Page 121 of Taken

“Your dragon. You were with him in my vision,” she says, understanding instantly. Not a question. She knows.

The anguish must show on my face—torn again between the two people I care about most in this world.

“He stayed back to hold them off,” I say, my voice choked. “So I could get to you.”

Elena’s expression shifts, determination replacing shock. “Then what are we standing around here for? Let’s go!”

She takes my hands in hers, and the contact sends power surging between us. The Shard responds, its crimson light wrapping around our joined fingers.

“I don’t understand,” I stammer, even as my magic rises to meet hers. “How—?”

“Blood calls to blood,” she says, repeating words I never had the chance to teach her. “Rossewyn witches stand together. I can feel what’s in your heart. And I can feel he has a place in it.”

Caleb appears beside us, scales gleaming beneath torn clothing, eyes assessing the magical current building between us.

“What can we do?” he asks, deferring to our power in a way no dragon has done in my lifetime.

Elena—my daughter, so much stronger than I ever dreamed—takes command with natural authority. “Clear us a path to the roof. Mom and I will handle the rest.”

The wordMomsucks the air from my lungs. She was just a child the last time I heard her say it.

Caleb nods, then whistles sharply. A second dragon—darker, leaner, eyes blazing—materializes from the shadows. Dorian.The twin. He inclines his head toward me, recognition in his gaze. He knows who I am.

The battle shifts with breathtaking speed. Caleb and Dorian move in perfect tandem, dragon-form and human intelligence in deadly harmony, clearing a path through the Circle operatives we encounter along the way.

Elena grips my hand tightly, our magic flowing back and forth between us. The Shard pulses against my chest, drawing power from our combined bloodline, magnifying it.

“This way,” Hargen directs, leading behind the Craven brothers.

We fight our way upward, through stairwells and across corridors. With each floor, Talon’s presence grows stronger in my awareness—his pain, his fading strength, his absolute refusal to yield.

“Faster,” I urge, terror clawing at my throat. Somehow, I can feel him weakening.

We burst onto the rooftop to a scene from nightmares. Talon’s magnificent dragon form lies broken and bleeding, golden scales streaked with crimson, wings torn and twisted. He’s shifted partially back to human, the transformation stuttering as his strength fails. Circle operatives close in for the kill, weapons raised.

“No!” The word tears from my throat as power erupts from the Shard.

Elena’s magic joins mine instinctively, her red-gold energy weaving through my crimson power. The combined force blasts outward in a wave that sends the Circle operatives flying backward, horribly contorted. Some burst into flames where they stand, screaming as they burn. Others slam into ventilation units, bones cracking on impact.

I race to Talon’s side, falling to my knees beside his broken body. His eyes flutter open—those beautiful green eyes that saw me as a person when everyone else saw a tool.

“You came back,” he whispers, voice raw with pain. “Did… did you find her?”

“Yes… Yes, I did. Thanks to you, Talon. I found her.” Tears stream down my face as I cradle his head. My fingers tremble against his blood-streaked skin as I try not to gag at what they’ve done to him.

His hand rises, unsteady but determined, to touch my face. “I need to tell you,” he gasps, each word clearly costing him. “Should have said it before…”

“Don’t,” I beg, knowing what deathbed confessions mean. “Save your strength.”

“I love you, Lila.” The words fall between us, heavy with truth and desperate with time running out. “From the moment I saw you.”

Something breaks open inside me—a dam of emotion I’ve held back for too long. The need I’ve suppressed. The longing. The fierce, impossible connection to this dragon who freed me in every way that matters.

“I know,” I whisper, leaning down to press my lips to his. “I’ve always known.”

Elena approaches, her face solemn as she studies the scene. Her power still glows around her hands, Rossewyn magic coursing through her veins.

“This is the dragon who brought you back to me,” she says simply, assessment in her eyes.

---