Page 43 of Hers to Keep

In the aftermath, Dohal looked up at her, his face a mask of pain and terror.He yelled something that she couldn’t hear over the roaring of thunder in her ears.

She smiled down at her dragon, so grateful he was safe, and then she plummeted to the ground—shattered and empty.

Chapter 14

Mariwasslowtowake.She felt sluggish and empty, but at least she was warm.So warm.

She reached out with her senses instinctively, searching for the comforting presences of her men.Five.All close.All intact.All hers.

A soft sigh escaped her dry lips.

“I think she’s waking up,” came a voice from far, far away.She knew she should recognize the source, but it took her a while to get her brain online to manage it.

Rio.Tucked in tight against her back.His skin on hers.Warm and beautiful and alive.

She stirred, trying to burrow in closer to him.

A delicate touch on her face.Magic that tasted like candy flowed into her.Comforting.Soft.

Dante.His hands on her, feeling like light and love.“Come on, sweetheart.Open your eyes.”

She wasn’t sure she could.She was so tired.She wanted to sleep for a year.

A clawed hand turned her head.Strength.Resolve.And so much love it hurt her heart.

Cisco.She could face waking up if he was there.He’d never let her fall.

She tried to blink her eyes open, but they felt so heavy.

“You can do it.Come back to us,” Cisco’s voice rumbled through her, tight with concern.The near-panic he felt soaked into her skin.

That he was so worried brought her the rest of the way awake with a start.She stared up into his eyes, expecting the building around them to be on fire based on his turmoil.But they were in the grove.On Dohal’s bed.

“Dohal,” she croaked with a voice that was beyond broken.

“I’m here, bavi,” her dragon said softly.“Don’t move yet.”

Cisco inched over so she could see her dragon.Dohal rested one large hand on her hip.His healing magic flowed into her.

The fact that both he and Dante were pushing their power into her at full force and didn’t seem to be making a dent in whatever this was should have been concerning, but she couldn’t make herself care about that just now.They were alive.They had survived.She didn’t remember what exactly, but she knew it had been awful.

The last one.Where was he?She reached out for him with her senses.Her magic felt strange.Ethereal.

There.He was nearby.Not on the bed with her where he belonged, but close.Endless darkness and blue fire.The smell of brimstone.Cold, unrelenting fear.Ashdei.

“I’m here,” Ashdei said in his deep voice that reminded her of whispers in dark places.I can’t come closer to you right now.I’m still too volatile,he said into her mind.

Because of what had happened to her.Seeing her fall had broken something in him.She could sense that.He felt fragile.Brittle.She ached to soothe him with her touch, but understood why he kept his distance.He was afraid to hurt her.

He was close enough for what she needed, even if not as close as she craved.The goddess came forward, filling her with the righteous power she needed and didn’t understand—golden and burnished.She drew on all of them at once, banishing the lethargy that had consumed her with cleansing fire.Her magic came awake with a peal of thunder that vibrated through the grove.

She stirred on the bed between Rio and Dante, suddenly restless.Dante curled his fingers in her hair.Rio nuzzled into the back of her neck.Cisco bent down to her, claiming her mouth in an achingly sweet kiss.

She rested amongst the three of them as they showered her with gentle affection, her magic gradually regulating until she started to feel normal again.Once she was stable, they all moved aside so Dohal could lift her into his arms.

He cradled her in his lap in the center of the expansive bed of lush greenery.“Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

She turned her face into the crook of his neck, breathing him in.“You were just going to let him kill you.”

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