Page 82 of Claim the Light
Slipping my hand and arm under the blanket, I rest my palm on Lana’s lower stomach, sensing the ebb and flow of her blood and her own injured energy thrumming through her.
But with it comes another force, separate to her own. New but strong. And incredibly calm. So strong that I can almost feel the beat of young wings and the heat of first flames against my skin.
“Why now?” I whisper, my heart hurting so badly that fresh tears fall down my cheeks.
“What is it, Sophia?” Callan is like stone beside me, an immensely powerful dragon who has even more to lose now.
“It’s life,” I whisper. “New life.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY
Callan’s gaze flies back to Lana. “A child?”
My throat is so tight that I can barely speak. “Lana’s pregnant.”
Opposite me, Beatrix and Isaac lower themselves to the floor and so does Micah, stepping back toward the bed so he can kneel on my other side.
A hush falls over us as we huddle around Lana.
“The first dragon to be born since Emika,” Beatrix whispers.
The sudden rage in Callan’s voice sends shivers down my spine. “If Lana survives the ash.”
There’s nothing I can say to take away his pain.
He was the first dragon shifter who put his faith in me and believed in me. He spent almost his entire adult life separated from his clan because of his fire. Until a few days ago, we couldn’t stand this close to him, let alone hug him. Now, we’re huddled around him, yet there’s no comfort that we can give.
All we can do is wait for Lana to wake up.
Ifshe wakes up.
I press my cheek to the back of her hand, leaving hot tears on her skin, before I replace the blanket over her.
It’s only then that I realize her glaive is nowhere in sight. “Where is her weapon?”
“I dropped everything at the bottom of the stairs,” Callan says. “My gold is there too.”
“I can bring them to you,” I say. “She needs her weapon’s strength.”
It’s an empty promise. I can’t touch their gold. I believe that Callan may be able to carry Lana’s glaive, but it’s likely to chop my hand off of its own accord if I try to pick it up. Callan’s gold won’t be any more receptive to my touch.
But I can’t stay here any longer, watching Lana cycle between life and death.
To lose Lana is to lose a sister.
I need to think. I need to act. I have to get out of this room and decide what I’m going to do, because I won’t allow Tyler to take anything more from me than he already has.
Callan gives me a nod. He doesn’t say anything about the weapon, even though he will know I can’t bring it to him. In fact, everyone in this room will know it. But he rises to his feet, reaches out, and pulls me into a hug.
“I know you love her too,” he says.
Fuck. I bite hard on my lip, but it doesn’t stop my sobs.
I try to breathe through them. An impossible task. I can’t speak, can’t push away the pain, can only hug him back.
When he releases me, I swipe at my cheeks and swallow hard. Focusing on the door, I only hope I can make it there before my grief turns to rage.
“Sophia.”
