Page 48 of Curse of the Midnight Dragon (The Moonlight Dragon #2)

Celestina

After many, many hugs and a few tears on my part, Amaya explained how Juniper had defied Drix. Juniper had made sure I put my hands on Amaya, and even though I wasn’t conscious of any of this happening, my magic had been able to pull on Amaya’s, forcing her to shift to her air form. It had saved her life. Prince Cullen then explained how Amaya had bravely rescued Soren and had brought us both to this cave so we could heal each other.

“His intestines were hanging out?” I whirled to Soren. “You were injured so badly that your intestines were hanging out?”

“It wouldn’t have been a fatal blow if those creepy undead soldiers hadn’t bitten me so many times. Blood loss makes it nearly impossible to heal ourselves. And then I was captured, so I couldn’t feed to regain my strength.”

“You nearly died.” Icy dread overtook me as I imagined what it would be like if I lost Soren forever. As miserable as life had been when we were forced to part, at least I woke every day knowing that Soren was in my world and living the life he was fated to live. To lose the hope that one day we would be reunited would have destroyed me.

“You’re missing the main point of what we’re telling you, Moonglow,” Amaya said with an irritated huff.

“The bonding didn’t just go one way,” Prince Cullen said. “When you were injured, Soren, Princess Celestina felt it. When you were dying, she was dying along with you.”

“What?” Soren backed up a step.

“Your lives are entangled with each other’s, brother. Which means if you don’t want to kill your princess, you must stop going on those suicide missions while leaving Gray and Raya behind.”

“No. That’s impossible. I was the only one who made the vows,” Soren said at the same time as I growled-shouted, “You’ve been doing what!?”

Soren had enough sense to look remorseful.

Even so, smoke curled from my nose, and I felt my teeth sharpen. “You will not needlessly endanger yourself ever again,” said with my growly voice that carried the strongest push of compulsion I could conjure. I knew doing that to him was crossing all kinds of boundaries, boundaries he’d never allowed himself to cross when I was wearing that slave collar. But I didn’t care. Keeping him safe—even from himself—was more important than keeping his trust or fostering a healthy relationship. It wasn’t as if we’d be allowed to stay together anyhow. And dammit, I needed to know he would take care of himself. I needed him safe.

“You didn’t need to do that,” Soren muttered as he dredged a hand through his hair. “Knowing your life is linked to mine is incentive enough to keep me from recklessly charging the front lines.” He flashed an irritated look in his brother’s direction. “And I haven’t been going on suicide missions. The siege never stops. My warriors are exhausted. I’ve been helping where I can, leading from the front. And, yes, I leave Gray and Raya behind, because I need them to take charge in my absence—making decisions, issuing orders, and answering questions.” He closed his eyes and drew several deep breaths before speaking again. “We’re on the verge of losing, Sky Girl. Our warriors stay dead after they’ve been struck down while Queen Beatrice’s pop back up to fight again.”

“I’m sorry I used compulsion on you.” I slipped my arms around him and pressed as tightly against his chest as I could manage. I was grateful that he didn’t push me away. Instead, his arms tightened around me. “I panicked at the thought of losing you.”

Soren touched his forehead to mine. “My heart has shattered, completely shattered, every time you’ve been hurt. And it felt like someone ripped that organ from my body when you were taken from me. I wanted to burn down the world to get you back.”

“You believe dragon fire will kill Queen Beatrice’s undead army?” Amaya demanded irritably as if she’d heard enough of us proclaiming our love for each other.

“That’s our working theory,” Prince Cullen answered. “She’s using a combination of blood magic and her own magic. It’s powerful and awfully corrosive.”

“Then I’m going to go make sure the queen’s warriors stay dead,” Amaya said right before shifting to her dragon form and flying out of the cave.

Amaya

I learned something I never knew about dragons that day. Our fires were not infinite. Did Gregory know this? Or was it yet another piece of knowledge that had been lost when our kingdom fell?

After I’d gone off to kill the undead army, Cullen called me back. He needed me to deliver Soren, Celestina, and himself to the vampire’s main camp at the border. He didn’t ask me to carry them, but when they’d started the long hike toward the camp, I huffed an impatient breath, scooped them up into my talons, and carried them the rest of the way.

Without waiting for a thank you, I flew back toward the battlefields to take on the undead army. I was able to roast several hundred of the creepy already-dead humans, shifting to air whenever an arrow managed to pierce a wing or puncture my more vulnerable underside. Unfortunately, the undead army weren’t the mindless killers I’d hoped they would be. They’d quickly shifted tactics in the face of a new enemy, shielding themselves in the crevasses and caves that peppered the Northern Mountains.

That’s when I realized I couldn’t singlehandedly defeat Queen Beatrice’s army. But I kept fighting, determined to give the Fein warriors a break from fighting an unbeatable foe. The creepy corpses did seem to stay dead when I burned them.

“Return to camp!” , Cullen shouted in my head. “You shouldn’t run off by yourself with no plan other than ‘bring death.’ That’s how warriors get themselves killed.”

Aww, vampire boy was worried for my safety, which I should have found that sweet. But I couldn’t enjoy his concern when his emotions tightened like a vice around mine, making me jumpy and overly cautious when decisive actions were clearly needed here. So, I blocked him.

