“I can carry you back—”
“No, you can’t. Not when your fires could fail you at any moment. Not with that beating those cowards gave you last time.” The bruises were still vivid on Jord’s face, a testament to his lack of healing ability. “Go!”
Jord seized him and pulled him into an embrace. Both of them shook, but neither of them were going to back down from this. Hyrr and Vindr were taking too much of a risk. Risking themselves, risking Hazel. Watn closed his eyes, accepting his own fate.
“We will watch after your grandparents,” Jord whispered to him. “And your sister. They will be well cared for and know your bravery.”
Watn’s throat closed up as he thought of them. How he would have liked to have said goodbye… but they understood. They understood that every time he left it could be the last time. This was that time… He had no regrets. Not with them at least. He buried his face into Jord’s shoulder, borrowing his friend’s strength to face this greatest sacrifice.
“I wish we could have had a child. Hazel is going to make a good mother. When you get back to her, tell her.” Watn pulled back, staring his leader in the eye. “Tell her that you love her. I love her, too. I want her to know that. Don’t be afraid of giving yourself to her. We were all just waiting for you, Jord. Hazel is our mate. She is our future and our everything. Don’t give her up just because you’re afraid of your emotions.”
“I’m not afraid of anything.” Jord closed his eyes, concentrating. His shoulders slumped. “I don’t have enough fire. I can’t shift.”
Well, then there was only one thing for it. Watn allowed himself no hesitation as he pulled himself up, kneeling before Jord. Jord started to shake his head, clearly knowing Watn’s intentions. Though his heart pounded and his stomach churned, the decision had already been made. Watn thought of Hazel as he grabbed Jord’s skull in his hands and put his mouth over his. Jord choked as Watn started to breathe his own weak flames into Jord.
The heat filled the space between them. Watn felt the dragon surge to life in Jord’s body. His own flames flickered low, going back to the smoldering ruins they had been before. The flames scorched his throat. They flickered from Jord’s nose, licking at the stubble on their faces. Jord tried to pull away, but Watn held fast, ensuring that he got every flame, strengthening him.
But as he gave Jord the rest of what he had, another surge of warmth went through him. He could almost feel Hazel, Hyrr, and Vindr right in the room with him. He could almost feel their arms around him. Could almost feel each of them breathing flames into him. His fires flared to life again. Not enough to give him his dragon back, but enough that he didn’t drop dead right then.
Jord jerked away from him. They stared into each other’s eyes, both understanding what this meant.
This wasn’t a bond coming from a distance. This was them getting closer. What were they thinking? They weren’t bringing Hazel with them… were they? They couldn’t be… that would be insanity! Or desperation. If they’d give her fire so they could strengthen the bond between us, what’s to stop them from bringing her with them?
“They’re going to get themselves killed,” Jord whispered.
He gripped Watn’s forearms tightly as he screwed up his face. Watn felt the bond struggling to withdraw, to pull Jord away from him. But Vindr and Hyrr’s determination was too strong. Even if it wasn’t, Watn had no strength to fight this bond, not without severing the heat flowing to him from them. If he did that, he’d have no strength at all and they’d just push along the bond again.
He wasn’t even certain that they were meaning to focus on the bond with him. It hardly mattered, though… it was happening, and Jord was wasting time by trying to pull away.
“Get out of here,” Watn snarled. “You’re supposed to be our leader. So lead us! Make the hard call. Save them. Or they’re going to get themselves captured or killed.”
Jord snarled under his breath. Scales were starting to grow out of his skin, his teeth sharpening as his face grew more elongated. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Just cherish Hazel. Name your first child after me.”
There was no more time to waste talking. Jord released Watn, who collapsed to the floor. Even with the fires flowing to him through the bond, his injuries were too grievous. The adrenaline that had fueled him was also sapping him. He pressed his face to the floor as he felt the ripple in the air that indicated Jord’s shift.
