“Stop it, you scaly bludger,” Matt said. “You can’t let Xumi win. And we’re not leaving without you, so cut it out.”
For just an instant, I saw my Dragon’s eyes change. But then, the beast was back.
I gritted my teeth. I’d never before kept the power coming for so long. But the last thing we needed was Talakai shredding the cavalry.
So I pushed past Matt and reached up to lay my hands on each side of the Dragon’s face.
Matt grew very still. “Angel—”
“It’s okay,” I reassured him, although the thing inside me was clawing to be set free, to drink from what it so easily sensed. I trembled as I held it at bay, and said. “Do you remember what I said in our dream, Talakai?”
His eyes blazed at me.
I reached into his energy, searching for the human in all that chaos. The tendrils of my power quivered as I sent them on a quest. They were eager to feed, but I held them back.
“You. Are. Mine,” I said, infusing each word with power.
I sensed Matt vibrate beside me, but within Talakai’s frantic energy, I caught the merest spike of whom he used to be.
I set the tendrils free. They seized hold, and I yanked with everything I had.
He flung his head back and screamed. It was a sound of rage and pain and such torment that it twisted me inside, but I held on. My inner beast had hold of him, and for once, I didn’t want it to let go.
Matt wrapped his arms around me. His heart, and life, opened like a flower along our link. It inspired me—this Dragon belonged to us, and we weren’t going to let him go. So I kept pulling on those tendrils. Until Talakai’s head dropped, his breath coming in great, heaving gasps. But the eyes looking back at me were the man’s, not the beast’s.
Now I just had to disengage. And right away, I was in trouble. The tendrils were buried deeply into his life energy, and they were feeding. Not inclined to let him go.
Use me, Angel.Matt’s energy dangled before me like a lure, and I closed my eyes and focused on it. So healthy, so balanced—and yet, different, somehow. I didn’t have time to assess, but rather shifted my focus, pulling them from Talakai’s anguished energy to orient on Matt’s.
The second they disengaged, I struggled to rein them in. They fought me like angry snakes, whipping through my consciousness as though capable of sentient thought. Maybe they were, but they were also part of me. Mine, just like Matt and Talakai.
Which gave me an idea. I diverted the alpha power, envisioning it wrapping around the tendrils and forcing them back down deep inside.
They didn’t go willingly, but it worked. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes.
Talakai hung in the chains. He was breathing as though he’d run a marathon, his metallic gaze flaring, but although his beast surged beneath the surface, the man looked back at me.
“Hello, Talakai,” I said with a smile.
“Anna—” The torment in the single word tore at me.
“It’s okay. We’re getting you out of here.”
He closed his eyes.
“That’s better,” murmured Lucas as he resumed working on the wrist manacle.
“Hurry it up, crew,” Cody urged.
“These manacles are older. It’s taking a little longer,” Lucas told him. “But I’ll get them.”
Maddy came up to us. Her eyes sat in dark hollows, and she didn’t look too steady on her feet. She’d used a terrific amount of energy, hiding us from prying eyes.
But now she bit her lip. “Logan’s got something,” she said. “He says there’s trouble coming down the stairs.”
I hadn’t noticed the Dire wasn’t with us. Cody cursed and snapped to Lucas, “We need the Dragons here, stat,” before he bolted through the open door. I saw fur chasing along his spine. Maddy was on his heels, her body changing to beast with each stride.
Matt turned to follow. My eyes rose to his collar, and I grabbed his arm. “You can’t shift with that thing on.”
