The two of them stood in front of me with nearly identical expressions of doubt on their faces. I’d never noticed until then just how similar they looked. The fact that Callie could stand at all granted a great sense of relief, but we were not out of danger yet.

“I’m going to shift now,” I warned them. “When was the last time you saw a dragon shift?”

They looked at each other. “I don’t remember ever seeing it,” Callie admitted.

Hecate nodded in agreement.

“Wonderful,” I muttered. “Don’t be alarmed. When I shift, I’ll lower my head until you can both climb on. You’ll be able to hold the horns on my neck. Here.” I held out a clean pair of pants and a shirt. “This is for when I shift back. If one of you could hold onto them…”

Hecate took them, clutching them close to her chest.

“All right, then. I turned my back when you were dressing—you can do me the same favor now.” I waited until they were both turned around before peeling off my jeans, the only clothing I wore. Then, I allowed the dragon to take over as he’d been waiting to do all along.

When I opened my eyes, I saw everything differently. More clearly. And there she was, my mate. The one I’d waited for. So close. Close enough to touch. Only the human side of my consciousness held back my baser urges.

There would be time for such things once we reached the caves.

I grunted to signal my readiness, and the witches turned slowly. Cautiously. They knew they were in the presence of something much more powerful than themselves, especially now that their powers were useless. I was in control, not them.

Callie’s mouth fell open, but not my mate’s.

I studied her reaction. I could hear her heartbeat, as swift as that of a bird. Her eyes widened. The tip of her tongue darted across her lips, moistening them. She was at a loss.

I lowered my head, allowing them to climb onto my neck. It was already growing late in the morning, the clouds thinning more and more with every passing moment, leaving me exposed if we did not make haste.

When they hesitated, I grunted louder than before. Hurry.

Hecate stepped forward first. “Come on. It won’t be bad.” She lied to protect her sister. She was terrified. There was nothing to be afraid of, and I wished there was a way to tell her so.

I reached out to her through the mental connection we’d forged. All is well.

She looked at me, aghast, but it was enough to get her to swing one leg over my neck and settle in. “Come on, then,” she urged. “We need to go.”

Callie hesitated a moment longer but did as she was told. Soon they were both straddling my neck, holding onto the thick horns which ran from the base of my skull to the tip of my tail.

I wasted no time moving, then, carrying them on my back as I climbed the road I had so recently cleared. It was still treacherous, with loose earth making a difficulty of finding a proper foothold, but I didn’t wish to chance taking flight. It could all be over so quickly if I could only use my wings.

They held on for dear life, gasping and squealing as I ran. It was the troublemaker in me that made me bounce them a bit harder than I needed to, but only a few times. No sense risking one of them falling off.

We had not made it far up the mountain at all, not in comparison to the amount of road left before us. Even so, I was glad for the chance to stretch my legs this way. To feel my heart beating and the burning of air in my lungs as I exerted myself. I wanted to fly. I needed to fly. All I could do was push myself further, harder, faster, and promise myself that I would take flight when the time was right.

Soon it was. We reached the end of the road, where the ground flattened. Several cars were parked further ahead, near the cave entrance, including the matching SUV from the night before. We had finally arrived.

And not a moment too soon, as the clouds broke and sunlight flooded the valley and mountainside almost as soon as we reached safety.

“We made it!” Callie gasped as she slid from my neck—then, to my surprise, she hugged me. A rather awkward hug, seeing as how I was many times her size, but she did her best. “Thank you! We owe you our lives!”

I wondered how her sister felt about that sentiment.

Voices rang out from inside the cave, and moments later we saw Owen, Leslie, Isla and the other witches running out to greet us. The witches threw their arms about Callie and marveled at how well she’d healed, while Owen patted my neck. You did well, his dragon told mine, and I inclined my head in thanks.

“What happened down there?” Leslie called up to Hecate, who was still holding on tight. She hadn’t moved a muscle since we’d reached the peak.

“Too much to explain all at once,” she admitted, finally sliding free. I realized I was disappointed when she did—for a moment, I thought we might fly together. I could feel how much she wanted to do it.

Yet the moment passed as even more familiar faces—and some unknown to me—approached from inside the cave. Cash, Miles, Gate, their mates. Martina, Mary’s daughter, took Gate’s hand as they greeted us.

