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"You were aweso for her to slap it

She lifted her arm, and it was covered with blood

"Shit," Zoltan whispered "I’ll take you to the doctor in Tiger Town"

"It’s a small cut I’ll be fine if you take me to the storeroom where I keep lanced at the other guys "We need to go"

"We’ll be fine" Hoaved him on "Go on"

He teleported her to the fire pit in Beyul-La, then led her inside the storeroom where she kept her ht would shine in

She gave him instructions, and he washed her arht with a strip of fresh linen

"Are you sure about this?" He gave her arm a dubious look

"The salve works," she assured hi on your wound, re my death-sleep You don’t" He escorted her froo to the next valley Mikhail has hiswounds here for close to two thousand years"

"At least take so for the pain" He pulled her close "I can’t bear to think of you hurting"

She turned when she heard a shouting noise Norjee and Zhan were running from the cave The owl flew out, headed for the next valley Zhan raced after it

"What’s wrong?" she yelled in Tibetan

Norjee castwo eggs are hatching"

Chapter Twenty-four

"What’s wrong?" Zoltan asked

Neona told hio to the next valley and bring back Nis?"

She shook her head "The hatchlings bond with the first person they see It has to be so for you" She grabbed Norjee’s hand, and they ran toward the cave

Zoltan teleported to Frederic’s valley It wasE all the uard duty Tashi was sitting nearby, looking pale

"Emma!" Zoltan ran up to her "Where are Nima and Winifred?"

"Winifred just left," Emma said

The owl landed on a rock next to Tashi, and she jus are hatching," Zoltan told her

"Oh no!" Tashi gasped "We need Nima or Freddie"

Emma winced "I tried my best to make sure one of them was always here Nima’s teao otherwise"

"Nima has to come back now!" Tashi insisted

"I’ll call her team" Emma punched some numbers on her sat phone

Tashi o, but I started throwing up, so Winifred went instead"

"You couldn’t help that," Enant like we suspect, you shouldn’t be out there fighting" She tilted her head toward the phone "Mikhail? We need Ni up "Mikhail and Pa the last of their soldiers They should have Nima here in a few minutes"

Tashi turned toward the rock wall Neona’s pet leopard was pacing along the edge Zoltan heard the leopard’s thoughts, too

No ti now!

"We don’t have a few s bond with the first person they see, and it has to be sorimaced as she rubbed her stomach "They have to bond quickly, or they lose the ability One ti hatched unexpectedly when my mother was there The baby bonded with her, but when she couldn’t communicate with him, his ability faded away He couldn’t hear Ni just lay there and died!"

Eht I’ll do it"

"But you can’t--" Tashi gasped when E? The babies will die if she--"

"She can communicate with thelanced around and spotted Phil with soe till Angus gets back"

Phil ran toward hion babies hatch"

"What?" Phil looked stunned

Zoltan iined Emma’s husband would look even o" He grabbed Tashi and teleported her to the entrance of the cave

"Go ahead" She rubbed her stomach "I’ll follow you soon I need to be still for a e cavern where the dragon children lived Norjee and the three dragon shifters sat on Ni worried

Norjee jumped to his feet "Nima?"

"She’ll be here soon," Zoltan replied, frustrated because he knew the boy couldn’t understand hi smile, then hurried down the narrow tunnel to the cave roo at the entrance, partially hidden behind a wall of stone She glanced back at hiht be too late"

He peered into the roo in front of a nest that contained two eggs Both were covered with cracks and rocking slightly with h a shell A tiny leg extended froasped "It looks so human" She shot Neona a frantic look "What do I do?"

"When the heads come out, make sure they see you," Neona said "Look the burst out, and the egg started to shake Two arms broke free, the tiny hands fisted

"Look at you" Ereat"

The little hand opened and curled around E thrashed about, and pieces of shell fell away from the baby’s head With her free hand, Emma cleared shell away from its face

Neona pulled Zoltan back behind the stone wall "We can’t risk the baby seeing us"

He waited, then heard a tearful whi" She sniffed "He’s a boy A beautiful boy"