Chapter 26 Selene
TWENTY-SIX
SELENE
We carry her out of the fortress—the nameless Fire-Bringer with red hair and green eyes and a story we don’t yet know. Rurik volunteers to fly her back himself, cradling her unconscious form against his chest with a gentleness I’ve never seen from him.
“Get her to Auren,” Drayke orders. “Have our healers ready. She’ll need blood replenishment, wound care, someone to watch her through the night.”
“I’ll stay with her.” The words are out of Rurik’s mouth before anyone can suggest otherwise. His jaw is set, eyes blazing with an intensity I don’t understand. “She shouldn’t wake up alone. Not after what she’s been through.”
I watch him stare at the woman in his arms—watch his thumb trace her cheekbone with impossible tenderness—and understanding crashes over me.
“Rurik.” Drayke’s voice is quiet. “Is she...”
“I don’t know.” Rurik doesn’t look up. Can’t seem to tear his eyes away from her face. “Maybe. I need to find out.”
Zyphon’s shadows ripple. Drayke exchanges a look with his brother—something passing between them that speaks of centuries of brotherhood, of understanding that goes beyond words.
“Go,” Drayke says finally. “We’ll follow after we’ve secured the fortress.”
Rurik shifts, the unconscious woman held carefully in his dragon’s massive claws, and launches into the night sky. I watch him go—a streak of red-gold against the stars, flying faster than I’ve ever seen him fly—and the realization settles into my bones.
The reckless, joking, impossible Rurik might have just found his mate.
“Drayke.” I turn to my mate, my dragon, the man who just killed the monster that haunted both our nightmares. “What was that?”
“The beginning of something.” His arm wraps around my waist, pulling me against his side. “Or maybe just the first chapter.”
He presses a kiss to my hair. “Rurik will figure it out. He always does. Just... not always in the way anyone expects.”
Above us, the stars wheel in their ancient patterns. Somewhere out there, enemies are gathering. Fire-Bringers are being hunted. Relics are waiting to be woken.
But right now, in this moment, Veylor is dead. Our people are safe. And a woman with fire in her blood is flying toward the Brotherhood, toward a future none of us can predict—toward a dragon who might have just found his other half.
I lean into Drayke’s warmth and let the relief wash over me.
We won this battle.
The war is just beginning.
But whatever comes next—whatever enemies rise, whatever Relics threaten, whatever Fire-Bringers need saving—we’ll face it the way we’ve faced everything else.
With fire. With fury. With a love that burns brighter than any ancient artifact.
And maybe—just maybe—with another mate bond waiting to ignite.
Bring it on.
TO BE CONTINUED