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“That was more appreciated than you know, GiGi,” Dawsyn said, and I realized Beatrix had used magic to dry my mate’s clothes and clean up the mess they’d made.
“I felt the new energy inside you,” Beatrix replied. “Be careful with that until you know how to control yourself. Power like that can just as easily strike you down as it can save your life.”
“I won’t use it unless I have to,” Dawsyn said, then strode to my side and grabbed my hand with a tight smile on her face. “Are you ready?”
“I’d rather stay here and make sure thatyou’reready,” I replied honestly.
She could walk and stand, but I’d heard her screams, felt them deep into my bones.
She’d just gone to hell and back, and now we were likely headed into a battle. I wasn’t sure if she was ready for this, which made Roman’s previous words filter back through my mind.
“I need to know that if she’s putting herself in danger, you’re not going to be afraid to step in and stop her.”
I didn’t want to control Dawsyn, but I also wouldn’t be able to live with myself if she died because I didn’t make sure she was rested and prepared to fight.
Her fingers rubbed over her chest, and I watched the movements, realizing that she never confirmed if Beatrix’s spell had worked.
“Is the bond gone?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
While I fucking hoped so, a small part of me wished she’d say no, because where our bond should have reignited, there was nothing other than a whisper of a memory of what used to be.
She nodded stiffly, eyes casting downward.
I lifted her chin with one hand and stared deep into her eyes. “Bond or not, you’re mine, Dawsyn Chase.”
I meant the words with every fiber of my being, and I hoped she knew that. Nothing else mattered to me any longer. From the moment I saw her in that shower back at the academy, she was all I needed in my life.
Beatrix cleared her throat. “It’s cold enough to freeze nipples out here, and I’d like to go drink my weight in whiskey after all that. So, if you wouldn’t mind…get the hell out.”
A grin played on Dawsyn’s lips, and she squeezed my hand before stepping toward her grandmother. She embraced the elder witch, then lightly kissed her cheek. “Thank you, GiGi. For everything.”
Her eyes softened, and there might have even been a shimmer of tears there before she blinked. “Yeah, just try not to need that kind of help again, okay?”
Dawsyn laughed. “I’ll do my best.”
I gave Beatrix a curt nod. Something told me she didn’t need or want my gratitude.
Together, Dawsyn and I stepped through the portal that led back to the mountain in Montana. Before we could fully turn around, the opening was closed and Beatrix was gone.
Dawsyn wrapped her arms around herself and leaned into me. “She’s getting old.”
“I think she’s been old for a while now,” I tried to joke as I guided her toward the entry to Drago.
She grimaced. “But it never showed like it did just now.”
“She’ll be okay,” I said as I pressed my palm into the rock, then cursed as the shimmer of the opening began to appear. “You can’t get back in.”
Dawsyn cocked her head. “What?”
“You no longer have a dragon tie to Drago,” I explained. “I’m going to need to leave you here and then come back after I find Penn, so that he can pull the restrictions again.”
She glanced back at the truck. “I’ll just wait in there, but hurry. I doubt they have much time to prepare for an attack.”
I was going to rush for more reasons than that. Leaving Dawsyn behind made my stomach churn, then fill with boulders, but we didn’t have another choice.
I kissed her quickly, then walked through the portal into Drago, glancing back in time to see her wave just as I was sucked through to the other side.
Sticky heat covered my skin, and my shoulders shook with fury at the fucked-up situation we were in. Not only with Knox, but not having our bond reappear. As much as I considered wallowing in hatred for a moment, I knew time wasn’t on our side.
