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“Holly,” Synora said, her voice low with a tinge of panic she was trying to hide.
Holly twisted slightly in the dragon’s arm, soothing her hand down his dingy scales when he growled and backed up. A small pouch was in Synora’s hand. “For his eyes,” Synora said softly, not taking her eyes off the dragon. Synora opened her mouth and mimed chewing, and Holly realized she was going to have to get the dragon to eat the herbs. Totally doable. Holly fought to keep her hysterical laughter from bubbling over, knowing no one in the clearing would react well.
“It’s fine,” she repeated, keeping her voice level. “Synora’s going to gently toss that bag of herbs over here and it’ll be a good snack for a hungry dragon and pull all the yucky magic out of him.”
She kept her voice soothing and melodic, like she was telling a child a bedtime story, as she told everyone the plan. Synora nodded and held her hand out. The pouch floated out from her hand toward Holly. All was going according to plan until right before the pouch landed in Holly’s hand. The dragon reached out and snapped at it, catching it in his mouth and swallowing it like it was going to hurt Holly.
Holly’s wide eyes met Synora’s, who shrugged. The herbs began working almost instantly, and the dragon started hacking. He set Holly down less than gracefully, but Holly didn’t leave his side as he heaved. She kept stroking his neck, whispering soothing nothings as he vomited up what looked like black sludge that reeked of evil, like sour milk and rotting fruit.
“Holly, don’t touch it,” Kallan called from across the crater.
Holly couldn’t help but roll her eyes, and Kieran snorted. She wasn’t that dumb. “It’s okay,” she soothed the dragon again as she eased his pain. With the dragon distracted, she turned back to the twins. “Can you snap the chains?” she asked them, gesturing back toward where his back legs were held in place.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Kallan began, his face still pale from the hit he took.
“Please?” Holly said. “For me? Trust me on this.” She echoed Kallan’s words back to him, and he grimaced but nodded. While he might seem all dragon right now, there was a person in there. A little boy—well, now a man—named Luca. And he had been a victim in all of this.
Kieran crept around the heaving dragon, melting the metal away with his metal affinity. The smell of rotting flesh filled the air as the chains melted away to reveal raw skin.
Holly’s stomach rolled for a different reason, and she put a hand over her mouth as she turned back around. The dragon—Luca—was done vomiting now, but his sides still heaved, and he stayed pressed against the ground, breathing heavily.
Finally, Luca’s breathing evened out, and he swung his head around to face Holly. His eyes were clear of pain, and the red tinge was gone. Holly smiled at him. “It’s okay now,” she said. “You’re safe.”
He cautiously rose to his feet, experimentally extending his wings and giving them a few flaps, letting off clouds of dust. “Holly,” Synora warned.
She didn’t get a chance to finish her warning before Holly was scooped up in Luca’s front arms and he launched into the sky. Holly shrieked in shock before she got her breathing under control. The dragon’s flight was choppy and unstable, and they dipped dangerously toward the crater before he leveled them. They bounced off an invisible barrier about a hundred yards away from the hoard, and the force caused Holly’s teeth to rattle in her head. The dragon clearly didn’t notice he was tied to the hoard, as he tried again.
“Hey! Take me back!” Holly yelled at him, but her protests were going unnoticed. Oh, she was going to be in so much trouble when they landed. She could almost see Kallan’s “I told you so” look already. Maybe she could reach him with her Empath magic? Influence him to get him to put her down.
She tentatively reached out with her magic, and almost immediately, it was like she was sucked into his mind. The fractured pieces that were left of it, it seemed. She caught flashes of pain and abuse deeper in his psyche, but the surface-level thoughts were all focused around her. His mate.
Shit. Another one?
She had just barely accepted the three that she had, and now there was a fourth. A more-than-slightly-feral dragon. She took a deep breath to calm the racing panic in her thoughts and racked her brain for what she knew about dragons and their mates. They were more precious to dragons than their hoards… They were super protective… They were devoted to their mates… They were devoted to their mates! She could use that.
Focusing on the images in his mind that revolved around her, she tried pushing an image of her on the ground with him down their connection. He shook his head violently, causing them to drop twenty feet, and Holly squeaked. His mind was flashing images of Synora and Kieran battling him. He thought they were a danger to her.
How to tell him they weren’t, though… Holly tried pushing an image of her in his arms and one of Synora holding Holly, then Kieran holding Holly. She tried pushing words down the bond:My mates.
The dragon cried out mournfully, and Holly was quick to push an image of him holding her.My mate too, she reassured him.
For a few moments, it didn’t seem like she was going to be able to get through to him, but at the next wing flap, they started their descent back to the crater. He landed heavily on his hind legs but kept Holly carefully cradled in his arms. Reluctantly, he let her go, and her feet had barely touched the ground before Synora stole her away.
“Are you okay?” She cupped Holly’s cheeks before running her hands over her, checking her for injuries.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Holly soothed. It felt like all she had been doing this last hour was reassuring everyone it was going to be fine. There was one mate she had to make sure was fine, though. “Kallan?” She turned and saw him lying up against the wall, Kieran at his side. She clasped one of Synora’s hands in hers and hurried toward him.
Luca growled behind her, but she sent the same image of her in Luca’s arms, and he settled.
“Are you okay?” She fell to her knees at Kallan’s side.
“I should be asking you that,” Kallan barked, his eyes, dark with worry, roaming over her.
“I’m fine. He wouldn’t hurt me. He thinks I’m his…” Holly stopped, realizing what she was about to tell them.
“He thinks you’re his what?” Kallan asked.
“He thinks I’m his mate,” Holly said quietly.
