Rhia slowed her run to a walk, then stopped completely. She looked around the completely unfamiliar forest. She had no way of getting her bearings. She had no idea where they were. She didn't even know if they were still in California.

She glanced over her shoulder at the children on her back. They were shaking, whether from cold or fear, she wasn't sure. "You three doing okay?" she asked.

The boy, who looked to be the oldest, nodded. The smaller girl sniffed, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I want to go home." she whimpered.

"I know," Rhia tried to keep her voice calm. "Me too. Just hang in there."

She raised her head and tried to use her now enhanced senses. The forest was unnaturally quiet. She could smell the earth and the nature but had no idea what any of it meant. Just pick a direction and go, Rhia, she scolded herself. It doesn't matter where you end up, just get as far away from them as you can.

She started at an easy, loping jog again, trying to be as gentle as she could now that they were out of immediate danger. She couldn't imagine it was very comfortable for them on her back. Even though they barely weighed a thing to her, their feet kicking against her ribs was making it difficult for her to breathe evenly.

After a few minutes, she heard the unmistakable sound of moving water, and headed straight for it. Now that the adrenaline was beginning to filter out of her system, she was parched. And starving. When was the last time she had anything to eat or drink? As far as she could remember, she ate breakfast the morning of the gala, and a glass of wine that night... but everything else was black. How long had she been there? Days? Weeks? Months?

She mentally shook herself again. It didn't matter. All that mattered was getting away and finding Nolan. She wouldn't be able to relax until she was back in his arms.

She found the river and walked the bank until there was a calm spot where the hatchlings could slide off her back and drink their fill. It was cold and clear and tasted so damn good. She was exhausted. Her legs felt shaky from all the running. Her body and head were aching from the fight against that stupid cage. If she could stop and rest for an hour... but that wasn't possible. She didn't know how long it would be before they were back on their trail... if they weren't already.

As she thought it, a tree branch snapped behind her. Whirling around, she spread her wings to block the view of the children. She heard the shot of a high-powered rifle. She felt the bullet rip through her feathers and the thin flesh of her wing. She smelled the blood and heard the hatchlings screaming.

But she felt no pain. She only had eyes for the shooter. Richard. He worked with careful, smooth motions, to reload the weapon, a skill he had picked up over the years he'd been doing this. His green eyes, so different from hers or Maddox's, were stone cold. "Hide," she hissed at the hatchlings and took several steps towards the shooter.

Another shot rang out, and this time hit the joint of her wing. That she felt and a shriek ripped from her throat. The wing dropped uselessly, and blood puddled on the forest floor. He reloaded again, but this time his eyes swept the area for the hatchlings. They had already run behind the cover of a fallen tree. Richard couldn't see them, but Rhia could hear their stifled sobs. She started to edge in the opposite direction, dragging her wing behind her, and hoping to draw his attention back on her.

It worked. The barrel of the rifle swung around to aim at her again. "Do not make me chase you again." he barked. "It will be a lot more painful than it needs to be if you do."

She struggled to link to his mind, like he was resisting her. "So I'm just supposed to stand here and let you kill me?" she snapped.

"You are a lot of things, Rhia, but you were never stupid." His voice was terrifyingly cold and calm. "Think about it. I have been hunting creatures like you my whole life. It is my job to predict every move you will ever make. You found out what you were five minutes ago. I will kill you."

A low growl started in her throat. "You're just going to kill me anyway. You've always wanted to. You were always waiting for me to fuck up enough so you would have a reason."

His grip on the weapon never wavered, and his eyes never left hers. "No one is coming to help you." He said coldly. "No one knows where you are. You have a choice. Come back with me, as a willing subject, and live. The hatchlings can go, I don't care. Or you can die here alone, knowing that I will find those children and I will take them back and we will just start all this whole thing again."

"You're sick."

"I'm just following orders."

"The Nazi's were just following orders too! It doesn't make it right!"

