None of it had been able to stop the anxiety within her.
This is stupid. I've never felt so helpless before. He's my mate. I should be there with him right now.
Carefully, she made her way down a tiny, rocky path. It led from a small ledge at the side of the mountain to a natural balcony right along the jagged mountainside.
The sun was shining. The clouds beneath her gleamed white and gold. Everything was quiet and peaceful. She'd never breathed air that felt so crisp and clear before.
And she'd never felt so lonely and afraid in her entire life.
She wasn't a dragon shifter. She was just a human woman—good at her job, not easily intimidated, not afraid of anything.
But she couldn't take on dragons on her own. She knew that. If she'd gone with Braeden, she would've been a weakness Steele could use against him.
Still, it felt wrong. She wanted to be with him. She needed to be with him.
Taking a deep breath, she settled down on a rock. She looked up into the sky.
The sun was still shining down. Everything was quiet. It seemed strange that not too far away, Braeden was probably fighting for his life.
I should be there, she thought again, unable to shake the thought even though she knew it was ridiculous. Still, everything inside her yearned to be with her mate.
She drew up her knees and wrapped her arms around them, taking a deep breath as she focused on the sun warming her face.
Braeden was strong. Braeden would come back to her.
But what if he doesn't...?
Closing her eyes, she reached out for the mate bond. It shone golden and warm, just like the sunlight that surrounded her.
Tentatively, she reached out along the ribbon of gold.
She could feel Braeden. She could feel his love for her, his determination to keep her safe no matter what, that core of goodness inside him that wanted to protect the world from the evil Steele could do.
She felt herself smiling, sending her own love pulsing along the mate bond again. It stretched between them through the sky like a rainbow of golden light, and she followed it for as far as she could, beyond the mountaintops, beyond the clouds.
And then, all of a sudden, darkness appeared in front of her. At the other end of the chain of light, a dark cloud had appeared. A feeling of danger filled her at the eerie shadows, goosebumps rising all over her skin.
I've got nothing to fear. I'm perfectly safe here, she thought, releasing her hold on the mate bond to escape the cloud of swirling black.
And then she realized that she hadn't stopped. She was still moving forward, faster and faster.
The darkness blocked out all the golden light now. She could no longer feel the stone beneath her or taste the cold mountain air. Instead, she was racing straight towards the darkness, like a star getting sucked into a Black Hole.
Braeden, she cried out in sudden terror—but the shadows closed in around her, the golden light connecting them gone. All she could hear was her cry echoing around her, desperate and unheard.
Her heart was racing in her chest. The smell of ash and smoke filled her nose. For a moment, she was overwhelmed by the memories of the fire dragon lair.
No. We escaped. I'm safe in Sky Home. Whatever this is—I'm safe. I'm not really here.
She forced herself to open her eyes.
She was standing in a strange, barren landscape. The sky that stretched above her was dark, clouds of weirdly pulsing shadows moving rapidly across a black sky.
Stark mountains of black, volcanic rock surrounded her. As she looked around, she could see scorched ruins and blackened tree stumps.
Everything was dead. Burned.
Where am I?