I approached until I sensed his energy flare and then stopped. I’d dreamed of him, and I was pretty sure he’d really been there. That we’d formed a connection I could now call upon.
I took a deep breath. “Talakai. It’s me, Anna.”
No response, but I thought I detected a glimmer in his eyes, so I added, “We’re going to get you free.”
He growled then, long and low, and his lips peeled back from sharp teeth.
“We don’t have time for this,” Cody warned. “We need to get him free, and now.”
Talakai didn’t want anyone to touch him. I knew that as certainly as I knew my own name. But I couldn’t wait for permission that might never come.
Angel, we gotta get him outta here. Then we can work on putting him back together.
I gritted my teeth and reached to find what I sought, and I let it flow into my words.
“Talakai, you will let Lucas work on you.”
He shuddered, and the bones of his face moved.
Strewth, if he shifts now, the collar’ll kill him.
The collar. Of course.
“Stop! No shifting until you’re free.” My tone brooked no argument, and as the power slammed into him, he groaned. He’d clad himself in scales from the waist down, but there was no mistaking his reaction to my energy.
My heart felt as though it were breaking. This was one seriously messed up Dragon. Had we rescued him too late?
A warm presence beside me, and a welcome weight across my shoulders. “Easy, mate,” Matt said to the Dragon. His voice was a soft croon, like he was speaking to a fractious horse.
Talakai snarled at him.
Lucas came up on my other side, lock picks in hand. He glanced sideways at me.
“Stop it, Talakai,” I commanded. “You are going to let Lucas get the manacles off you.”
His metallic eyes gleamed at me, but his lips folded back over his teeth. I held Talakai’s gaze as Lucas bent to work on the ankle cuffs.
The chains stopped Talakai from pulling away, but his glare was making Lucas’s fingers tremble.
“Look at me,” I ordered, and he obeyed. “Tell me your name.”
He continued to glower. I gave him a surge of the power.
A long, grating groan tore from him. His fingers busy with the pick, Lucas shot a glance upward. He couldn’t help but notice the Dragon’s reaction. The Morph’s eyes shot wide, but he gave the pick another twist, and the ankle manacle opened.
I kept the power coming, and Talakai became lost to it, his head falling back as Lucas moved to the other ankle. He was fast, and soon both feet were free.
“Is he okay?” he asked me as he straightened and stood by one outstretched arm.
Good to ask that question before we freed those talons. I nodded. “I’ve got him.”
I’d better be right, or Lucas might pay a heavy price. Cody moved up on my other side, but Talakai immediately stiffened and growled.
“Stay back,” I told the Sabre.
Lucas lifted his pick to the wrist manacle. But when Talakai surged against the chains, the Morph backed away.
“S’okay. I’ve got this.” Matt moved right into Talakai’s space, and the Dragon snarled.
