“Why?” Sasha demanded, wanting to know exactly why she had to endure more pain.
“Because I’m in the CCTV system, but none of them have a clear shot. Just prop the phone on the ledge and then get back into this spot.”
Sasha tried to move and cried out in pain as she crawled across the roof, small rocks catching on her palms and knees. Her breath hissed through tight lips and her teeth were set together, clenching hard enough to hurt.
When she got the phone on the ledge and hit record, she collapsed for a moment, exhausted by all she’d done in her current state. Of course, Penelope started yelling at her straight away.
“Move! Please, move. Come on, it’s such a good plan. Don’t let it fail!”
“Plan?”
“You’ll see. Seriously. The footage is going to be incredible.”
Penelope sounded so much like her mother at that moment that Sasha almost told her to go fuck herself, but then she thought better of it at the last moment. Using what energy remained, she struggled to return to the spot near the door.
“Is that it?” she asked weakly.
“Perfect. Now, we wait.”
Sasha wrapped her arms around herself, curling into a tight ball. The wind clawed at her, digging into her flesh with every gust. Horrible back cramps wrenched through her as if her body were being twisted by a giant fist.
“Whelon!” she cried out for her mate. “Whelon, my love. Shaa kouvi…”
Her voice was soft and plaintive, but it carried on the wind. Sasha had no way of knowing that Whelon could already hear her… or that Penelope’s footage was going out live.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Whelon heard the cry of his mate singing to him through the breeze. He could scent her delicious flavors and almost taste her on his tongue.
She was weak and irreparable damage had been done to her merely because she had been forced to endure the Knowing sickness for so long. She could be healed, but it would take so, so much time to repair the damage.
It made him angry, angrier than he had ever been, and his dragon’s fire burned hotly in his veins, anxious to lay waste to any who would deny him his mate now.
My mate. My beauty. My heart and soul.
He took a deep breath of the chilled winds, inhaling Sasha’s aroma. He was getting closer and closer. His keen eyes picked out the rooftop and the small, pale shape crumpled against the roof’s door.
He was unsure how she managed to get to the roof, nor did he care. He only cared that she was there. With a small bit of focus, he spied her shivering, the gooseflesh that rose on her skin due to her chill.
He turned in the sky, roaring his displeasure at his mate’s condition. He spied people gathered on the ground, running and screaming in fear. He hurtled from the heavens like a black-scaled demon, belching hellfire.
I do not care.
Now that he and his dragon were as one, it seemed ridiculous to allow humans the freedom to fight among each other over such stupid things. Especially when it enabled a mother to kill her own child simply with neglect and ignorance.
He could see the heat in Sasha’s body dying rapidly in the cool winds. In infrared, she appeared in a pattern of blue without even the faintest flicker of yellow or red.
I will warm you, shaa kouva…
He dove straight at the roof, evening out so he was at its level. As he hurtled toward it, the wind screaming against his wings, he opened his mouth and engulfed the roof in his flames.
Screams came from the people far below, some running away and others running toward him. He did not care what they did or why they ran. Some part of him tried to remind him to be careful but it was as if all the nervousness he’d ever experienced was completely gone. He would never hold himself back again.
As he poured flame onto the rooftop, he came level with the ledge and perched on it with his massive hind claws. The concrete cracked and crumbled beneath his weight, but the building itself was strong enough to hold him—just. He balanced there, wings outstretched as he continued to roar, blowing out all the flame that had scorched his heart.
In the center of the flames, his mate stood. Her clothes had been burned away and her dark hair fanned out in the wind of the firestorm, but the flames did not—could not ever—harm her. She smiled and tilted her head, holding a hand to her heart.
She turned and stepped onto the edge of the roof, staring down at the crowd. Her fans, who had been screaming in grief at the idea she was incinerated by an evil Preor, suddenly went completely silent.
He continued to blow flame, seeing that Sasha reveled in the heat of his fire.
It’s as if I’m touching her, truly touching her.
Her naked body was a perfection he could have never imagined. She was so tall, with long curves and a small waist. Her legs were graceful, breast sculpted in ivory and pink.
His fires finally began to ebb, and he stood on his hind legs, stretching his wings high. He roared loudly enough to shake the concrete and steel building, sending more people down below fleeing.
Sasha turned to face him, and he thought she would run to him. Instead, she grinned and took one long step… back, over the edge and into the air.
Instead of fear consuming him as she disappeared over the edge, he was expectant and playful. He opened his wings and dropped after her, following her fall. They were not even halfway to the ground when he flew beneath her and collected her on his snout.
“Shaa kouvi…” she whispered, hands stroking his midnight scales.
“My love,” he tried to speak, but it came roaring out of his throat, nothing like a word at all, but an outpouring of love and devotion.
He circled the building, rising back to the roof where he shifted, the massive layers of reptilian bulk slowly melting until he was in his two-legged form once again.
Sasha was in his arms, pressed to his chest, their naked bodies aligned in the most perfect of ways. They kissed, lips still warm from the fires. Whelon could feel her skin beneath his hands, no longer cold but lit with inner flame.
My fires saved her.
She put her arms around his neck, pressing her body more tightly to his, and the kiss deepened as Sasha struggled to tug him closer.
“Okay, okay, let’s keep it PG for now. I’m still rolling.”
“Penelope?” He furrowed his brow and glanced around, searching for a speaker or some other device the AI could use for communication.
“Yup, thanks for the great angles, Whelon! Let me show you what’s going on downstairs.”
Sasha left him and walked to the far side of the roof, that portion untouched by his flames as he’d concentrated his fires on his mate. She strode over to a cellphone and picked up the device before returning to him. The screen flashed to a live feed from the cameras in the lobby. There were a lot of them, as every news crew in the city had been called to cover Sasha’s story.
“I guess Mother really did launch me into super stardom,” Sasha murmured wryly. Then she laughed and laughed until she was chuckling so hard she had to hold her stomach.
“What is it—oh.” Whelon soon caught on to what his mate found so humorous.
The women in the lobby screamed, but not for Preor blood. Every single female in the area who had seen the display was going mad looking for her own dragon savior.
“Pick me! Please pick me!” The screams rose above the crowd and women began throwing punches and fighting to get into the lobby.