The Hunter and the Mage (The Raven and the Dove #2) - Kaitlyn Davis Page 0,144

his lips curled back and his eyes like slits. His mouth was open so far she could see his tonsils. In the hollow of his throat, a ball of flame churned. Lyana didn't want to know what would happen if he screamed.

"Stop!" she cried to Malek. "You must stop!"

"I can't," he said, the words coming out strained, as though saying each one demanded a silent battle. "We've come too far to turn back."

"What are you doing to him?"

"Soul joining."

"I don't—"

She broke off as a flame shot toward Malek, bubbling red against the gold. Lyana caught it in her magic, the fire raging within her grasp. As the sizzle dissipated, she saw the beast chained behind him, snarling as it fought against metal restraints. Its body was like Rafe's, shifting every second, rippling as though covered by a sheer fabric caught in a breeze. Malek groaned and his spine bent forward as pain twisted his features.

He's joining that thing—

He's making Rafe—

"You can't, Malek," she snapped, her eyes finding his. "You can't do this to him. You don’t understand what it means, what it will do—"

"It's already done."

"Then undo it."

"Lyana—"

Her name turned into a hiss and the golden power in the air dimmed. Malek gripped the table, his jaw clenching as he stared at nothing, too lost in his magic. Another boil sprouted on his cheek. Lyana realized in horror that whatever Malek was doing, he was losing—and if he lost, Rafe would be lost with him.

"Help me," Malek demanded through gritted teeth. "Help me or watch him die. Those are your only two options left."

Lyana opened her mouth, the answer caught in her throat.

Rafe will hate this.

To be bonded with a dragon. To be truly fire cursed. It was his worst nightmare come to life. The people of their world would never understand. He would be a son of Vesevios, an outcast. He would never be welcomed back.

But at least he'll be alive.

Maybe it was selfish, but she needed him. His bravery. His acceptance. His tender soul. And though she didn’t know why, some part of her understood on a fundamental level that the world needed him too.

Lyana found Malek's midnight eyes. "What can I do?"

"Heal me."

With one more glance at Rafe, Lyana sank into her power and leaned across the table to grasp Malek's hand. Her magic disappeared into his skin, healing his wounds. The boils covering his face gradually sank back into his cheeks. The burns sealed. The raw and exposed flesh regenerated. Deeper than that, the fire burning his soul receded, her power providing the protection his couldn't. As he strengthened, the golden aura in the room did too, no longer pulsing as though at war, but sturdy as a wall. With his control regained, Lyana could finally sense Rafe's soul and the dragon's, half sewn together and half separate, neither sure if it should give in or fight to be free. The beast's spirit was pure fire, so hot Lyana burned just from being near it. She couldn't imagine how Malek had managed to control it on his own for so long. And Rafe's spirit—

Her heart lurched.

Rafe's spirit was just as she remembered, yearning and wounded, so tough on the outside yet so fragile underneath the hard exterior, his heart overflowing with all it had to give. If she closed her eyes, she could remember what it felt like to be the recipient of such steadfast devotion for that one brief night when she was his and he was hers, and nothing else in the world mattered.

Cassi's words came back to haunt. Malek knows everything.

"Did you do this because—" She paused to swallow. "Did you do this because you knew what he meant to me? What he still means to me?"

"No." Malek dropped his gaze to the table, not wanting her to see. "I did this because he's an invinci, and he's the only one who had a chance of surviving the transformation."

"I don’t understand."

"Dragon souls are different from any other in this world, perhaps because they're not of this world," he said, his voice no longer strained as her magic coursed through him, healing him as fast as any new pain came. "They burn with a molten heat no human soul can bear, not even a pyro'kine. Trust me, former kings have tried. That's why I needed you to heal me. Using my power to hold the dragon's spirit also means allowing that same spirit to melt me from the inside out. It's how my father