Page 51 of Accidentally a Dragon Daddy

Jaklin came at me again.

“Enough,” I said and moved.

She tried to go for my throat with both hands. I snatched up her wrists, yanking them apart, and then slammed my head into her face. Blood spurted from her nose as she staggered back. My kick caught her in the chest, tossing her clear off my roof and to the ground below.

In an instant, I was airborne.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Damon

I shoved the guilt about hurting Jaklin to the back of my mind. She may be my sister, but my only focus at that moment was Elanya and getting her safely back in my arms. The longer it took me to catch up to her, the harder that became. If I was the slightest bit distracted, there was every chance I would screw it up, and she would die.

Those were the cold hard facts about being a human in a dragon world. There was quite literally nothing she could do to stop herself from being dropped several thousand feet in the air. The only one who could do anything about that was me. And I was far behind.

But I was closing fast.

It shouldn’t have surprised me that Jaklin would track down Dayvin, and together, they would conspire to take Elanya from me. I had insulted the blue dragon’s honor and hurt his reputation by taking her away from him. Whether he cared about the Elanya or the child, he had his own motivations for seeking her return.

Hopefully, that would also apply to wanting her kept alive. Because if his goal was to kill her, all he would have to do was open the grip of the claws caging her and watch her fall.

Wings creaked as I flexed with all my might, piling on the speed as I raced after a woman who was rapidly coming to mean a lot to me.

“Return her to me,” I bellowed, within earshot now of the fleeing dragon.

“She is mine!” Dayvin shot back. “I chose her, and thus, she belongs to me. You can’t have her. Thief!”

“If you won’t let me have her,” I growled, closing on him fast. “Then I will take her.”

Dayvin banked hard to the left as I caught up. My claws raked the air where the bony spikes of his spine had been an instant before. His wing came up and slapped me across the neck as he went past. I tried to rip the membrane to shreds, but the momentary disorientation of being hit was enough for him to dart out of reach.

“I’m coming for you,” I called to Elanya as I flipped up and over and dove in pursuit of the frantically evading dragon, his blue scales flickering in the early morning light. “Just hold on.”

I came in hot from above Dayvin, claws reaching for the muscles at the base of his wings. Shred those, and all he would be able to do was glide.

But the other dragon was wilier than I expected. As I neared, he flipped onto his back, extending one clawed foot toward me. The same foot that held Elanya in its grip.

Instantly, I snapped my wings out wide, slowing my progress so I didn’t kill her. Dayvin looked back, his eyes dancing with laughter as he used my dragon’s mate as a human shield against my attack. I grimaced, forced to back off while I evaluated the situation. Using fire was a nonstarter, given what a wrongly timed or located blast would do to Elanya.

Now, I knew he would use her to protect his own worthless hide from my attacks.

“Coward!” I bellowed. “Fight me like a dragon.”

“A true dragon uses any advantage he can get,” Dayvin chortled. “Don’t get all pissy just because I’m doing just that!”

My talons curled, and smoke drifted out of my nose in fury.

“Let her go,” I said, pulling alongside the other dragon. “You can’t hold her forever. When you land, I will be there. And I will rip you limb from limb. I will coat the ground with your blood until the grass chokes on it. Your scales will wither and die beneath my fire. Your brain will liquefy as I cook you in your own juices. Unless you put. Her. Down.”

Dayvin cocked his head sideways, wings still beating fast.

“Okay,” he said.

And opened his paw.

Elanya screamed as she fell. Dayvin laughed.

And I dove after her, my wings tucking into my side the instant I saw his claws begin to open. Sometimes, the other dragons were beyond predictable.

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