Charred Tears (#2, Heart of Fire) by Lizzy Ford Page A

think the car ride confused them. They don’t know where that is exactly,” Gunner said, joining him. “Now we know what happens to those of us that got caught.”
    “Skylar can wake them up,” Chace said. He held up a panther. “Maybe this is your sister or mom.”
    Gunner took it. “It doesn’t … feel that way. I wonder if I can tell.” He sifted through the figurines in Chace’s collection and pulled out another panther. “This one. No idea who it is, but she’s talking to me.”
    Penny lowered herself to their level and stuck her muzzle into the middle of the figurines, alternately blowing air out through large nostrils and pushing shifters around.
    “You looking for someone?” Chace asked, trying to keep any of them from falling to the ground.
    Penny snorted.
    Chace moved several steps away and knelt, placing the shirt on the ground. Penny landed beside him and began sorting through the figurines.
    “I can’t get over it,” he said softly. “She can fix whatever happened. How many hundreds or thousands of shifters can she restore?”
    “When I was little, my mother said there were enough shifters to fill a kingdom,” Gunner answered. “With you and Skylar to help them, we just have to find them all and help them wake up.”
    Penny picked up one delicately with her lips then sprung into the air, flying the short distance to Skylar.
    Chace realized for the first time that the woman was conscious and seated, propped against a boulder, her back to them. Her hands shook as she held out one to Penny, and her profile had grown even more ashen.
    He stared at the back of her head, every fiber of his being urging him to go to her, to wrap his arms around what was his and never let go.
    It wasn’t an option, though. He was a disgraced dragon with no powers, one who not only turned on his protector but failed to appreciate anything about her until it was too late.
    Penny dropped the figurine into Sky’s hand and landed nearby, ears forward as she waited expectantly. Skylar made a fist around the figurine and shifted onto her knees, tucking hair behind one ear. After a few seconds, she placed the figurine on the ground and moved back.
    To Chace’s surprise, the tiny statue was moving. And growing. Fast.
    “My god,” Gunner breathed.
    “It’s incredible,” Chace agreed, his eyes sliding to Skylar again. Aware of the movement as the Pegasus grew, he wasn’t able to take his attention from Sky.
    Or what he’d been thinking since waking up in the cabin, convinced he was going to die. He had nothing but regrets – about not accepting what he was, about not realizing how much he’d had until it was gone, about her. He didn’t know where to go from here, only that he needed to protect her the way she had him and the rest of the shifters.
    Keep his distance or plunge in and hope for the best?
    Which one got me into this mess to start out with? Because I’m doing the opposite this time.
     

Chapter Ten
     
    Skylar watched the Pegasus grow. The back of her neck wasn’t just itching – it burned. Without turning, she knew he was close. She took her time assessing her body and emotions. Her head throbbed but not as much as the stitches some panther shifter had just put in her shoulder.
    It was more painful than the gunshot wound and pulled her out of the dark slumber she’d fallen into when her head hit the rock. He’d introduced himself as Gunner then ordered her to lay still and be happy he was there to fix her. Every stitch felt like he was stabbing her.
    Shifters are jackasses.
    Yet the pain and headache – coupled with the unpleasant introduction to Gunner – were nothing compared to the buzz in her body created by Chace’s nearness.
    Her instincts were getting stronger. The more she accepted what was going on and her role as a protector of shifters, the stronger her intuition became. She didn’t know what to think about it or how her intuition could be so right about helping the shifters and so