Life.
Bond.
“Good,” Lavendera says after Draven and I have repeated the words in unison. “Now, you need to shift into a dragon for this final part.”
Draven nods and then walks a short distance away so that he won’t crush us when he turns into a dragon.
Black smoke washes over the plains as he shifts.
Then he is standing there on the grass in his majestic dragon form. I’ve seen it so many times now, but I’m still filled with awe every single time I look at him like this. Sunlight glints in his golden eyes while the black scales across his body almost seem to swallow the light, making him look like a true shadow of death there above us.
“Selena, now you will press your bleeding palm against his face,” Lavendera says.
Draven lowers his massive head until his jaw is resting on thegrass right in front of me. His eyes gleam in the light as he opens his mouth slightly, revealing long and incredibly sharp teeth. A low rumbling comes from deep within his chest. I can practically hear the teasing challenge.
Walking up to him, I just arch an eyebrow at him while a slight smile plays over my lips. “Oh, you know you can’t scare me, Shadow of Death.”
He snaps his teeth together.
I jump.
Warm air washes over me as he lets out an amused huff through his nostrils. I didn’t think it was possible for a dragon to smirk, but if anyone can, it’s Draven.
I give him a look that promises delicious revenge before glancing over my shoulder to ask Lavendera, “Do I need to say anything or just place my palm there?”
“Just place it there on the scales between his nostrils. Once you do, the union bond will form between you. You should feel it like a tether between your minds. When you want to close it, you just imagine unhooking your side of the tether. And when you want to open it again, you just imagine hooking your side back on. Both partners obviously need to have their side hooked on for the bond to be open.”
“Alright.”
Turning back to Draven, I draw in a deep breath to calm my suddenly pounding heart.
This time, Draven’s face is serious, and he lowers his head as far as physically possible so that I can reach that spot at the front of his nose, between his nostrils. I still have to stand on tiptoes to reach it.
Blood slides down the inside of my forearm as I stretch my arm upwards and then press my bleeding palm against Draven’s hard scales.
A force pulses into my palm and through my entire body like a shockwave.
And just like Lavendera said, it feels as if a soft tether flows between my mind and Draven’s. It’s similar to our mate bond, which I feel connected to my chest rather than my mind, but it’s less intimate. This feels more like the bond to a friend rather than the deep bond of a life partner.
“Now this is a surprise,”Draven says.
Inside my mind.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Jumping back, I whip my head from side to side in search of Draven even though he is right in front of me. But I just can’t reconcile the fact that Draven is in his dragon form, but I can still hear his voice. That shouldn’t be possible.
“So youcanhear me,”Draven says in my mind, and I can practically hear the smirk in his voice.“This really is an interesting development.”
“I can hear you,” I blurt out like an idiot, and then I look back at Lavendera over my shoulder. “I can hear him! In my head.”
A ripple goes through both the other dragon shifters and my fellow fae, and they all look between me and Draven in surprise.
“Oh, did I forget to mention that?” Lavendera says. She lets out a soft laugh. “Yes, while the union bond is open, you can communicate through your mind.”
“That’s amazing,” Galen says, staring between me and Draven in surprise and approval. “That will make it so much easier to coordinate how to fight together as a unit.”
“Wait,” Alistair interjects, sounding slightly panicked. “So if we create this bond with a dragon shifter, they can hear all of our thoughts?”
