Chapter Twenty-Eight #2
It’s everything. The drag of him inside me. The weight of his body pinning mine. The base of him grinding against the oversensitive ache his fingers left behind.
It's more pleasure than anything I’ve ever felt. I don’t know what he’s doing to me, only that every nerve, every Thread, every impossible part of me is brightening past the point of control.
And he just holds the angle.
Keeps the grind.
Keeps taking me with the same devastating pressure again and again until there is nowhere left in my body for the tension to go.
“Talen.” I cry out, eyes slamming shut as another gust of wind punches overhead. “I’m going to—”
He drives in again and my whole body locks.
The next orgasm rips through me and my back bows off the bark, legs clamping around him as pleasure and power twist together in a ruthless storm of ecstasy that has my magic erupting, violent and bright, bursting open beneath my skin, every Thread lashing out at once, grabbing at the night and pulling, pulling, pulling—
“NO!”
The fear in Talen’s voice slices through my mind like glass shattering against stone, and my eyes flare open just as he rips himself away from me.
My feet hit the ground and the sudden movement ruptures something between us. Magic blasts outward, straight into a bush a few feet away. With a deafening crack, it bursts into flames and burns so fiercely that within seconds all that's left is a blackened husk, smoking in the night air.
What the fuck—
Turning back to Talen, the blissful haze that had been rushing through me only seconds ago vanishes and cold floods in, taking its place.
He's already watching me, but something's wrong.
His mouth hangs slightly open. No hunger. No desire. And his eyes—
No gold.
Just a dull hazel. Empty. Almost lifeless.
“Lyra?” he murmurs weakly.
Then his full weight drops.
Folding forward all at once, my legs hit the ground as I lurch to catch him, arms scrambling around his shoulders, but he’s too heavy. We tumble together, twisting, and I barely manage to slow his fall before he slumps against the tree behind us.
His head lolls to one side.
And he doesn't move.
“Talen!” I yell, panic consuming every inch of my body while my hands frantically search all over him as another gust of wind rolls through the camp. “Talen, what's wrong? Please answer me!”
Nothing.
I shake him harder as my skin pulls taut around me like my magic is going to rip me open from the inside out.
"No. No, no, no..."
I check his pulse. He's alive, but he still won't move, and he's gone stone cold. Quickly, I button up his trousers, then shrug out of the jacket I'm wearing and drape it over him before kneeling in front of him.
"Wake up." My voice cracks as I shake him again, trying to make sense of what the hell is going on. "Talen, wake up." Please.
The sharp stink of charred leaves fills my nose as beside us, the incinerated bush continues to billow smoke into the sky, the dark plume rising like a beacon, and I stare down at my hands.
They're shaking.
Twitching with magic.
“How...” My lips are quivering now. “I don't have Fire Threads, they must be Tal—”
THUMP.
The cold blood flowing through my veins turns to solid ice as the familiar sound of a dragon landing ricochets through the ground beneath me.
Oh god, Cal, if he's down, the Veils are down too.
My pulse pounding in my ears, I slowly turn my head and look past the tree.
Please be Ahria, please be Ahria.
I already know what I’m going to find, but my heart still lurches for my throat as the black-scaled dragon spreads its wings wide, blotting out the moonlight before folding them back against its body. I can’t see its eyes, but something tells me they’re just as dark.
Movement above pulls my focus and I glance up to see a figure in white robes sliding down the side of the massive creature and effortlessly dropping the distance to the ground below right next to the smouldering remains of the burnt bush.
Cold sweat starts to bead at my temples, running slowly down my cheekbones like a countdown. Turning back to Talen, my hands trembling on his shoulders, I shake him again.
“Please.” I beg silently. “Please wake up, you need to move.”
Nothing.
Glancing back around the tree, the dragon’s head is turned toward the rider in white now as he steps in front of it.
Its massive nostrils flaring, the dragon listens as the tall, robed figure says something too low for me to hear.
With a deep rumble, the dragon answers and then the rider starts heading this way.
Oh shit.
Terror strikes like lightning, piercing straight through me, crushing me from the inside and causing my Threads to flare violently in response.
Biting down on the inside of my cheeks hard enough to sting, I try to force them back under control, but they writhe against me, angry and fierce, with more power than I've ever known.
Squeezing my fists shut, nails biting into my palms, I pray the pressure will be enough to hold the magic down while I force myself to think.
