A Turn of Tides (A Shade of Vampire #13)(54)

I ran my hands along his torso, feeling his taut muscles beneath my fingers.

He tensed suddenly and raised his head, once again looking me in the eye.

“I can’t lose you again,” he breathed.

I wanted to tell him I couldn’t lose him again either.

But instead I just nodded, afraid to respond with the dragon’s ears so close to us.

He bit his lip, as though he was about to continue saying something.

“What?” I asked.

There was a long pause before he finally drew in a deep breath.

Then he spoke the words I’d been aching to hear ever since he’d first kissed me at The Shade’s port.

“Whatever lies ahead… I just need to tell you… I need you to know…” His voice caught in his throat.

“I love you, Rose Novak.” I gaped at him, speechless.

Blood rushed to my cheeks.

My hands were trembling as I reached for his face.

“And I love you, Caleb Achilles,” I choked.

“With every beat of my heart.” He exhaled sharply and his arms closed around me, drawing me into a tight—almost crushing—embrace.

I buried my face in his neck, tears of joy leaking from my eyes and moistening his skin.

His eyes were glistening too by the time we met each other’s gaze again.

He began dragging long, tender kisses across my face and neck, cherishing every part of me he could reach.

We broke away only once Bella lifted our shelter and peeked down at us.

Her eyes widened before she quickly replaced the waistcoat.

“Oops, sorry,” she mumbled.

“Heard weird sounds.

Didn’t know you were doing… that.” I giggled.

“It’s okay, Bella.” The dragon’s body rumbled as he spoke to us.

“It seems we have arrived,” he said.

Caleb helped me turn round to face forward again so we could both take a look at where the dragon was indicating.

I didn’t know these waters well, especially not from this aerial view, but Caleb appeared to recognize the area, since he’d navigated to the island more than once before.

“Rose, since you’re with us, if we fly right into the barrier, will we get through without problems?” “I think so,” I muttered.

“There’s only one way to know for sure, I guess.” “So fly right ahead, dragon,” Caleb said, his grip tightening around my waist.

Chapter 36: Rose

I held my breath as the dragon sped up and began descending.

We still didn’t know if Brisalia’s words about The Shade being taken over by black witches were true.

But as with the state of the boundary, there was only one way to find out.

A few moments later, the sun vanished.

Bella removed the waistcoat, allowing us full view of the surroundings.

The Shade’s surroundings.

I scanned the shore anxiously, straining to see anything that might give us a clue as to the island’s current state.

I could spot nothing out of the ordinary yet.

We directed Charis toward The Port, and his heavy wings beat around us as he descended onto the jetty.

As soon as we hit the ground, Caleb whispered, “Climb onto my back.” I clung onto him and we jumped down to the ground.

Bella followed soon after, almost losing balance and toppling backward into the sea before regaining her balance.

I wanted nothing more than to just run off into the forest with Caleb to hide and hope the dragon would disappear.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option.

We walked round the dragon’s body until we reached his head and I looked up at him.

“Can you wait here for just half an hour? I will be back by then.” Charis glared at me.

Clearly, I was approaching dangerous territory.

“I’ll give you a quarter of an hour.

If you don’t return by then, I will burn this place down looking for you.” I shuddered, then nodded.

“Of course.” I looked at Bella and pointed to the beach on our left that led toward Brett’s cave.

“Bella, just go for a walk in that direction.

Caleb and I have some business to do.” Bella still looked bewildered as she took in this strange new island, but she nodded absentmindedly and went plodding off.

Charis didn’t seem to have much interest in the ogress after I’d requested her—he hadn’t specified that she would have to return with us—and I wanted her out of his way.

I leapt onto Caleb’s back again and pointed toward the forest.

“Run like you’ve never run before, Caleb,” I murmured.

He lurched forward at the speed of the wind, so fast my eyes watered and I could barely see where we were going.

“Okay,” I gasped.

“Run like you’re mildly hungry.” He let up his speed.

My heart was hammering in my chest as I began yelling out, “Mom! Dad! Ben!” I shouted until my lungs were hoarse.

As we began to near the residences, I was met with a sight that made my pulse race.

It was my father, standing in the middle of the forest pathway, staring at us with his mouth wide open.

“Dad!” I screamed.

I felt Caleb tense beneath me as he laid eyes on him.

“Don’t worry,” I said, grinning from ear to ear as my father lurched toward us.