Page 77 of Dragon's Code

“They let you go.”

“I don’t want to be a spy anymore. Jerrick promised me freedom for my silence. That’s the best deal a girl could come up with.”

“What are you doing up here?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t sure what to do. I could fly out of here, but that made me feel like a coward.”

“I would give anything to trade places with you,” I grumble.

“What do you mean?”

“I want to help. I want to be a dragon and help them fight. You know how frustrating it is to be a stupid human in the middle of a dragon battle? I don’t even have a gun or something, not that I’d be any good with them.”

“Kashton hasn’t claimed you yet?”

“Claimed me?”

“It usually happens during sex from what I’ve been told. Dragons claim each other, usually by biting in the height of passion. The bites equal a claim. From everything I’ve heard about the Obsidians, that’s how the first shift is initiated. There’s a theory that some humans have very distant dragon DNA and that’s why they’re becoming mates. I think that’s dumb. I think that fate has always wanted humans and supernatural creatures to be together.”

“I bit him. He didn’t bite me.”

“I suppose shapeshifting in the middle of a hotel room isn’t the best place for that,” she says to herself. Her gaze meets mine. “I want you to know that Kashton and I were never mates. There were things at risk–”

I hold up my hand. “You don’t owe me anything. I know the truth. I figured you had to be desperate or something had to be going on. You and I are good.”

“You’re very kind.”

“If Kash and I could be rocked by another woman or another man, then we’re not fated to be together. I imagine that you’ll find your mate and he’ll be perfect for you.”

She gives me a small smile. “That’s very kind of you to say. I appreciate it. I’m not ready for a mate right now. I need to figure out what the hell I’m going to do with my life now that I’m free.”

“Throwing yourself behind a cause like supporting dragon and human mates for starters is probably something good to do.”

She laughs. “Find a cause. I suppose I could do that.”

There’s another boom from the tank. I turn my attention back to the battlefield below just in time to see a dragon plummeting down.

“No,” I gasp.

There’s a whoosh of air behind me and then a red dragon soars over my head and collides with the dragon before she hits the ground. Jasmine helps the dragon to another rooftop and they disappear out of sight for the most part.

“Fuck.”

I need to do something. I can’t just sit and watch this go down.

ChapterTwenty

KASHTON

Another shot from the tank draws my attention. I see the shell hit a dragon. It’s hard to tell who it is from here. Another dragon saves her before she hits. I think it’s Pru.

Fuck.

I am listening to Athena in the background of my mind like a radio for background noise. It keeps me centered to hear her and know she’s all right.

I glide down onto the rooftop with the wounded dragon. It is Pru. Jasmine is with her.

Jerrick let you out? I ask her.

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