Jared could feel it now. There was an awful, thin sound in the air, barely audible, as horrifying as the screeching of metal.
Instinctively, he drew on his new powers—and when he stretched out his hand, a shield of light burst into existence, separating them from the seething cloud of shadows.
But the shadows ignored them. They continued to tighten around Zane, a strangely oily mass of black so dark that it seemed to swallow all light that touched it. Then, just like that, it vanished, as if it had never been there.
And with it, the body of Zane was gone.
“Damn.” Jared took a step forward. “They did the same thing with Steele. I would have loved to ask Zane some questions...”
“He’s defeated. His power was broken. There’s nothing he can do now,” his father said calmly. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is—”
“What matters is that we’ve finally got you back,” his mother finished, and even through her tears, her eyes shone with the warmth and endless love he still remembered, even after all these years.
Chapter Twenty-Three: Chiara
Chiara could barely believe what had happened, but through the mate bond, she could feel Jared’s overwhelming joy and disbelief.
He’d thought that he’d lost his parents—instead he’d found them.
Wistfully, she thought of her own dad, who hadn’t talked to her since she’d abandoned her old life to hunt werewolves and aliens.
At the time, she’d been hurt by his refusal to understand her. There had been moments, lonely and in pain, when she’d thought that she’d be better off alone.
But that wasn’t true. She missed him—she missed him badly. And absolutely nothing was worth abandoning your family.
I need to see him. I miss him so much.
“You okay?” Jared asked softly when he at last turned away from his parents to look at her.
She found herself looking at him fondly. If there ever was a day when he deserved some alone-time with his parents, this was it. After all, they had so much to catch up on.
Half a life lived apart...
“I’m fine.” She laughed softly, her own heart still blazing with joy and the memory of the strange, beautiful light. “More than fine. Really.”
Jared’s mother watched them with a wistful look on her face. “Look at him, all grown up. He’s even found his mate. And we weren’t there for any of it...”
Chiara’s heart ached for her. It had to be hard to miss so much of your child’s life.
But what mattered was that they were back now. They had all the time in the world to get to know each other.
And with some luck, there’d eventually be grandkids for them to spoil...
“Let’s take off,” Jared suggested. “We need to tell the chimera
about what happened. If he doesn’t already know.”
“Oh, he doesn’t know about us,” his father said. “The Light has been kept a secret, even from the most powerful of dragons.”
“But now that it’s no longer a secret—will you come with us?” Jared’s voice sounded tense.
As Chiara looked around at the many boxes containing treasures, the statues and paintings, she realized that this mountain must have been the griffins’ home for most of their life.
“We’ll come with you,” his mother said warmly. “Of course we will. We won't abandon you again. I promise.”
“I know,” Jared said, reaching out to gently, lovingly touch her hand. “I know.”
***