Page 32 of Born in Fire (Dragonblood Dynasty #2)

Chapter 32

J uno

Light explodes behind my eyes—blinding, golden, transcendent. For one perfect moment, I’m suspended in ecstasy, every nerve ending alive with sensation, Dorian’s body still joined with mine.

Then I’m falling.

The bedroom dissolves. Wind rushes past my face. I’m soaring above Seattle, but not in my body. Something carries me—massive wings beating on either side. Below, the city sprawls like a circuit board of light.

The perspective shifts violently. I’m diving toward Craven Towers, its glass facade gleaming in the moonlight. In the darkness, I see figures moving—shadowy, urgent. Then I’m watching as scaled creatures with human features surround a man.

Dorian.

He’s bleeding, on his knees, arms wrenched behind him. His eyes blaze with fury, but he can’t break free. One of the creatures steps forward—taller than the others, face half-transformed between human and reptile. It speaks words I can’t hear, then raises a glowing object.

A shard of crystal pulsing with inner light.

Dorian screams, his body contorting. I try to reach him, but I have no form, no substance. I can only watch as they drag him away, his blood leaving a trail across the floor.

“Juno! Juno, come back to me!”

Reality snaps back like a rubber band. I’m gasping, trembling, my skin clammy with cold sweat. Dorian hovers above me, his face tight with concern, hands gripping my shoulders.

“What happened?” he demands. “You were here, then you just… went somewhere else.”

I struggle to sit up, my heart hammering against my ribs.

“I saw you,” I gasp. “They had you—creatures with scales. In Craven Towers. They were hurting you.”

His expression shifts from concern to sharp focus. “What else did you see?”

“A crystal shard. Glowing.” My teeth chatter despite the warmth of the room. “They were using it against you.”

Dorian pulls away slightly, studying my face. After a moment, he reaches for the blanket, drawing it around my shoulders.

“What happened to me?” I whisper. “What was that?”

He hesitates, choosing his words carefully. “It sounds like a vision. A glimpse of something that might happen.”

“A vision?” I clutch the blanket tighter. “How is that possible?”

“The same way this is possible,” he says gently, gesturing to the space between us. “The same way your return from death is possible. There are things in this world beyond conventional understanding.”

I take a deep breath, trying to steady myself. “Tell me. All of it.”

He sighs, running a hand through his tousled hair. “I’m not human, Juno. Not entirely.” His eyes meet mine, steady and serious. “I’m a dragon shifter. My brother, too. Our clan has existed for centuries, protecting our kind and the artifacts that give us power.”

I should be shocked. Terrified, even. But something in me accepts his words as if I’d always known them.

“The creatures in your vision,” he continues, “were likely dragons too. Enemies of our clan.”

“Enemies,” I repeat, shuddering as I remember the wide smear of blood he’d left as they dragged him.

“Yes.” He heaves a breath. “Our world is… complicated. There are factions. Our clan has been at war for as long as I can remember.”

I frown. “But why?”

He shakes his head. “Different forces looking for power, I guess. There’s the Syndicate, which is made up of dragons who have lost their clans over time—generally through war, betrayal, or extinction—they’ve been trying to reclaim territory and power by infiltrating and dismantling existing clans. And the Circle of Fire, which is made up of traditionalists who want to go back to the old ways.”

“The old ways?” I tilt my head.

He gives a nod. “There was a time when dragons ruled the world. Humans along with it. Some of them did this ruthlessly. Through fear.”

“Like… like the old stories?” I have a sudden flash of childhood storybooks. “Fire-breathing dragons and stuff like that?”

“Pretty much.” He glances away, then back at me.

“And they want to do that again? Dominate mankind?” My eyes are wide.

“Not all of us.” He shakes his head. “We’re not all like that, Juno. In fact, very few are. We’ve kept to ourselves for hundreds of years. It’s been good that way. Making ourselves known to humanity would only expose us, change the world we’ve created. Risk bloodshed. We don’t want that.”

“So you’ve stayed hidden. Secret.” I press my lips together. “Nobody knows about you. Even me.”

He studies me with renewed intensity. “Before the attack, before you died, you had just learned what I am. We hadn’t been together long, but I told you everything. I couldn’t keep lying to you.”

“How did I take it?” I ask.

A smile touches his lips. “Better than I deserved. You were disbelieving at first, but you weren’t afraid. You never feared me. In fact, you seemed to like the idea.”

“I’m not afraid now either,” I realize, the truth of it settling into my bones.

“You should be,” he says softly. “My world is dangerous. It got you killed once already.”

I reach for his hand, needing the connection. “Yet here I am.”

“Here you are.” His fingers tighten around mine. “A miracle I still don’t understand.”

“What was the crystal in my vision?”

His expression darkens. “Part of an artifact called the Heartstone. It’s the source of our clan’s power but also our greatest vulnerability. A piece broke off centuries ago—the Shard. In the wrong hands, it could be used to control dragons. Even kill them.”

“They were using it on you,” I whisper, the image still vivid. “You were in pain.”

“It was just a vision,” he says, though uncertainty flickers in his eyes. “Not necessarily what will happen.”

“It felt real.” I shiver despite the blanket. “It felt inevitable.”

He cups my face, his palm warm against my cheek. “Nothing’s inevitable. Now that we know, we can prevent it.”

I lean into his touch, drawing strength from his certainty. “There’s something else you should know.” I hesitate, the words feeling too big for this fragile moment. “In my vision, when I saw them hurting you, I felt… I can’t explain it. Like my soul was being torn apart.”

