The sound of Faye’s scream echoed in the back of his mind. He knew he had been close to her from her voice whispering in his head, but once he heard his name screamed, his dragon burst free. It was no longer willing to sit back. The shifting in the middle of woods wreaked havoc on the already dying forest. His dragon was too large for the area, but it didn’t matter. Faye was in danger.

He could sense her close by as he circled Gamair. His dragon was in pure beast mode. Gamair thought that he was impossible to defeat. The Death Lord thought that he was too powerful for Vander, but that was where the black dragon was wrong. He had never fought Vander, The Warrior, who was protecting his mate.

Even Vander couldn’t control his beast this time. Gamair came in for the attack, but Vander’s dragon was in control and able to bat him off, twisting around and going for Gamair’s neck. He knew that he had to stay on the Death Lord, and not let him use his energy. Vander’s teeth sunk into the dragon, causing him to bellow out in pain. The dragon kicked him off, causing him to lose his grip on him.

Gamair took advantage of the kick and advanced again, trying to knock Vander down, but Vander recovered quickly. With a quick, deep breath, he blew out his scorching flames from his mouth.

Gamair let loose a scream as the flames danced along his scales. He tried to turn and run, pumping his wings as if to take off.

He was not getting in the air. If he did, there was no telling where this battle would end. Vander couldn’t risk any more innocents getting injured or killed at the hands of the Death Lord.

A sound of a dragon’s roar in the air echoed around them.

Feno.

Vander pounced on the tail of the Death Lord, halting his flight into the air. The dragon turned, trying to swipe his sharp talons at Vander.

Feno flew overhead and breathed his fire down onto the dragon. Vander did the same, knowing that a dragon’s fire was one certain way to kill a dragon. Not many knew this, and dragons did not share this information. Normal fire did nothing, but it was the magic that was laced into a dragon’s fire that was deadly to another dragon.

Gamair tried to fight them off, but he was getting weaker by the second, as they continued to breathe their flames onto him. Vander let the dragon’s tail go as he concentrated on sending his flames. Gamair was quickly losing his fight as he slowly tried to crawl away. Another roar came from the sky, signaling the arrival of Jodos in his dragon form. He, too, joined them in sending flames onto the black dragon as he hovered in the air alongside Feno.

Finally, the Death Lord’s fight went out of him. His body collapsed to the ground, unmoving. Feno and Jodos landed as they waited to see if the black dragon would move.

“Is he dead?” Jodos asked, breaking the silence through their mental link.

Vander’s dragon released a growl as he moved closer to the burnt dragon. Vander couldn’t sense a heartbeat from Gamair.

“He’s dead,” Vander informed them. His dragon huffed, pissed that it was that easy to kill the Death Lord. He would have preferred to draw out the death and torture him slowly, until he faded into nothing, but this would have to do. Short and sweet.

The villagers would now be avenged.

Dalma would be avenged.

Faye would be—

Faye! He turned his head, and his eyes frantically searched the area. He had to find her. His eyes landed on the wooded area that was at the top of the hill, which led to where Gamair had appeared in the clearing. A slight movement from behind a tree caught his attention.

He slowly began to walk in the direction of the woods, his eyes on the small human that was peeking from behind a tree.

Faye.

“Go to her, brother,” Feno said. “We’ll take care of the body.”

Vander moved toward the trees, knowing that his brother would do as he’d promised, as Faye moved from behind the tree she had been hiding behind. It was the first time that he had revealed his dragon to her. He had to pull back on his dragon. His beast was ready to dash over to her and scoop her up, but Vander was sure that would scare the shit out of her.

Gentle, he scolded his dragon. We don’t want to scare her.

He could instantly feel his dragon calm down slightly as they stopped just yards away from her. She stood there, eyes wide, staring up at him. She appeared so tiny as she stood next to his massive dragon.

“Vander?” she whispered. Her voice was faint, but he would recognize the sound of his name on her lips anytime.

He nodded his head as he bent down to her. His nostrils flared as he took in her scent. No fear, just the scent of his woman. His dragon loved that she was not afraid of them. Her small hand touched the tip of his nose. He closed his eyes briefly, before opening them to find a small smile on her lips.

“Can you understand me?” she asked.

He nodded his head to her. Even though his dragon was in the forefront, he was still aware of everything. He gently pushed against her hand. She had asked him before if he would take her for a ride in the sky.

Now that Gamair was dead, he would be able to finally concentrate on making her his. He leaned his head down to the ground.

She gasped as she looked at him.

“A ride?” she asked, her bright smile lighting up her face. He nodded his head as she ran to him. It was time that he gave her the world.

* * *

Faye didn’t hesitate as she ran to Vander. Her heart slammed in her chest at the sheer size of his dragon. Never would she have imagined that she would watch dragons fight to the death, much less ride one. The scales that covered his body were tough, but smooth to the touch. She was able to climb up on his shoulders, and rested right at the base of his neck.

She braced as his muscles bunched beneath her touch before they were thrust into the air by Vander’s massive wingspan. She gasped as she held on tight to Vander’s neck, with her eyes squeezed shut. Her hair whipped around her face as they flew through the air.

She released her grip on his neck and lifted her head slightly. With one eye opened, she glanced around and saw nothing but the night sky, filled with twinkling stars. Not a cloud was in the sky, and she was in awe of what was in front of her as they glided through the peaceful night. She had never seen a sky so beautiful. It was like she had a front row seat to a magical light show.

“This is beautiful,” she murmured, opening her other eye. Excitement filled her chest, and she wished that she could know what Vander was thinking. She didn’t dare move. She didn’t want to chance sliding off the large dragon’s back.

Vander’s dragon snorted, as if reading her thoughts.

“Where are we going?” she shouted around the wind. She knew it was silly to think that the dragon could respond to her.

But where were they going?

“Home.”

The word was whispered in her ear as the breeze flew past her.

She knew they weren’t heading toward Blue Creek. They were cutting through the sky at high speeds.

Was Vander speaking to her telepathically?

“Whose home?” she thought to herself. There was no way that Vander was speaking to her.

No way.

“Our home.” His voice was now clear, and she knew that she wasn’t hearing things. She sat back, amazed that they were able to speak to each other. Did this mean that they were truly mates? Her heart sped up at the thought. She cared deeply for him, and knew that there would never be another one.

“Hold on to that thought.” Vander’s voice broke through her thoughts.

Her eyes widened as the sight of the castle came into view.

Home.

He was taking them home. The large dragon circled the landing pad of the castle. She wasn’t sure what to do as he began to make the descent toward the pad. She held on tight as he made a soft landing. She looked around as the dragon turned and lowered itself toward the ground.

She slid off the dragon and backed away while keeping her eyes on him. She rode a flipping dragon! She was in awe as she stared at the dragon. The dragon stared at her, as it seemed to puff its chest out.

She barked out a laugh as she realized that he was showing off for her. Power radiated from the massive beast. He was beautiful, but she wanted to see his human counterpart.

“Such a handsome dragon. You are magnificent.” She smiled, clasping her hands to her chest. “But I need to speak to Vander now.”