Page 19 of Her Two Dragons

FIGHT AND FLIGHT

MICHELLE

Dragons were real.

When the strange man dragged her from her tent with superhuman strength and a vice-like grip covering her mouth, she refused to believe anything strange was going on beyond a kidnapping.

But all that disbelief melted as soon as that man ripped through his clothes and shifted into a giant, blue lizard with wings. Even as a dragon he managed to look skeezy and slimy.

He’d picked her up, carrying her far from camp on wings that looked too fragile to support either of their weights, and Michelle squeezed her eyes shut, hoping for a miracle. She’d never been one for prayer, and even in this moment, when she was sure this giant dragon was about to kill her slow, the only force she could think about was Darius and Khalid.

She had no reason to believe they would be able to find her, no reason to think they’d even know she was gone until the morning, but she couldn’t help but think about them, focusing on their faces, on the way they both made her feel.

It would just fucking figure that she’d finally found a guy who liked her, or two, even, and a dragon came out of nowhere and picked her up like a fairy tale princess for the slaughter.

The giant blue beast landed in a patch of sand, miles from anything. Even if she did manage to get away from him, she’d be stranded in the desert, with no water, no real coverage. As soon as the sun came up, she’d really be screwed.

What would get to her remains first? The bugs or birds? Or would the dragon just devour her, leaving her as a missing person, vanished forever?

In a blink, the dragon shifted back into a man.

“You’re the one who’s got the prince rethinking his clan loyalty?” His voice was full of disdain and scrutiny. “The cunt who would ruin everything the lapis dragons have been building for centuries.” He sneered at her, his nearly black eyes fathomless pools with their lack of emotion and the moon glinting in them. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”

Michelle stood, squaring her shoulders as she lifted her chin in a defiant move. The naked man standing in front of her was tall and built like a refrigerator. “I don’t know who you think you fucking are, or who you think I am, but you have messed with the wrong woman.” She tried to embody the heroes of her favorite action movies, strong women like Ripley, Sarah Connor, Letty and of course, Evie. Anyone who would help her face down a man who could shift into a dragon at will.

“Such brash cockiness. No wonder the prince thinks you worthy of his attention. But you’ll never be his mate. I’d kill Darius myself before I let that happen. Before the king lets that happen.”

Fuck. Darius was some sort of prince? Was he a dragon too? Her head was spinning, trying to come up with any logical explanation, any reason to believe that this man was lying, or that this whole thing was somehow a fucked-up dream.

“Don’t worry, soon enough you will join the sands, become one with all the other unworthy women who came before. Women who dared to try and hold sway over not just one, but multiple dragon males. At least the obsidians before you had the decency to be dragons. Whatever sick magic you hold over the prince and his second dies here and now. Neither will wear your bite.”

Michelle wished she had some sort of weapon, anything she could use against this strange man with his bizarre claims. She didn’t even have shoes on.

All she had, if she could manage it, would be the element of surprise.

And her rage.

With a wild scream, she threw herself at him, lodging her shoulder into his stomach and sending them both flying into the sand. She grabbed handfuls of the gravel beneath him and shoved it into his eyes with one hand and covering his mouth and nose with the other, trying to force him to breathe in the dirt.

He shoved her off him like she weighed nothing, and she landed on her back with an air-stealing grunt.

Just in time to see two more large silhouettes appearing in the moonlight.

The big question was, were they his friends, or hers?

She skittered away from her attacker just as he lunged at her again, but not quick enough. His hand clamped around her twisted ankle, wrenching her across the sand with a rough, fierce tug.

“Fight all you want, bitch, this can only end one way. You don’t have the strength to kill a dragon. Even now, your strength wanes, doesn’t it? Just give in. I could make it quick. Rip your heart out with one hand.”

Michelle started laughing as the other two dragons descended. It was a deranged, twisted sound that she couldn’t seem to keep under control.

Of course, she was going to die out here in the desert where no one would find her, killed by a dragon. Or three. The first time she went on a real adventure…and it would have to end this way.

The trumpeting roar of the incoming dragons should’ve filled her with fear.

But somehow, she knew it had to be Darius and Khalid. Their huge dragon shapes descended lower, and one of them let loose a stream of fire that would undoubtedly cause a strange stretch of glass in the desert sand.

Get as far from here as you can, Michelle. We will find you. Khalid’s voice was as clear as if he’d been standing next to her, speaking directly into her ear, but the only one around was the man who looked up at the other dragons with a mixture of fear and defiance in his eyes.

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