Chapter 53 Trouble
Rhea POV
Flying with dragons is a lesson in humility.
They are faster than they look, heavier than physics should allow, and completely convinced they are right about everything. Korr flew beneath me in perfect formation, his dragon mind steady and disciplined, the twins slicing the air to either side like blades.
I was enjoying it.
Which should have been my first warning.
Then something inside my chest snapped tight. Not gently. Not politely. It yanked hard enough to steal my breath.
I shrieked, the sound ripping out of me in a raw phoenix cry that shattered the clouds around us. Fire flared along my wings as pain and panic surged through the bond.
“Oh hell no,” Pyra said inside my head. “That was not a casual tug.”
I twisted midair, banking so sharply the world tilted. “That’s Nox.”
“Yes, Captain Obvious,” Pyra snapped. “And he’s in serious trouble.”
Korr roared in surprise below me, the sound vibrating through my bones. The twins wobbled, scrambling to hold formation.
“He’s fading,” I gasped. “We have to turn back.”
Pyra didn’t argue.
“Send it,” she said. “I’ll handle the dragon politics.”
Heat pulsed through my mind as Pyra reached outward, her presence brushing Korr’s consciousness and sliding seamlessly into his dragon’s awareness.
"Vampire king down," Pyra announced bluntly. "Unconscious, snowbound, idiotically unfed. Turn now or he dies."
Korr didn’t waste time with questions. His dragon form pivoted instantly, the motion snapping the air like a whip. He relayed the command to the twins in a roar of authority. They turned with us.
We flew hard. Really hard. The wind screamed past me. Ice burned my lungs. Every beat of my wings felt late. The bond dragged at my ribs like a hook, pulling me north and down and wrong.
“Oh, he is not allowed to die like this,” Pyra muttered.
An hour passed. Then a little more. Then I felt him.
Close. Too close to death.
“There,” I gasped. “He’s right there.”
I folded my wings and dive-bombed. Snow rushed up, white and blinding, broken by a massive black shape sprawled across the ground. Bat wings. Torn. Bent. Wrong.
“Nox!” I hit the ground and shifted mid-fall, fire ripping through me as feathers burned away. I landed on my knees, naked and shaking in the snow, scrambling to him.
He wasn’t moving.
“Okay,” Pyra said calmly. “We panic later. Heal now.”
“I don’t know how,” I sobbed, my hands shaking as I pressed them to his chest.
“Your tears,” Pyra said. “Cry harder.”
“What?”
“Trust me.”
I didn’t question it. I couldn’t. Tears poured out of me, hot and furious, splashing onto his fur and torn wings.
The magic surged instantly. Heat flooded my palms. His broken wing twitched. Bone slid back into place with a wet crack. Flesh knit. Membrane smoothed, steam rising where my tears fell.
I stared in horror. “I’m fixing him.”
“Congratulations,” Pyra said dryly. “You’re a walking miracle. Don’t tell anyone.”
More tears fell. More healing followed.
His wings repaired themselves beneath my hands, slow but undeniable.
“Oh gods,” I whispered. “No one can know about this.”
“No one will,” Pyra replied, suddenly serious. “Phoenix tears are top-tier divine nonsense. You guard this secret like your life depends on it. Because it does.”
Nox shuddered once, then began to shift.
The bat dissolved into shadow and bone, shrinking, and reshaping until he was himself again. Pale. Dressed. Still unconscious. Alive.
Relief crushed me. I collapsed forward, clutching him as my tears finally slowed.
Korr landed moments later, snow exploding outward. The twins followed, their eyes sharp, already moving.
“Status?” Korr demanded.
Pyra answered before I could. "Alive. Stabilized. Humiliated."
Korr huffed. “We move.”
Branches snapped. Pine boughs were torn free. Leather straps were fashioned with brutal efficiency.
“I’ll carry him,” Korr said softly.
I looked up at him, my throat tight. “Thank you.”
He nodded once. “We leave immediately.”
They secured Nox carefully to Korr’s dragon back once he was fully shifted. When it was done, I wiped my face and shifted again, fire wrapping me whole.
Phoenix. Mine. We took off hard, racing toward Pyraen Hold.
“The wolves will reach dragon lands within a day,” Pyra warned. “So flap faster.”
We did. Hours blurred together until volcanic glow cut the horizon. Pyraen Hold rose ahead, molten and magnificent. We landed in Korr’s courtyard to the immediate ring of Scale Knights, with their weapons drawn.
Korr shifted, towering and furious.
“Stand down,” he commanded.
They obeyed instantly. I stayed in phoenix form, my wings tight, watching Nox breathe.
Inside my mind, Pyra stretched lazily.
“Well,” she said, “that was dramatic. Let’s not make it a habit.”
They didn’t let me carry him. The twins did.
They moved with careful precision, each of them lifting Nox like he was something fragile instead of a creature built from fangs and shadow. Scale Knights flanked us instantly, their weapons lowered but ready, escorting us through Pyraen Hold’s inner corridors. The walls radiated heat, magma veins glowing softly, but I still felt cold all the way through.
I stayed close. Too close, probably.
When they reached the chamber, they laid him down gently on the massive stone-framed bed. He didn’t move. Didn’t even flinch.
My chest tightened.
I grabbed a chair and dragged it across the floor, the scrape loud and ugly in the quiet room. I shoved it to his side and sat immediately, reaching for his hand before anyone could stop me. His skin was cool. Still breathing. Still here.
I laced my fingers through his and held on like letting go wasn’t an option.