The robed figure in white is heading straight for the tents. If I stay here, he’ll pass close enough to see us. He’ll see Talen unconscious at my feet.
Scanning the campsite, I catch sight of another tree about twenty metres away to my left. If I can reach it, I can maybe try and distract him somehow, maybe I can buy myself enough time to double back to the tent and wake Lucien and he can get JC to help.
But if his dragon sees me—
Magic starts to burn, spilling from my fingers, pulsing with the frantic beat of my heart.
Glancing down, my eyes widen when I see my Threads spreading out, gripping at the air around me, snapping through the leaves and branches overhead.
What is this?! Every fiber in my body wants to stay, to not leave Talen, but I can’t stand here and wait to explode. They’ll hear me. They’ll see us.
Quickly, I make sure he’s still propped against the tree and covered, the black of his uniform and leather jacket helping to hide him in the darkness, then I bolt.
Freezing air trapped tight in my chest, my legs pumping beneath me, I race toward the other tree, scrambling to form a plan with every step.
I just need to get there, make some kind of distraction, then—
CRACK.
I hear the branch under my foot break before I see it, followed by the bone-shaking roar of the dragon as his head whips in my direction.
Gut churning, feet still moving, I don't even think, I throw my hands out, muscles straining under the force and I release my magic in its direction. I mean to hit the dragon, but it explodes in all directions.
Air smashes into the tree where Talen lies, then rebounds straight back at me.
Oh fuck.
Ducking just in time, I avoid the blast as it tears over my head, pulling my hair free and ripping a branch from the tree behind me with a vicious crackle.
What the hell is going on? It’s like old Lyra again, completely out of control, but way more fucking powerful. Way more fucking dangerous.
Twisting back, I look toward the dragon, but another bolt of air comes hurtling straight for me, and I throw myself to the ground before it can hit. The impact thunders against my ribs, knocking the wind from me as dirt and stones scrape my palms.
Okay, that one wasn’t mine.
Lifting my head, the ground drops out from under me as I see the tall figure in white standing across the campsite, one hand outstretched in my direction. His hood hides most of his face, but not the eerie smirk beneath it.
Before I can shove myself up, he throws another blast and the ground beneath me starts to shake.
Gritting my teeth, I roll and hurl out my Threads, pulling moisture from the air until a shield forms around me. It catches his attack, but I can’t hold it. My magic won’t listen, and the force detonates against the shield, blasting me backwards and straight into the tree behind me.
Pain explodes through my arm as I smash into it.
But I can’t stop moving. Wincing, I try to push myself up as the ground shakes again.
Earthquake?
No.
Footsteps. Dragon footsteps.
Spinning fast, everything tilts as I whip my head toward the approaching scaled creature.
Heat rolls off it in suffocating waves and its massive jaws part, revealing a molten red glow building beyond, bright enough to make my eyes sting.
I don't even need to dig deep, my power is there, writhing beneath my skin, desperate to be released, but it’s wild. Crazed. And the dragon is too close, if I throw now, there’s no guarantee it won't take me out.
With a shuddering roar, the beast lowers its head, the fiery glow in its throat swelling brighter and brighter.
Fuck.
No choice.
My hand shoots up—
“Stop!” The figure in white’s command booms across the camp, and the heat vanishes instantly as the dragon’s jaws snap shut with a sickening wet crack.
Magic thrumming at my fingertips, every muscle in my body straining, I turn and throw everything I have at the figure as they advance toward me.
The force of it throws me backwards, my head smashing against the trunk hard enough to make the world swim.
There’s so much magic—more than I’ve ever held. Enough to kill the figure. Hell, enough to kill ten of them. But it isn't focused. It spills out in every direction, spreading too wide, too thin, and shattering against the shield of dirt he’s drawn around himself.
With my body still reeling from the amount of power I somehow just managed to release, I reach again as he moves to strike, but my hands are shaking too hard, my magic too chaotic to answer quickly enough.
His Threads latch onto the air around me, clamping down around my throat, ripping my feet from the ground and pulling me up the tree.
Cold bark scrapes along my bare legs as my fingers scramble against the unseen grip crushing my windpipe.
Gagging against his hold, the figure in white moves in closer, unhurried, while his dragon waits off to one side, ready to turn me to ash at any second.
“Well, well.” Stopping in front of me, he cocks his hooded head. “What is a pretty little thing like you doing out here alone?”