Page 44 of The Soul of the Dragon

He looked at me with certain fear in his eyes and then to the sky with his hands over his head as if that would protect him.

One second the guard stood mere feet from me and the next he was engulfed in flames. A rush of heat billowed over me as the air from Isaac's frantically beating wings caused the entire area to catch fire. Smoke filled my vision and I could barely make out...

My eyes widened as giant claws descended just above me. I didn’t grasp what was happening until they wrapped around me and I was lifted into the air.

"What are you doing?" I screamed, but there was no way my tiny voice was heard over the roar of flames, the wind, and all of the king's men shouting in our direction.

As we raised into the sky, I was more frightened than I'd ever been in my life. Maybe Isaac had complete control and knew exactly what he was doing, but all I could see is my death as I plunged back to the earth in a free fall.

I tried to reach for something to hold onto, but the shackles on my arms and the chains holding them together still wrapped awkwardly around my body. All I could do was pray.

I squeezed my eyes closed as the wind raced over me.

It's okay, Kitra. He promised he won't drop you.

I heard the voice in my head again, and this time I recognized it. The imp demon, she was in my head somehow. I opened my eyes and as much as I wanted to look for her, I was afraid to move a muscle.

I could however, see the movement of his wings as he flapped them up and down and the bottom of his body. It looked different this close than it did when we were on the ground. I barely had time to examine his under belly when he took a sharp turn and dove toward the ground.

I screamed, but the sound was lost in the wind. That whole death plunging to the ground thing suddenly felt all too real as we plummeted into a death spiral.

I had expected one day I would reunite with my mother, I just didn’t think it would be this soon or that I would do so still a virgin…

ChapterEighteen

Isaac

Ilanded as gently as I could, but it was still rough. The rage of seeing her shackled and thrown to the ground was more than I or the dragon could bear, and we’d left what little sanity we had behind.

I did, however, manage to get my claws free from her without creating any more damage. Before my dragon could force me to fly off on a rampage and kill every fae in sight, I called my magic forth and forced my shift back to human.

Rushing back to her side, I broke the cuffs binding her and freed her from the chains that wrapped around her body. But it was the sight of her torn dress and her exposed breasts that truly threatened my sanity.

“I’m going to kill them.”

“You’ll have to get in line behind me,” she heaved, trying to sit up.

“Don’t get up. You’re hurt and disoriented. Let me help before you—"

“I don’t need help. I’m fine. She shot to a standing position and for a second I thought she would actually be fine, until her legs wobbled and she bent over and threw up.

I grabbed her hair and moved it out of the way so she could do what she needed without worry. But that was a huge mistake because it was then I saw the bruises around her neck. Bruises that looked like marks left by fingers. Fingers I was going to break one at a time while he howled in pain and begged for me to stop.

I don’t have to ask who did this to her. I saw his black cloaked figure run into the dark forest and felt his magic surge against the shield the sprite held against him. A few seconds more and we both might have died.

“I’m fine now,” she whispered, taking a few steps away from me, putting some space between us.

“You’re not fine. But you will be.” I stalked towards her, trying to stay calm enough to help her. “Let me heal you.”

“No,” she said. “Please don’t touch me right now. I need a minute.”

I bristled against her rejection, trying not to take it personally.“I can’t look at you in pain,” I admitted.

“Then don’t look at me. I can’t handle anyone else touching me right now.”

“For fuck’s sake. I’m not going to hurt you. I just rescued you.”

“And I’m grateful for that. But I still need a fucking minute,” she yelled as she took several steps away from me.

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