Page 67 of Magic Claimed

Callum sighed, released me, and moved towards his brother. Pulled Ryker’s head into his shoulder and clasped his arm in a firm grip.

“Thank you,” he said quietly. “I know that can’t have been easy, and I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, you stupid lizard,” Ryker choked out. “Just don’t do it again.”

“I’ll try.”

They pulled apart. Ryker swiped at his eyes with his sleeve, and then it was as if a switch flipped and they were back to normal. Like nothing had ever happened.

Boys.

“Seriously though, how are you?”

Callum shrugged with studied nonchalance. “Up and breathing,” he said. “Beyond that, I think only time will tell. You want to fill me in?”

For some reason, he wasn’t ready to tell Ryker what he’d told me, and a sick current of apprehension coiled around mygut. Why not share that with his brother, unless it meant something far more dire than I’d realized?

“First thing you should know,” I blurted out. “Angelica says the Shapeshifter Council is sending someone here to check up on you. They found out what happened at the Fae Court, and now they’re accusing her of hiding the fact that you’re dead.”

Callum’s expression turned to ice.

“Also,” Ryker added, “whatever poison they used, we’re pretty sure it wasn’t just intended for fae. I don’t think you were an accidental target.”

“I wasn’t.”

This time, even Ryker couldn’t miss the bleakness in his tone. The red dragon was suddenly poised and tense, regarding his brother with razor-sharp focus and a dangerous edge. “What’s wrong?”

Callum hesitated.

“Don’t youdarehide this from me,” Ryker growled. “At leastpretendthat you respect me enough to tell me the truth.”

“I can’t shift,” Callum said flatly. “My body is whole, but my magic is completely sealed off. I can’t feel the dragon at all.”

Ryker blanched. “And your bond?” he asked, glancing at me with a taut expression.

“I can’t feel that either.”

I thought I was prepared to hear it, but I still flinched, and Callum saw it.

“This changesnothing,” he said, and even though I knew the harshness in his tone was not for me, it still stung. “Not about my feelings for you. I told you before, this isn’t just about magic for me.”

I knew that. I did, but it didn’t stop the fear and doubt from creeping in.

“We aren’t going to lose hope,” Ryker said firmly. “And this might actually be a good thing. It means we can start narrowing down the possibilities for the poison. There aren’t a lot that can do that to a shapeshifter.”

Bless Ryker for being such an optimist. In that moment, there was no part of me that could see this as a good thing. Not when it had left my indomitable dragon as little more than a shadow of his usual self.

“So what else do I need to know?” Callum asked. “Did you find the herbalist Rath was looking for?”

“I haven’t heard,” I admitted. “We were ambushed that night.”

His expression went fierce and almost feral before I added, “But we were fine. Kira did her dragon thing and I…” I shrugged a little sheepishly. “I think I might have killed a few turtles.”

Both dragons looked utterly confused, but thankfully I didn’t have to explain because that’s when the apartment door opened to admit Angelica, followed by Logan, Kira, Faris, and Morghaine.

Where was Ethan?

Faris dropped into a chair and rubbed the back of his neck, looking more exhausted than I’d ever seen him.