Page 55 of Dark Dragon’s Wolf

Inside was a dragon. He was in human form, wearing a jeweled collar that undoubtedly kept him from Changing or using any of his magic. But his eyes were glowing purple, with slit pupils. And he was staring right at her.

His voice boomed in her mind. Can you see me? Can you hear me?

Yes. Who are you?

Larkin. Of the Terrak-abi Clan. Can you free me?

I don’t know. We didn’t know there were any other dragons in here.

You must try. Please. If you can just get this collar off me…

I’m not really here, she said. I can’t touch you.

But your magic has negated the wards. Perhaps it could negate the magic holding the collar on?

Mayah hesitated. They weren’t ready to start setting people free. But getting another dragon on their side… she could at least see if there was a chance they could free him with the others.

I’ll see. With a glance over at the guards to make sure they weren’t paying attention, she focused on the wards protecting the dragon’s cell, using the artifact Tyr had given her.

Just as she touched the wall, Tristan bounded through the closed metal doorway. Mayah! I thought I saw—

Her spirit fingers touched the place where the cell wall was, in the real world.

Mayah felt like she was being sucked into a whirlpool. Magical glyphs lit up all over the cell, and she was drawn inside by a powerful force.

Tristan! she yelled. Stay back!

His wolf skidded to a stop.

Mayah felt like her body was being torn apart, molecule by molecule. And then she was lying on the floor of the cell, in the flesh, staring up at the dragon.

And he was laughing.

Chapter 25

Tristan jerked awake, his consciousness returning to the room like he’d been slammed into a wall. He opened his eyes to see Tyr bending over him.

“He’s back,” the dragon called over his shoulder. He turned back to Tristan. “What—”

Tristan struggled to sit up. His body felt like lead. “What the fuck did you bring me back for?” he rasped, his throat dry. “Something happened to Mayah. She—”

He broke off when he saw the empty table next to him. “Where the hell is she?”

In seconds, Emon was looming over him. “You tell us,” he growled. “What the hell happened in there? One minute you were both lying here, and the next minute her body started shimmering, and then she just fucking… disappeared.”

The lead in Tristan’s body turned to ice. His hand went out to the empty space beside him, as if somehow Mayah would still be there.

“I don’t know,” he said. “She was talking to one of the wolves, and then we decided to leave the cell area to check out the security station. She got through the wards on the door just fine. I was a little behind her. I thought I saw—”

He’d thought he saw someone who looked like his mother, sleeping on one of the mattresses in the cells. But that couldn’t be true. She was dead.

He took a deep breath. “I went through the door, and Mayah was in front of this other cell we didn’t even know was there, talking to a prisoner who had dragon eyes. She touched the wall, and…” He shook his head. “I don’t know what happened. It just… sucked her in.”

He turned to look at Emon. “I tried to reach her. She was yelling at me to stay back, but I was going in after her. And then I fucking woke up here.”

He was going to kill someone. Why had they pulled him back? Mayah needed him.

Emon turned on Tyr. “How the hell does that even happen?” he demanded. “Only her spirit was there. How could they drag her entire body out of here, through all your protections?”