Her Second Chance✔ (Published)

20

She hated the being so helpless, watching Dani be helpless as she hung there with the hands clawing at the hand holding her. Worse was how the warrior was unaffected by anything Cari did.

Cari screamed. Rage erupting from her. Her helplessness called up years of being helpless tangling up inside her with that rage. A resounding denial of it all. She was supposed to be powerful. The queen had said she would double her mate's power and be just as powerful. Everyone knew Andre was powerful.

The little she had read in the draconian books had alluded to the fact that she was powerful. If she was the key to the primes, if she was the coveted prize then she couldn't be helpless, wouldn't be helpless.

She called out in her rage, her eyes glued to her cousin's fading ones, denial brewing in her core. She reached out and found her center. It wasn't something outside herself, power that did lie dormant inside her, hidden. She grabbed it with that desperation and pulled not caring if she might be doing some damage.

Channeling it into her hands she willed it into the dragon whose back she clung to. Cari had no idea what she was doing no idea what the power she'd called up was doing to the dragon. When the warrior let go of her cousin she jumped off her back and rushed to Dani as her cousin fell like a rag doll whose strings had been cut.

"Oh goddess Dani." Cari cried as she took her into her arms. "Please be okay, please." There was a dark red bruise where the dragon had wrapped her hand around Dani's neck. Scared that she might have crushed some bones Cari ran her hand over it but couldn't tell if there were any. "Dani please." She begged, not even paying attention to the female dragon.

Her cousin finally coughed and Cari burst into relieved tears. "Oh thank heavens." She sobbed as she held Dani to her.

"Too tight." Dani croaked and Cari let her go with a crying laugh.

"I thought you were dead."

"Yeah, for a minute there, I thought I was a goner." Dani agreed. "What happened to the dragon?" She asked as she tried to soothe her throat and winced.

Cari looked to where she'd last seen the dragon then blinked. The warrior, still in her shifted state, was standing still with her eyes focused on Cari. Her face was...serene. Cari frowned. Had she done something with her gift?

"Wha..." Dani croaked again.

"I think I wammied her with my gift." Cari guessed.

"You think?"

"Hey, I was desperate. I've never used my gift to do anything besides calm people or have to serene to question anything. Nothing like this, she looks..."

"Hypnotized." Dani finished as she stood up to approach the dragon who kept still, her gaze on Cari. "Do you think you can mind control her?"

"What?" Cari demanded. "That's wrong on so many levels."

"So's what they're planning to do. If you can mind control enough of them then you can have them attack the rest of the dragons."

"That's a big if." She argued as she stood up to stand with Dani. The dragon female trailed her, so focused that it was creepy. Whatever she'd done, Cari hadn't taken away her intelligence.