AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I had asked her this morning how she felt, and she said she was back to normal, albeit with some strange power dancing in her veins. I had taken her to DuMoir Castle, where Thea and Almae looked over her.
“There’s nothing wrong with you,” Thea declared after about an hour of thorough examination. “But there’s a lot of dragon power inside of you now. Right now, we believe it’s dormant because it’s still getting used to you, but it’ll manifest itself soon.”
“When it does, what do I do?” Raika asked.
“It might be too much power for one person,” Almae said. “Come back when you feel it waking up. We’ll help you control it.”
“Can we take it out?” Raika asked. “I don’t want it.”
“We might be able to,” Thea said. “But from what we’ve seen, the magic is attaching itself to you. If we try to take it out, we might hurt you, or worse.”
“That’s not an option,” I barked and that was the end of that discussion.
For now, I watched her like a hawk, afraid of what the dragon’s magic could do to her. But so far, she was fine. Normal.
While at DuMoir Castle, I had also heard news about yesterday. Before we left, Killian and his vampires came back, saying they had lost Paimon’s trail. He either had disappeared into thin air or sprouted wings and flown away. They had found most of the demons who ran away and dealt with those. They promptly informed the demon hunters of all that had happened, especially the fact that now Paimon had half of the dragon’s magic, which meant he wasn’t weak anymore and could attack at any time.
After we left, Evelyn and Ash arrived. They helped Kaz take care of the dragon’s body. I texted Evelyn and she said that when they were done, Kaz would return to his family, and she and Ash would continue with their original mission: finding dragon bones and keeping them from evil people.
“Time to go!” Raika announced, closing the princess book she had been coloring. “Rue’s waiting for you.” She took Minsi’s hand, and after a glance at me, they exited the house.
We walked with Minsi to the house that had become the children’s school. It had a beautiful garden and Rue and Vianna had organized some games for the kids this afternoon. Minsi didn’t seem happy about joining them, but both Raika and I believed it was good for her to have at least a little interaction with other kids. And we knew Rue would watch out for her.
Moreover, I wanted some time alone with my mate.
I slipped my hand into Raika’s and guided her around the village, toward one of the lake’s banks with its warm, white sand. It was a hot day in the last week of July, and I realized I should have planned to bring swimsuits with us.
We halted right at the edge of the water. Raika leaned her head on my shoulder. “It’s pretty here.”
“I knew you would like it.” I let out a long sigh.
We still had an uncertain future ahead of us, and Paimon was out there, stronger than ever, ready to take over the world. I wasn’t sure if his plans still included Raika (to have her join him, or to kill her for her powers), but I wasn’t taking any chances. I would prepare our small army and join the fight. Paimon had to pay for all he had done to my pack and to Raika.
I still wanted to be the one to take him down.
But for now, I enjoyed the evening beside my mate.
I turned to her. “Raika,” I started.
She looked at me, a soft smile over her closed lips. “Yes?”
“I wanted to do this two nights ago, but I was interrupted.” A knot formed between Raika’s brows. I picked up the ring from my pocket and knelt in front of her. Her eyes rounded. “I love you more than anything and anyone in this universe, and I’ll love you even after I die. I can’t imagine life without you and I promise I’ll take better care of you. You’re everything to me and I want a chance to spend the rest of my life proving it to you.” I offered her the ring. “Will you marry me?”
Raika’s mouth turned into a little O and she waved at her eyes, suddenly all misty. “Yes!”
The best word I had heard in a while. I smiled and slipped the ring on her finger. I rose to my feet as she looked at the ring. “It’s beautiful.”
“I thought you would like it.”
She rested her hand on her chest. “It’s perfect.”
She was perfect. I swooped her into my arms and kissed her. She clung to me, her body molding to mine, and a growl rose from my throat. I wanted to take her back home so we could take this further … or maybe we could go deeper into the woods and—
Her body became hot against mine. At first I thought it was the kiss, the lust we always felt for each other, but then she turned too hot. I hissed and stepped back as she was almost at burning point.
“Raika?” She stared at me, her eyes wide. Underneath her cropped top, her skin turned orange. I reached for her. “What is this?” I touched her and instinct made me pull my hands back right away. “You’re burning!”
“I …” She glanced down at herself. “What the—”
Fire surged from within her and enveloped her entire body.
Raika burned alive.
* * *
