Page 6 of Cruel Daddy Dragon

I have to distract myself. When I look around, there’s not much here, but there are at least some interesting smells. It smells like Merl’s been through here, and he doesn’t smellthatdrunk. Good for him. I can smell some kids, that little trash panda (what’s that mangy thing doing now?)—and Sarah.

Her sweet scent is imprinted on my brain. I’d recognize it anywhere.

But only because she’s around so often!That’s the only reason it’s as recognizable as other humans.

It's like… a plant but not necessarily floral. Herby, perhaps. Like sage—fresh and cleansing. It’s hard to describe how wonderful that scent is… It’s borderline overwhelming, butI welcome it. It does a fine job distracting me from Eclipse’s scent.

I home in on it; what have you been up to, Sheriff?

I follow her trail throughout the sleepy little town. She seems to have wandered up and down every street and back alley, with one street by Gunn’s Diner where her scent seems to have pooled alongside someone else’s; she must have had a conversation. Giving directions, perhaps? Maybe there was a kid doing something naughty that she had to admonish?

I smile to myself. I wish I could have been here earlier to see that. I can imagine her padding up and down these streets, patrolling her territory like we do. The life of a small-town cop, I suppose. At some point, I’ll catch up with her on my own patrol, and I’ll be able to watch her in action.

I keep wandering, following her trail, where she crossed paths with others. It’s like I can piece together her day from where her trail has gone, and I occupy my mind with that as I go through my punishment patrol.

Then there’s acrashnearby.What was that?

Immediately, I’m hyped. My skin shimmers in the adrenaline-fueled desire to shift. That was either a car crash or a gunshot. Either way, that’s not good. I sprint toward the sound of the chaos. My legs feel like they are spring-loaded. I keep running but freeze for a moment when I see it. Sarah’s collapsed on the floor. A navy dragon towers over her. Their taloned hand closes over her, and they spread their wings to take flight.

My body launches back into motion, crossing the distance in record time. At the same time, my voice wrenches from my throat in a bellowing roar:

“PUT HER DOWN!”

The dragon spots me and beats their powerful wings. They soar away toward the forest outside Greyson Ridge.

No, you don’t!

In one smooth motion, I grab the hem of my shirt and pull it up over my head. Once I’m in the forest outside Greyson Ridge, unlikely to be seen, I strip off the rest of my clothing before exploding into dragon form. I take to the skies, crashing through the canopy of the forest. Once I hit the atmosphere, I catch sight of the navy dragon. It lollops through the air, heaving up and then falling down between each wing beat. Sarah lies limp over his arm. I rip through the air, crashing through the space between us. I swoop down below the dragon flying and then turn upwards to hit him from below. As his open belly approaches me at speed, I prepare my head. My head cracks into his stomach. My neck shudders at the impact. I hear the dragon above me cry out. Before he can recover, my hand snaps forward toward his closed arm. I grab his closed talon hand and try to unfurl his fingers from Sarah forcefully. He roars and swipes a taloned hand at me. I lean back—the claws hack at the air in front of my face. Then, I snap my head forward, crashing into his nose. The other dragon groans, and Sarah slips from his arms.

Sarah tumbles out into the empty sky. I launch a kick into the face of the other dragon, and he snarls in pain again. As he plummets down, I home in on the tiny figure of Sarah falling through the air.

I fold my wings back and let myself drop. My body furls into a missile shape, the wind rushing over my scales and stinging my eyes as I fall. Sarah’s still unconscious, but she’s spread out in the air, starfishing as she falls. But that catches some wind resistance, slowing her down enough for me to catch up to her. I duck under her and spread my wings until she lands on my back. She gives the lightest moan when she lands on me.

Thank god. She’s alright. I’d better go before she fully wakes up; if she starts wriggling and protesting like I know she will, then she’ll complicate things.

I turn toward the town and start descending.

***

I can see the hole I tore through the branches when I rose up, and I do everything in my power to maneuver through the hole and not catch the branches with my wings—or, more importantly, catch Sarah on my back—as I descend. As we reach the floor, I can hear her starting to burble on my back. When my feet touch the floor, I shift back to human, holding her like a piggy-back ride. Her entire front is spread over the flat of my back, her full surface area warming me. Her sage-like smell fills my nostrils.Wow. She smells incredible.

Her small fist beats on the back of my shoulder, drawing my attention.

“Let me go…” Sarah slurs, “I’m… not going anywhere with you…”

“Hey,” I say, as soothingly as I can, “it’s me.”

“I… It’s you… Ginger,” she drawls.

I break out laughing.

“Well, there are worse things you could know me as, I guess,” I reply, “What happened, Sarah?”

I crouch and put her down. Sarah sits on the floor, her head lolling. I put my hand under her face and hold her head steady. Her blonde hair tickles my hand. Her green eyes blink slowly at me, glazed over. Another pulse of anger ripples through me; he must have done something to her.

She looks sosmallright now. She’s curvaceous, and a little muscle lingers on her, but now she’s here, drugged, she looks so vulnerable. The dragon under my skin bares his teeth, snarling a little:How dare he do something like this?

But then I blink at myself; am I feeling protective over her?Her?Why?

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