Walls screeched as they were punched through by dragon claws. The roof burst off from above them. Debris rained down on Watn. Weakly, he pressed his arms to the back of his neck to protect himself. The bond throbbed. He could feel every bit of fire flowing into him; he felt it escaping through his weak body into the ether.
Jord sprang into the air. His wings were still red and torn from the attack on him. He faltered in the air and crashed back down.
He wasn’t strong enough. Watn snarled. He pressed his hands into the floor, drawing himself back together. His mind swirled, sickening, his wounds sending bolts of white-hot pain through him as they started to smoke. The fire in his belly danced, hot one second and cold the next. He reached out, feeling along the bond where the fire was coming from. He traced it back to its source.
Using all his strength, he blocked it.
The fire built up a moment behind his mental block before it started to flow another route. Above him, Jord let out a cry as smoke curled from his nostrils and flames dances along his wings. He threw himself back into the air. This time he flew steadily and was gone.
Watn fell back, staring up at the sky. A pleased smile spread over his lips. These kidnappers thought that they could contain a dragon, but they didn’t know the strength they were facing.
Something brushed against his mind. At first, he thought it was one of the other Hunters. When it brushed against him again, though, he caught a scent of strawberries. Hazel. He reached for her, wrapping her in his arms in his mind. Shouting filled the air around him, but he took himself away from the men who came through the broken walls with their guns. He erased the sound of gunfire.
Instead, he held Hazel. He stroked his fingers through her fire-red hair. He tasted her strawberry lips. He put his nose into her neck and inhaled her scent. He watched her smile as her fingers ran down his chest.
Bright light blinded him. An explosion of fire rocked him from his mind. Debris rained down on his face as the men around him screamed.
Chapter Fifteen
Vindr
Hazel took to fire as though she was a natural-born dragon. She was like a blazing sun on his back while they followed the bond to where Watn and Jord were being held. Hyrr flew at his side, while a good dozen other dragons were in formation around them. Above him, Volcant dipped to the left as the military base Antonio said had been officially abandoned some time ago (but unofficially, he knew of at least one of his FBI coworkers who used it as a base for covert operations) came into sight.
Vindr allowed himself to fall back. She might take to fire, but she wasn’t a dragon. Though her heat was so powerful, the bond so natural that Vindr wouldn’t have been surprised if she had shifted, she was still human. He couldn’t join in the fighting when he was responsible for her protection.
The rest of the dragons started circling, waiting for Hyrr to confirm through the bond that this was where Jord and Watn were being held. They didn’t need it, though, because within seconds, gunfire filled the air. A figure shot into the sky; sunlight bounced off Jord’s black scales as he beat his wings hard; he fell and Vindr shot forward before he remembered Hazel. He felt her urging him to continue forward through the bond, but instead held himself back.
Your safety comes first, he tried to send to her.
He could almost hear her reply. Get your ass in there and help Jord!
One of the guards wheeled to the left, a stream of blood running from his wing. Hyrr dove at a large gun mounted onto a platform. It turned rapidly, following him, but he twisted and dove too quickly. Vindr
’s heart leapt to his throat as Hyrr almost plummeted to the ground, but he pulled himself up just in time to slash at the gun; bits of metal burst into the air, and he quickly moved to the next one.
Jord crawled along the ground, snapping at men as they started coming after him. He bit into the wing of a plane as it took off, then launched himself into the air. His wings beat harder than they usually would as he headed for Vindr and Hazel. When he got closer, Vindr saw that his wings were ragged, the edges smoking.
A pulse went through the bond as Jord growled. The double meaning was clear. Idiot, on one hand and, Give me Hazel so you can help, on the other.
Vindr turned about in mid-air and twisted so Hazel slipped down his tail. She grasped the spikes along his spine, dropping from one to the other until she was in position above Jord. She dropped to him; he dropped several feet in the air, making Vindr wheel about to try to help him. He righted himself quickly enough, though, and headed away with Hazel’s glorious form on his back.