“Come. You two look as though you need a shower,” Cash offered, gesturing to Hecate and Callie. “Something to eat and drink, too, I would imagine.”

Callie joined Iris and Electra, the three of them chattering happily as the group made their way back into the cave and through what I imagined would be a long tunnel taking them down to the living quarters. Just as our cave had been designed.

Hecate, however, stayed behind. She held out my clothes. “You’ll need these.” Placing them on the ground at her feet, she turned around—but did not move to join the others, who had already all but disappeared.

She had something to say. I could sense it even after I shifted back to my human body, even once my senses dulled compared to those of the dragon.

I kept a wary eye on her as I dressed, then announced when I’d finished. “You can turn around now.”

She did. And when she did, she was beaming. “You did this for us.”

“Did what?”

“You know what. You took a tremendous risk for our sake. Mine, Callie’s. You didn’t have to do that.”

I hooked my thumbs into my pockets. “I did it to get us out of that cave, and to have this entire nightmare over with. Nothing more.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly, and her smile didn’t fade. “That’s not true. See? It works both ways. How does it feel, knowing I can sense your thoughts just as you can sense mine?”

“It doesn’t thrill me, to be honest.”

“At least you’re being honest.” When I rolled my eyes skyward, she held her hands out palm-first. “All right, no more teasing. It’s only that… now… something is different…”

I watched as she struggled to get the words out. It would have been fitting, after all she’d put me through, to let her continue to struggle. To watch as embarrassment colored her cheeks.

But I loved her. She was mine, all of her, even the bits that drove me to the brink of insanity. She would always be mine. I would always take risks for her sake.

I took a step closer, aware that I was still mud-streaked and likely stank like—well, like a creature which had just spent hours exerting itself. She did not pull back.

“So you know I did it for you,” I whispered, which seemed to break through her indecision over what to say.

“Yes! Yes, I know you did.” She leaned in, placing tentative hands on my chest.

“And how does that make you feel?” I asked, watching in wonder as everything fell into place. I could feel it. There were no longer any barriers between us. Like the clouds which had finally broken, leaving the sun shining through, broke apart between us, too.

“Like… you must truly care about me.” She bit her lip as soon as she said it, still uncertain.

“How can you doubt it?” I cupped her cheek in my palm, and she leaned into my touch. “I acted out of hurt, I admit, but never for a moment did it take away from my caring for you. From my loving you.”

“You love me?” she whispered, her eyes widening, darting over my face. Her pulse quickened.

I ran my hand down her throat and felt the way it raced.

“I do. Not just because of my dragon, either. I love how you love. Fiercely, deeply. I love how protective you are of those fortunate enough to be loved by you. I love that you even tried to protect your mother by making it seem as though you held me back from sharing my blood because you hated me and my kind.”

“I couldn’t start a war.”

“I know that now. I wish you had let me in sooner. I wish you had never shielded yourself at all, because you happen to be someone I cannot live without.”

A tear sparkled on her cheek, one which I wiped away with my thumb. “You were so good to her,” she breathed. “So gentle and kind. Generous, too. And you risked yourself for our sake. How can I not love you?”

My heart all but burst from my chest when I heard her say it—still, “You gave a good impression of detesting me for quite some time.”

“Because I liked you so much. Goodness, I sound like a child, don’t I?” Her laughter was sweet, like music to my ears. “But I did, and I didn’t want to. Witches and dragons do not mix. It was wrong. So I made it a point to make you miserable. No one would guess how drawn I was to you if I made you miserable, right?”

She laughed again when I grimaced. “I know. A terrible plan.”

“But it worked, as I never guessed your true feelings—hence your shield,” I added, wanting to slap my forehead. Now it made complete sense, the way she’d hidden herself from me.

“It might be a minor miracle that we made it this far at all,” she marveled.

I hooked an arm about her waist and drew her close, reveling in her softness and warmth and the way she smiled up at me. “I could learn to believe in miracles.”

“So could I,” she whispered just before I caught her mouth with my own and indulged in a long, sweet kiss as the mountain winds whirled around us and the world below began to dig its way out from the storm.

We had survived the storm together and came out on the other side as one.