But Vivian is shaking her head. “I’m not going back down there. Fi. You know I love you, but no.”
It’s too dangerous anyway. I turn to Seb. “Take them both out of here. I’ll get Donovan.”
“I’m going with you,” Fiona says, clinging to me.
I shake my head.
“I’m the only one who knows the code to unlock his cell door.”
“Then tell it to me.”
“No! We’ve already figured out that bad things happen when we’re apart, Connor. Let’s do this. Together.”
I stare down at her for a second, my fierce, flinty mate. Despite everything, she looks strong, healthy. There’s a spark in her eye. She kicks off her shoes and pulls me toward the door that must lead to the main house while Seb ushers Vivian toward the side exit.
“Aren’t you afraid?” I whisper as we exit the chapel doors and move into the rear of the house.
“Not anymore. I knew you would come for me. I knew you would never let that guy force me into marriage.”
“But the stress, you’re not feeling ill?” I study her, looking for any signs the fibro is back.
She stops in front of a door with a keypad and blinks at me. “Being in Roman’s web was terrifying, but it could have been much worse.” Her eyes widen. “Speaking of, do you still have that fucking marriage license?”
I remember the paper Roman handed to me when he thought I was Burk and find it in my pocket. She snatches it from my hand and tears it to pieces.
“Allow me.” I take the pieces from her and, with a deep breath, blow fire across my palm. We watch the ashy remains of the paper float to the polished floors.
Stony faced, she lifts her chin high, then turns back to the door and punches in a code to unlock it. We descend into a metal bunker transformed into a dungeon, and when I see Donovan, a lump forms in my throat. He is sweating, pale, unconscious. A dragon very close to death.
I’ve never been the type of male to cry easily, but Donovan has always been a hero to me. Every Zodiac warrior knows his story and his sacrifice. Since I was a boy, training at my father’s side, I’ve thought of him as an invincible force in dragon society, a peacekeeper, a guardian of us all. To see him like this, it crushes something childlike and innocent inside me. It mutes a tiny voice that still believes in purpose and destiny and the creator’s gentle hand.
Fiona codes open his cell and rushes in, removing the tube that’s draining blood from his arm and using a torn section of her dress to stem the hole the needle leaves behind. I move to his other side and slap his cheek to tryto rouse him, then cup the back of his neck to keep his head from rolling to the side.
“Donovan? Donovan? Are you still with us?”
He doesn’t rouse.
“I’m going to have to go into his head.” I look to Fiona, and she nods.
“Go. I’ll keep watch.”
Drawing in a deep breath, I close my eyes and dive in. The familiar blackness meets me, and then I find myself sitting next to Donovan in an empty theater. Scenes flash on the screen in front of us, but I turn my full attention on the dragon beside me.
I grab him by his shoulders. “You’ve got to wake up,” I say. “We can get you out of here, back to Cardinal Island where we can heal you.”
Donovan doesn’t even look at me. His eyes are locked on the screen.
When I still can’t get his attention, I follow his stare to what’s happening behind me. The scene playing now is of him and a much younger Stefan swimming in a pond. They’re laughing, splashing. Then a picnic. Then a walk in the park. Two hands, fingers entwined. Two faces on the same pillow, whispering in the dark.
“Donovan?” I swallow as more images come. Quiet dinners. Stefan kissing the scar on his palm where the Order sliced him for his blood.
“He was my mate,” Donovan finally says, his red eyes shifting to look at me.
“Was?” I swallow hard.
His eyes move back to the screen. Roman and Stefan are arguing about leadership of the Order whileDonovan frantically pulls at the blue cuff that keeps him prisoner, the cuff that makes it impossible for him to disobey an order from a member of the society. Roman draws a blade from a messenger bag on his hip. No, not a blade, a massive claw. A dragon claw. Ancient by the looks of it.
Stefan is confused and asks what he’s doing, where he got it. But Roman’s already swinging. The claw cuts through his father’s throat, almost severing his head. Blood spews. Stefan’s body collapses to the sound of Donovan’s howls of agony and rage. The claw is gone, and then Roman removes the cuff on Donovan’s leg.
