“Is Michael?” I stumble over his name, and I’m not sure Thorne even understood what I said until he answers.
“Dead.” He says the word firmly, unapologetically, and full of protective tones. I clear my throat before looking at Dagan, and nodding for him to tell me what they all did.
“When you were stabbed, you were also poisoned and dying. Your uncle told us that you needed to have the poisoned blood taken out and it had to be replaced,” he says, his sentence drifting off as my eyes widen.
“You gave me blood to save me?” I ask.
“We all did, you needed a lot, and there was so much poison it was turning your blood black,” he says, his haunted eyes make me think it was horrible for him to remember.
“We are blood bound, all of us?” I exclaim.
“Yes, we made the choice to die for you. We made the choice to give you our life then, because you are our queen. You are the one we fight for, and that hasn’t changed in all the weeks we have been here,” he says firmly.
“What has happened, the curse…” I say, and they look between each other.
“The curse doesn’t work on earth, if we never go back…we will lose them,” Korbin says and then drifts off.
“I have to return, you don’t,” I tell them, and I mean every word. I might be their queen in their eyes, but I won’t demand this of them.
“We do have to return home, and we made our choice a long time ago,” Dagan says as Elias and Korbin nod. I look back at Thorne and his next words crush my heart.
“My dragon is gone, it was the moment I made the choice to come here for you,” he tells me, pain laced all over his face.
“Thorne…” I mumble.
“Don’t, it’s done. Melody and Bee need you to get up, put your clothes on, and return home. They are waiting for you in Dragca,” he says, and his firm words make me want to move.
“Don’t let a stupid human win. You are Isola Dragice, and you don’t give up,” Thorne tells me. I close my eyes, calling my dragon.
“Will you fight with me? Are you ready for this?” I ask her.
“I am with you, always,” she replies
“It’s time to go home,” I whisper a reply and open my eyes, knowing they are silver as I stare at all my dragon guards.
Home to fight and win.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Isola
Who are you calling?” Thorne asks me as we walk through the woods and to the nearest portal.
“My friend, Hallie. I can’t just vanish from her life,” I say as I ring her house phone, knowing Michael must have stolen Hallie’s, and he nods. I doubt Hallie was even at the party, and the more I think about it, I was stupid to fall for that trick.
“Maybe you can tell me about her one day,” he asks and every instinct in me wants to say no, while other parts just want to run to him. Let him hold me, and tell me everything's okay. I don’t know why I feel so safe with him, whether it’s because he saved me, or if it’s because we share a blood bond. I don’t know, but it’s hard to resist the pull. It also makes sense how he was getting in my dreams now, even across worlds. If our connection is so strong already, I don’t even want to think about how powerful it could be if we mated. Not that I’m thinking about mating. Not at all.
“Maybe,” I say quietly as the phone rings and rings, finally going to voicemail. I wait for the beep before I start talking, and I see Elias look over to me as he speaks quietly to Korbin and Dagan to my left.
“Hallie, this isn’t going to make much, or really any sense. But here we go. I have to leave, for a long time and I have no idea when I can come back. Jules has a nursing home set up, and she knows where the cash is in the house, but can you please check on her?
Also, I never had a best friend, or anyone that close to me, but you are that to me and that will never change. I love you, Hallie, and stay safe for me.” I go to say more when it starts beeping, and I know I have to put the phone down. I wipe some stray tears away, and even though Thorne doesn’t look my way, he says quietly.
“I will make sure you see her and Jules again, this isn’t the end.” I don’t reply to him, I can’t tell him how much comfort I received from his words. We walk silently to the portal, seeing the shimmer in the trees in the dim morning light.
“You don’t have to come, in fact, I won't allow it. I can't let you give your dragons up for me,” I stop in front of the portal, turning to my dragon guards. If they walk through this portal, they won’t be dragons anymore, just guards. It won’t change how I feel for them, but it might change how they feel about me. I still shake a little when they move near me, even though I know they would never hurt me like Michael tried to. I have to close my eyes, and force myself to push what happened into a little box in the back of my head. I can’t cope with it right now. I just can’t, more serious things are going on. Thorne nods sadly, walking to the portal, whispering where we need to go, and giving us some alone time.
“We all knew what we were doing when we gave you our blood,” Dagan says.
“But the last few weeks, I did this. You didn’t know who you were, what you were,” I exclaim.
“You did try to tell us, princess,” Elias replies.
“It doesn’t matter, I did this. I caused this,” I say, getting more and more upset.
“Isola...just trust us. There are things we need to tell you, things that will make you understand,” Dagan says, keeping an eye out for anyone around us. Not that there will be anyone, we are in the middle of the woods.
“Then tell me,” I ask them all, “I can’t believe that you would choose this.”
“It’s my choice, princess. I told you once already...I've made my mind up about you, and I never lie,” Elias says with a smirk, but I see the fear flash over his eyes. He doesn’t want to lose his dragon, and yet he is still going to walk into Dragca for me. I watch as he walks past me and straight into the portal without stopping once. Thorne nods once at me before following him, and there is a long silence between us all.
“I do have to come with you, I’m yours. I don’t need to tell you anything else, doll,” Korbin smirks. I can see his fear too, but like Elias, he walks past me and into the portal. My heart pounds against my chest as Dagan steps closer to me, placing his hands on my face.
“Stay here, please don’t do this,” I beg him, not wanting him to lose that part of himself. I can’t bear for the curse to destroy that part of him.
“Isola, stop it,” he demands as I try to move away from him.
“No, this is crazy, what you’re saying and going to do... It can’t,” I mumble and trail off when his dragon takes over, the blackness burning over his eyes. I stumble away from him, walking backwards towards the portal.
“Stop!” He shouts and storms over to me, pinning me to a tree, and levelling his eyes with mine so I can’t look away.
“If it’s a choice between my dragon, a part of my soul, and you. I. Choose. You.” he says, growling out all his words.
“Dagan...” I whisper.
“It would crush me more to lose you. That would destroy my soul more than anything any curse can do to me. My dragon agrees because you know what?” he asks. I shake my head.
“He would die for you,” he tells me, kissing me gently and stepping back. He walks through the portal as tears stream down my face. The curse meant to protect me, is destroying the only things I care about. I step forward, closing my eyes, and walking through the portal as I hear whispered by the sweetest voice.
“The last light returns, and the darkness will be stopped.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Isola