The instant Grizgunn threw the female, Cyprus opened his talon and let his prey go. His claws scraped over the bastard’s scales. The fire lasso disintegrated, snapping its tail as magic whiplashed inside his mind. So unsatisfying. Goddamn frustrating. He wanted to make the male to scream some more, but—

He couldn’t take his eyes off the woman.

She was everything. The answer to a lifetime of loneliness.

Presumptuous? Probably, but Cyprus didn’t care. Prudent or not, he allowed hope free reign and hunted for her instead, seeking the glow of her aura amid dark storm clouds. Rain slashed at him. Thunder boomed, rattling his scales. A second later lightning forked overhead. The bright flash lit up the night sky. He caught a glimpse of her blonde hair.

Tucked in a small ball, wet tendrils whipping around her head, she plummeted, her bio-energy a beacon in the dark. Half hanging onto Grizgunn, he shoved his enemy one way and dove the other. His night vision sparked. He narrowed his field of sight, refusing to lose her in the storm. Thick clouds billowed up and out. She disappeared into the swirl. He lost sight of her again and—gone. She was simply gone, falling faster than he could track her.

Concentrating, he fine-tuned his sonar. A ping sounded inside his head and…

She reappeared on his radar.

His eyes narrowed. Shite. Not good. The wind buffeted her, rushing her toward the ground. Panic made him fold his wings and become an arrow, his target the bio-energy she carried like a tracking device. He needed to intercept her while he still held a chance of pulling up. If he didn’t, he’d hit the ground right along with her. He rechecked his position. Bloody hell. She was falling too fast, dropping like a stone, shifting in and out of his line of vision.

With a growl, Cyprus spiraled toward the ground. The storm hampered his vision, slowing his speed. Reaching deep, he summoned more magic. Her bio-energy flared in his mind’s eye. His scales caught fire, flickering over the spikes along his spine. Inferno-like heat spread. He ignored the light show. The flash’n-fly didn’t matter. With his dragon half raging, flames were par for the course. His beast liked the blaze and his body needed the extra magic. Like rocket fuel, it propelled him forward, increasing his velocity, cranking his sonar to maximum levels.

A faint blimp echoed between his temples.

Cyprus snarled in satisfaction as he reacquired his target, locking on to her bio-energy and—there. Right fucking there. Directly below him, falling through thick clouds and punishing rain.

Pushing himself to the brink, he raced to intercept her.

Cold air lashed over the horns on his head. A white jet stream whistled from the tip of his bladed tail. Approaching treetops helped him triangulate. Her life force burst through the heavy clouds, making his mind burn and his senses seethe. Hooked onto the signal, he tracked her without seeing her. The chaotic beat of her heart battered him, scraping along his already frayed nerve ending. Concern for her gripped him. She was past panic, well into terror, in danger of having a heart attack. Another bolt of lightning and…shite. He was in trouble: off course, too far east of her position. The howling winds shoved him farther afield with each new gust.

Frustration combined with fear. Jesus help him. He was close enough to see her now, but still too far to catch her before she collided with jagged rocks below, unless he did something stupid. Something unsafe, for the second time in one night.

One foray into the magical chasm—when he’d chased down Grizgunn—his dragon could handle. Entering into the time-space continuum for a second time in less than an hour might well kill him, but—Cyprus bared his fangs—fuck it. He couldn’t let her go. Refused to leave her to the fall and himself to the merciless twist of fate.

Ignoring the danger, Cyprus aligned with aerodynamics. A strong updraft hammered him. He called on his magic. The powerful surge streamed into his mind. He grabbed hold, looping it over and around him. Fire swirled into a funnel. Opening his wings, he banked hard. A loud boom exploded around him. Heavy clouds disappeared. The wind died and the sky warped, ripping a wormhole into the fabric of space and time.

Note wasting a second, Cyprus sliced through the gateway.

Magic howled a warning. His dragon flinched.

Cyprus ignored the beast. No time to waste. He needed a miracle, and as taut muscles twisted around his bones, he sent a prayer heavenward, beseeching the Goddess of All

Things. He wasn’t a weak male. Hell, he was stronger than most, but faced with failure, he didn’t know what else to do. Here, right now, he needed her help. He didn’t deserve it. Wasn’t arrogant enough to believe she’d answer his plea, but he prayed she would listen.

“Please,” he murmured. “She’s mine. I need her.”

