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  Kai made a face. “As a dragon, yes. But in this thing? No. Not unless we have a big enough lead.”

  Tessa forced herself to look back. The sun was touching the horizon, casting the sky in ever bloodier tones. For a moment, there was nothing, but then a dragon exploded from the water.

  “Um, Kai…” she hedged.

  A second dragon emerged, and both circled the Kaunolu cliffs, perhaps deciding whether to follow her or to continue their search for the gem — the false gem she’d cast into the sea as a decoy.

  “I see them,” he muttered as the rotors thundered overhead.

  Tessa grabbed his arm. “Are they the ones who hurt you last night?”

  Kai shook his head in a no. “Looks like Morgan brought out the big guns. Hravo and Cyrk.”

  “You know them?”

  “I know of them—” he started, then stopped, looking back.

  Tessa stared as the water boiled and a third dragon erupted from the depths. It shot straight up like a rocket and made two tight turns, scanning the landscape. The huge beast beat its wings, hovering in position. A green glow flashed — her pendant, catching the sun — then plummeted to the ground.

  “Uh-oh,” she murmured. Morgan had just figured out her ruse.

  The huge dragon lifted its long neck and bellowed in rage. Then it turned in a slow circle, seeking a new target.

  “Um, does this go any faster?” Tessa asked.

  Kai didn’t answer, but the engine screamed at an even higher pitch.

  Tessa dug her nails into her seat, looking back. She could identify the very moment that Morgan spotted the chopper because his eyes glowed, and he whipped around to take up the chase. The emerald grew warm in her hand. But this time, she figured, throwing it into the sea wouldn’t deter Morgan. The dragon was out for blood. Her blood, and Kai’s.

  “Kai…” she murmured.

  Morgan screamed and beat his wings. Tessa was certain he was about to chase the helicopter down, but the dragon hurtled toward the swells at the foot of the cliff one more time.

  Tessa held her breath. Surely, he’d break his neck entering the water at that speed and height. Hopefully…

  The other two dragons circled, and over the next minute, everything was quiet behind the helicopter.

  “We’re getting away!” she cheered, sure Morgan was gone forever.

  Then the sea parted. Water flew upward in two mighty curtains, and the red dragon shot upward again. Closer this time, as if it had swum a distance underwater to gain some ground before appearing again. The dragon arced upward, homing right in on them, and its eyes shone a murderous red.

  Mine, it screamed in an ear-splitting roar. My Lifestone! My mate!

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Kai,” Tessa murmured, clutching his hand.

  Kai gave one curt nod and forced himself to focus ahead, not behind. How the hell was he going to get Tessa out of this?

  You should have let me fly here in the first place, his dragon cried.

  Yes, he’d been tempted to do that. He’d been frantic, searching for Tessa, but once he’d focused on the inner pull toward his mate, the sensation was strong enough to guide him out to Lanai, right to the rocky point where his heart leaped into his throat at the sight of a werewolf nipping at Tessa’s heels. But he had to bring her home, and he figured she might not be ready for a flight on his back — not to mention the risks of flying around in daylight in dragon form. That, and his arm was still sore from the fight. So he’d come with the chopper, just in case.

  He considered his options, like ditching the chopper, shifting in midair, and fighting Morgan. God, he was itching to do just that. But even if he could catch Tessa before either of them hit the water, he couldn’t fight with Tessa on his back.

  He glanced back. No way could he circle around to drop her off on Lanai. Not with a wolf shifter on the prowl. And Maui… Crap. Maui was too far away. Morgan, Hravo, and Cyrk would catch up before that — one ruthless maniac and two seasoned mercenaries. The three scouts he’d faced the previous night were nothing compared to these.

  He doused the helicopter’s navigation lights and clamped his teeth together. The setting sun shone on a sharp ridgeline ahead. One side was glowing blood red, the other side cast into darkness.

  “Molokini,” he murmured.

  “What?” Tessa cried.

  “Molokini. The little island over there. The crescent-shaped one.” He pointed. “I think we can make it there.”

