Dashiell flinched back, his face twisted with fury, but he closed his mouth and kept it closed, even as Luka hooked a claw over his armor and dragged him to the far side of the beach—closer to the cave entrance but further away from Izzy.
It still wasn’t safe to leave. The storm had died down, but Luka didn’t know the rocks or currents, or what other lethal obstacles might surround the cave entrance, and he didn’t want to find out in the dark with Izzy in his arms. The broken hoist with its narrow access shaft that would never hold his drake wasn’t an option either.
All he wanted was to shift back to his human body and hold her in his arms, but he could protect her far better as a drake, so that was how he stayed. His beast could watch Dashiell as they waited out the night.
He stalked across the sand and landed heavily on the boat to look around. A set of small wooden casks opened with a flick of his claws to reveal bulging waterskins, dried fruit in clay jars, and hard oatcakes wrapped in oiled paper. Enough food and water for a couple of days, but no more. Where exactly had Dashiell planned to go? He glared at him, but Dashiell had closed his eyes and was pretending to sleep.
Luka gently laid the food ready for when Izzy woke and then curled around her, tucking her under his wing. He wanted her protected, warm, and safe, and he needed to feel her breathing. He needed to know she was beside him.
He was never going to lose her again.
Chapter
Forty
Izzy groanedand forced her gummy eyes to open. She didn’t want to acknowledge the ache in her muscles or the lingering tenderness in her belly. She wanted to stay where she was. She was warm and sleepy and…. Was that a wing covering her?
She rubbed her eyes with her fists, taking in the large dragon coiled protectively around her, one wing draped over her like a hot blanket of scales and safety.
Luka’s wing rustled as he turned to watch her. “How are you feeling?”
“Okay, I think.”
His huge snout pushed against her, sniffing gently as if he was searching for wounds or sickness. “Are you sure?”
The muscles around where the knife had pierced her were in a spasm, and her whole body felt like she’d fallen down a cliff, but nothing seemed to be torn. Besides being utterly exhausted, she really did feel okay. “I think so. Just very thirsty,” she admitted.
Luka uncurled enough to drag a pile of waterskins, oatcakes, and fruit closer to her with a big claw, and she gladly grabbed a waterskin and drank messily. The movement pulled against the cramping muscles in her belly, but she ignored the discomfortuntil she’d finally satisfied her raging thirst. Then she gingerly lifted her chemise to take a look. The wound was closed, but a large area under her ribs and down her side was covered in dull, grayish scales as if a scar had formed.
Izzy ran her thumb over the pale, ridged scales, struck by how very close she’d come to death. She was only alive now because of Luka’s quick thinking and her beast’s incredible strength.
Our strength, her beast rumbled.Together.
She stilled, letting the thought flow over her, truly appreciating it. She’d shifted! The power hidden inside the mountain had flowed through her veins. She’d flexed her muscles, and her wings had unfurled, stretching out, fierce and magnificent at her back.
Her beast chuckled smugly, and Izzy laughed with her. She was alive! And she could shift! Maybe one day she could even fly.
Her joy was contagious, and Luka laughed too. Great rumbles vibrated through the drake coiled around her while his big eyes gleamed with delight.
As their laughter slowly faded, she became more aware of the cave around them. The lamp they’d hung up the day before had gone out, but a dim, silvery light suffused the air, as if the storm had passed and the sun had finally risen. But as they sobered, the aching pain in her side came back, and so did her worries.
What did it mean that Luka had stayed in his beast form? She trusted the beast, but the man had walked away too many times to be certain that he wouldn’t do it again. Once the danger passed—when he went back to his life in the castle, and she went back to the city—what then?
He’s our mate, her beast muttered, as if that would solve everything. She might have argued back, but her beast stilled, listening intently, before asking,Can you hear that?
“What is it?” she asked softly.
People outside, moving quietly.
Izzy forced herself to stand, one hand bracing the spasmed muscles in her side. “My beast heard something.”
Luka rumbled. “Yes, it’s Shane and Ryland. I expect they just found the entrance to the temple.”
“How do you know?” Izzy whispered.
“I’m close to the mountain here. In this body, I hear more. Ifeelmore. The people above move like soldiers, and they’re searching…. They’re worried. Only our friends would move like that.” He chuckled. “And I heard them shouting.”
“Why didn’t you call back to them?” Izzy asked.