As if in answer, the pressure inside the vortex increased. Speed went supersonic. Pain pressed down his spine, compressed his rib cage, threatening him with suffocation. Absorbing the agony, he spiraled into darkness flecked with swirling stars. He murmured a thank you to the goddess and honed in on the female’s location in the night sky. A gamble. Nothing but a guess, but as the walls inside the corridor flexed, he let his magic unfurl, hunting for her signal in the real world, beyond his position inside the continuum.

The wormhole tunneled in front of him.

As the walls contracted, Cyprus held his breath and braced for impact.

The fire circle reformed.

Sparks blazing from his scales, Cyprus shot back into the here and now. In full tantrum, the storm raged, lashing him with a weather-fueled whip. He sucked in a deep breath and, with a quick flip, reoriented himself in the sky. Where the fuck was he? He blinked to clear his blurry vision and…okay. All right. Good to go. He was in reverse position, his back to the ground, wings still tucked to his sides, clouds above him. Letting himself fall he waited, searching for her. Please God, let him be in the right position. Let him be—

A soft glow flashed above him.

The powerful pull of her bio-energy slammed through him.

Cyprus growled in triumph. His gamble had paid off. He was right where he needed to be and now, locked on target. Unaware of his presence, she fell toward him. He kept his eyes on her and counted out the seconds. Time to intercept: three, two—

Thunder boomed overhead. Another flash of lightning.

One!

He heard her hitching sob a second before he reached out. The tip of his claw snagged her coattail. He pulled her sideways in mid-air. Fabric ripped, splitting up the seam. She squeaked, flinching as he reeled her in and checked her vitals. Eyes squeezed shut. Bio-energy throbbing. Whole body trembling. Petrified, but still breathing.

“Easy, talmina.” Pulling her closer, he spread his wings, slowing his flight, and settled her against his chest. “Easy.”

“No, no, no-no-no.” Still curled in a ball, she shook her head, adding to the denial. “I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.”

“No one’s dying,” he murmured, trying to sound human. It didn’t work, and no wonder. In dragon form, he sounded like a monster: all hiss, too much fang, little to no reassurance. Suppressing a snarl, he tried again. “Easy, baby. I’ve got you.”

She tucked in tighter, turning her face away from his scales, refusing to open her eyes.

Afraid of him. Too lost inside her own head to see him as her protector. His dragon half howled at the unfairness. Cyprus shut his beast down. The damn thing would just have to wait—for her to calm down, for her to stop whimpering…for her to accept him as her male.

The bond would form.

It had to.

With her in his paws, the connection already bloomed. Like tendrils on an octopus, her bio-energy wrapped around him. He breathed in, drawing on her scent as satisfaction sank deep, soothing him in ways nothing else ever had, and as the hum intensified, gathering strength and speed, Cyprus recognized her what she was—his mate.

The realization tightened his chest.

Tucking away the emotion to draw from later, he rotated in mid-air, flipping upside right. His tail clipped the treetops. Wet bark punched skyward. Ignoring the debris trail, he banked right, whirled around a cliff face, and glanced down at the female in his claws. Shite. She wasn’t any better. Still in distress. Beyond frightened. Shivering uncontrollably, even though he used his magic to warm her.

His concern for her swelled.

Cyprus shook his head. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t soothe now. Locked inside her own mind, she wouldn’t listen to anything he had to say. He needed to find cover and get her out of the storm first. The faster his paws touched the ground, and he shifted into human form, the better she would relate. And the quicker he’d seen to her injuries.

How badly she was hurt, he didn’t know. But he could feel bio-energy fading: the fear, fatigue and blood loss from her injuries taking a toll, making her body weaken.

Increasing his wing speed, Cyprus scanned the rough terrain, searching for a safe place to land. He flew up over a rise. No…not there. He considering a small clearing, but…no. It wouldn’t do either. Too exposed, not enough cover: nowhere to lay her down and touch her skin-to-skin. Only his hands on her would do now. Healing a female always worked best when a warrior took human form.

He wanted to soothe her, but needed her trust. Otherwise, she would fight him, and the bond he required her to accept wouldn’t form.

A dangerous thing for her right now.

He didn’t control the connection. It all came down to her. She must acknowledge and accept the bond that would permit him to feed her. Forcing her wouldn’t work, which left him with just one option—convince her to feed or lose her forever.