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Iheld my head and my heart raced a mile a minute as the gem Natalie had made from chaos sank into her body. Cedric was trying to reach her, cutting down every god that tried to stop him, when an explosive wave of energy sent everyone close to Natalie flying back.
I ripped my armor off, slammed my fist into the barrier, and sliced at it with my sword, but it did nothing. Neither did Lucian's ice, or Mom’s powers. If anything, the barrier was even stronger than it had been.
Lucian sank to his knees, and we watched helplessly as Natalie screamed.
Her blouse burned away a little, allowing us to see her discolored skin. Red lines crawled up her throat, over her cheeks, and down her arms, but we could only watch in shock when she started to shift into a white dragon.
Her skin was covered in scales, talons burst through her shoes, and she went after Cedric’s dragon, the most feared among the species, smacking him with her tail. She continued to shift, the red gem remaining at the base of her long neck, and her screech made my ears ring.
There was nothing to do except watch my mate and father engage in the most ferocious dragon fight I'd ever seen.
“Why won’t she drop this barrier?” I growled.
"Because Cedric will use one of us to get to her," Mom replied. "We've seen how Cedric operates, and he knows he can bend Natalie to his will by using us. That's why he took you."
I turned to her. “Mom, I’m sorry for….”
“It’s okay,” she said. “I know it wasn’t you.”
Lucian nodded in agreement but still, the memory of what I’d done to them, what I did to Natalie, would haunt me for a long time. I'd tried to fight it but once Cedric had me under his control, breaking free was impossible.
Cedric's tail drilled into Natalie's side when she bit into his throat, and she released him.
Lucian and I held our sides, her pain transferring to both of us, and as Dad’s talons grabbed at her gem, trying and failing to pull it out of Natalie's chest, it started to glow. Cedric pushed away from her, narrowly avoiding a blast of chaos that tore through his right wing.
A flock of dragons tried to intercede, sensing that their king was in danger, but they were intercepted by gods.
Cedric weaved through the air, dodging the onslaught of chaos Natalie was sending his way. Then he returned fire, breathing chaos instead of fire. It poured from his mouth, and Natalie's gem absorbed it. He didn't let up, not giving her a chance to counteract, and I realized what he was doing.
“She needs to stop. He’s trying to overload her with chaos,” I growled under my breath, my palms lying flat against the barrier. “Natalie!” I called through our mind-link. “He’s trying to overload you with chaos! You already have too much! Stop absorbing it!”
But she didn't stop. As they fought, dragon after dragon threw themselves at the barrier, trying to save their king…until they were attacked by a familiar silver dragon.
Armen, my old friend and my father's greatest foe before Natalie, had arrived, bringing more more dragons—those against Cedric—with him, and the battle tipped further in our favor.
But I’d taken my eyes off Natalie for too long. Her roars had turned to screams, and she'd shifted into her human form. She was falling toward the cave. The barrier vanished, and Lucian and I caught her when she fell.
Cedric, still in his dragon form, shifted just before entering the cave, and sent a wave of power at us, throwing us back, and forcing us to drop Natalie in the process.
Once more, Cedric had us pinned before we could act.
"Stand up!" he shouted at Natalie, and to my horror, she obeyed him. He was using their sire bond as his last attempt to control her. “I’ve had enough of you.”
He unleashed more chaos on her. "The power you took doesn't belong to you! But since you're so goddamn persistent, here's all the chaos you want! Take it!"
"Let her go!" Lucian snarled while I fought to be free, but it was no use.
“Rumir!” Natalie screamed. “Lucian!”
I tried to shift but couldn’t. She continued to scream, her body throbbing with red veins pulsating all over her.
“You’re killing her!” I roared. “Dad!”
He looked at me and appeared shocked, but in the next second, his moment of reason was gone.
"She's my mate! Please! Let her go!"
Natalie's eyes rolled back until only the white could be seen. Mom screamed at Cedric, Lucian howled in agony, and so did I. Natalie was dying before our eyes. I could feel it. I could feel her pain, and our bond weakened, turning into a light flutter.