The corner of his mouth twitched upwards. A third shot rang out, this one hitting her shoulder, making her leg buckle under her. "Last chance, Rhia." He said coolly. "Are you coming home. Or do I finally-"

Before he could finish, it got so dark Rhia couldn't see an inch in front of her face. She quickly flattened herself to the ground in time to avoid a fourth shot. The scream of a thousand lost souls filled the blackened forest. She felt the power behind the scream and recognized it. What the hell was Cameron doing here? Another shot followed by a very human yell.

It was over in a second. The light of the moon and stars came back on, like flipping a switch. Richard was on his knees, hands held behind his back by a living shadow. The only defining feature of the shadow were two pure red eyes. In front of them was Nolan.

The air came rushing out of her lungs. He was here. He came. Tall and beautiful and... so fucking angry. His eyes were as red as Cameron's. Those eyes flicked to Rhia. "You alright, sweetheart?"

He recognized her. He didn't look at all surprised to see her like this. Something to ask about later. She nodded. When she tried to stand, her body refused to answer. She was finally starting to feel the full extent of the damage inflicted on her body. She was exhausted. Drained. She had nothing left. She just wanted to curl into Nolan's bed and sleep in his arms for all eternity.

He looked back to the man on his knees. "Richard Kincaid," he spoke with barely held-back rage. "By order of the Ancient Counsel, your life is forfeit. You will be taken into our-"

"As a mortal human, I do not answer to the Counsel." Richard interrupted calmly. "You will deliver me into human custody, where you will call my human lawyer, and you can figure it out from there."

"Under the Ancient Clause of the Patriot Act," Cameron's voice was a deep rattling hiss. "Any human suspect of committing acts of terrorism against Ancients who hold domain within the United States, are subject to the full extent of Ancient law. You do not have the right to a human lawyer. You do not have the right to demand human representation." He leaned down and a glint of fang shot bright white against his shade. "I'm a lawyer too, you son of a bitch."

He looked up at Nolan and nodded. Nolan didn't even hesitate. He rushed to kneel in front of Rhia and run his hands gently across her face. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, craving more. "Rhia," he breathed. "You're..."

She opened her eyes to meet his, a new fear rising in her. She was more than the dragonkin they originally thought. She was a dragon. A mother-fucking dragon! What would he think of her now?

"You're beautiful." He whispered. "Gods, I am so proud of you."

She couldn't focus enough to link to him. She pushed her head into his chest and breathed a shaky sigh when he pulled her closer and ran his hands down the side of her neck. They were still for a moment, just basking in the feeling each other's touch. Finally, he cleared his throat. "Let's get you home."

"A fine idea."

Nolan spun and Rhia's head snapped up. The massive golden form of Quin stood just on the edge of the river. His eyes were fixed on Richard, who had gone deathly pale. Cameron's shade went still, and his eyes widened to near perfect circles.

"Quin," Nolan said slowly, rising to his feet.

Golden eyes turned on the vampire for a moment before flicking back to Richard. "Well done, Nolan. Erebus would be proud. Now, have your son stand aside so that I may remove the stain from this earth."

Tension rippled through Nolan, and he stepped between Quin and Richard. "You can't kill him." his voice trembled. "We need him. He knows... everything."

"Precisely why I must kill him. He has gained this knowledge by harming us, he must be put to death."

"This goes way beyond the dragons. This man is just a piece of it. If you kill him, we lose the entire organization."

"They have already lost." Quin's voice was getting darker, more impatient. Sticks and leaves and dirt began to rise around him, and a golden light began to glow from his body. "Nekros is free. The dragonkin have been released. Rhiannon has awakened. It is over."

"Quin," Linking to Quin physically hurt, sending pain spearing through her skull. "He's right. You don't understand, there is a whole-"

"Rhiannon, you are a hatchling." Quin barked, turning his head to look down at her. His magic lashed out at her, curling around her and constricting tight enough to make it hard to breathe. "You do not understand what it means to be a dragon. What it means to protect our people above all."

"And who's fault is that?!" She tried to stand, but her legs gave out under her. "The day we met you looked me in the eye and had the chance to tell me everything and you let me walk away!"

"It was the only way to keep you safe."

"Nolan kept me safe! Keoni and Juniper kept me safe!" she screamed. "You left!"