His thumb traces my lower lip. “We had something special, Juno. Even before all this. I know you can’t remember, but—”

“You loved me,” I finish. Not a question.

He nods, vulnerability naked in his eyes. “Yes, I loved you. Still do. Always will.”

The words should feel foreign, impossible, given my blank memory. But they don’t. They feel like truth—bone-deep and certain.

“I love you too,” I whisper, surprised by the conviction in my voice. Warmth spreads through me, not just emotional but physical—a gentle heat emanating from deep inside me.

He stares at me, wonder and hesitation warring in his expression. “You can’t know that. Not really. Your memories—”

“Aren’t everything,” I interrupt. “My body knows you. My heart knows you. Isn’t that enough?”

Before he can answer, his phone rings—a harsh intrusion into our bubble of intimacy. He grimaces, reaching for it on the nightstand.

“It’s Caleb,” he says to me, then answers. “This better be important.”

I watch his expression shift as he listens—from irritation to sharp attention. His posture straightens, the relaxed lover replaced by something more dangerous.

“When?” he asks, then, “Are you sure?” A pause. “We’ll be there in twenty.”

He ends the call, already moving. “We need to go.”

“What’s happened?” I ask, scrambling from the bed.

“Elena’s found something about the Shard.” He tosses me fresh clothes—his own, but smaller items that might fit better than what I wore earlier. Which is a tall order because the man is huge. “Caleb wants us at his place immediately.”

“Us?” I pull on a soft Henley that smells like him. “He wants me there too?”

Dorian’s mouth quirks. “Not exactly. But I’m not leaving you alone.”

I’m glad when he says this because after what I just saw, I’m not happy letting him out of my sight. He may have been my source of safety since my return but right now, I’m certain that he needs me just as much.

Yeah. Because you’d be able to protect him from monsters. Right.

We dress quickly, the intimacy of moments before replaced by urgent purpose. As I pull on a pair of his sweatpants, cinching them tight at the waist, a thought occurs to me.

“Dorian, how does Elena fit into all of this? Isn’t she human?”

“She’s Caleb’s… partner. We dragons would call her his mate. She’s a private investigator with her own connection to all this.” He grabs his keys. “She’s from the Rossewyn bloodline—witches who’ve been bound to the Heartstone for centuries.”

“Witches,” I repeat, testing the word. It should sound ridiculous. It doesn’t.

“This world gets stranger by the minute,” he says, leading me toward the door. “You’re coping remarkably well for someone who can’t remember anything.”

“Maybe that’s why,” I suggest. “I have no normal to compare it to.”

His Jaguar waits in the private garage beneath the warehouse. As we drive through evening streets, my unease grows. The vision hovers at the edges of my consciousness—Dorian captured, bleeding, in pain.

“Do you think my vision is connected to what Elena found?” I ask.

He glances at me, then back at the road. “I don’t know. But the timing is suspicious.”

“I don’t want you going to Craven Towers,” I blurt out. “Not after what I saw.”

His hand finds mine across the console. “I’m not that easy to capture, Juno. And now we’re warned.”

But the dread in my stomach doesn’t ease.

Caleb’s building rises before us—another high-rise, though less imposing than Craven Towers. Dorian parks in a reserved space, then escorts me through a private entrance where security recognizes him immediately.

The elevator requires a keycard and code. As we ascend, Dorian squeezes my hand. “Caleb may not be thrilled I brought you. Just… stay close to me.”

The doors open directly into an apartment—minimalist, elegant, and cold. Caleb stands in the entrance, impeccably dressed despite the late hour.

“You brought her,” Caleb says, disapproval evident. “This is clan business, Dorian.”

“She stays with me,” Dorian replies, his tone brooking no argument.

“I go where he goes,” I say firmly, stepping up beside him.

Caleb studies me for a moment. “Fine. We don’t have time to argue about this right now, considering what Elena just discovered.”

He turns and walks into a living area, where Elena is seated on a vast leather couch, paperwork spread out on a glass coffee table in front of her. She looks up and smiles as Dorian and Caleb walk into the room.

I walk in behind them, and that’s when it happens.

The room lights up as if a solar flare just sparked to life. Bright, blinding. The three of them freeze, shielding their eyes from the light that is radiating from a pedestal near the center of the room. I don’t do the same. Instead, I walk in, drawn to the source of the light like a moth. It’s a crystal larger than my fist, and it’s glowing. Even from across the room, I can feel its energy—ancient, powerful, alive.

“Ohhh…” I breathe out.

“Juno, wait!” Dorian says sharply.

“What is she doing? Get her the fuck away from it,” Caleb barks out.

But I’m not listening. My heart is pounding, even though I’ve stopped breathing. And the light seems to be pulsing in time with my racing heartbeat.

“Hello,” I whisper as I reach it, extending my hand. In the windows beyond, I catch a reflection of Caleb and Dorian frozen behind me. Elena has risen but doesn’t come closer.

“Make her stop!” Caleb yells at Dorian. “If she touches it—”

My fingers caress the smooth surface, which is cool despite the brilliance of the light that’s shining from it.

“Hello,” I whisper again, tears springing to my eyes for reasons I can’t understand. A tingle extends up my arm, traveling over my skin and through my veins. I feel a rush of power that leaves me shaking.

“Juno… beloved,” a voice swirls in my head, resonating like a chorus of whispers. It wraps around me, a welcoming flame that sends soothing tendrils through me. “Juno,” it repeats. “Welcome… daughter.”

And that’s when my knees give in, and I drop to the floor.