I sobbed.
A tremendous roar suddenly filled the chamber and left a silence in its wake that was nearly deafening. A face came into my view on my right, pressed between Vivian and Darc. A hand gripped mine.
“Take my strength,” Verin offered. “Whatever you need, Elaria, take it. Bind me to you.”
“No,” I whispered and tried to let go.
“Yes!” Verin snarled and held fast. “Do it now! I am a Dragon King; I have enough power to save you. Take it!”
“She can't,” Gage's voice was broken; a cracking shell of itself. “You have to love each other. The bond can't be made without love.”
Verin roared in frustration.
I went still. My heart slowed. My tears dried. Blood filled my mouth sluggishly. And a new peace filled me. I could feel the men reviving despite their stubborn intention to die with me. This wouldn't kill them. They'd live and that thought was enough to add joy to my peace. The battle was finally over. The Witches' spell had won but not in the way we'd hoped. RS was dying, her magic pulsing with the beats of my heart; slowing. But it was okay. I'd return. I'd find them again. I knew I would. And at least I didn't have to burn. Perhaps this had been less painful than the alternative.
I doubt that, RS muttered weakly.
I would have laughed if I'd had the strength.
My love, please, Kyanite begged. Don't leave me. I cannot bear to serve another queen. Please!
I love you, Ky. Tell Darc how much I love him. Tell him to tell the others I love them too and that I'll come back. I'll find them. But they have to save Slate. Don't let them abandon Slate. Promise me.
I promise, Kyanite's voice shattered into weeping.
Then someone slapped my face.
I gasped and opened my eyes. Furious eyes, a blue so pale they were almost colorless, glared down at me.
“Give me your heart, woman!” Verin demanded. “I offer you mine. Now, give me yours! It's dying and broken anyway; give it to me!”
I smiled serenely at the beautiful, ferocious man I would have been honored to love. But I didn't love Verin and the heart can't be forced, even when it lay dying. More importantly, I knew he didn't love me. Oh, there was something there; something that may have blossomed into love eventually, something that drove Verin into fighting for me. But it wasn't fully grown yet and not even the will of a Dragon could change that.
“Thank you, you're a good man,” I whispered to Verin. Then I looked at the men I did love because it was their faces I wanted to carry with me into death and, now that Verin had given me a chance to speak to them, it was them who I wanted to give my last words to. They weren't anything earth-shattering; they were likely very common last words. But they were important nonetheless. “I love you all so very much.”
“Kiss her!” Vivian shouted suddenly.
I looked at Vivian in shock. She was staring at Verin and had a hand extended into a space between him and me. Water coalesced before her palm and shot out to Verin's chest. He gasped and jerked, his eyes turning indigo in an instant, and lowered that shaky, stunning stare to mine. The water dove from Verin to me, connecting us, and something shivered through my chest... through my heart.
RS cried out wordlessly.
As I stared at Verin, he lowered his lips to mine and with that contact, brilliant energy suffused my body. My heart started to pound savagely, filling with a wild lightness. Ecstasy of the soul. Profound wonder. Hope. Verin eased back from our chaste kiss, my blood on his lips, and stared down at me with the same wonder filling his eyes. I could have stared at him forever. Traced the sharp edges of his cheekbones. Memorized the shape of his exotic eyes. Held their color in my heart like scripture. He was my mantra; my wish fulfilled. Everything I've ever needed or wanted. Everything. My chest fluttered with the bursting bloom of new love and it banished all of the pain. The elemental magic lifted from my body like a heatwave and the Rooster Spell crowed triumphantly.
We're back, baby! RS shouted in my voice.
My love, we have prevailed, Kyanite whispered in amazement.
I had a few moments to bask in that victory and my sudden—and possibly obsessive—love for Verin before my exhaustion caught up with me. With a bloody palm on the Blue Dragon's cheek, I passed out.
Chapter Forty-Nine
The next time I opened my eyes, I found myself in a bed instead of sprawled across a table. I sighed and turned my head to look at the man sitting beside me; the one holding my hand.
A man who was also a Dragon.
My men sat around Verin; Darc and Declan on the bed with me while Gage, Banning, and Torin had pulled chairs up. But Verin sat beside my head, his stare fixed on my face as if it had been there for hours and his body tightly wound as if daring anyone to move him. His shoulders relaxed when our gazes met.
“Hey,” I whispered.
Verin made a soft sound and clutched my hand tighter.
“Is she awake?” Gage jumped up.
The men crowded around me, asking after my wellbeing without giving me a chance to respond. So many voices, all at once, but all with the same message; love and concern.
“I'm good.” I tried to sit up, but Verin pushed me back down with a chiding growl. “I feel as if I've been lying around for days.” I pushed his hand away and sat up anyway.
Verin narrowed his eyes at me and growled again.
“Stop it,” I chided gently.
Verin frowned.
“Welcome to our world,” Darc said to him.
Verin grimaced but relented. And by relent, I mean that he reached behind me to prop me up with pillows.
“What happened?” I asked everyone.
The men looked at each other,
