Page 62 of Surge of Heat

A string of curses moves through my mind.

I beat you both. How does that burn feel?she shouts into our minds.

You’re enjoying this too much.

Way too much, she says with glee.

We have to do the boulders, I say, knowing that this should be my area to shine.

Spoil sport, she mutters, and I wish I could kiss her. That’d shut her up.

I soar down to the cliff. This one is further from the base and the scientists, but close enough for them to watch.

Want to get out of the way and let a real man handle it?Aydan asks.

A man doesn’t get realer than me, I say.

I swear I can sense Sam rolling her eyes at me, and it’s a weird sensation. We’re aware of so much in these forms, butit’s like we don’t know what we’re experiencing until it happens. This is all new to us, but not, at the same time.

Looking over the boulders, I choose the largest one. Aydan lands beside me and tries to get in my way, but I roar at him, staying close to the boulder. I don’t exactly like turning my back on him, but I start to push the damn thing with my head and body, slowly rolling the boulder off the cliff until it falls into the water down below.

I snort, smoke coming from my nostrils, and turn to Sam, to make sure she was watching. She was, but I can’t tell if she’s impressed. She should be impressed. I haven’t seen a lot of other dragons, but I’m certain I’m a fine specimen.

Aydan is next. He picks a smaller boulder than me, because he doesn’t have a choice. With effort, he rolls the thing over the cliff and drops the rock into the water below. He’s breathing hard when he rounds on us, quite obviously checking that Sam is watching.

She says nothing, but picks a boulder and starts to roll it over the cliff. It’s a smaller boulder, but she struggles with it more than we do. We watch her, and it’s painful to see her having a hard time. Aydan and I go on each of her sides and shove the boulder the rest of the way to the water.

I could do it myself, she says, sounding out of breath.

I know you could have, I tell her, pressing my head to hers.

For a minute, we stay that way until I draw back. Staring. Some part of me knows Sam’s a beautiful dragon. She has brilliant green eyes, crimson scales, and a sleek body. She’s delicate too, far more delicate than Aydan and I.

My dragon side likes her. That’s for sure.

We head back to Dr. Duncan, have the monitors taken off of us, and shift back into our human forms. Luckily for us, all our clothes remains on. I don’t know how it works, but it does. Sonone of us are left standing naked in front of an audience. The scientists all seem excited about our new data, but I don’t really care right now. I just want to eat.

“Lunch?” I say to Sam.

She smiles. “Lunch sounds amazing.”

“Well, we thought you’d want to eat with us,” Aydan says, gesturing to him and Granger.

“Too late,” I say, flashing a smile.

She groans. “Come on. Can we please just get along? For a little while.”

“I can if you can,” I say to Aydan.

“I can.” He glares.

“So, we’re getting along…?” she asks.

“Right,” I say.

“Of course,” Aydan tells her casually.

Our eyes lock, and pure hatred flows between us. We might be claiming to have a truce, but there’s no world where that will happen. Aydan and I… we’re enemies for life.

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