Another screech vibrated through the forest, shaking the trees. Then a gray blur fell from the sky, directly onto Mike’s prone body, causing him to scream in pain.
“Hey, dragonfly,” Cash said as he casually stepped off of my ex. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”
Twenty-Six
“Magnus, bank left that way. Her location is moving pretty quickly through the forest,” Effie said as she held up the map that had taken her and five other witches and warlocks to enchant. Daphne and Ambrose’s dot had stopped for a few hours, but as we approached it was on the move again.
Magnus, the giant rock dragon that I’d given a back tattoo of a Catholic saint, followed Effie’s directions and tilted to the left. Dallan and several of his other contacts were suiting up toward the back of the large leather saddle that Magnus had brought with him.
Riding on a dragon, especially a rock dragon, was a rarity. They were stubborn and tended to avoid people, but as soon as Dallan had put the call in Magnus was in Port Haven within an hour. Apparently he loved his tattoo so much that all Dallan had to say was jump and Magnus was ready to go. If things went well I was prepared to give him free tattoos for the rest of eternity, just so long as I got my mate back.
Dragons covered much more space than most winged creatures, so it only took an hour and a half to close the gap between Port Haven and Daphne’s location.
“All right,” Dallan said, adjusting the ammunition strap across his chest. He was dressed in all black and his usual colorful beanie was replaced by a black one. “You are faster and stronger than these hunters, but they have been trained to look for your weak points. Shoot to disable, not to kill. The human authorities will deal with them later.”
“Roger!” They all said in unison.
It was sometimes easy to forget that Dallan had been a huge presence in the supernatural underground before the Accords had been written, and was at his core, a soldier.
There was a nearly forty-year gap between supernatural creatures being exposed to society and the Accords that were put in place to protect them. Humans had treated it as a free for all to get rid of as many of us as possible, and Dallan and the rest of his people had worked to keep supernatural society safe, no matter the cost. Effie said it still gave him nightmares sometimes, but Dallan would never really talk about it.
“We’re close, nearly on top of them,” Effie said, glancing up from the map. She was dressed similarly in all black like the rest of the group, but had been told by Dallan that under no circumstances was she to leave the saddle.
Peering over the side, I squinted at the tree line, looking for Daphne. She’d been dressed in light clothing the last time I’d seen her, so it should have been no problem for my eyes to find her.
Then, my chest gave a rough thump, like it was trying to let me know that my mate was in my vicinity again. Daphne was my true north, and our bond would always point me in her direction and that direction was directly below us.
“I’m going first,” I shouted over my shoulder.
Dallan shook his head. “No, Cash wait for—”
But I was already off the side, the air whipping around me as I hurtled down towards the forest. A fall from this height would barely faze me, so I focused on trying to find where my heart song was.
Then I found her standing in the forest looking beaten and battered.
Time seemed to slow as I watched her ex lift the gun in his hand, and without thinking, I made the decision to use the motherfucker to soften my landing. Mike screamed as I felt something crunch underfoot.
Daphne’s eyes were wide as she took me in. Bumps, scrapes, and bruises seemed to cover every inch of her along with more blue-green blood than I’d ever seen before. One sniff and I realized it was Ambrose’s blood that she was wearing like a second skin.
“Hey, dragonfly,” I greeted her softly. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”
Whiskey eyes began to fill with tears and her legs buckled underneath her, forcing me to rush forward to catch her and sweep her off her feet.
Her entire body shook as I held her close and she let out a wail that just about broke my heart.
“I’ve got you, sorry it took me so long,” I whispered, carrying her away from the still groaning Mike. His back was definitely broken, but he’d probably live. I was half-tempted to go back and finish him off, but I was sure the human authorities wouldn’t look too kindly on me if I did that.
The sounds of gunshots filled the forest as Dallan’s men did their jobs and by the time I made it to where the scent of Ambrose’s blood was the strongest, all of the hunters had been completely subdued.
A few people were huddled around Ambrose as Effie busily poured concoctions from her bag into the wound on his neck.
“Will he be all right?” Daphne asked quietly.
“He’ll be fine, elves are pretty resilient,” I told her, squeezing her even closer to my chest. I was afraid that if I put her down, she’d disappear again.
Daphne glanced down at her bloody hands. “Not all of them are.”
“I see he finally told you his story,” Dallan said from the left of me as he joined our small circle.
