Page 16 of Must Love Dragons (Sable Cove #4)

Note to self: Surviving an abduction and warlock battle entitles one to a week off work.

Kinsley sat in the passenger seat of her car while Zay drove, Lyra and Rorik in the back seat. The other dragons were driving with Venice, who was followed by Brody and Delaney.

She’d met Zay’s family and clan members briefly before they separated into vehicles and headed back to Sable Cove. They all wanted to get as far away as possible from the port and the death and destruction left behind.

“What did you think of my dragon?” Zay asked.

“You’re big as hell and you can breathe fire like a blowtorch. I think you’re pretty dang magical for a shifter.”

“Well,” he said, reaching for her hand and giving it a squeeze, “I think of the two of us, you’re the magical one. Magical, powerful, perfect.”

“We’re two of a kind,” she said.

“You guys are so sweet,” Lyra said. “I can’t believe how everything turned out.”

“It’s been a wild couple of days,” Zay said.

Kinsley agreed one hundred percent.

When they reached the rescue, Brody brought out clothes for Zay and he dressed quickly and then gave Kinsley another hug.

“You’re okay, right?” he asked. “Do you need to be healed at all?” He looked at her wrists, which had healed as soon as the cuffs were removed.

“I’m good. You?”

“Now that you’re safe, I could be missing a limb and still be happy.”

She grinned.

“How about we go see your uncle?”

“Lead the way.”

The dragons had helped Rorik into the storage room and onto the couch.

He looked better than when she’d seen him in the warehouse because she’d been able to use her magic to start his healing process, but he’d been drained of blood for several days, and that had taken a toll on every aspect of his physical health.

“Let’s heal him, shall we bestie?” Delaney asked, turning from one of the shelves with a handful of items needed to help facilitate the healing spell.

“Will this hurt?” Lyra asked as she watched in fascination while the two of them prepped for the spell.

“Good magic healing doesn’t hurt,” Delaney said. “It’s warmth and light and love. It can feel odd, but it’s not meant to make things worse.”

“We’ll be helping his body recover from the abuse he suffered, basically amping up his natural accelerated healing abilities,” Kinsley said.

Kinsley had been healed occasionally over the years with spells, so she was speaking from first-hand experience.

She’d once had a jar explode from being overheated and shards of glass had embedded in her palm.

And another time she’d needed a healing spell was when she’d been playing with Nysa in the woods and tripped on a root and broke her ankle.

“Where’s my cat anyway?” Kinsley asked.

As if on cue, she strutted into the room with a curious meow, hopping onto the couch. Rorik put his hand on her and she purred loudly, whiskers twitching.

She and Delaney got to work, casting a healing spell that pooled both of their powers together to make it work faster and restore Rorik to his full health.

When the spell was finished, Delaney accepted Rorik’s thanks and left the room with Brody and Venice.

Kinsley rose to her feet, feeling both exhausted and energized, and Zay joined her, pulling her close.

“So let’s hear it,” Zay said to his uncle. “Tell us everything.”

Rorik nodded. He cleared his throat and shared what had happened, from the research he’d done to locate the warlocks, to finding them at the port, then going off to hunt them down himself.

“I wish you’d let us know before you left,” Zay said. “Obviously you went off half-cocked, but you were still drowning in grief and I blame myself for that.”

“You shouldn’t,” Rorik said. “My actions were my own.”

“But I should have been more supportive. All I did was push away any talk about the warlocks or our loss, I was consumed with keeping anyone from knowing where we were.”

“But that was smart,” Ronan said. “The warlocks were dangerous and if they’d known where we were, they would have come for us just as surely as the sun is going to rise in a few hours.”

Zay’s hand tightened on Kinsley’s waist. “The important thing is that we’re all safe and together. We can just move on from everything that happened, and it’ll be a hell of a lot easier since the warlocks are dead.”

“Thank freaking goodness,” Sierra said.

Zay gave Kinsley a nudge. “Can we all catch some sleep in your house?”

“Absolutely. And we have Delaney’s and Hadlee’s homes that are empty on either side of mine, too. We’ve got room for everyone.”

They stopped to talk to Delaney, Brody, and Venice, everyone deciding to get together for dinner that night.

