Page 5 of Surge of Heat

Granger clears his throat from the front seat. “We’re all tired and hurting. A lot has happened over the past day. Sam is a dragon. We nearly got ourselves killed, several times over and–”

“What?” I ask, and my hands curl into fists. “How did you nearly get yourselves killed?” My mind starts working. “When I saw you last, Granger, I didn’t even know if–” My words break, remembering him in that cavern, unconscious, abandoned in the dark.

“Ah, come on, don’t,” Granger says, but I can tell he’s pushing aside tears too. “I got a little bump on the head, a shoulder torn out of its socket, and a few scrapes and bruises.They make me look rugged so the ladies should be all over me. Basically, it’s like my health bar got down halfway, but I was never in any real danger.”

I rub away a tear that’s made it down my cheek. “If you’re halfway down on your health bar, you should be hiding somewhere recharging, not still in battle.”

“Maybe,” he says, giving me that smile that makes his long dark lashes look even longer. “But I hadn’t saved the fair lady yet.”

I laugh, playing with the chain of the necklace Dr. Abigail gave me. “The fair ladyisa dragon.”

“And I am her forever warrior,” he says, with a little bow of his head.

I’m smiling, and the tugging on my heart eases, if only by a little bit. I know it’s going to sour my mood, but I turn to Aydan. “And what happened to you? You were outside the cavern when it struck.”

Aydan runs his hands through his hair and winces, dropping his hand. “Ended up off the side of the mountain, but lucky for me I hit enough things on the way down that I didn’t end up splattered over a cliff.”

A gasp slips past my lips. “Aydan!”

Granger’s gaze meets mine in the rearview mirror. “I stitched up his head with superglue.”

I stare in shock. “You guys should have gone straight to the medical room on campus.”

“Nah,” Aydan says. “We did exactly what we were supposed to do and headed straight for you.”

His words ease a little bit of my anger towards him. “And then you somehow managed to avoid the green dragon and find me?”

“Just barely,” Granger says, one hand clutching the steering wheel. “We ran into it in town. Got trapped in our car for aridiculously long time, but then it caught the scent of something and took off.”

I’m shaking, imagining them and the green dragon. They’re human. Not like me. They’re fragile now, and I have to protect them, even though they think they’re still protecting me.

“Yeah, it can follow my scent. I still don’t understand a lot about how it works, but I know it’s tracking me. That’s why I think we need to go to Specter Inc. They might be the only people who know enough about dragons to keep me safe.”

Aydan shakes his head. “I don’t like heading off to some place that sounds like an evil corporation from a superhero movie just because some guy told us to.”

“So, what do you suggest? Hide and hope the green dragon doesn’t find me?”

Before Aydan can retort, saying some assholey thing, Granger jumps in. “If that thing was able to track her all over the mountain, chances are Sam won’t be safe anywhere without some major help.”

Aydan leans back on the seat, looking irritated. “I guess we really should hope that asshole gray dragon manages to kill it then.”

I glare. “Did you not know who you were rooting for before this point?”

He doesn’t back down. “No, I didn’t.”

Fuck.“He kept me safe!”

“Is that all he did?”

“I’m not doing this!” I shout back.

Granger cuts in. “If the dragon can smell you so well, how come it took so long to find you at the cabin? I mean, when you were on the move it made sense, but not scenting you after you stayed in one place for an entire night? Isn’t that weird?”

My cheeks burn. I’m not about to say,probably because I smelled more like Evander than myself. “I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do,” Aydan says, then his jaw moves. “How are we supposed to help you if you keep lying to us?”

“I’m not lying to you.”

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