The Dragon's Heart (Dragon Lore) Read Free

now.”
    Daniel swallowed hard as the pain in his heart threatened to split his chest open. “I’m not her mate, goddamn it.” His hand shook as he shoved it through his hair. “It’s not me.”
    Seren turned to her husband. Adrian simply nodded, putting his massive body in the doorway, blocking Daniel from leaving.
    “Take your shirt off,” she ordered. Instead of giving Daniel time to obey, she simply laid her clipboard on the bed and moved in, yanking at his jacket. When she saw the gaping wound in his chest, she inhaled a sharp breath. She didn’t hesitate. She shoved his black Henley shirt up and moved in closer, poking around the inch-deep gouge.
    “Oh, Daniel, why do you do this to yourself?” she asked as she stepped back.
    He kept his mouth closed because he didn’t have an answer for her. At least not one he felt like sharing. He’d been trying to escape thoughts of Shelby for a year, and yet his only option some nights was a fight. The physical pain was much easier to bear than the mental.
    Her touch was gentler as she pulled the sheet covering Shelby down, exposing the tell-tale marking over the swell of her left breast.
    Daniel staggered back a step as he felt his entire existence shift beneath his feet. Ryuu , what had he done?
    “Okay, good,” Seren breathed. “Now I need you to help me fix her.”
     

 
    2
     
    It wasn’t possible. It wasn’t. Yet the proof was real. It was his mark over Shelby’s heart, identical to the one over his own. Unique to him. Every dragon was born with one. It was, quite literally, what marked a mate as taken. When a dragon mated, their mark transferred to their chosen other half.
    Directly above his mark on Shelby’s breast was a mangled mess where the bullet had torn through delicate flesh.
    “Alright.” He clenched his hands into fists to stop them from trembling as he moved in closer to the bed. “What do I have to do?”
    Seren was already moving. “She needs your energy. She doesn’t have enough on her own right now. Without it, she doesn’t have the strength to fight as I heal her.” She pointed to the chair next to Shelby’s hip. “Sit and grab her hand.”
    He obeyed without thinking, taking Shelby’s fragile hand into his.
    Seren glanced at her husband. “You know what to do.”
    “Don’t worry, wife.” Adrian Cage moved in front of the door and crossed his arms over his chest. “No one’s getting in.”
    Daniel barely heard them. “What happened to her?” he asked finally, his voice hoarse to his own ears.
    “She was shot exiting her car at the premiere.” Seren moved to the other side of the bed. “My brother’s in town this week. As soon as I saw your mark on her, I sent him to see what he could find out.”
    “I want to know as soon as he gets back.” He didn’t bother to ask which brother. She had two, Luca and Micah, but Micah was so deep in the Chicago underworld he wasn’t safe to be around dragon or human population, while Luca had been fighting side by side with Daniel for centuries.
    As she gently placed her hands over Shelby’s abdomen, Seren’s focus sharpened on Daniel. “I need you to concentrate. She needs everything you have if she’s going to survive this. She’s lost more blood than any human can withstand. If you hadn’t mated to her and changed her on a cellular level she’d have bled out already.” Her face softened, and Daniel was dimly aware of her voice going sharper. Like she was trying to channel his energy on Shelby before he internally combusted, which is exactly what he felt crawling up the base of his spine. The need to explode. “Focus on her, Daniel. Use your emotion and determination. Remember why you mated with her in the first place.”
    His gaze snapped to hers. Her voice and demeanor had turned steely. “It doesn’t matter how it happened, or why. You mated with her. It meant something when it happened. I need you to use that emotion now.”
    He tried. He closed his eyes to block