Page 66 of Surge of Heat

Then a flash of green explodes from the clouds, and the green dragon swoops down and plucks Granger off the ground. I don’t even have time to think, time to react, and he’s gone with my Granger.

It takes seconds to shift, and I’m in the air. Thankfully, Evander and Aydan are right at my sides. The clouds are hard to see through, but in the distance, I see flashes of green.

Flying harder, I hear Evander’s voice in my head.We can’t fly as fast as you can. You’ll catch up with him, but we’ll be left behind. We have to stay together.

I start to fly ahead of him, not caring about his words. The green dragon is a monster. Violent. A killer. And he has sweet Granger in his claws. If something happens to my best friend, I’ll never forgive myself.

Listen to Evander,Aydan says.Stick with us. We’ll catch him, together, and we’ll save Granger. He’ll be okay.

I don’t want to slow down, but I do. Just a little. Letting my men catch up to me.

The green dragon is just ahead. He’s not eating Granger, or trying to hurt him. He’s just carrying him, although I don’t know why.

Time passes. I don’t know how much, but I suspect several hours. We’re tired from practice, but the green dragon appears to be fresh and rested. No matter how fast my men fly, they don’t catch up with him.

The air has grown colder. And then… snow begins to fall.

What is he doing?I ask.

Something is wrong,Evander says.He’s leading us somewhere. This has to be a trap. We should turn back.

And what? Leave Granger to die?Aydan asks angrily.

Maybe not leave him to die. Maybe just send Sam back where it’s safe.

No, I tell him easily.I’m not going anywhere without Granger.

Then we’re playing right into his hands.

I don’t care.

Aydan sighs in my mind.Evander is right. You should go back. This feels like a trap, but we can handle him. What we can’t handle is you getting hurt.

Over my dead body.

Sam–Aydan begins.

Seriously, shut up,I tell him. And luckily for him, he does.

Time passes and more and more snow falls. We hit the coast of a continent covered in ice and snow. I don’t know where we are, but some dragon sense somehow knows where we are in relation to our home.

Suddenly, there’s a flash of brown to our side.Watch out!

The brown dragon strikes Aydan in the side, sending him flying into Evander. Evander’s wings tangle around each other, and he drops like a rock. Flames shoot from the brown dragon’s mouth, washing over them both.

Panic fills me, but I see the green dragon getting away and give chase. They can handle one dragon… I think. I can’t handle losing Granger. If I use everything we’ve been practicing, I might just be able to stay alive and keep my wings intact while fighting this asshole dragon.

Up ahead, the green dragon swoops low and I see Granger tumble from his claws into the snow, just on the edge of the water. Then the green dragon shoots up into the sky, disappearing from view. I swoop down, hellbent on landing by Granger and carrying him from the snow.

Unfortunately, just as I’m about to dive down, I sense the green dragon behind me. He tries to mount me from behind, but I roll to the side, spinning in the air and avoiding his grasp. The bastard tries again, and I do my spin move the opposite direction.

Sam, stay close.Aydan’s voice is in my mind.Get back to us.

This is a trap,Evander says.They were trying to separate us.

The green dragon swoops down at me, and I turn at the last possible second. Before he can try again, I leap onto his back and bite down on his throat. Blood fills my mouth, but I bite harder.

He bucks.Hard. I cling to him, but his bucking grows more violent until I’m tossed from his back.

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