Page 79 of To Spark a Dragon's Love
He was currently pissed off at me.
But I’d rather he was angry than dead.
He’ll get over it. Better to have him stay near Willow for her protection anyway.My dragon landed in the clearing, which was quickly gathering a dusting of the season’s first snow. It hissed and melted before it touched down near the geyser. Steam rose to shroud the area in mist.
And somewhere in the last few minutes, the calling of Earth had ceased, which was strange because I still felt the rising static of Her pulsing power. The energy of Her needed release was as familiar to me as the call of the wind.
The geyser spit a spray of sulfuric smelling water in angry bursts.
This is going to hurt.
My dragon continued to approach in this form. We weren’t taking liberties with our human skin. Willow enjoyed it too much.
That’s why I tolerate it now.
I knew from years of going mad that it did no good to argue with myself.
But I was… healing.
Bit by bit, Willow opened my eyes to the struggles of internalizing everyone else’s problems. Her heart was so big that it encompassed mine, saving me in a way I didn’t know I needed.
She gave me herself.
No one had ever given so much.
I wanted to bury myself there—in her loving embrace.
Let’s get through this so we can go back to our mate.
My dragon stepped closer to the geyser, bracing for the next spray as he inhaled deeply, waiting for the pain.
It never came.
Instead, there was a stillness, a quiet, I’d never felt before. Something had shifted. It took a moment for me to realize the snow was falling faster, landing on the lip of the geyser as the ground beneath my talons rapidly cooled.
My heart rose to a panicked beat as I looked over my shoulder to the west woods and lodge beyond them.
I’d miscalculated, was all.
My head wasn’t on right. The closeness of the earthquake had drawn me to this point, but it could’ve been aftershocksstretching all the way out here. Or I could’ve imagined the tug in my chest.
That’s never happened before.
But I’d been distracted. The guests at dinner and the silent worry Willow harbored as she shut me out. She’d handled the whole event like the queen she was, but something bothered her.
Then I’d been forced to leave my mate’s side before fixing whatever happened and I’d roared, cursing…
No.
My dragon started to run. The ground trembled beneath his heavy haunches as he launched into the sky to search for another entry point.
Healing wings tucked in tight as I landed on the mountain ledge near the volcanic caverns I’d suffered in last night. Glittering obsidian lined the mouth, already cool to the touch.
The silence felt like a warning.
Roaring, I took to the skies again.
Unfaithful. Unworthy.