Vindr waited only a handful of seconds before he was satisfied that Jord could fly well enough, then he wheeled about in the air. Wind rushed in his face as he drove into the middle of the battle. Bullets clipped his wings and bounced off his scales as his eyes roved over the base.
There!
A gaping hole in one of the buildings showed where Jord had escaped from. He dove, following the thin bond between him and Watn. Half a dozen men were in the open space. They shouted and dove away as he let loose a blast of fire over their heads. He dropped down, groping blindly until his claws closed around a soft form. Hoping it was Watn, he launched himself back into the air.
More bullets ran along his left side. Scales flaked into the air. Vindr tucked Watn into his arms and turned, tucking his wings in to prevent them from getting torn up. Another dragon burst through the anti-aircraft gun. Vindr snapped out his wings again and caught himself before he fell too far. A jolt of pain came through the bond—and he knew that he had Watn.
Screeching engines caught his attention, and he saw a group of fighter jets taking to the air. Half of the dragons broke away from the main group, following Volcant as they went for the jets. Two of them broke through the dragon’s defense, shooting straight at Vindr. He beat his wings hard; while he would have loved to turn around and tear the plane apart, his mission was clear.
And he could feel Watn slipping away from him, even as he clutched his friend and fellow Hunter to his chest.
Hyrr dropped on top of one of the jets, knocking it out of the sky. The other one let loose two missiles; Vindr twisted sharply, avoiding them. His heart pounded as the missiles streaked past him, then wheeled back around. He roared a warning to the others. He’d seen what these sorts of weapons did to Watn…
He dodged the missiles again, but this time they went straight for Hyrr as he and a jet dodged and circled each other. Vindr called out a warning, but Hyrr couldn’t dodge the missiles unless he rammed straight into the jet! Another cry rang from Vindr’s throat as he wrapped his wings around his body, dropping several meters.
Just close enough to grab another jet in his teeth. Wrenching his neck back, he flung the jet at the missiles closing in on Hyrr. They collided with a thunderous roar, bits of metal flying every which way as fire burned the sky.
Hyrr dropped several feet and snatched the jet he’d been fighting with by the wing.
The guards behind them had taken out the anti-aircraft weapons. Now, Volcant and several others were diving low over the building, releasing billows of fire towards it. Stone burst apart, metal melted and wood caught ablaze. Vindr smirked, a sense of triumph welling up in him as he watched his fellow dragons destroy the base that belonged to people who thought they could destroy the dragons.
Then he felt the bond between him and Watn failing. It stuttered and pulsed, a weak heartbeat. He could feel the life slipping from Watn’s body. Whatever triumph he’d been feeling disappeared into icy fear. He turned himself about, beating his wings hard as he chased after Jord’s figure in the distance. Hyrr took out the last jet coming at them and fell into pace beside him. Blood dripped from his side but Hyrr showed no signs of slowing.
They flew hard and fast, eventually overtaking Jord long enough for Hyrr to take Hazel and Jord to shift back to human form so Hyrr could carry him more easily.
Vindr left them behind. Watn’s life was fading rapidly, and he allowed nothing to slow him as he made a beeline for the base where Indulf was waiting. As soon as he arrived, Vindr dropped from the sky. Healers were already waiting, prepared for whatever casualties the battle took. Several healers rushed forward and helped him lay Watn down on a stretcher.
“We’ll need your fire,” Audiv told him. She seized his arm and dragged him along with them as they rushed Watn to the operating room.
Watn was in bad shape. Vindr did as Audiv asked, and gave his fellow Hunter every flame that was in him. Then, exhausted, he stumbled out of the room; though he longed to stay and ensure that Watn would recover, he knew better than to get in the healer’s way.
Audiv was a powerful mage. If anybody could fix him, she could.
It didn’t take him long to find who he was looking for.
Hazel was in tears as she wrapped her arms around Jord, kissing him again and again between berating him for holding back on the bond which would have allowed them to find him quicker. As he tried to explain, he grinned, kissed her back, and apologized all at once. He was stripped to the waist while a healer took a look at him, taking care of the worst of his injuries. Hyrr lounged on a bed nearby, grinning at them.
