“Little one.” He shakes his head, pulling me to him as we lie back down again, content to be with each other. “Your trust in me undoes me,” he admits.
“I trust you with my life, Mishal, I trust you with my heart,” I confess, a thought that should terrify me but somehow, I know he will never betray that trust.
“I love you, little one, more than life itself.” His arms tighten around me and I close my eyes in happiness. Curling up on him, trusting him to derive a plan of how we escape after I free Nyre—something I don’t know how to do yet, but his trust in me settles my nerves.
I came in here with no hope, broken and alone, and he put me back together again, forcing me to confront the truth of what I am, rebuilding my desire, marking me and making me his. I feel like a completely new person, the pain and grief are still there and maybe when I’m free, I will be able to sit down and face it instead of ignoring it, but right now I can’t afford to break down. Mishal and Nyre need me. I have to be strong for them. They have been trapped here for a hundred years. I will do whatever it takes to get them free, even at the cost of my own life if need be.
Never, Nyre growls in my head.
I freeze, seeing if Mishal will react underneath me, but it seems Nyre’s words are only for me, like he was waiting for me, lurking in my head.
He is busy, it is just me and you, mi cielo.
I grin, okay with that. I love them both—
You love us?
I freeze, my mind halting, and I try to stop myself from blushing. He can see the truth in my head, so I don’t know why he sounds so shocked, plus I just told Mishal that over and over again, but maybe he thought that was only for him and not my grumpy dragon.
Yes, I tell him, not shying away from it, life is too short for that.
Good, love is not a word we know, mi cielo, so don’t let that scare you away. You have my love, mi cielo. It is why I call you that and you have Mishal’s, even if he will struggle to tell you all the time.
He has never had love?
Nyre growls in my head, explaining, His parents were cruel. They didn’t want children, they wanted power. It forced him and his brothers to become a certain way, they are rough and don’t throw words around like that. Before you, he hadn’t even been hugged, he doesn’t understand that you do it because you care.
Neither do you, I reply.
True, but I am a fast learner. Mishal took the brunt of the pain and punishments when he showed weakness, and that is something hard to break through.
He shows it, I defend and Nyre huffs.
Not enough, but we will, mi cielo, we will.
I settle down again, loving having Nyre’s voice in my head. It helps me keep my eyes closed, even as I want them to open so I can be sure no one is waiting to hurt me.
Never again, Nyre roars and in my head. I watch him flow from Mishal to wrap around my mind, protecting me, his large dragon form blinking at me in the dark. Is this how I free him?
Don’t worry about that yet, you need to sleep. When you wake, I will be waiting, and you know how to reach me now.
Goodnight, my dragon, I murmur through our bond.
Goodnight, mi cielo.
Mishal
I don’t know how she will free me, Nyre grumbles in my mind, but I have faith. I know she will figure it out and when it comes to our mate, Nyre can break even these enchanted chains to get to her.
I will try, for her, he huffs, before ignoring me again. Grumpy bastard.
I get a scratch for that, making me grunt, and Dabria moves in my arms at the sound, almost seeking my pain as her fingers stroke my chest, trying to wash it away with her touch even in her sleep. Dropping a kiss on her forehead, I hold her tighter to me. That feeling inside her that something is coming is in me too. I can feel it between us, a sense beyond our control. An itch that can’t be scratched, and it has never been wrong before. I know we can face whatever is coming together, but I fear for her, which is something so foreign to me I don’t know how to control and react to it. Usually, I would just burn whatever the threat was to the ground, but I can’t, and as much as I don’t want to admit it, I can’t protect her as much as I should be able to. She’s my mate and I am helpless in that sense. These fucking chains prevent me from doing the basic tasks of a mate. I don’t want her to live in fear and I never want her to be scared again, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth that Nyre agrees with.
She didn’t feed, Nyre points out helpfully and I wince. Fuck, I am a bad mate. I didn’t even remember to bloody feed her. I will have to make sure I right that as soon as she wakes up. We need to get better at this mate business. I don’t want her regretting being with me.
She would never regret me.
Fucking dragon, I shoot back, even as a smile curves my lips. It’s nice to hear him so strong in my head again, even if he is being an annoying, cocky shit. It seems the longer we are bonded, the stronger he is getting. I am hoping that means she will be able to call him forward at some point using our mate bond.
I wince when I hear the roaring of another animal, something that not often slips through these thick walls, but they must be torturing him or her. Dabria stirs in my arms, lifting her head, her eyes half asleep, and adorable confusion is painted across her face.
“Shh, little one, we are okay. Go to sleep, I will protect you,” I whisper fiercely. She nods, accepting me at my word, and goes back to sleep on my chest, snoring with quiet mumbling that has me smiling as I watch her.
Can you imagine my brothers’ reaction when they find out I have a mate? I ask Nyre.
He huffs out a laugh. They will go in search of their own, no woman will be safe.
I almost laugh out loud but hold it back, so I don’t wake my sleeping mate, knowing he is right. They are petty and jealous, but they would want a mate for their own…well, maybe not all of them.
He is too broken, Nyre agrees.
He would hurt her without meaning to, I sigh.
But that fucking nightwalker will sleep with every single woman on the planet to figure out which is his, Nyre scoffs in my head.
He makes me grin, even as my thoughts turn dark, wishing it wasn’t true. They deserve this happiness, they deserve to know the love of a woman, to hold her in their arms and know they will never be alone again. If any men in the world deserve that, it’s them. They have sacrificed everything to protect our people and this planet, yet they are doomed to watch on as others find their mates, fall in love, and have children, but never us. It takes a toll on a being, one I know personally, and I hope Dabria’s appearance means we have finally been gifted with mates. It would be the goddess’ twisted humour that when we least expected them, that when we gave up hope and are in the darkest places, we finally find them.
Everything happens for a reason.
Whatever that reason may be, I am beyond thankful it brought me to Dabria, my little mate.
My second chance, my love.
Dabria
A flash of heat surges through my body, making me groan and flutter open my eyes. I didn’t feed last night, a point my body is reminding me of as hunger races through my body. I’m salivating at the smell of Mishal’s blood under his skin. I can almost taste it, and my fangs throb and drop down automatically, begging me to take a bite out of him and drink him deeply.