Page 16 of Dark Dragon’s Wolf

And without her dragon, she was too vulnerable to Gen-X. She couldn’t go to Earth, or try to have a life. She was stuck here with nothing but ghosts.

Tristan said, “I want to go back.”

She stared at him “What?”

“If I can get in there once, maybe I can do it again. Maybe, if I go back, I can convince her to come out.”

“No offense, but why would she listen to you?”

Tristan shrugged. “Maybe she won’t. But this is the closest anyone has gotten to her. Even Brock could just barely sense her. He didn’t actually see her.”

That was true. Brock Reilly was the shifter animal whisperer, and he’d hardly made any progress with her dragon.

Tristan said, “I’m thinking… when you healed me from that wound on my neck—when you saved my life—maybe it gave us some kind of connection. And if I could use that connection to talk to your dragon…”

It might work. For the first time in a long time, Mayah felt a tiny ray of hope.

“Let me help you,” Tristan said. “Let me help her.”

And if they were connected, she could help him too. Fix whatever damage he’d done to his brain when he’d used it as a weapon to protect her.

While he was talking to her dragon, she’d be helping him. And then maybe, when she knew he was healed and he could have a good life, somehow she could let him go.

“Okay,” she said. “Let’s try it. Tonight.”

Chapter 7

They had to wait until late, because Mayah had a date to watch chick flicks with Trish while Emon took care of some administrative business.

Tristan tried not to mind. He knew Mayah didn’t want to cancel. Trish was her only friend here, and Mayah looked forward to their girls’ nights.

And they didn’t want to have to explain to anyone what they were trying to do, either. Not until they figured out if it would work.

He spent the intervening time in his room trying to get some rest so his brain wouldn’t collapse into goo when he tried to go back to the dragon’s lair.

But he kept finding himself pacing restlessly. He felt like this was his last chance to do something for Mayah. To heal and protect her.

To make sure she didn’t turn into one of his failures—one of his ghosts.

Finally, it was time.

They’d decided to do it up on the top of the main tower—someplace out of the way but safe, where they could see the sky, and with enough room for Mayah to Change if her dragon really did decide to come out.

There was an awkward silence after they greeted each other. Mayah looked nervous, and Tristan’s head was aching.

“So, I guess we should just do this?” he said.

“Okay. Um. How should we do it?”

Tristan approached her hesitantly, and put his hands gently on either side of her face. He felt a fierce desire to kiss her again, but nothing but bad things lay down that road.

He closed his eyes, inhaling her scent, and went searching for her dragon.

He built a picture of her lair in his mind, including every detail he could think of: The shape of the dark, shadowy cave. The barred door. The shadowy mounds of… something… that lined the interior. The way they seemed to move when he wasn’t looking at her.

The dragon. The feel of her huge presence. Her glowing green eyes.

He felt a rushing wind at his back, and it picked him up and carried him along, as if he’d fallen into a river in flood.