  Tessa, he could tell, was biting back something like, You think? She sputtered for a moment and then spoke in an even voice.

  “Okay. Molokini. And then what?” she asked.

  The woman was amazing.

  Make that, my mate is amazing, his dragon said.

  He let out a puff of air and stalled before answering. “I’ll figure it out on the way.”

  She sat, stiff and quiet, clutching the sides of her seat. The dark sea rushed beneath them, the wavetops shining in silvery-white flashes. It was the kind of evening he’d love to take Tessa out for a pleasure glide, if only they didn’t have three death-dealing dragons in hot pursuit.

  Forget about giving her a ride. Someday we’ll teach her how to fly, his dragon said.

  He wished. God, how he wished that someday, she’d accept him as her mate and allow him to turn her into a dragon shifter, too.

  Kai glanced back, calculating how much time he had left. He’d make it to Molokini before the three dragons, but not by much. And then what?

  Then we fight for our lives. For our mate’s life, his dragon snarled.

  “The stone. It made the fire bounce back,” Tessa said, holding up the gem in her hand.

  He nodded. “The Lifestone.”

  “What else can it do? It can’t help me breathe fire, can it?” She gave him a crooked smile.

  Kai bit his tongue. Was she ready for the truth?

  You’re part dragon, Tessa. Mate with me, and you’ll be able to fly and breathe fire, too.

  But did she want those things? His mother had never dared.

  Tessa sighed, giving up on the idea — unlike him. “Silas isn’t around, is he?”

  Kai shook his head. “He left before I realized you’d gone — catching a flight to Oahu to track down the dragon I fought last night.”

  Tessa clutched his arm and peered around. “There are more?”

  “I killed two and chased the third one off.” And somehow, he’d find a way to eliminate these three, too.

  Tessa waited for him to say more, but he figured he’d spare her the details.

  “God, I’ve messed everything up,” she said, knotting her fingers. “I should never have left Koa Point.”

  Kai shifted in his seat. “Why did you leave, Tessa? Why? Was it me?”

  “No!” she cried immediately. “I got a message from Ella — well, I thought it was Ella — telling me I had to meet her right away. She said there was a traitor among you—”

  “A what?”

  Tessa hung her head. “A traitor.”

  “Tessa—”

  She shook her head. “I know. I know. I was an idiot.”

  “No, you weren’t. I’m guessing Morgan sent that message, right?”

  She nodded quietly.

  “Tessa, I understand. But listen. Those guys are like family to me. They’re closer than family. Any of them would die for me. In fact, they’ve come close.” He cleared his throat, thinking of the comrades he had lost. The near-brothers he’d shed tears over when fate cut their lives short. “Tessa, they’d die for you — because of what you mean to me.”

  She turned to him with glistening eyes and whispered, “What do I mean to you?”

  He got stuck for a minute, because how the hell did he fit everything he wanted to say into the short time they had?

  “Everything, Tessa. You mean everything. You’re my mate. Destiny brought us together.”

  “Destiny…” she whispered.

  “Can’t you feel it, too?”
he asked, suddenly afraid.

  Her lower lip trembled. “I know I’ve never felt this way about anyone else. I never felt this way with anyone else.”

  He took her hand so she could sense the conviction, the force that bonded them. “You feel this?”

  She squeezed his hand. “I feel it. I felt it the first time I saw you. I felt it when we made love.”

  He let out a breath of sheer relief. “That’s the dragon blood in you.”

  Her eyes went wide. “The what?”

  “The dragon blood. Somewhere in your family, you have dragon blood.”

  She stared at the gem, shaking her head as if she’d suspected as much but hadn’t dared to believe.

  “Dragon… Wait. Is that why Morgan wants me?”

  Kai nodded.

  She stared, suddenly alarmed. “Wait. Is that why you want me?”

  “No! No, Tessa! I want you for…well, for you.”

  She held her breath, so he rushed on.

  “Yes, most dragons will be attracted to you, but you only have one true mate. Me. I want you for you. For everything you are.” He took her hand.

  Her eyes softened and she gulped.

