I knew I should be happy – the dragons had their queen back, and the soul of my beast was free – but it still hurt so much. In that moment, Braxton’s dragon and energy intermingled with mine.
We’re here, Jess. You’re not alone. You’re still dragon mated, to me and my beast. We’re one.
I closed my eyes and truly felt those words, felt all of the emotion zooming between us. It took me some time, almost as if I were going through the steps of grieving in mere seconds, but for some reason his reassurance made the hurt a little less intense. He was right, I was going to be okay. I had him and his beast, and it was comforting to be able to touch the familiar dragon energy.
A snout brushed against me and I opened my eyes. The golden dragon had her head lowered and she looked to be smiling as she snaked herself closer.
Hello, my Jessa.
She sounded like her mother, only her energy was a little different. Softer.
I miss you already, I cried out to her. There were extra fractures in my heart, and the sorrow was seeping out.
I will always be with you. I’m just a short trip to Faerie. We can visit anytime.
I nodded. I knew this logically, but it wasn’t going to be the same.
I will be dragon mother to your offspring, loved by me as much as I love you.
I reached up and wrapped both of my arms around her, and I could feel the humming happiness from deep in her chest.
I have to return to Faerie now. I must bond with the wild ones and we must reinforce the prison of the shadow spawn. Then I need to spread the word of my mother’s death – a time for mourning. And Larky’s – a cause for celebration. We’ll see each other again very soon.
If I wasn’t so miserable, I’d have laughed at her use of Larky. I had definitely rubbed off on her. Forcing the next lot of tears to remain at bay, I gave her one last hug before stepping back. I knew I had to let her go now for good. She was very important, and had much to do to cement her new role.
Will you be okay? Faerie can be dangerous.
I have the memories of my mother to guide me. I will make mistakes but I will learn fast. You taught me that. To never lie down. To never give up. You’re the strongest of any supernatural, and what I learned from you will make me a good leader.
She touched her snout to my brow. The heat of her energy caressed my skin and then she was gone, strong wings flapping her up into the sky. A step through flashed in the storm, then she disappeared. I wrapped both arms across myself and tried to hold it together.
The supes around me were scurrying about, healing each other, moving the dead, cleaning up this massacre so that no humans stumbled upon the absolute carnage we’d wrought here. But I couldn’t move.
I knew that all of my pack was close by, and since I hadn’t been sure I’d ever see them all again, I should be celebrating. I told myself to cross over to where Grace was healing Tyson – my wizard Compass had a massive gash along his face and half his eye was hanging from his head. Or step closer to Louis, who was waving his hands over Maximus, putting him into some sort of sleep stasis. The vampire looked like shit, emaciated worse than I’d ever seen; the death of his mate had brought him down when the dragon quads couldn’t. Even Jacob could have used some help. His body was riddled with massive burns, third degree in most places – he’d been caught in dragon flame.
I still couldn’t move.
Arms cradled me again, lifting me. I cursed myself for my weakness, knowing I had to snap out of it. No one else was falling apart, no one else was allowed to wallow in misery when there was still a crap-ton of work to do to fix this mess.
“Jessa!”
The twin connection flared to life, and before I thought twice on it, I was running into Mischa’s arms.
“Jess, you’re okay.” She hugged me so tightly I feared for a second that I was going to pop her preggo belly. “The king is gone from my mind. The mark is gone from my back. We’re finally free. There is no more need to fear the dragon king.”
I wondered then. Pulling back, I lifted my shirt … the swirl of my massive mark was visible in the half-light of the stormy sky, black and red, though no longer moving. Now it was a solid tribal, tattoo-like print.
Braxton reached out and lightly dragged his fingertips along it. “This was never about Larkspur. You weren’t really dragon marked, you were dragon mated. This is the mark of the queen’s line, and you will forever wear it.” His voice went into that lower growly timbre which wreaked havoc with all my girly parts. “Still the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
He looked straight into my eyes and more of our bond clicked into place. The strength of my ties to my twin and my true mate were so much more intense now. The loss of Josephina had allowed my soul enough freedom to bond properly with them.
In that moment I mentally accepted my loss … and felt all of my gains. As I let go of so much of my sorrow, a sense of completeness washed through me. It was as if my mind simply had to understand that it was okay to lose my dragon. She was still there, she still lived, and now I was complete in other ways.
I hugged Mischa again. “I feel the true bond of twins now. I’m so glad you’re back in my life.”
“Me too,” she said, a little muffled. “I love you, Jessa.”
Just as I was pulling back, I felt her stiffen. We were touching, so I could have tapped into our bond and listened to her thoughts, but it was better to let her tell me when she was ready.
“What happened to Max?” she finally murmured.