Page 55 of Claimed By the Dragon

He growled.What’s going on? Grace shouldn’t cry.

His beast replied,No, she shouldn’t. But we need to work together to exit this place. Otherwise, we won’t be able to see Grace again, let alone hold her.

What are you talking about?

Human halves rarely enter the tunnels of a dragon-shifter’s mind, and it’s difficult to exit. I don’t know why you did it, but now we have to find a way out together. And it’s going to take time.

He wanted to growl again in frustration. However, that wouldn’t help him reach Grace and his sons.

Tell me what to do. You managed to exit this place when we were young.

It’s changed a bit over the years. But if you ride on my back, we can move faster.

He stood slowly, noticing how most of the pain in his shoulder was gone.

Maybe he was on some sort of painkiller.

Taking advantage of it, Trahern managed to get on his dragon’s back with a lot of help. His beast’s tail steadied him to keep him from falling off.

Once Trahern was settled, his beast spoke up again.You need to tell me if you’re going to slip off or fall unconscious. It took me a long time to find you. I might not be able to do it again.

And if he couldn’t, they might never wake up.

Trahern tightened his hold around his dragon’s neck.I’ll be honest and let you know if I need a break. For now, maybe we can judge where to go using the direction of Grace’s voice.

As long as she keeps talking.

Not wanting to think of how lost they might get without some sort of beacon, Trahern replied,Then let’s get moving.

As Grace talked, they often paused and took a second to determine which direction to go. And while he still couldn’tmake out all the words, he treasured every one he could, using them to remain conscious and cling to his dragon’s back.

Chapter Eighteen

Grace sat next to Trahern’s bed with Eli in her arms as she fed him some supplemental formula.

She’d been here for hours and had gone through so many emotions—fear, sadness, outrage, desperation, and determination.

The latter had kicked in as soon as Trina had brought the twins into the room. Both Eddie and Eli had reached their arms toward Trahern’s bed, clearly recognizing their father and wanting to say hello.

She’d gently let the boys touch his hand before one had started to fuss, and then the other, signaling they were hungry.

Eddie had fallen asleep after eating. However, even once Eli was full and burped, he still babbled and snuggled against her, as if knowing she needed the support.

Cuddling her son close, she slowly moved to sit on the bed beside Trahern and traced his cheek. His face was mostly unscathed, apart from a few scratches, and the doctors had said it was okay to touch his hands or face.

But as she did it, Eli waved an arm toward hers, wanting to do the same.

Trahern had only become comfortable with the boys touching his face in the last week or so before he’d left. The memory of Eddie grabbing his nose and squeezing still made Grace smile.

She said softly to her son, so as not to wake up his twin, “You have to be gentle, Eli. Can you do that? Yes? Okay. But only with Mummy’s help.”

She rearranged her grip and lifted her son until she could take his hand with her free one and guided it to Trahern’s cheek. Eli patted it gently, and she said, “Yes, we’re waiting for Daddy to wake up. He was hurt pretty badly, but he knows we’re here. And we just need to keep telling him to wake up.”

More baby babble.

“Yes, I’m sure he’ll show you his dragon again once he’s healed. But no, you can’t slide down the dragon’s side until you’re older. You can’t even crawl yet!”

She swore Eli looked peeved, but she dismissed it. Grace doubted he truly understood her, no matter Trahern’s theories about inner dragons learning language in the womb.