest got in first, frowning. “I don’t need a babysitter, Rebel. I’m a Keeper of the Seals, just like you. It’s just a couple of scrapes and bruises.”

“Just? You’re covered in bandages!”

Thorne could see Rebel’s shock, though. Tempest usually didn’t talk to her like that.

Tempest raised her silver-gray eyes to Rebel’s. “It could have been a lot worse,” she said, sounding more like her normal, soft-spoken self. “And it’s all over. Nothing bad is going to happen now.” She glanced down at her sketchbook, which she’d been clutching even in her sleep.

Rebel followed her gaze and her face went still. “Oh.” Her eyes searched Tempest’s face. “You sure?”

She nodded.

Thorne wondered what that was all about.

Rebel sat down on the couch—more like collapsed, Thorne noted. It still amazed him to see this tough, cocky woman go all mother-hen when it came to her sister.

Does someone want to tell me what actually happened? he said. Today would be nice.

Tyr gave him a quick rundown of what had happened in the pump room. Tempest chimed in with her part of the story.

“You fought Corwyn?” Rebel said. “With a gargoyle?”

“I won, too.” Tempest sounded just the tiniest bit smug. “Well, Blaze helped,” she added. “Kind of a lot. But we still won.”

“We did. You were awesome.” Tyr patted her knee, but Tempest had moved away from him again. So whatever had happened last night, it hadn’t changed the status of their relationship.