Behind me, I felt Korr. I didn’t need to look to know he was bristling. His presence was heat and restraint and something sharp he wasn’t saying. The bond between us wasn’t sealed yet, and I knew that mattered to him. I knew seeing me like this hurt.
I couldn’t help it.
“He’s alive,” I whispered, mostly to myself.
“He will recover,” Korr said quietly.
I nodded but didn’t look away from Nox. “I just need him to wake up.”
My voice cracked anyway. That was when Korr moved. He crossed the room and knelt beside me, close enough that his warmth seeped into my side. He didn’t touch me at first. Didn’t demand anything.
“You did not fail,” he said. “You saved him.”
That was it. I stood too fast, turned toward him, and everything I’d been holding in totally fucking shattered. I collapsed into his arms, sobbing hard enough it hurt, my fists twisting in his tunic.
“I thought I lost him,” I said. “I felt him slipping and I couldn’t get there fast enough.”
Korr wrapped around me instantly, solid and sure. He sat and pulled me into his lap like it was the most natural thing in the world. One arm locked around my back, anchoring me. The other brushed my hair away from my face.
“I have you,” he said quietly. “Both of you.”
I curled into him, exhausted, and shaking. Without even thinking, I reached back and grabbed Nox’s hand again, refusing to let go.
Korr didn’t stop me. He just held me, his heartbeat steady beneath my ear, grounding and warm.
I listened to it, and breathes deeply.
And sometime after that, I fell asleep.
\~~~~~~
Nox POV
Consciousness came back to me like a blade sliding under my ribs.
I sat up fast, breath dragging sharply into lungs that still felt too thin, and too cold. Stone walls. Heat. Wards humming low and steady. Dragon magic. Safe, for now.
My vision cleared. And then I felt her.
Warm fingers tangled with mine, small and unyielding, like she’d anchored herself there on purpose. I followed the line of our joined hands and my chest did something strange and tight.
Rhea.
She was asleep in a chair beside the bed, curled into Korr’s lap, her body folded in on itself from pure exhaustion. Korr sat unnaturally still, with one arm around her, the other braced on the chair arm, his golden eyes already locked on me.
Sharp. Assessing. Territorial.
“You good, Vampire King?” he asked quietly. “You scared our girl here shitless.”
I didn’t answer him right away. I couldn’t stop looking at her. Her lashes were dark against her cheeks. Her brow still faintly furrowed even in sleep, like part of her hadn’t unclenched yet. My fingers tightened around hers without thinking.
“She saved me?” I asked softly.
Korr nodded once. “I landed after you were already healed. I haven’t had the chance to ask her how bad it was.”
I hummed low in my chest, understanding blooming slowly and dangerously. My thumb brushed over the back of her hand carefully. Of course she had.
She stirred instantly. Her eyes snapped open, bright and blazing, panic flashing for half a second before it vanished.
“Nox,” she breathed.
Then she launched herself at me.
She didn’t hesitate. Didn’t look at Korr. She was suddenly in my arms, with her legs braced against the bed, and her arms locked tight around my neck like she needed to feel me solid and breathing to believe it.
I caught her easily and buried my face in her hair, holding her just as tightly.
“I’m here,” I murmured. “I’ve got you.”
Behind us, Korr groaned softly and stretched, easing her weight off his lap. “I have matters to tend to.”
Rhea looked up over my shoulder. “Thank you, Korr.”
He inclined his head once, his expression unreadable, and left the room without another word.
The door shut quietly.
I tightened my arms around her, pressing my forehead to hers. “You pulled me back from something unpleasant.”
Her fingers clenched in my shirt. “What happened?”
I exhaled slowly, choosing my words carefully. “The Crimson Circle made their move. They wanted your blood. I declined. It was...poorly received. I flew without feeding.”
Her eyes darkened. “Idiot.”
I smiled faintly. “Yes.”
She swallowed. “I felt you. Like you were slipping away.”
“You did more than feel me,” I said softly. “You saved me.”
She went still in my arms, something cautious flickering behind her eyes.
“I’ll tell you everything,” I added, holding her close. “But not while you’re shaking.”
She pressed her face into my neck, breathing me in like she needed proof I was real.
And for the first time in five hundred years, I let myself believe that maybe being saved was not a weakness at all.
\~~~~~
Rhea POV
The moment he said he hadn’t fed, something in me snapped into certainty.
Bonded. Mated. Mine.
There was no fear. No second-guessing. Just instinct.
I flipped him without ceremony, pushing him back into the mattress and rolling us smoothly so he was on top of me, my back sinking into warmth.
“Oh thank the fire,” Pyra said inside my head. “Finally. Feed him before he does something stupid again.”
I tipped my head to the side, baring my throat without hesitation, pulse strong and sure beneath my skin.
“Feed,” I said simply. “My blood will help.”
Nox lowered his mouth to my neck like it was the most natural thing in the world, like he’d done it a thousand times already. His fangs slid in clean and precise, the bite sharp for half a breath before warmth followed, deep and grounding.
I exhaled slowly, my hands sliding into his hair, holding him there. The bond flared. Not wild. Not overwhelming.
Right.
I felt him take what he needed, felt my blood answer him willingly, magic threading between us like it recognized the exchange as sacred. Phoenix fire stirred low in my chest, curious but calm.
“Yes,” Pyra hummed approvingly. “That’s it. I like him better fed.”
His presence sharpened, and strengthened, filling out like a shadow returning to its proper shape.
When he pulled back, he sealed the wound immediately, his tongue brushing my skin with practiced care.
He stayed there for a moment, his forehead resting against my shoulder, breathing deep.