  He pulled her hand closer and kissed it. “I swear I’ll explain it all to you.” If I survive.

  Tessa glanced back and sucked in a sharp breath. “They’re getting closer.”

  So was Molokini, and damn, the island had never looked smaller or more barren.

  “Listen. I’m going to come in low. I need you to ditch.”

  “Ditch?” She shook her head. “I’m not leaving you.”

  “And I’m never leaving you, but I need you to do this. I need you to be safe. The Lifestone can only repel so much dragon fire. It won’t protect you if they get their claws on you.”

  Her throat bobbed with a heavy gulp.

  “So you need to run and find a place to hide.”

  Her chin tipped up firmly, but her voice wavered when she spoke. “Are you telling me what to do?”

  He managed a weak smile. “Just this once, you have to.”

  “Who says?”

  “Says the man who loves you.”

  She stared. And man, did he wish he could stare back into those green eyes all night and say those words again and again. But the windshield reflected red as a burst of fire broke out behind them, and they both whirled. Morgan was gaining fast.

  “Find a place to hide, Tessa. They’ll try to take you alive.”

  “What about you?”

  He pinched his lips together in a thin line. Damien and his henchmen would kill him the second they had the chance, and it was three to one.

  “No way,” she protested, taking his hand. “You can’t—”

  He kissed her knuckles once more. “Unbuckle your seat belt. We’re getting close.”

  “Kai…”

  He shook his head. “Tessa, it’s your only chance. Our only chance. You understand? This is the only way.”

  She held up the Lifestone, making his heart thump faster. It didn’t have the effect on him Tessa did, but he could sense its power.

  “What else can this do?”

  He shook his head. “I’m not sure.” The legends were full of stories of what that gem was capable of, but only if wielded by an expert in its use. “You need to hide, Tessa.”

  The sharp ridgeline of Molokini was directly ahead, outlined by the lights of Maui and the last of the evening glow. As the sun set, the moon rose, bathing the landscape in pale light.

  “Ready?” he said.

  “No,” she said flatly. She did unclip her seat belt, though.

  He guided the helicopter in, calculating his next steps. Once Tessa was clear, he’d ditch the helicopter, shift into dragon form, and fight.

  Another blast of fire erupted from behind, and he scowled. Fire kindled in his throat, and his mouth tasted of ash. He’d show Morgan how to breathe fire.

  Damn right, we will, his dragon murmured inside.

  “Keep low, Tessa. Stay off the ridgeline. Run downslope. Okay?”

  She didn’t answer, but she did slide the door open and stare at the two-hundred-foot drop to the swell crashing into the island’s fringing reef.

  “You can do this, Tessa. You can do it.”

  She didn’t look so sure, but she nodded in a jerky way.

  “On my signal,” he said. God, he wished she had the training he did.

  If we survive this, we’ll give her all the training she needs so she’ll always be able to defend herself, his dragon vowed.

  “Now! Now!” he shouted as they shot over firm land.

  Tessa locked eyes with him. Her face was white as chalk, but her green eyes glowed, and her lips moved. Kai was about to tell her to hurry up when he heard her whisper.

  “I love you.”

  It was just a whisper, but it made his heart leap. That glow in her eyes was a dragon love-glow.

  She loves me.

  He opened his mouth to answer, but it was too late. Tessa turned and jumped. Kai caught a glimpse of her rolling over the rocky soil, and his dragon screamed inside. A long, mournful cry, a hell of a lot like the one his father had uttered upon his mother’s death.

  Kai clenched the controls, trying to push emotion aside. But, hell. What if this was the end?

  Chapter Seventeen

  Tessa hit the ground — hard — and rolled down the steep slope. The helicopter engine roared in her ears as she grasped desperately for some hold to halt herself before she was pitched over the low cliffs and into the sea. The rough ground scraped at every inch of exposed skin.

  “No!” she screamed when her feet kicked against thin air instead of the earth. God, she was about to tumble over the edge.

