Page 75 of Dragon's Code

I try to redouble my efforts. I need to get this done.

It feels like it’s been forever, but I finally finish the last of the coding to accomplish the task. I push away from the computer and look over at Raphael.

“It’s ready.”

Raphael lets out a breath, like he’s relieved.

He sits down and I roll out of his way, but watch what he’s doing. He doesn’t touch the keyboard. The screen flickers once then rapidly over and over. The code I wrote swirls like a magic spell instead of a computer program. Then there’s flashes of light and the computer is doing things I’ve never seen before.

I watch and try to understand, but I quickly realize this is beyond my comprehension. It’s clear to me then that I don’t know what magic it is, what ancient power these creatures hold. It’s awe-worthy, truly.

Realizing that I could have a piece of that, that I do have a piece of that with me.

My fingers automatically go to the locket around my neck. I know there’s a piece of Kashton inside it. Something he gifted to me all that time ago. Could I be a dragon? Could I be as magnificent as Kashton was on that roof?

I want it. I want it all. I want to be with him. I want to hear him, feel him in my head. I want to know that he’s mine as much as I am his. I think about biting him while we were having sex. It felt so amazing to mark him as mine.

I’ve been marked so many times by men I didn’t want to touch me let alone mark me. I’ve been marked by men I thought I liked, maybe even one or two I thought I loved.

I wanted Kash to mark me too. I felt like he was holding back. I want to get back to what was happening between us, and not be in the middle of this garbage, but I know we have to get through this first. Can’t just run away.

I’ve been scared since I saw Raphael at the coffee shop, even more scared when he was in my house, and then I was in Kashton’s arms and the fear drained away from me.

Even now, I’m scared for him, but I’m not scared. I know he’s okay. I can feel it inside of me. Like there’s something maybe a little magical inside of me too. Something that can sense him, his soul. As cheesy as it sounds, that’s what it felt like when I bit him. Like our souls connected a little. It was the most intense, erotic feeling I’ve ever experienced.

“It’s done. Let’s get out of here.” Raphael grabs my wrist and then I’m pulled through the vortex again.

We’re back in the lobby of The Dragon’s Lair. There’s glass all over the marble floor. The glass doors are completely shattered. That’s when my ears start working again and I hear the shooting. There’s so much gunfire it hurts my ears. I flinch the first few times and then I manage to curb it, most of it. My eyes still blink with every gunshot.

I shake off my initial shock and cautiously move out of the lobby to the sidewalk outside.

I hear the whoosh of air above me somehow in the middle of the gunfire. I turn my attention to the sky just in time to see a giant black dragon fly over me. There’s a burst of fire from it as it glides over the strip, lighting up men firing at them from below.

“Holy shit,” I mutter as I duck behind a row of bushes when men and women with guns come running toward me.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Raphael barks as he ducks behind the bushes with me.

“I’m trying to figure out how to help.”

I peek over the bushes and stand back up once I see it’s clear.

“Let me take you away from here until it’s safe,” Raphael says.

I turn around and look at him. “I don’t understand you. I don’t understand why you’re still here. You used me to save your brother. What else do you want?”

“I still want you.” His face contorts into something that almost looks like sorrow, but it’s gone before I can fully pinpoint it.

“You know I love him. You’re not stupid.” He knows Kash is my mate. None of this makes sense.

“Yeah, I know you love him. But he may die tonight.”

I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter. It was never going to be you.”

He glares at me. “Yeah, I know that. Don’t you think I know that?”

“Go get your brother, Raphael.”

Then he’s gone.

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