Resurrecting Her Dragon (Dragon Guard Series Book 13) by Julia Mills Page B

truly humbling experience. It had always been her responsibility to fight for others. Save those who couldn’t save themselves. Be the leader she was born to be. The phoenix would never admit it out loud but it felt good to be the one on the receiving end of the rescuing and she owed it all to her dragon.
    As if he’d heard her thoughts, Rory glanced in her direction and winked. The last piece of the puzzle fell into place. Their souls became one. She was whole. It was everything she’d imagined it would be and so much more. It didn’t matter that they were standing in the home of their enemy fighting for their lives. It was simply perfect. Claire started to smile but ended up screaming, “No! Rory! Duck!”
    Unfortunately, her warning was too late. During the split second it took Rory to look at her, Malick swept his hand into the ash bucket, grabbed a handful of soot, and when her dragon looked back, the bastard threw the ash into Rory’s face. Using her dragon’s momentary blindness to his advantage, Malick lunged forward, the deadly point of his blade sliding easily into Rory’s chest.
    Claire opened her mouth to scream again but this time nothing came out. There wasn’t enough air in the room. Her phoenix wailed in her head. She watched shock replace the look of determination on her mate’s handsome face. Stumbling to remain on his feet, Rory rocked forward and then back before his knees buckled. The force of the Guardsman falling to the floor pulled the blade from his chest. His blood flowed freely, immediately covering the front of his blue t-shirt and turning it a ghastly deep purple as Malick raised his sword for a killing blow.
    Of their own volition, Claire’s hands flew out in front of her. Fire burst from her fingertips. A howl unlike anything she’d ever heard flew from her lips. “You. Will. Die!” She screamed as the flames grew in intensity. Fire shot in every direction, engulfing not only Malick Slade but all the griffins within reach. She’d given total control to her phoenix and the bird was hell bent on ridding the world of anyone who dared to harm their mate.
    A tall, broad shouldered griffin, who looked enough like Malick to be his twin, appeared at the far side of the room. Claire immediately knew it to be Zanus, the brother responsible for her accident. Before her phoenix could redirect her fire, the coward bellowed his retreat. The other griffins scurried like cockroaches from the light. Only the thought of Rory bleeding out on the floor kept her from pursuing the bastard and his underlings.
    Racing to his side, Claire knelt in a puddle of Rory’s blood as she touched his throat to check for a pulse. His face had turned a deathly pale and sallow grey. Deep, dark circles appeared under his eyes. His breath rattled in his lungs, telling her they were filling with blood. Rubbing his cheek with the back of her fingers, the electric current of recognition flew up her arm, landing deep in her heart, quickly followed by the feel of his dragon pushing white hot healing magic at the gaping wound in Rory’s chest.
    Voices came from every direction. Hands touched her shoulders while others reached for her mate. The dragons that weren’t disposing of the remaining griffins were calling for help and asking what they could do to help their fallen brother. Declan, who she somehow knew was the medic of Rory’s Force, was called from the other side of the mansion, but the phoenix knew he wouldn’t be in time.
    She could feel her family around her, lending their power and their prayers to not only her but also her dragon. Knowing Claire needed to be as far away from the burning corpses of her enemies as possible, her cousins directed Kayne and Lennox to carry Rory out into the garden.
    “We’re on it,” Kayne immediately answered, smoothly sliding his arms under Rory’s shoulders while Lennox lifted his legs.
    As gently as possible, the two dragons lifted her dragon from the floor, walked out