Rayne swore softly. “I think they were hit before Mio’s house.”
Eno fought against the swell of anger in his chest. This was fucking bullshit. Why would they attack these people? Were they really nothing more than target practice?
“We need to return,” he bit out, his fingers tightening on the long dagger he held in his right hand. “We have no idea if those fuckers are still in the area. They might try to make another pass.”
Rayne grunted and led the way out of the house the way they came. Law officials would need to come through and deal with this disaster, and they didn’t want to disturb anything if it could be helped.
As they came around the side of the house, the light of Caelan’s pale-green shield was suddenly bathed in liquid flames of orange, red, and gold. The fire cascaded over the perfect dome that protected the king and their companions, but it didn’t mean Eno’s heart didn’t stop in his chest at the sight of it.
Rayne gasped beside him and broke into a run toward Mio’s home with Eno only a step behind him. At the front of the house, an enormous dragon with blue scales was crouched in the center of the street, its nearly black wings tucked against its body. Fire poured from its open mouth, pummeling the shield.
The dragon cut off the flames and tossed up its head in a frustrated roar. With the fire gone, leaving behind only scorched ground, they could clearly see Caelan standing in the middle of the front yard, his face twisted with anger as he confronted the dragon. Their king could be so easily squashed under one foot or devoured in a single swallow, but Caelan stood there, looking as if the dragon were nothing more than an annoyance.
“Leave! You have no business here. Enough innocent people have been harmed for one night!” Caelan’s voice rang out above the crackle of flames and the cry of distant sirens.
The dragon snorted and took a step toward the barrier, its head lowered as if it planned to ram the shield.
“No!” Rayne lurched forward a couple of steps before Eno could stop him. The dragon swung its massive head, pinning them both with its bright yellow eyes.
Eno’s heart stumbled and clenched. There was nowhere they could run fast enough, nowhere they could hide from the blast of the dragon’s fire. Rayne could put up a protective shield like Caelan, but his gift from the goddess wasn’t nearly as strong as Caelan’s connection nor was Rayne as fast as Caelan.
All he could do was pull Rayne into his arms while placing his body between Rayne and the dragon. He stared one last time into Rayne’s wide, shining eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Rayne choked out.
Eno smiled. “It was all worth it. I love you.”
Rayne clutched him tightly, burying his face into Eno’s neck as he sobbed, “I love you.”
It was okay. He would have preferred to live longer, to keep Caelan safe for so many more years. He would have preferred to have decades more to wake up next to Rayne, to bask in his smile and his brilliance. But the time he had was enough. If he had to die, at least he was holding the man who owned his heart.
Eno closed his eyes, every muscle tensed in anticipation of the searing flames that were about to envelop them both.
Instead, Caelan let out a furious roar that was answered by the scream from the dragon. Then deafening silence was broken by a loud ching as if a thousand rings from a long chain had broken loose to bounce on the pavement.
“What…?” Rayne breathed.
Eno loosened his hold on his lover and turned to see the dragon and the green shield surrounding Mio’s house were gone. Caelan stood at the edge of Mio’s yard encircled by swirling purple and black chains. His enraged gaze was locked on where the dragon had been. He extended his left hand out to the side with the palm up. The purple chains rose up into the air sharply only to dive into Caelan’s palm, disappearing completely from sight. Eno could see his mouth move as he said something, but they were too far away and his heart was pounding too hard in his ears to hear it.
The last of the purple sparks and murky black shadows that had embraced Caelan disappeared and his shoulders slumped. Eno released Rayne and they raced the last several yards across to the street to their king. A dead man lay where the dragon had been, but Eno ignored it in favor of reaching Caelan.
“Are you—” Eno started to ask, but Caelan grabbed them both by the backs of their necks and tugged them in for hugs. Their heads conked together, but Eno was more worried about the tremor in Caelan’s voice.