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I wanted this magic gone. Not because it was killing me, but because it didn’t belong to me. It was powerful, unstable. Besides, now that I knew I could save eight baby dragons with it, I wanted it gone more than ever!
I gritted my teeth, clenched my hands, curled my toes, and pulled the magic with all I had. The magic latched itself to me, tugging hard at my insides. Pain flared from every inch of my body, as if I was ripping my flesh wide open. I screamed.
“It’s killing her!” Shane barked. I could hear him struggling against Kaz to get to me.
“Stop, Shane,” I rasped. “I can do this.” I tugged at the magic and screamed again, arching my back as a deep ripple of pain cut through me.
Something like a pop echoed inside of me. The last of the magic lashed out like a whip, making me cry once more.
Then it was gone.
I opened my eyes and stared at the blue sky above the courtyard. My chest heaved, my heart raced, my body was drenched in sweat, my limbs numb.
“Raika?” Shane knelt beside me.
I glanced from him to Kaz, who stared at the eggs with wide eyes. “Did it work?”
He nodded. “Look.”
I propped myself on my elbows and looked at the eggs. They were bigger than before, brighter, and the babies inside were agitated. “Incredible.”
Thea and Almae rushed to my side and hovered their hands over my body. The two of them shared an amused glance before smiling at me. “The dragon’s magic is gone!” Thea declared.
I knew it was, I could feel it. Though I still had Paimon’s darkfire within me. I didn’t think I could do anything about that, but I didn’t feel bad about it.
Shane held my hand. “So … she’s not dying anymore?”
Thea and Almae shook their heads.
Shane pulled me to his lap and hugged me tight.
Minsi and Tyren ran forward, but Kaz raised both hands. “Careful with the eggs!”
They stopped. With Shane’s help, I stepped away from the eggs and went to them. The four of us hugged, and I pulled Rue into our embrace. She was part of the family. Our friends surrounded us, all patting our backs and congratulating us, while Kaz shouted for everyone to back away from the eggs.
That was the first and only time I saw Kaz shouting.
Shane kept a tight arm around my waist the entire time. I looked into his eyes and saw the pure, unbound relief in them. I felt the exact same. I rose to my tiptoes, pressing my lips to his in a quick, soft peck.
I was tired, like I had fought a damn battle, which in a way, I had, but now, everything was okay. Paimon was defeated. There was no Conri or Nortrix to terrorize us. Our pack was together and I wasn’t dying.
We would be okay.
FOUR MONTHS LATER
SHANE
I put the rose in the hole, filled it up with soil, patted down to make sure it was secure, and stood up. I took off the garden gloves and threw them beside the other garden tools.
“It looks great,” Raika said, coming up behind me.
“I think so too.” I admired my work. I wasn’t a good gardener, never would be, but I had wanted to plant this rose myself.
It had been the one Aurora had given Minsi when we thought Raika had died. I shook my head, glad that was over. All that we had been through …
It was the past now.
I put my arm around Raika’s shoulders and glanced at the house standing before us. It was my old house, but it wasn’t. When Raika recovered and we came back to the Nightshade pack lands four months ago, we started rebuilding the town. And by that I meant the entire pack, Ivy, Killian, Lavinia, and two dozen vampires who had been tasked with helping us. We started with the several houses along main street so the wolves would have places to live. Next, we fixed the rest of the main street, the square, the library and the school, so the kids would have something to do while the rest of us worked all day long.
