Page 38 of A Secret Crush Valentine's

“Of course…” Grim Jim’s eyes darkened. “I should have known.”

He jerked his head toward the other Collectors. “Take her to the treasure chamber.”

Two men instantly stepped forward and took Julia by the arms. She shrieked and protested, but they held her fast, leading her toward one of the darker passages.

“No!” Damon cried.

“As for you, Damon, your punishment will be swift. You should not have defied me.”

With another tiny jerk of his head, Jan and another Collector grabbed hold of Damon and began dragging him toward the pit. Damon heard the familiar hiss rising from the dark, gaping hole as though itwasbeckoning to him, happy that he had returned. The pit was hungry, and Damon was its next meal.

Red-hot anger flared inside Damon’s chest. He couldn’t go out like this. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to let Julia end up a prisoner here.

“I’m not going in there,” he snarled.

“If only it were up to you,” Grim Jim replied. “You seem to have forgotten who is in charge here.”

“Jeremiah Ebon, the Ice Melter.” Just uttering the words sent a chill down Damon’s spine, but he spat them out with as much disgust as he could muster under the circumstances.

“Yes.” Grim Jim’s tone was frosty. “I’m almost sorry to see you go… almost.”

As Damon was dragged closer to his doom, he fought like the devil.

“No!” he screamed.

With a sudden burst of energy, he broke free of Jan and the other Collector, knocking them aside before either had the opportunity to react. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Collectors who were holding Julia turn to look. Grim Jim’s eyes widened in surprise as Damon charged toward him, and he braced himself, preparing to take Damon down with a single blow.

But Damon had other ideas. He shifted as he lunged, ripping out of his clothes and frame in an instant, and a fully grown dragon collided with the Ice Melter, slamming him to the ground. The sound echoed through the cave. The blow should have killed Grim Jim in an instant, but when Damon lifted his foot, the Ice Melter lay there, completely unhurt, a sinister smile on his lips.

Damn curse.

“My turn,” Grim Jim said, a deadly flicker in his eyes. And then he began to grow. Damon watched with horror as a scaly pattern appeared on the Ice Melter’s flesh, which blackened by the second. Horns sprouted from his forehead, and wings emerged from his back. The Collectors nearby backed away, crying out in terror. It took Damon nearly all of his willpower to stand his ground.

Jeremiah Ebon’s body expanded at a rapid rate. Spikes jutted from his face, and a set of silver plates covered his obsidian chest like armor plates. His face elongated into a long snout, and smoke spurted from his nostrils. His eyes flickered red.

The black dragon stepped forward, towering over Damon, who found himself momentarily backing up toward the pit.

Suddenly, throwing himself into it didn’t seem like such a terrible idea.

He snarled and, with a beat of wings, hurled himself at Grim Jim. But this wasn’t just any dragon. Damon was up against an older, smarter, more powerful force of evil. At best, this was a Hail Mary. But Damon wasn’t about to back out now, not with Julia’s fate hanging in the balance.

Red and black scales clashed, and claws flashed in the dim cave. Damon let out a roar of agony as the Ice Melter slashed him across the chest. It wasn’t a deep cut, but it stopped him long enough to give Grim Jim a chance to blast him in the face with a column of flame. Damone hit the ground, his mind in chaos, his body engulfed in heat and pain.

“Damon!”

It was Julia. He couldn’t see her, but the sound of her voice was gutting enough to make him forget his pain.

With another roar, he parted his jaws, firing at Grim Jim as the black dragon prepared to strike again. The Ice Melter’s shriek of pain sent a violent shudder throughout the cave, causing several stalactites to rain down on them.

Damon tried for another attack and was surprised to feel claws at his throat. Before he could wrestle himself free, he was slammed onto the ground.

A soft hiss snapped him back to alertness, and he realized just where he was. He was pinned beneath Grim Jim, just at the edge of the pit. He could feel the gaping darkness beckoning to him. Overhead, the black dragon’s jaws parted wide, and Damon saw the brightening glow in the back of its throat.

This was the end.

Not if I can help it, Damon thought.

With a roar, he heaved with all his might, sinking his claws into whatever bit of flesh he could find. Grim Jim shrieked again, causing more stalactites to rain down. As the larger dragon struggled to regain his composure and balance, Damon pushed again. The Ice Melter gave a surprised grunt as hetoppled over Damon, tumbling over the edge of the pit into the darkness.

---