Despite the wall between our thoughts, I could still feel him reaching for me. A muted version of his prickling concern curled like ropes around my emotions. Foolish vampire . I was a dragon. A dreaded midnight dragon at that. Destruction was what I was born to do.

I cornered a troop of undead in a cave and began to roast them as if they were in muffins in an oven when the first wave of dizziness hit. I nearly fell from the sky before I managed to shake it off. I shot another burst of fire at the cave’s opening only to get hit with dizziness again. The world spun. I couldn’t tell up from down. I slammed into the rocky ground, breaking bones in both my wings.

Damn. That hurt.

The undead flooded out of the cave with spears ready to finish me off. Their bodies looked seared around the edges. Some were missing limbs and others had deformed faces thanks to my fire. But the creepy warriors were still in fighting form. Apparently, the only way to truly stop them was to reduce their bodies to ashes.

I wouldn’t be able to do that while the world was spinning around me faster than a child’s toy top. In a panic, I found a tiny spark of magic hidden deep inside my chest and used it to shift to air.

Thankful to still be alive, I raced back to the Fein’s camp and into the tent where Soren, Cullen, Celestina, Gray, and Raya were discussing strategy. By that time, I didn’t have enough magic left in me to turn into anything.

Despite my formless shape, Cullen spotted me.

“Amaya?”

“Yep.” I didn’t want to talk about it.

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Nothing. You’re literally nothing right now.”

“Very perceptive of you, Vampire.”

He adjusted his glasses. “ Ah. I see.”

He moved over to where Celestina was standing near a map that had been unrolled on to a broad wooden table and whispered in her ear.

Her gaze shot to the ceiling, missing where I was floating by yards.

Cullen wrapped his fingers around her wrist.

“What are you doing?” Soren growled.

Both Gray and Raya moved swiftly to separate Cullen from Celestina.

Cullen’s hands flew into the air. “I’m trying to help Amaya.”

“That’s what you said when ‘helping Amaya’ meant attacking us, drugging Sky Girl, and stuffing her into a dungeon,” Raya said. She looked two breaths away from stabbing Cullen in the eyeball. Oh, how I like her!

“Amaya is stuck in her air form. Prince Cullen asked me to help her,” Celestina explained in that soft voice of hers.

Soren bumped his chest against his brother’s. “And helping Amaya involves you touching my mate?”

Celestina pressed her hand to Soren’s chest and brushed a kiss against his willing lips. They kissed a bit longer than I thought was necessary, but the two were like that whenever they were together—touching, kissing, groping. “I can’t see Amaya when she’s air. Cullen can.”

Soren grumbled. But after Celestina pressed another kiss to his lips, he nodded to Gray and Raya for them to step out of the way.

Cullen once again took Celestina’s wrist in his hand and lifted it so her fingers brushed through me. Her fingertips sparked.

That little bit of magic did the trick. I dropped naked from the ceiling.

Cullen whipped off his cape and wrapped it around me as I lay in a helpless heap on the tent floor.

Celestina dropped to her knees on the floor next to me. “What happened?”

“Dragon fire eventually runs out,” I rasped. My eyes didn’t want to stay open. It took every ounce of energy to fight the darkness tugging at me. “I fought. But many of the undead hid from me. Too many.”

Celestina rubbed my arm. “You must rest.”

“You have given my warriors time to regroup,” Soren said as he paced. “Time we desperately needed.”

“Delaying the inevitable,” Cullen murmured. “Despite our superior strength, speed, and ability to heal ourselves, we’ll never be able to win against an enemy we cannot kill. What we need are more dragons.”

“The clan won’t come!” My voice cracked with emotion. “They hate you!” I didn’t know why admitting that brought tears to my eyes. I hated Cullen, too.

No, you don’t , my pesky inner voice corrected.

My feelings didn’t matter here though. Celestina was safe. The clan had tasked me to save her life and bring Soren back with me so the dragons could protect him. They had no desire to meddle in outside affairs. Except, that was wrong. Many in the clan did want to involve themselves. They saw Celestina’s return as the opportunity for the dragons to rebuild the fifth kingdom. And to do that, they needed to leave the plateau.

Celestina seemed to sense my turmoil. She seemed to understand that I needed to get away from the glaring eyes, that I needed some time alone to regain my strength and my emotional balance. She hooked her hands under my arms and helped me to my feet. “Let’s get you somewhere comfortable to rest. Raya, would you mind sharing your tent?”

“I’d be honored.” Raya rushed over and helped Celestina support me. The room spun in and out of focus. I’d never pulled this much magic. I’d never pushed myself so close to exhaustion. It was…disconcerting.

I…didn’t…like…how…everything…was…getting…gray…and…

fuzzy…

Cullen swept me off my feet and hugged me tightly against his warm chest. Having him hold me like this shouldn’t have made me feel so safe or so protected. “I’m taking her to my tent.”

Soren blocked the exit. “Are you sure that’s wise?”

Content to let Cullen take over my care, I snuggled into his arms, closed my eyes, and let my thoughts slide into the gray nothingness waiting for me on the flipside of consciousness. As the last remnants of my awareness faded, I heard Cullen tell his brother, “Protecting Amaya is the only thing I’m sure of.”

I didn’t hate that.