“Hadlee’s coming in this afternoon,” Delaney said as she walked out to Kinsley’s car, handing over the keys to her own car so they all could get to the houses. “She wanted to see you and meet your mate. Anders is coming and a few of the falcons, too.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to see her, it’s been ages.”

Kinsley gave Delaney a hug. “Thank you so much for everything. For finding me, fighting with me, being the best bestie on the planet.”

“That’s what family is for.”

Kinsley turned and saw Zay behind the wheel of her car, and she smiled.

Her sexy dragon was waiting for her.

She finally felt like everything was coming together.

* * *

That night, Kinsley sat at one of three picnic tables with Zay, Delaney, Brody, Hadlee, and her falcon shifter mate, Anders.

The others sat around them at other tables, food passing between new friends and old friends, the conversation light as everyone was filled with a sense of relief and thankfulness.

She’d been so excited to see Hadlee. She was positively glowing.

“I can’t believe I missed all the fun,” Hadlee said as she carefully picked the celery from the chicken salad on her sandwich.

“Abductions and magic battles are fun?” Kinsley asked, arching her brow high.

“You know what I mean,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “The last time we were in a good versus evil battle it was that warlock who came for Flora.”

“Yeah, when I lost half my damn house,” Brody said.

“Wait, what?” Zay asked.

“Warlocks are only bad news if they’re messing with dark magic.

It corrupts,” Kinsley said. She told them about the abandoned kitten Flora who’d shown up at the rescue and the evil warlock who tried to take them out trying to get to the kitten.

With Brody and Venice fighting with them, their coven had been able to save the kitten and put the warlock away for good.

“You’re not a danger magnet are you?” Zay whispered in Kinsley’s ear.

“I’ll get myself demagnetized.” She winked at him and he grinned.

Rorik stood and lifted his glass. “I want to toast…everything. To new friends who fight like hell to keep us together and to the Vohn Clan and the new adventures that await. Thank you. All of you. Cheers.”

He lifted his glass higher, and everyone lifted their glasses in cheer.

Kinsley clinked her glass against Zay’s and smiled as she took a drink.

When the meal was finished and everything was cleaned up, Zay accompanied Kinsley into the rescue, and she spoke to Delaney about taking time off so she could spend it with Zay in his clan’s home.

“I have an idea,” Hadlee said.

“What’s that?” Kinsley asked.

“Anders and I were planning to take time away from the island. I haven’t been around in a while, and it’ll be good for me to spend time with the familiars.

Plus,” she said, looking down at her cat and swan familiars at her feet, “they could use a change of scenery. So you take the week off, and Anders and I will stay at my house and take your shift at the rescue.”

“Maybe I could go flying with Galahad,” Anders said.

“I bet he’d love that,” Delaney said.

Kinsley hugged her friends. “Thank you guys so much. I’ll be back in a week.”

“Do you think you’ll really be back?” Delaney whispered, glancing at Zay who was talking to Venice and Brody on the back porch. “Like for good?”

“Oh. Well, I mean I know I’ll be back, but I don’t know what the future holds. I mean, he did just decide he liked me.”

“Yeah, he had his head up his ass for way too long,” Delaney said.

“Males can be like that,” Anders said. “Even the best ones.”

“We’ll figure things out as we go,” Kinsley decided. “I’m just so glad I finally found my truemate.”

She said goodbye to her besties and the rescue familiars and went to see Zay. They headed to her home with the dragons, where they waited while she packed a duffel bag, and zipped Nysa into a soft-sided carrier that she could strap across her chest.

“I hope she doesn’t mind flying,” Kinsley said. “I also hope I like it and don’t barf.”

Zay chuckled. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. You’re a fierce fire witch.”

Lyra offered to carry her bag, hooking it onto her shoulder. “It’s not a long flight but it’s chilly up there so grab a sweater.”

“Good idea.”

Kinsley hurried back into the house for a sweater and pulled it on, then secured Nysa to her chest. She watched Zay strip and shift into his dragon in the backyard. He scooped her and Nysa up, her cat mewing in protest at the sudden change in altitude, then going quiet once they took to the air.

The dragons flew with them, heading toward Ashwood Hollow, Sable Cove disappearing behind them. She was entirely at peace, feeling close to Zay as he held her tight and soared through the clouds.

She’d never felt so safe before, so very well protected, as she did in her dragon’s arms.