Cali held her breath as she watched the horrible scene from the window. The man who came to save her had turned into his red dragon, but so had Terrowin. And Cali knew how dangerous the brown dragon could be. Nothing seemed to stop him.

Her eyes flickered over to the white Lamborghini that was speeding along the road out of the castle. Berinon’s body was growing incredibly fast as he chased after them. When he was half the size of the tower, he caught up to them, kicking the car over like it was a toy.

The white car tumbled onto the grass, flipping over and over again until it skidded to a stop upside down. Cali watched in shock as the three American tourists she had seen earlier climbed out of the trashed car. The one with the mohawk exploded into a polar bear, the one with the beard phased into a brown bear, and the last guy with the wavy blonde hair burst into a massive lion. They stood side by side, watching Berinon as he grew even taller and wider.

“What did you do?” Cali’s mother screamed as she rushed over. She looked so hurt and betrayed.

“Mama,” Cali said, feeling her heart burn as she watched the tears pouring out of her eyes. “I wanted to stay with you.”

“You could have been free,” her mother screamed. She tugged at her hair, looking anguished as she stared at her daughter. “That was your chance. That was your chance.”

Cali’s chest felt so hollow as she watched the pain in her mother’s eyes. The truth was she had desperately wanted to escape with Draven, but she was afraid to leave her mother alone. She was afraid that she would never see her again. That she would never be able to fully enjoy her life knowing that her mother was locked away in this horrible tower. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself.

Her mother started sobbing as she sunk to the ground. “He came to save you,” she muttered between deep breaths. “All I’ve ever wanted was for you to be saved. You don’t deserve this. My baby girl doesn’t deserve this.”

Cali dropped to her knee and held her mother as her body shook with deep painful sobs. “It’s okay, mama,” she whispered, trying to soothe her. “It’s going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay.”

But the horrible sounds outside didn’t sound like everything was going to be okay. The fighting dragons outside were making her skin crawl with every shrill screech that ripped through the sky.

She had to see what was going on. She had to know if the red dragon was okay.

With a quick breath, she stood up and looked out the window, gasping at what she saw. Terrowin’s cruel dragon was on top of Draven with his sharp teeth sunk into the red dragon’s shoulder. Dark crimson blood poured down his shiny scales as he fought to shake him off.

But Terrowin was too strong and his dragon was overpowering Draven as they fought in the air.

Berinon caught her eye as he kicked the charging polar bear like a soccer ball, sending him crashing through a stone wall.

“Get him,” Cali gasped when she saw the lion running up the dragon’s leg, digging its sharp claws into his skin with every bound up.

But Berinon was too fast. He yanked the lion off of his leg and threw him into the ground with a grunt. No. Cali’s stomach dropped as she watched the brave cat bouncing along the grass. He was barely moving when he finally came to a stop on the road.

“What’s happening out there?” Anna asked from her hiding place under the bed.

Cali held her stomach as she watched, feeling like she was going to be sick. “You don’t want to know,” she whispered.

They were losing. Badly.

Terrowin had Draven’s red dragon pinned to the roof of the castle and her savior was fighting with everything he had just to keep the powerful dragon’s teeth from sinking into his neck.

In the distance, Berinon was trying to stomp on the brown bear as it attacked. The polar bear emerged from the broken stone wall on shaky legs, and the lion was struggling to get to his feet.

“They can’t beat a giant,” Cali muttered under her breath. And she knew that Draven couldn’t defeat Terrowin.

They were all going to die, and she was going to be stuck in this tower for the rest of her life.

“God, I hate him,” her mother said as she glared out the window at the man who was supposedly her mate. Cali had been so focused on the fighting that she hadn’t even noticed that she had stood up.

Her mother’s wet eyes were full of hatred now as she stared at him. “He’s taken everything from me, and everything from you.”

Cali’s body ached as she watched the red dragon struggling. Every slash of his talons just glided off the brown dragon leaving the scales without a scratch, meanwhile, Terrowin’s vicious black talons were slicing the red dragon’s scales, making them weep with blood.

Cali and her mother had been told by Mary and Clara that his bond with her mother had ignited Terrowin’s core and left him invincible. He couldn’t be hurt by anything.

And that’s why they both knew the red dragon was doomed.

“You deserve a better life than this,” her mother said, shaking her head angrily. “And if I can do something to give it to you, I will.”

Cali was too focused on the fight to realize what her mother was really saying.

“I love you, Caliburnus,” she said before giving her a tender kiss on the cheek. “It’s time for you to be free.”

“Mama, I—No!”

Cali screamed out in horror as her mother pushed her aside and dove out the window. She squeezed her eyes shut and crumpled to the ground, sobbing in agony as her mother fell to her death.