A jolt of pain slashed through Eve. It blinded her, filling the space between her ears, pushing on her brain. Clutching her head, she bent over and was violently sick.

She was feeling his pain.

How was that possible? Unless...they were connected through a fledgling mating bond. There was no other explanation.

She’d felt him while she was in a coma. It was his presence that had made her return to her body and anchored her to the physical plane.

The bond between them must have formed right then.

She’d been so caught up in trying to resist him, she hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it. She couldn’t ignore it any longer. Not when he was in her head, in her heart. He was a part of her.

She sensed the amber energy of his lion whisper to her on the psychic plane, then it was gone. So was the pain.

The blankness left behind only made it worse. He was alive.

She had to get out of there to help him.

Running to the wall that separated her cell from the beach, she smashed her shoulders against it.

The wall shook but didn’t give.

It wasn’t reinforced like the bars. The Elysians hadn’t expected the shifters who were held here to be in any state to fight back. They hadn’t reckoned with the alpha of the dragons.

All the while, she kept trying to reach out to him through the fledgling bond.

He was not far. She sensed him on the other side of this set of buildings. She was going to get to him.

She shut her eyes and dropped inside herself, reaching for the dragon heart of her. Pulling on that pulsing violet and gold that throbbed there, she slipped in deeper.

To her surprise, she found another layer of energy, a secondary pulsing light that hadn’t been there before. It was a brilliant turquoise and gold, similar to hers but masculine. It felt like Rage was there with her in that second, pushing her on.

It couldn’t be, though. Her brother was dead, lost in the tsunami…but she recognized his psychic scent. How had he found her after all this time?

Was he alive?

The energy buzzed inside, overflowing, filling her cells. Her nerves tingled. Her eyes flew open to focus on the target. Hair swirling around her face, teeth gritted, Eve raced toward the wall. Halfway there she leaped, twirling through the air, adding momentum to the impact. She hit the wall feet first, hands close to her chest, and went right through. She landed on the sand on the other side.

Rolling to her feet, she came to standing position.

Taking off, she ran around the building, in the direction of where she estimated the entrance was.

When she swerved around the corner, she spotted the guards near the door to the building.

Without giving herself time to think, she headed for them.

She slid in low and swept the feet out from under the both of them.

They went crashing to the ground. One of them made to get up, and she smashed her fist into his forehead.

His body shuddered.

Before he’d stopped moving, she grabbed his neck, hauled him up, and peeled back his eyelid for the retina display.

The door to the building that housed the cells slid open.

Dragging the body of the two men with her, she did the same at the retina display next to Serena’s cell.

As the bars shimmered and disappeared, Serena jumped through the open cell. Without looking back, she took off toward the exit, followed by Eve.

Once out of the building, Serena shuddered to a stop. “What now?”

Brushing past, Eve turned right, making straight for the direction in which she’d sensed Cain’s aura.

Even though she couldn’t feel the bond anymore, all her instincts pushed her toward the building at the end of the promenade.

As she drew closer, her head felt heavier. White flickers of pain flashed behind her eyelids, and she stumbled.

Serena grabbed her arm to steady her. “You okay?”

Eve barely noticed her.

With every step, that urgency to get to Cain became louder, drumming inside her, echoing in her head, her heart, at the base of her chest, at the pulse points on her wrists.

Her dragon was pushing her on, its violet and gold energy growing in size, swirling, getting louder and bigger.

Every part of her body vibrated with the need to transform.

Gasping from the effect, Eve dropped into the energy of her dragon, trying to pull it through herself, to reignite the fire and trigger the transformation.

The violet glowed brighter, thrumming through her blood. But there was no reaction from her cells.

Eve swore, rolling her shoulders. Balled her hands into fists. Her insides quivered.

Her dragon was still not ready to reveal herself.

She had no choice but to fight in her human form.

She was much more vulnerable without the strength of her dragon to back her up. The woman in her would have to come to the fore.

It made her even more determined to find Cain. She was going to save him, even if it meant having to kill herself.

Turning to Serena, she gripped the younger woman’s arm. “Go, get out of here.” She forced the words out through a throat gone dry. “Cain would want you safe and away from here.”

The lioness set her jaw in a stubborn line. “If it was Cain in my place, do you think he’d have turned and walked away?” She touched her head scarf, straightening it.

Serena was right.

“Stay out of sight.” Eve pushed the smaller woman to the side. “Give me a few minutes before you come in.” If nothing it would give them an element of surprise.

Sinking into herself, she once more reached for that violet-gold energy of her dragon.

Feeling the energy surge, she channeled it. She let it swell and fill her until she became her dragon in human form.

The dragoness kicked at the door and broke through.