Page 1 of Claim the Light
CHAPTERONE
Peace.
It’s mine if I have the courage to claim it.
I hover in the shadow of the door leading out onto the moonlit rooftop of my clan leader’s home, daring myself to step into the light.
I’m not supposed to be up here.
Today, we fought a battle against angels and the danger isn’t over—not until word comes that the Sentinels who hunted us are finally imprisoned.
But while my clan sleeps, my fears have kept me awake.
I need to know if my dragon shadow is gone—that the danger is truly over. The only way I can be sure of that is to step into the moonlight and dare my shadow to reappear. Then, and only then, can I push away this heavy dread building in my stomach.
My hand shakes as I raise my arm, forefinger extended, but I freeze before I can go farther.
I faced warrior angels today. Fought beside dragons who had once been my enemies. I’ve faced fire and dared death to come for me, and yet…
Why can’t I do this simple thing? Why can’t I accept that I’m worthy of this peace?
“Your life is yours now,” says a quiet voice from the stairwell behind me.
I spin to find Micah Grudge standing two steps down. The shadows within the stairwell only serve to accentuate his height and muscular build, casting darkness over his light-brown hair, tanned skin, and cedar-brown eyes. My heartbeat quickens at the remembered strength in his arms and the heat in his eyes.
He isn’t beautiful like some dragon shifters. Not smooth or polished. He’s rugged and unkempt and, as I’ve come to learn, he speaks from his heart.
He was once an enemy of my clan, the Dread. There was a time when I was afraid of him. Well, for all of two seconds before he put his foot in his mouth and insulted me, after which I raged at him with all my false bravado.
I sensed his true nature even then. An alluring, wild nature. I’d pulled his scent into my chest and felt like I’d been transported to another place. A place where I didn’t have to hide.
“Micah.” I can’t stop my smile. Or the heat growing within my body. “You’re back.”
If he were still my enemy, I might be unsettled by his ability to creep up on me, but it’s a strength I now appreciate. His father was a dragon shifter, and his mother was a wolf shifter, and Micah inherited many of her wolfish traits.
My impulse now is to propel myself down the steps into his arms, but I make myself stop, feeling suddenly vulnerable. He’s held me before but always to scoop me out of danger.
This feels different.
Another fear I’m determined to face.
“We’re safe now,” he says, leaning back against the wall with a tired exhalation. The shadows may conceal his coloring, but not his fatigue, nor the scuffs on his brown pants and the rips in his gray T-shirt.
“The last of the Sentinels are imprisoned in the veil,” he continues. “Lana and Callan will stay there tonight to make sure there isn’t any trouble. They’ll return tomorrow. Zahra’s keeping the dragon’s light safe.” He takes a breath. “But you knew some of that already.”
I give a quick nod.
After the fight today, Lana asked for Micah’s help transporting the Sentinels into the prison within the veil.
Lana is an Avenging Angel—the first to be born in a very long time—but she’s also half dragon. Her father was the dragon shifter known as the Grudge King. He was also Micah’s grandfather. Which technically means that Lana is Micah’s aunt. It’s a little mind-bending since Lana’s only a few years older than Micah.
I don’t ask Micah where the veil is located. It’s a secret known only to a few, and I’m happy not to be one of them. That sort of knowledge is dangerous.
As for the gold-encased diamond that we call ‘the dragon’s light,’ Lana threw herself into raging fire to recover it from a secret place within the veil.
The stone can never again be taken behind the veil, so Lana entrusted it into the care of Callan’s sister, Zahra, who’s my alpha and the leader of the Dread.
“How did you know where to find me?” I ask Micah.