"Stand aside!" Quin roared, facing Nolan again. The earth began to tremble. "This ends here."

"It doesn't end with his death!" Nolan shouted, panic making his voice crack. "All it does is cast them back into the shadows!"

"You are the grandchild of Erebus of the Western Sky." Quin snarled taking a single powerful step towards Nolan. He raised a palm, and an impossibly bright light began to glow between his fingers. "You are a yfeerie of the sun. You will not refuse your dragon! Get out of my way!"

Nolan drew himself to his full height and raised his lips in a snarl that showed his fully extended fangs. "Erebus would be ashamed to see me cower at your feet." He hissed. "I am not your yfeerie."

A mask of cold fury fell over Quin's features. An orb of light, like a small sun, crackled in his hand. "You're right." He said calmly. "You're just a vampire."

A fresh dump of adrenalin had Rhia moving faster than she ever had before. Ignoring the pain and the blood and the complete lack of feeling in her left wing, she attacked Quin. Her jaws clamped down on his wrist, redirecting his attack wildly to the side. She could feel the power behind the attack, scalding her face and the side of her neck.

Quin made snarling sound that sent ripples of fear cascading down her spine. She felt his arm flex under her jaws, and suddenly she was thrown into the shallow river, rocks shattering under her in the impact. He turned back to prepare another attack, and she leapt at him again. "Leave them alone!" she screamed.

She ploughed into his side, knocking him sideways. This time he grabbed her by the base of her injured wing, making her scream in pain, lifting her over his head and slamming her back down. Stars exploded in front of her eyes. Dáithí's familiar roar came out of the darkness, and she managed to clear her vision enough to see the serpent explode out of the trees and close is teeth around Quin's body.

Quin shifted.

One-hundred and ninety feet of pure, golden dragon grew from the flesh of an already giant man. He was magnificent. Bright as the sun, stronger than any legend. He swatted Dáithí away like a fly. Rhia wouldn't let herself stop to think about what she was doing or to consider that he could kill her without breaking a sweat. His furious eyes found her, and a blast of golden power engulfed her, sending her tumbling head-over-tail for several feet.

Her head was spinning again. The general body aches turned into pure, blinding pain across every inch of her body. Opening her eyes, a vision of Nolan leaning over Cameron swam in front of her. Blood soaked them both and Nolan was screaming at his son. She had to protect them. She wouldn't let Quin kill them.

She got shakily back to her feet and looked up to face Quin. She opened her jaws and screamed in defiance. If he was going to kill her, she was not going to make it easy on him. She was going to make him see just how hard she was going to fight for the people she loved.

Quin answered her roar with one of his own. Deeper. Louder. Filled with power and indignation that one of his own kind stood between him and was quarry. Another, larger sphere of light began to form between his teeth.

"Fuck you, Quin."

Before the attack could finish forming, a third louder, angrier roar shook the mountains. Quin looked up, but not in time to stop an even bigger dragon from slamming into him. His body was so dark, he looked like a black hole in the already dark night. Vicious snarling broke out, a volume she couldn't comprehend. A third dragon joined the fray, this one so white, Rhia's addled brain wondered if the moon had fallen from the sky.

With Quin occupied, she dragged herself to stand next to Nolan and stare down at Cameron's limp form. His shade had vanished. One of his arms completely severed just below the shoulder. Nolan was slamming his full weight into his chest, screaming and begging him to open his eyes. Rhia couldn't hear his heartbeat. She could only watch as Nolan slowly started to lose faith and eventually stopped applying chest compressions.

Fuck that! No one else was dying for her! Rhia rose onto her hindlegs and slammed her front paws against Cameron's chest and screamed, a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth coming within an inch of his face.

Cameron's blue eyes flew open, and he sucked in a breath and started coughing. Relief washed over her, and she collapsed next to him, her chin resting on his chest and feeling reassured by the slow, steady beating of his heart. His remaining hand rested on her head. "That's right, asshole," she panted through the link. "Don't you fucking dare die on me."

