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“You put yourself in unnecessary danger—”

“It wasn’t unnecessary to me.” Her voice cracks with emotion. “All that time, Caleb. Of not knowing if she was alive or dead. Of wondering why she left me. When I felt her through our connection…” She swallows hard. “I couldn’t stop myself. I had to find her.”

The anger drains from his face, replaced by understanding. He pulls her into his arms, holding her tightly.

“I know,” he murmurs against her hair. “But next time, we go together. That’s what mates do.”

My heart swells at the word. Mates. My daughter has found her other half in a dragon. The irony isn’t lost on me as I glance down at Talon’s sleeping face.

Like mother, like daughter.

They move away from the doorway, their conversation continuing in hushed tones. I return my attention to Talon, brushing a strand of tawny hair from his forehead. His features are relaxed in sleep, the lines of pain and worry smoothed away.

“We have so much to talk about,” I whisper to Elena when she returns to my side.

She nods, her eyes never leaving my face. “Everything. But first, save your dragon.”

The simple phrase—your dragon—sends warmth blooming through my chest. She understands, this daughter I hardly know. Understands what Talon means to me, what I feel for him, what I’ve been through.

She settles into a chair beside the bed, reaching for my hand again. The contact sends a current of Rossewyn power betweenus, comforting and familiar though we’ve been apart for most of her life.

Outside the windows, night blankets the city. In the distance, smoke still rises from the warehouse district—evidence of a battle that nearly cost us everything. But here, in this moment, I have everything I thought I’d lost forever.

My daughter returned to me. My dragon is fighting to stay with me. And I finally allow myself to embrace something I’d forgotten existed:

Hope.

Elena squeezes my hand as if she can read my thoughts. “No more sacrifices,” she says softly.

“No more sacrifices,” I agree, though we both know it’s likely a promise we can’t keep. There’s still a war ahead of us, but it’s not one I’m afraid of, somehow.

Talon stirs in his sleep, his fingers tightening around mine. Even unconscious, he reaches for me. Claims me. And for the first time, I don’t flinch from possession.

Yours, I silently answer.And you are mine.

Chapter 32

Lila

Something changed while I slept. It’s not just that Elena left at some point. There’s more.

The air. The light. Him.

I feel it before my eyes even open. That strange heavy-sweetness that follows near-death, when the body remembers its fragility. When breath becomes a miracle.

Talon watches me. I know it without looking. His gaze carries heat that prickles across my skin, waking nerves I’d forgotten I had. My time with the Syndicate taught me to sense observation, but this… this is different. This is being seen, not monitored.

I open my eyes to find his fixed on me.

“How long have you been watching me?” My voice rasps with sleep and yesterday’s screaming.

“Long enough to know you’re beautiful when you sleep.” The corner of his mouth lifts—that half-smile that makes my stomach flip. “Long enough to wonder if I died after all.”

Light spills through the penthouse windows, that pre-dawn glimmer that hints at the coming day. Morning, then. We survived the night.

“You’re supposed to be half-dead.” I push myself upright, studying him with disbelief.

The wounds that had torn his magnificent form apart—gone. Smooth skin where lacerations had gaped open just hours ago. His chest rises and falls with easy breath, no trace of the broken ribs that had punctured his lungs. The jagged gash that had all but eviscerated him. Even the bruises have faded to watercolor smudges.

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