Page 29

Drágon

As we make our way upstairs to the sleeping rooms, my dragon thrashes through my thoughts.

He’s prancing and roaring, throwing waves of fire through my veins, pushing me to the point of bursting into flames.

I’m sure if you looked into my eyes, they would be molten pools of lava right now.

I’ve never experienced this before, and my dragonkin are too far away to be of any help in understanding what’s plaguing me.

Just as we reach the door to Paisley’s sick room, Byte comes stomping up the stairs behind me with a tablet in his hands. “Prez, it’s Lynsey. She says she needs to talk to you.” Lynsey and Que are on their way to Prisoner Island to drop off Marissa Hunt. I take the tablet from him.

“What do you need, little sister?” I address Lynsey .

“Drágon, Que, and I have arrived at the docks. However, Marissa has invoked the ancient tenet of Lost Soul’s Contrition before she’s banished.”

One of the age-old rules of Draconion or Dragon-kind law, known as the Lost Soul’s Contrition, dictates that the one being punished, like Marissa in this case, has the right to express her regret or sorrow for her sins or wrongdoings before punishment is meted out.

“I don’t have time for this,” I growl. But I know that we’re honor-bound to let Marissa express her sorrow. “Who does she wish to speak to?” My dragon’s stomping continues unabated.

“Miles,” Lynsey says flatly.

“What does she seek?”

“A Mercy Binding,” Lynsey sighs.

“Impossible!”

The person to whom the contrition or apology is made has the right to grant a Mercy Binding if they choose.

In this case, Miles can show leniency toward Marissa by allowing her a second chance or reducing the penalty by accepting part of the punishment himself.

It creates a delicate balance between mercy and justice.

However, this is typically applied in cases where the offender’s actions, although morally wrong or illegal, were motivated by altruism or a willingness to risk everything for the sake of others.

This doesn’t apply here. Marissa had no such selfless goals.

Instead, she carelessly destroyed families and lives without a second thought.

Even now, just asking for this reveals her selfish nature.

There would be no justice in affording her this time-honored rite. Nonetheless, it’s within Miles’ power.

And she really believes he will.

“Put her on screen,” I order.

Marissa’s pale face appears. I stare at her, unable to hide my disgust. After all Miles has endured because of her cruelty and infidelity, does she actually think he’d still show her mercy? That he’d take part of her punishment for helping him destroy the only real thing he ever had?

The delusion. Blind, oblivious delusion. It would almost be funny if it weren’t real life. She actually believes this is her happy ending, as if all the pain she’s caused doesn’t matter. Does she think Miles is hers by right, some paused life she can just press play on again when it suits her?

“How dare you even suggest such a thing!” I snarl, and she shrinks back.

My blood curdles as a sudden, sharp scream pierces the air from inside Paisley’s sick room.

My head snaps toward the sound. “What’s going on?

” I charge through the door, passing the tablet back to Byte without another thought.

There,just inside, I see a beautiful unconscious female on the bed, thrashing wildly.

“Save me! Save me!” she cries, her voice filled with panic, her hands outstretched, grasping at nothing.

The room echoes with her torment as she begins to convulse.

Miles rushes to her and lifts her into his arms. Byte stands to the side, holding the tablet facing outward, and I see Marissa on the screen, her face screwed up in anger, shouting unintelligibly.

My dragon roars when Miles touches Paisley, but I know I need to restrain myself, as it's evident that Paisley’s condition is deteriorating rapidly. It's at this point that everything fades out of my sight, and the vision I had last night surges into my consciousness.

The indigo night sky, the eclipsing purple moon, the colorful display of dragonkin dancing against the expanse of stars in the heavens.

The female, whose hand I kiss, our vow. The other male abandoning his bond with our female. Her devastation, her pleading look to me .

“Save me!” She cries, her voice raw with pain. “Help me!”

“How?” I ask, my voice filled with desperation.

“True love’s kiss,” answers the disembodied voice.

As the dream recedes, I emerge from it as if pulling myself from a thick, clear gel, slipping slowly but with a sharp pop of release.

My vision clears, and reality snaps back.

The pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

My vision's key players are here: me, Paisley, Miles, and Marissa.