Seeing them, and feeling the bond with Watn strengthen as the healers brought him back from the brink, Vindr was almost ready to sit down and start laughing. It was a bizarre reaction, he knew, but he couldn’t help himself.
Jord sensed his mirth and broke from kissing Hazel long enough to glare at him. “What the hell was that?”
Vindr allowed a healer to lead him to a separate bed and start looking him over. He couldn’t help but grin at Jord even as his leader glowered at him. “What the hell was what?”
“You know what I’m talking about.” Jord pointed a finger at him. “I chose you to be my second because I thought you were the most level-headed of the bunch. You shouldn’t have tried that move. What if somebody had gotten hurt? What if Hazel had gotten hurt?”
“Don’t you dare use me to get mad at him,” Hazel broke in. She lightly slapped Jord’s arm. “They explained the risks to me, and you know what? I thought it was well worth it. And it was.”
“Hazel—”
She held up a hand. “I will allow no arguing on this matter. It was a risk. But it was that risk that allowed us to save you. It’s that risk that will keep Watn alive. And it’s that risk that let us destroy a base of operations belonging to people who would start a war with dragons.”
Vindr cocked a brow. “Has Volcant returned, then?”
Hazel twisted to nod at him. “Yeah. There was one dragon who got a mouthful of bullets, but they don’t see any problems in his recovery. The rest of the injuries were minor. Except for him,” she gestured at Hyrr with a glare. “He got his wing all torn up.”
“I’ll heal.” Hyrr shrugged, then added with a wink. “Although I might be on my back for a while.”
Hazel grinned at him. She kissed Jord once more, then moved to Hyrr, planted one on him, and finally to Vindr. Once her arms were around him, she whispered, “Watn?”
“He’s going to be fine.” And this time he was able to mean it. A wide smile broke over his face. “We got to him just in time.”
Hazel rested her forehead against his chest and let out a laugh that was half-choked with a sob. Vindr knew how she felt. After everything that had happened, it seemed impossible that they were all here and all alive. But they were. He wrapped his arms around her waist and peered down at her. The amber was almost gone from her eyes, but the fire that he fell in love with was still there.
“It’s not over,” Jord reminde
d them, his voice somber. “If those FBI agents were able to get so much, there has to be corruption higher up.”
Hazel twisted to look at him. “Yes, there is. But Antonio is going to handle all that. From now on, your only job is to get better. And I’m going to be with you for every step of your recovery. I’m moving to Byrelmore. I should be safe enough surrounded by dragons.” She grinned, kissed Vindr and then winked at Hyrr. “And if not, I guess you’ll just have to keep me safe in bed.”
Vindr couldn’t help it—he burst out laughing. Then he kissed Hazel. He felt the approval burning through his bond with the others. This was their mate. And they were not going let anything stand in their way again.
Chapter Sixteen
Hazel
Hazel pranced into the large common room that she and her boys shared. They each had their own separate bedrooms, which was something Hazel hadn’t thought she would need. However, they were all on such different sleep schedules that it was necessary. They ate all their meals together, though, and they’d even started training her with some more advanced self-defense techniques than she knew.
The past couple of weeks had been… intense. Once the corrupt FBI agents’ hideout was destroyed, there had been a lot of protests and anger directed at Byrelmore. Hazel was busy constantly trying to help deal with the PR of it all. She’d hardly had any time to herself. However, the threats against her had turned back to the basic ones, and there were no more attempts on her. Antonio, seething at his own people’s corruption, theorized that someone in the FBI had set it up in order to get her isolated.
It had been a cunning plan. One that might have worked had it not been Antonio who ended up taking the case, and if she hadn’t called in the Hunters.
Speaking of… She shut and locked the door behind her before she turned to her boys. They all looked at her expectantly. While the fire Hyrr and Vindr had given her had dissipated, there was still the tugging of that bond there. They’d know what she wanted.
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