Mallory stared and her mouth fell open. Her eyes were wide but not with terror, but with awe so pure it nearly broke him.
“You’re…” she breathed. “You’re beautiful.”
The word anchored him.
Jakob lowered his massive head and carefully gathered her against his chest, his scaled claws gentle despite their size. She was so small. So fragile.
And he loved her.
Go,his dragon urged.
Jakob leapt into the air and his wings beat hard against the mountain air. Mallory pressed her face against him and murmured, barely audible over the rush of air, “I love you. All of you. Human and dragon.”
Jakob closed his eyes as he carried her to safety.
For the first time in his life, the dragon didn’t feel like a curse.
It felt like home.
CHAPTER 26
Mallory
Mallory drifted in and out of awareness as Jakob moved her around. Her body wouldn’t respond enough so she could find out where they were going.
Jakob’s arms were locked around her, strong and unyielding, as if his grip alone could keep her blood inside her body. Each step jarred her wounds and sent white-hot pain streaking through her ribs and shoulder. She tried to tell him she was still alive and wanted to tell him not to look so afraid, but not even her mouth would cooperate.
The world narrowed to fragments. Shadows that leapt along vaulted walls, and Jakob’s voice, rough and breaking as he called for the healers.
Then hands were on her to lift her from Jakob’s arms and onto a narrow bed. The scent of crushed herbs filled her lungs, sharp and familiar, tugging at something buried deep in her mind.
She slipped under again.
When Mallory surfaced, the ceiling swam above her, blurred by tears she didn’t remember shedding. Pain pulsed insteady waves, but it was muted now and dulled by magic and medicine.
“She’s losing less blood,” a woman’s voice said gently. “The spell is holding.”
Mallory turned her head, slow and heavy, and saw her.
White hair pulled into a neat bun. Deep lines around sharp, kind eyes. A familiar tilt of the head that made something click into place inside her chest.
Ingrid.
The name came to her all at once and with it, a flood of memory so vivid it stole her breath.
Fur and teeth and screaming. Jakob saving her. Waking up in this very room, terrified and shaking while Ingrid pressed a warm cloth to her forehead and told her she was safe. That she was brave. That healing took time, but it always came.
Flying.
Mallory sucked in a sharp breath. She had flown.
“I know this place,” she whispered.
Ingrid froze mid-motion. “You… do?”
Jakob was suddenly at her side again with one hand gripping the edge of the bed as if it were the only thing keeping him upright. “Mallory?”
She swallowed hard, her throat burning. “The cat. After the attack. I was here before.” Her gaze locked on Ingrid’s face, details sharpening as recognition settled. “You stayed with me all night.”