The female of my dream is Paisley, the one lying on the bed with Miles wrapped around her.

Her convulsions continue unabated, and she chants without stopping.

“Save me! Save me!”

“Save me! Save me!” I echo her words from the vision, whispering. “True love’s kiss.”

“Save me! Save me!”

“True love’s kiss!” I shout in the pandemonium as my dragon thunders inside me viciously. I barely have him restrained.

“That’s what she’s been saying all day in her delirium: ‘True love’s kiss.’I don’t know what it means,” The female, who I suppose is the med tech, Rachel, states.I can barely hear her over Marissa’s vitriol over the tablet and the excited chattering of everyone else in the room.

“Quiet!” I command as my Alpha power washes over everyone, and even Marissa shuts up. Deathly silence fills the room, except for Paisley’s frantic, breathy words on repeat.

“Save me! Save me!”

“Mute her,” I order Byte, pointing to the tablet displaying Marissa’s twisted visage. “Keep her facing this direction; she is necessary for this.” Byte does as I say, as Marissa’s mouth moves furiously in silent screams, no sound escaping.

I quickly share with the others in the room the vision I had last night, giving as much detail as I can without prolonging Paisley's suffering. Then, I reveal the prophecy:

“Two mate bonds were created before the world began—one of ice, the other of fire. The first will shatter you; the second will restore you with a true love’s kiss.

Within you, both were meant to join, but deceit tore the bonds apart.

The choice is yours: choose both, choose one, or neither.

In your choice, true happiness will be found.

Decide, and your heart will be healed, and your path will be sealed. ”

Miles is on the bed, rocking Paisley. Her face is a lifeless pale, her pallor revealing her exhausted and weakening condition. I'm sitting on Paisley's other side, still shaking and chanting.

“Miles, based on my vision, I believe you and I were meant to be Paisley’s true mates. However,” I say, pointing to Marissa, “she helped you destroy the bond between you and Paisley before you two were even born, and she did so again here over the last year.”

He drops his head into Paisley’s neck and breathes deeply, lamenting.

“I know, I had a visit from the moon mother, but I have to try. I can’t see a future without her in it.

” He looks up and glares at the tablet, where Marissa’s shocked face stares back.

She’s on mute but can still hear every word we say.

“I can’t believe I let Marissa cost me my true mate. I knew it, as I did it, but I didn’t stop.”

I watch as Miles lowers his head and gently kisses Paisley’s lips, but nothing happens. She continues to chant breathlessly despite his touch.

“Save me! Save me!”

Miles, realizing that he will not be able to save her with “true love’s kiss,” contorts in anguish as he begins to sob, his mouth still pressed to hers. Tears slip down his face, bathing her in his pain. He sinks his face into the slope of her neck, where the mate mark would be, and howls.

Though thoroughly territorial, my dragon accepts that Miles is no competition and allows him to say his goodbyes.

Miles pulls away from Paisley and looks at the tablet once more. He shouts, “I hate you, Marissa!” He moves to the back of the room and tries to gather himself.

My dragon urges me to take Paisley into my arms, so I do.

Looking at this beauty, fire burns in my heart, licking through my veins.

I know her not only from my vision but on a visceral level.

The moment I touch her, the chanting stops, and she sighs.

I push her hair from her face and wipe away the moisture from Miles’ tears.

Caressing her plump bottom lip with my thumb, I admire her perfect cupid’s bow.

I press a chaste kiss on her mouth, and she gasps.

I dip my tongue to hers, and I’m instantly transported.

The room around us begins to melt away, and I feel pulled, like being sucked into a whirlpool.

My hand cradled her head, my other arm around her waist, so soft, binding me to her even as we were tugged deeper into the vortex.

She begins to respond by kissing me back, tasting like honey, and I drown in her, consumed by the kiss .

The air around us feels sultry and dark. The room disappears, replaced by the world of my vision–an indigo night sky, a purple eclipsing moon, the heavens filled with colors.

I look down and find her eyes open, and she's smiling at me, still wrapped in my arms.

“Are you here to save me?” she asks, her voice as sweet and desperate as the kiss we shared.

“No,” I reply. “You're here to save me.”