A shiver of magic rolled through her body, and she felt everything begin to change form. It wasn't nearly as painful as when she had shifted into her dragon skin, but it was just as weird. In a few seconds she was on her hands and knees, butt naked, and shivering uncontrollably. Nolan's hands grabbed her shoulders and dragged her into him, crushing her against his chest. She wrapped her arms around him and clung to his back, needing to anchor herself to him.

She didn't know how long they sat there in each other's arms. The screams of the battling dragons faded into the background. After a while, someone wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, and she looked up. Atticus's black eyes met hers and a gentle smile tugged at his face. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to. He turned back to focus on the other shifters tending to Cameron.

Nolan pulled the blanket tight around her, shielding her from the eyes of the others around them. "Can you walk?" he asked quietly.

She shook her head. Even that small action hurt more muscles than it took to do it. His arm went under her knees and around her shoulders, lifting her up and cradling her to his chest. She stared up at him. The thought of never seeing this man again had haunted her since waking up in the facility. She kept pushing it further and further back... but he was here now. He came for her.

"I love you."

He looked down at her sharply, his bright blue eyes widening in shock before a brilliant smile took over his face. "I love you too, Rhia."

She let her head rest against his shoulder and closed her eyes. She was safe. She was with Nolan again. Everything was going to be alright.

~

Rhia's eyes flew open, and she was jerked awake when she felt Nolan adjust her in his arms. She looked around blearily at the row of black cars and the shifters in full tactical gear running around. She was lowered to sit on the back of one of the vehicles and she looked up at him. "I want to go home." Her voice was a hoarse whisper.

"I know, sweetheart." He kissed her forehead. "Soon. I promise."

"Rhia?"

Rhia looked around for the female voice to see Zesstra in a too-big t-shirt running towards her. "Zesstra?" Nolan gaped at her. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"I already got the lecture from Atticus." she snapped, surprising him with the irritation in her usually timid voice.

Rhia didn't care. She grabbed Zesstra from her spot on the bumper and hugged her hard. "Stay with her?" he asked gently. "I'll be right back."

Rhia's hand shot out and grabbed his and her eyes widened in panic. "Don't leave me." She gasped.

"Hey, easy," he stepped back up to her, and Zesstra looked away to give them some privacy. Cupping her face gently he looked deep into her eyes. "I have to check on Cameron. I'll be right over there," he pointed to one of the medical vehicles. "I'm not going anywhere without you. You'll be able to see me the whole time.

She was shaking and her lip was trembling, but she nodded. He kissed her forehead again and stepped away slowly. Zesstra opened a bag in the car and handed Rhia a shirt. "I am so glad you are okay." She breathed a heavy sigh.

"I'm alive," Rhia said shakily. "I don't think okay is ever going to be accurate."

She watched Nolan lean over Cameron, speaking lowly and gripping his hand. She looked around at the other injuries being treated. These people... all this pain... because of her. She leaned heavily against Zesstra, thankful for the presence of another person. "Rhia!"

She knew that voice and looked around for the source of it. "Mom?!"

Madeline appeared, running full tilt towards her with a shifter chasing after her. Rhia slid off the bumper to meet her, but her legs wouldn't take her weight. Her mom caught her in a crushing hug and they both fell to their knees crying. "Oh god, baby, I thought I lost you for good this time." She sobbed, pulling Rhia harder into her.

Rhia had no more words. She could only cry into her mom's shoulder. Far away, a car pulled to a stop, and someone barked a few orders. Then another familiar voice. "Mom! Rhia!"

Maddox.

Another pair of arms wrapped around them both and she instantly leaned into her brother. He was safe. They were all safe. They were together again. They had to lift Rhia back into the car and she looked up at her family. Maddox's face was bruised to all hell and when his jaw moved it clicked ominously. One arm was wrapped protectively around his ribs. "There's someone I want you two to meet." He said, barely able to hide the emotion in his voice.

He stepped aside, reaching for someone, and Rhia's jaw dropped. His fingers entwined with a tall, thin woman and he was smiling like a love-sick idiot. "Mom, Rhia... This is Nova."

Madeline stared between the woman and her son. "She... you mean..."

"You're alive?" Rhia finished for her.