And he belonged to her. What that meant, she had no idea, but was overcome with the need to find out.
She moved to push past the Guardian.
“Stay back!” He lifted her from her feet and shoved her several steps behind him just as Ryker and Erik, still battling in their dragon forms, crashed to the courtyard on their sides, claws and tails thrashing and ripping one another to pieces. Blood sprayed in every direction, soaking the cobblestones and turning the courtyard from a beautiful, serene oasis to a nightmare scene from the worst kind of horror movie.
Ryker had his jaws locked around Eric’s throat just as Eric had a talon pressed to Ryker’s long dragon neck. They remained locked together, unmoving. Bleeding. Each a hair's breadth from death.
Katy ran around the Guardian and walked straight toward both dragons, her heart about to jump out of her throat as two pairs of eyes locked onto her movements. One blue sapphire, the other black diamond. Neither dragon moved an inch, unrelenting in their death grip on the other.
“Ryker, let him go. Right now. He didn’t hurt me.”
The ground under her feet rumbled again.
Took you. Kill him.
The voice in her head this time was distinctly different from that of Erik’s dragon, and she knew she was speaking, for the very first time, to Ryker’s dragon. Her dragon. The one who thought she was his true mate, whatever that meant. “Let. Him. Go. Now.”
Inside her mind, the silver dragon issued a warning. Stand back, human. He is in a killing rage. I will kill him. Protect you.
“No!” Unable to bear the thought of Ryker’s death, Katy ran toward the two dragons. Locked together as they were, she didn’t have far to climb to reach the place where the Ryker’s teeth were locked around Eric’s silver throat. With shaking hands, she reached toward Ryker’s jaw and pulled with every ounce of force she possessed. “Let. Him. Go.”
Foolish, Eric rumbled.
Dangerous, growled Ryker.
“Stop fighting!” she shouted furiously at both of them.
Eric’s dragon slowly, deliberately lifted his claw from Ryker’s bleeding neck. Once the pressure was gone, Ryker opened his maw to allow Eric to break free.
Katy rolled to the ground as the two dragons stepped back from one another, dripping blood, eyes locked on each other’s movements. They circled her like warring tigers separated by a referee.
“Enough. Ryker, I want to talk to you. Now. You have some explaining to do.”
Right in front of her eyes the black dragon disappeared in the magical fog of light she’d first seen with Erik, replaced by the man she knew, the man whose touch made her forget her own name. The man who treated her like a queen. The man she’d fallen in love with despite of the lies, the deception. She had even betrayed her own sister for him.
Ryker watched her, his chest heaving. Behind her she felt the magic of Erik’s change, but her focus was on only one man. “Ryker.”
He walked toward her, lifting the golden necklace, the Elven dragon chains he always wore, over his head, tossed the chain to the side and scooped her into his arms, cradling her against his chest. “Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Ryker lifted his head to where Erik stood behind her. “For that, I will let you live.”
Erik growled. “My dragon senses that you have marked her but not yet claimed her. She is vulnerable to attack. Take care of your mate, Ryker. She will spark hope among our people. We cannot afford to lose her.”
Ryker lowered his chin to acknowledge Erik’s words, then turned and walked to the edge of the courtyard. Far below them, white-capped water churned against the cliff.
“Ryker? That’s a long—”
Ryker leaped off the balcony.
Katy screamed.