“Gahn, what-” the Lavrikala began, her voice halting in confusion. My tail thrashed back down to the ground, and I saw that she was the same guardian who had been here the night the Lavrika had come to me. I hoped that that was some sort of sign.

“Please, Lavrikala. Please.” My voice was a broken growl. “This is my mate. I think that she is dying. You must allow me access to the Lavrikala Pools. She will not live to see my healers.”

The Lavrikala was quiet for so long I worried that I would have to kill her after all. But then she spoke, and the relief was like sunlight after a long night.

“I do not believe the Lavrika would want your mate to die out here on the sands. No, this cannot be. Come forward, Gahn. I grant you access to the Pools of Lavrika.”

My chest tightened, and I raised my tail once more in a final show of gratitude before I was up, forging forward into the darkness of the cliffs. I pushed through the narrow tunnel, being careful not to knock Zeezee’s head or feet against the walls, before I emerged into the cavern with the pools. The Lavrika was nowhere to be seen. It did not guide me in what to do. I had only my own instincts to rely on. With one last look at my mate’s lovely face and a final grunt of deep pain, I leaped forward, plunging into the nearest pool.

Zeezee was pulled from my arms at once. As if she were a stone, she sank, while I was buoyed back up. I howled, fighting whatever force was separating us, claws slashing, tail snapping. But it was no use. I was thrown from the pool. I was more prepared for this than last time, and I landed in a crouch before sprinting back to the pool and attempting to re-enter. But I was thrown back as soon as my skin made contact with the surface. An agonized roar tore from my chest. I could not get to Zeezee. I could not help her. I should have never brought her here at all. The pain was unlike any I had ever known.

I had doomed her.

And I had doomed myself.

OceanofPDF.com

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Cece

Everything was white. All glowy and soft and cushiony. I floated freely, no clue where I was, blinking, dazed in the face of all that white. There was something familiar about it, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It was like something from a forgotten dream. I shook my head back and forth slowly, trying to figure it out before giving up. I wasn’t warm, and I wasn’t cold. I didn’t feel hungry or tired or in pain. To be honest, I didn’t feel much of anything at all.

Maybe I died. Don’t they talk about a white light when you die?

The thought didn’t bring me any real emotion. I felt like I was wrapped in gauze, everything held back, on the other side, away from me. But there was something wrong with the idea that I’d died. A tiny, niggling pain that I became aware of slowly. The feeling that I had left something important behind.

I blinked again, and suddenly there was a face before me. It was white, too, and glowing. I had no idea if it had been there the whole time or if it had just appeared. For a split second, I thought it was my Grammy, and then I was pretty sure that, yup, I’d died. But another blink brought the face into better focus. It wasn’t Grammy. It wasn’t human at all. It was huge, something between a snake and a dragon, with gigantic, knowing eyes. It opened its massive mouth, revealing three rows of wicked teeth and a tongue forked into three parts. That image stirred something deep inside my brain. Three tongues...

Buroudei.

I gasped. Or I would have, if I had been breathing. I wasn’t sure if I was floating in gas or liquid or some element that I didn’t even know existed. Whatever. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I didn’t keep going into whatever this light was. Because I had to get back to Buroudei. I had to make sure he was OK. He’d been fighting. And he’d been hurt.

“Please,” I said, and my voice echoed as if from everywhere. “Please, help me go back.” I didn’t know what this creature was or if it would help me, but it was the only thing here and it was my only fucking shot. The dragon head opened its mouth wider. Then the long ribbon of its body, legless and wingless and invisible until that moment, wound around me, squeezing. “Please,” I begged. I couldn’t stay here. Not without him.

I didn’t know if the dragon creature could even hear me. My whole body was wrapped up in its glowing form. The only part of me still exposed was my head. The dragon’s mouth got bigger and bigger, bigger than should have been possible.

It reared forward, taking my head into its jaws.

And bit down.

“YOU MUST LIVE, ZEEZEE. You must. I cannot think without you. I cannot breathe. If you die, I will wander the sands forever bereft without you. I will let the zeelk strip the flesh from my bones, and even that will not be enough to atone. That pain would be nothing to this. You must live. You must fight. You must. You must.”

What was that? Was this the dragon talking to me? Was I inside its mouth or what? I groaned, opening my eyes. My vision swam, but right away I could tell I was somewhere different. For one thing, there was stuff to see besides endless glowing white. Dimly lit stone walls and a high, rounded ceiling. And a set of huge, dark eyes with glimmering metallic specks pulsing in the centre.

“Buroudei,” I whispered. I felt my face split into the biggest fucking smile. I couldn’t help it. I was so glad to be back here. To be with him. “Am I ever happy to see you.”

Buroudei froze. The specks in his eyes exploded and swirled, and he brought his face closer. I felt his hands on either side of my jaw, and wanted to nuzzle into them.

“How is it you can speak to me?”

His voice was deep, gruff, and perfectly understandable.

Um. What?

“Excuse me? Hold on. Rewind.”

Buroudei’s face darkened and he hissed.

“A moment ago I heard you speak. I understood you. But now I do not understand what you say at all. What is ‘rewind?’”

Holy fucking shit. I sat up, gasping, and Buroudei jerked in surprised.

“Lay back, my mate! You were injured very badly.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, thoughts tearing through my mind, as Burdouei’s hands ran all over me, from scalp to toes, checking for injuries. My brain was moving about a thousand miles a minute. I could understand Buroudei. And he could understand me. And he’d called me his mate... Which, just... What?

“OK, one thing at a time.” I opened my eyes to find Buroudei’s face an inch from mine. I gulped. “How can we understand each other?”

I could tell that I wasn’t speaking English. I was speaking his language, but as easily as if it were my own native tongue.

Buroudei sat back on his haunches now that he was satisfied I wasn’t injured. He stared at me.

“I do not know,” he said slowly. “I brought you to the Lavrika Pools for healing. This must be a gift from the Lavrika.”

“What’s a Lavrika? Oh. You mean that dragon thing?”

He frowned.

“I do not know this word.”

Dragon had come out in English, like rewind had earlier.

“This big long white animal. With a huge head and eyes.”

Buroudei took a sharp breath.

“Yes. That is the Lavrika. The spirit of this place. You saw it?”

I nodded eagerly.

“Yes, I think so. It wrapped itself all around me, then tried to eat my head. I guess. Or maybe not.”

Buroudei’s tail thudded.

“I do not understand this. But I will not question it. Being able to speak with you is a treasure I could not have fathomed. I did not think I would ever get to talk to my mate.”