Page 54 of Fated for Dawn

“Relax?” I sputtered, gesturing wildly at the scene before me. “He’s riding a dragon with a sharp object. A dragon that breathes fire that flieswayup in the air. What if he falls?” I pointed upward, emphasizing the height.

Lucien stepped forward, holding a small vial. “I’ve given him this.”

I eyed it. “What, a potion to regrow limbs?”

“It’s a protective spell. If Alister falls, he just has to crush this, and it will encase him in a bubble wrap to break his fall.”

“Bubble wrap?” I asked, incredulous.

“Essentially,” Lucien replied. “Ingenious, really.”

Alister whooped from Ryker’s back, and I watched as they soared through the sky.

Then Ryker activated his camouflage, disappearing from view like a chameleon blending with the sky. Now, only Alister was visible, his legs spread wide apart, almost in a split, as hewaved his sword around like a lunatic. I would have found the ridiculousness funny if it hadn’t been so frightening.

Chad doubled over, laughing so hard he had to clutch his sides. “Oh my gods, that is the best thing I’ve seen in years! Look at him up there. He looks like he’s floating with open legs! I can’t.”

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Alister. “I think I’m getting an ulcer,” I muttered, genuinely worried.

Every time Alister wobbled, my stomach did a flip. I’d just gotten him back from the Shadow Realm, and now he was risking his fragile human life on this insane stunt. Did he not realize how breakable he was now? How much it would hurt all of us if he got himself killed?

Rafe placed a calming hand on my abdomen, his touch warm and soothing. “It’s not an ulcer. It’s just stress.”

But it didn’t help. The knot in my stomach tightened.

“We need to be realistic about this,” I said, my voice growing more urgent. “He’s not superhuman anymore. He’s just a man. A man who can bleed and break.”

Zade muttered something about us being pathetic, which I ignored. I knew he thought our emotional bonds were a weakness, but he didn’t understand. Or maybe he did, and that was why he was so grumpy all the time.

I sighed deeply, massaging my temples in a futile attempt to ward off the growing headache. “Great. Just great. My human husband is going to fight evil on the back of a dragon, protected by magical bubble wrap. This is fine. Everything’s fine.”

Above us, Alister swung his sword in a wide, reckless arc, nearly overbalancing. My breath caught in my throat as he teetered, then righted himself. The man dared to look proud of himself.

A man holding a sword on top of a dragon? How useful can that be?

“They’re just practicing,” Rafe explained. “He’s trying to show you that he can hold his own, and you don’t need to worry so much.”

“I know,” I said, though I wasn’t convinced. “I just…I can’t lose him again.”

Zade’s eyes flickered with something—perhaps understanding, perhaps annoyance—before he turned away.

“He’s tougher than you give him credit for,” he said over his shoulder.

Alister whooped again, and Chad was now rolling on the ground with laughter.

“I gotta say, I liked Alister before when he was a vampire. Now that he’s human, I’m in love with the guy,” Chad wheezed.

Here we were, preparing for a battle against dark forces, and our secret weapon was a former vampire riding a dragon with a bubble wrap safety net.

Welcome to my life.

Never a dull moment.

20

Alister

Istretched my arms above my head, the steady rhythm of my heartbeat filling the silence—a sensation I’d forgotten for centuries.

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