I glanced at the sacred arbor. Where I’d blasted the trunk, the bark glowed a furious pulsing red. Like superheated metal, it appeared solid but liquid at the same time. The texture of the bark shifted and moved, the craggy lines changing. Until it almost resembled… A face?
My breath caught, heart leaping. I knew that face.
“Sera?” I scrambled to collect my limbs, rushing to my feet. With a limping gait, I climbed over the mess I’d created until I stood before the glowing tree.
Heat radiated from its surface, hot enough to cause even me to wince. Outlined in the trunk was the figure of a woman. Before my eyes, she twisted and writhed. First, her arms emerged. Next, one slim leg, followed by the other. Serafina was a carving come to life, stepping out of an artist’s imagination. By slow degrees, her molten form cooled. Her glowing skin dimmed, the fiery color fading.
Her forest-green eyes glowed against alabaster skin, her face crowned by a spill of crimson curls. I raised a shaking hand, flinching when she grasped it.
With one touch, my mate freed me from grief’s chains as surely as she’d freed me from death’s clutches.
“You're real,” I groaned, every part of me vibrating with shock.
My mate blinked back at me, a tiny crease forming between her brows. Recognition flashed in her eyes. “Thorne?”
“Yes.” My voice broke, tears cascading down my cheeks. Yet I hesitated to embrace her, fearing she would disappear.
“I had the strangest dream. I was inside the tree, and everything was so lovely that I didn’t want to leave. For a time, I think I got lost in it all. When I called for you, I could feel you but not see you. And then I sensed your flame.” She rubbed her chest. “And I followed it. Here.”
Her beautiful gaze took me in, then warmed.
No longer able to resist, I drew her into my arms and held her tight. “It’s okay, Sera. You’re home now. And I am never letting you go. From now on, I plan to hold you captive in my heart, where I can love you forever.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
SERAFINA
Wind rakedthrough my untamed curls. I tightened my legs over my dragon’s back and threw my arms out wide.
“Woohoo,” I shouted at a bird flying by.
“Careful up there,”Thorne purred through our mental link.
Below us, Carcerem unfurled, patchwork fields stitched in gold and green. The earthy scent of freshly turned soil filled my senses. Farmers prepared for new crops. For growth.
From this height, I could see the repairs already underway at the colosseum. Scaffolding climbed the walls like spiders spinning webs. Red-tiled roofs clustered along lanes that were filled with people instead of monsters. Venders hawked their wares on street corners, cleared of rubble. Carcerem was alive and shining, her sacred tree pumping life into everything it touched.
While Victor seemed eager to have Thorne gone, we’d lingered for a few days to rest and heal. Also, to make amends for a certain dragon’s tantrum. Runa took it in stride, having grown up with two volatile brothers. One who could crush stone with a pinch of his fingers. Another who tended to incinerateanything that stood in his way. After defending their kingdom against the undead, the siblings were strangely subdued. Both agreed they’d had enough adventure for a time.
As for Thorne and me, we grew weary of standing in one place. It was time my mate and I took care of some unfinished business so we could move forward.
We angled north, away from the sea of roofs. Farmland gave way to scrub and rock, to shadows where the world felt older. The air grew thinner, sharper. I breathed it like a promise of things yet to come.
Thorne swooped low, and I let out a squawk of terror and delight. Below us, a herd of fluffy nerf scattered, hooves thundering against the ground. A cloud of white against a dark green landscape. Their cries of outrage caused me to grin.
I remembered a day not so long ago that I ran from the terrifying beast I currently rode. While I hid in the rotted log, I never would have believed that there would be a time when I would run to the dragon instead of away.
Gravestone Mountain rose from the horizon, a ridge of black stone scraping the sky. The moment it came into view, my laughter thinned, replaced by an ache I tried not to name.
“Get ready to land,”Thorne warned, and I gripped his spine.
Wind gusted beneath his wings, and he drew his head back, deadly talons reaching for the landing pad. We touched down with barely any jarring. Before I could climb down, blue sparks of magic erupted off the dragon’s scales, and my mate shifted.
I squealed as a pair of strong arms swept under my shoulders and legs.
Thorne’s skill was incredible. Not that I’d ever tell him so. Already, the Draconis was too full of himself.
“Hello, mate.” He grinned down at me.