  At the last possible second, she caught hold of a rock and jerked to a stop with a grunt. She panted into the damp earth for a moment then lifted her chin just in time to see a long plume of fire flash overhead.

  “Kai,” she whispered, watching a dragon shoot over the lip of the island.

  It was Morgan, hunting down Kai. Setting the helicopter on fire.

  Another roar split the night as the second and third dragons streaked into view, each briefly blotting out the moon before shooting after Kai.

  “Kai,” she cried, though her voice was lost in the din. Dragons screamed overhead, and the swell crashed into the cliff below — the cliff she was about to fall off if she didn’t haul herself up soon. Only her belly and hands were still in contact with the ground, and she crawled up the forty-five-degree angle one rough, ragged inch at a time.

  The flaming helicopter skimmed the ridgeline then thumped to a stop on a rocky outcrop. It leaned toward the water at a crazy angle, then slowly toppled toward the sea.

  Kai jumped from the cockpit. The moonlight silhouetted him as he hit the ground running.

  “No! Kai!” she screamed as he leaped over the sheer cliff on the island’s windward side, out of sight.

  Morgan spat another long line of fire at the helicopter, and a mighty explosion ripped through the night.

  Tessa ducked, pressing her face against cool soil. Metal groaned and screeched, and the earth shook as the remainder of the helicopter tumbled down the slope.

  She lay still, listening to her heart’s heavy thump. Had she lost Kai forever? Did it really end here?

  Loneliness greater than anything she’d ever felt overwhelmed her. When Morgan roared in triumph, she pressed her hands over her ears. But then another dragon’s roar split the night, and she jerked her head up.

  “Kai?”

  The roar was a tone lower than the others — and a whole different level of angry.

  “Kai,” she breathed as a massive dragon swept into sight. Yes, she’d seen him in dragon form before, but never in flight. She lay still, gaping. Was that really the man she loved?

  His wings had a coppery tint, and his eyes glowed in the darkness, flickering between the blue she loved so much and the red of anger. His tail flicked, and though the entire apparitio
n ought to have petrified her, all she felt was an inner pull.

  Mate, the wind whispered. That is your mate.

  Her mate was a magnificent dragon, and somehow, she wasn’t surprised. But was he a match for three equally big foes?

  With a flick of his tail, Kai turned toward the oncoming enemy, spitting a long, crackling flame in their direction. The three immediately split around him then regrouped.

  Tessa grasped the soil, panting. She could have watched, spellbound by the incredible sight. But she sure as hell wasn’t going to sit back and watch her lover fight for her life. She struggled to her knees and immediately gasped, searching her pockets.

  The emerald. Where was it?

  Overhead, the dragons wheeled and sped toward each other like knights in an aerial joust. A flaming joust that lit the island’s steep slopes in an eerie glow. Something glinted green against the dull soil, and Tessa cried out.

  The emerald! It lay thirty yards upslope where she’d lost her grip on it. She started crawling uphill, then flattened herself when the air erupted in flames — so close she could feel the blast of heat.

  The air whooshed as the combatants zoomed by, darting and dodging in midair.

  Gritting her teeth, she resumed her uphill crawl. The dragons were for Kai to deal with. Her job was to take care of the gem.

  A dragon cried in pain, and she looked up to see Morgan and his cronies regroup. Morgan’s dark red wings beat angrily at the night as flames emerged from his mouth along with gritty roars.

  He was talking. Giving the others orders, she realized.

  Tessa. Kai’s voice broke into her mind. Wherever you are, stay out of sight.

  Her back went rigid, one vertebra at a time. Morgan was ordering his henchmen to search for her, wasn’t he?

  The smallest of the three dragons split away from the others and swooped low over the ground, scanning left and right. The other two barreled at Kai, who flapped his wings and threw himself into another counterattack.

  Tessa flattened herself again, putting her cheek to the ground as the smaller dragon zoomed by. She turned her head to watch him continue down the long, thin line of land, and then she scrambled back to her feet, intent on the Lifestone. It glinted, urging her on.

  Protect me, and I will protect you, the otherworldly green glow seemed to say.