Page 188 of Lady of Starfire

She stopped next to his head. This close, he was…

You’re drooling.

Her eyes snapped to his, and a weak huff came from him.

“Shut up, or I’m leaving those bolts in place,” she snapped, planting her hands on her hips and surveying the damage. His massive body moved some, as if he were trying to…do what? Get up?

“Stop moving,” she chastised, moving closer to the bolt at his chest. She glanced at the one near his wing, studying the end of it. It was barbed, which meant it was going to do even more damage coming out. She’d have to pull the one in his wing all the way through, but this one…

Right. Get these out, then figure out the next steps. She adamantly ignored the stiffness starting to creep into her bones. The tonic was wearing off. She needed to get on with this.

Unclasping her cloak, she tossed it to the side, before pushing back her sleeves. She quickly re-braided her hair to keep it out of her face. She felt his eyes on her the entire time.

“Wing first?” she asked uncertainly, stepping closer to the black wing splayed out on the ground. It shimmered in the sunlight that was getting closer to dipping behind the mountains. They couldn’t be out here when night fell. There were things that prowled these mountains at night that she was in no condition to fight off. They would need to find shelter.

Razik’s massive form tensed again when she reached for the bolt, as if bracing for the pain, and she paused.

“Caves are shit,” she blurted.

Razik blinked his luminous eyes at her.

“I’ve spent the last few days in a cave, and it was awful. How you can possibly prefer that over the comfort of a room in the castle or the estate is beyond me.”

A low rumble came from his throat at the same time she grabbed the bolt and tugged.

The rumble became a roar, and she was grimacing around her own twinge of pain as her shoulder screamed at the movement.

Razik’s head snapped up, his large snout coming close to her shoulder and inhaling sharply. Another growl came from him.

“I’m in better shape than you,” she retorted, shoving his face away from her, briefly marveling at the feel of his scales beneath her fingers.

He huffed again, his lip curling back and baring a row of large, pointed teeth.

“Gods. You throw worse fits than Cyrus,” she barked, tossing the bolt to the side as she moved back to the one at his chest. The thumping of a large-spiked tail had her lips twitching.

Taking a deep breath, that small smile fell. Gripping the bolt, she yanked it out. Fast and efficient.

But the roar that sounded made her chest tight. She didn’t know when she’d moved from his chest to his head, or when she’d dropped to her knees, but a large, diamond-shaped head was in her lap, his breathing hard and heavy as she saw blood pouring out of the wound.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” she was murmuring. There were tears on her face. She slid her hands beneath this massive jaw, forcing him to lift his head so she could look into his eyes. “I need you to shift, Razik. I need you to shift, and then hopefully the little magic I have left will be enough for you to Travel us somewhere safe.” His eyes fell closed, and shefelthis heartbeat stutter. “No,” she snarled, fingers flexing and nails trying to dig into his scaley hide. “No, you open your godsdamn eyes, Razik Greybane.”

His eyelids lifted, but only halfway.

“I did not dig shirastone out of my shoulder and sleep in a fucking cave for the last three days to have it end here. Do you hear me?”

Something akin to a low keening whine came from him. She didn’t even know dragons could make that sound.

You…chose…the bond.

His voice was strained and weak, bouncing around in her mind.

“No,” she said, her voice breaking as she felt his heart stutter again. “I choseyou, Raz. Please. Just shift. I can do the rest. Please.”

Mai dragocen…

“You drive me mad!” she cried. “You’re so godsdamn infuriating. You’ve ruined me!”

Eliza—

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