An instant later, Dash opened his eyes as Renata’s wand turned snow white in Tanis’s hand.
Unsure of what had happened, Tanis sat there completely frozen.
Halla flew to their side. “Sire... Your horn. It’s two colors.”
“What?” Dash asked.
Marthen manifested a mirror and stepped forward with it to show Dash. “Your horn is now black and gold. Has anyone ever seen or heard of this?”
Everyone in the room shook their head. Dash changed into his human form so that he could hold his wand in his hand and examine it. He ran his hand reverently over the golden edge of the spiral. “Dragon tears,” he whispered.
Tanis scowled. “What?”
Laughing, he cupped her cheek in his hand. “We all forgot about the magical power of dragon tears. There’s nothing stronger than a dragon’s love.”
“But I’m not a dragon.”
Brushing her hair back from her cheek, he smiled at her. “Your body may be human, but you still have the heart and soul of a dragon.” He rubbed his cheek against hers. “Your precious tears saved me, Dragon.”
Laughing, she wrapped her arms around him. “Don’t you ever die on me again, beast!”
Dash pulled back to look at the group in his room. “Would the lot of you give us a few minutes alone?”
Halla crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m thinking you two need a chaperone.”
Dash narrowed an evil glare at her. “Don’t make me pull your wings off, goblin.”
Halla turned herself into a regularsized human so that she could hug Dash. “I’m glad you’re here to threaten me again, Sire.”
One by one, they filed out of the room.
Dash wiped the tears from her face, then held his hand up so that he could stare at the moisture on his skin. “I hate that I made you cry.”
“If it really saved your life, I’m glad that you did.”
His expression turned soft and loving as he stared at her in awe. “What are we going to do, Dragon?”
“How do you mean?”
“Our pact... for you to return to your body, you have to kill the one who murdered your brother.”
Not the human dragon slayer she’d made the pact to kill.
Her sister.
Tanis felt the color drain from her face. She was going to have to kill Reva in order to become a dragon again. That was something she’d never planned on or thought about when she’d made that deal with Dash.
Davin’s killer was supposed to be a human she hated. Not an older sister she loved.
What have I done?
But as she looked up into those clear, green eyes, she realized that being a dragon would mean never staring into those eyes again. Never snuggling with him or sitting in his lap as she was currently doing.
“What’s wrong, Dragon?”
“Did you mean what you said to me?”
“I never say anything I don’t mean.”
