Page 2 of Surrendering Her Heart

The first of the scouts charges, and the Zmaj meets him head on. His lochaber whistles through the air as he maneuvers. He knocks the Order scout blade aside with ease. The clash of metal and the Zmaj’s feral roar sends chills down my spine.

There is no time to watch as another scout lunges towards the sled. He isn’t paying attention to me, apparently not seeing me as a threat. As he moves to disable the sled I slice his arm with my blade. He grunts as he stumbles back, blood streaming from the wound.

I press my advantage. He’s at least twice as big as me, I can’t give him a chance, or he’ll take me out. I drive in, feinting and thrusting my blade to keep him off balance. He dances away from my blade, and it quickly becomes clear that he’s trying not to hurt me.

Of course. I’m a female. He wants to use me for breeding. Breed this asshole.

I dodge left and the instant he reacts by moving right to avoid my blade I switch directions. My blade buries into his guts, and I jerk up. The blade doesn’t move, resistance holding it in place. I growl and jerk. The blade slices. His eyes widen and he stumbles back, pulling my blade with him.

He falls to the ground, his eyes turning glassy. I rush over and jerk the blade free before turning to see what is happening.

The Zmaj, our Zmaj, have made short work of the Order. The one who was bothering me before the attack is still close, though he’s now covered in blood. I can’t say anything because I am sticky with it too. He walks over, chest heaving.

“You fight well for someone so fragile,” he says.

“And you’re an overbearing ass for someone who wasn’t even invited,” I glare.

His lips curl into something between a smirk and a snarl. “If I hadn’t intervened, you’d be dead.”

I hate that he’s right and I know it. I’m not an idiot but admitting that isn’t going to happen. Not to this arrogant jerk. I scoff, shake my head, then step around him.

“We need to move faster. Sending such a small force doesn’t even make sense.”

“Agreed,” he says, his tone softer now. “But you need to learn something, human.”

I glance over, straining my neck to look up into his golden eyes.

“Strength isn’t just about standing alone,” he says.

He smiles then walks away. I watch him go and keep watching as he sets to helping load another of the makeshift sleds. My chest tightens with a mix of frustration and reluctant respect.

I don’t need him. I can’t need him. One thing, though, I do know. The Order is too big a threat and getting all these people to safety is going to take more than stubborn resolve.

1

AVA

The last echoes of battle still ring in my ears as I tighten the straps on my pack. Blood, luckily not mine, is baking in sticky patches along my arms. A grim reminder that we barely survived. One thing is certain, we can’t stay longer. The Order won’t make the same mistake twice.

“Move out!” Shana’s voice cuts through the stunned silence, snapping people into motion.

I scan the wreckage of the attack, my pulse thrumming fast. The makeshift sleds are in varying states of repair, but we don’t have time to rebuild the broken ones. We’ll take what we can carry, use what sleds remain and the rest we leave behind. A shadow falls over me.

“You shouldn’t have tried to fight alone.”

I exhale sharply and look up. Way up and into golden eyes that gleam in the ruddy light of the twin suns. The Zmaj warrior is there, in my space, again. Uninvited, unwanted, but in at least part, not unwelcome. He towers over me with that same unreadable expression.

“I don’t take orders from you,” I snap.

“Because you are stubborn,” he says, nostrils flaring.

“And you’re insufferable.”

For a moment, we stare at each other, the heat between us nearly as unbearable as the desert sun. Then he huffs, a sound partway between a scoff and a chuckle, and shakes his head.

“You fight well, for a human,” he says, just having to add that qualifying jab. “But you take too much risk.”

My fingers twitch toward my knife.

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