Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
Diana
No.
I can’t lose Dragon.
Not now. Just when we’ve fallen in love, when he’s finally succumbed to the feelings between us.
I can’t.
I just can’t.
Images blur around me as deafening shots are fired. My own piece is strapped to my ankle, but there’s nothing I can do.
Nothing I can do.
I shield my eyes.
The world feels heavy, my legs like jelly under me as I stumble backward.
A roar.
A deafening crash.
Dragon! Where are you?
“Dragon!” My voice comes out in a hoarse whisper. My heart is a jackhammer in my chest, my mind buzzing with panic.
Something moves beside me. I whip around, my ponytail smacking me in the face. A figure emerges. His eyes are familiar, but they’re not Dragon’s.
It’s Jameson, his face hardened with determination and worry.
“You there!” he yells. “We need to get out of here!”
“Dragon is in there! He went after his sister!”
Jameson grabs my arm.
I yank it away. “I can’t leave him!”
“There’s debris. There are cult members who made it out who are armed. You’re coming with me!”
“But—”
“My people will find him. But you have to come with me!”
His voice cuts through the turmoil around us.
Dragon.
Dragon would want me safe.
I let Jameson lead me away, but I glance over my shoulder.
I gasp.
A figure is emerging.
A male, with broad shoulders. Long hair.
It’s Dragon!
He’s alive!
And he’s holding the hand of a thin blond woman.
My God.
Griffin.
He got her!
I freeze in my tracks, even as Jameson tugs at my arm. Dragon and Griffin. His baby sister who he thought was gone forever is now clinging to him.
Dragon turns his head, and our eyes meet. There’s a second of perfect silence amidst the clamor, a moment where his gaze falters. Where he softens for a moment to look at me.
Jameson pulls at me again, harder this time, and I’m ripped away from the scene.
I’m pulled into the safety of one of the SWAT vans, my legs giving way beneath me as soon as I’m inside. Jameson shouts something into his radio, but his words are lost to me.
All I register is the slamming of the van doors behind me, the distant sounds of chaos growing fainter as the vehicle begins to move. My eyes remain glued to the closing gap, Dragon and Griffin a rapidly shrinking image in my mind’s eye.
“Dragon,” I whisper.
Jameson kneels beside me, his hand on my shoulder. “We’ll go back for him.”
I clutch on to his words as if they’re a lifeline—the only thing keeping me from drowning in this nightmare.
The van bumps along the uneven road, jostling me. I’m a maelstrom of emotions—fear and relief battling for dominance.
Fear that Dragon might get hurt trying to protect his sister.
Relief that he found Griffin.
Then the lesser emotions.
Guilt that I’m here in the safety of a SWAT van while he’s out there in the chaos.
Jealousy, stupid as it may be, that Griffin is the one by his side in this moment of real danger.
The van grinds to a halt, and I lurch forward. Through the windshield, I see a figure slowly approaching us.
Dragon!
Griffin is clutched tightly against his side. Relief floods through me like a tidal wave.
Without a word, I scramble toward the door. The second it swings open, Dragon is there. His face is streaked with dirt and blood, his eyes holding a steely determination. But they soften when they land on me.
“Diana,” he breathes out, his voice a rough whisper. He guides Griffin inside the van, his attention focused solely on her as he murmurs words I can’t hear. But then his gaze returns to me, and all I see is relief.
“Are you okay?” His voice carries a raw edge, and for a moment I feel my own vulnerability mirrored in him.
I swallow hard, nodding as I choke back the lump in my throat. “Yes…now that you’re here.”
He nods stiffly as if fighting back his own wave of emotion before pulling me into a crushing hug. His body is hard and unyielding against mine. We stand there, wrapped in each other, and for a moment—just a moment—all is right.
“Dragon,” I whisper against his chest.
His mere presence has brought about a sense of calm I didn’t realize I was craving, and his arms around me feel like home.
“I’m here, Diana,” he murmurs into my hair, his voice shaky but strong.
He sounds so real, so alive.
Griffin watches us with wide eyes as she clings to the door of the van, her skin pale. Her gaze flutters between Dragon and me before she finally lets out a sigh of relief.
“We made it,” she whispers to no one in particular.
We made it.
She and Dragon made it.
“Griffin,” Dragon says to her, “I’m going to take care of you. I should have found you long before now, but I’m going to take care of you and Bridget. No one will ever hurt either of you again.”