Page 78 of Bite Me

“Nice of you to join us, oh greatly late one.”

Match assessed the situation in one glance and spit fireballs toward the Black Dragon. “Nice of you to get your ass captured.”

The Black Dragon roared, narrowly missing the first of Match's volley, but catching the rest of them on the ass as he took to flight and retreated down an opposite tunnel. A hard flick of his tail caved the tunnel in so that they couldn't follow.

Match roared and started digging the rockslide out, tossing some to the side and melting others with his fire. Of course, Match wasn't here to help Ky. It was red dragon vengeance that had brought him down.

Ky wondered if Match would even remember Azynsa.

Ky did. “Match, leave it. He's likely caved that entire tunnel in. We need to get these women out of here. Now.”

Match wouldn't do a damn thing he didn't want to, but Ky had had one helluva day and wanted to go home. To Jada.

His heart skipped a beat. Jada. He did still want her. It wouldn't be an easy road ahead for the two of them, but he was not giving up on his mate.

Match gave a final blast to the tunnel and then stomped his way over to Ky. “What women? I only know of one mermaid.”

“Yeah, there's a lot of weird shit down here. I don't how you really live in these things.” Ky moved to the side to reveal Fallyn behind him. He knew she was still there because she giggled for quite a while longer. She had quieted in the last few minutes though.

Match looked to where Ky indicated and instantly lost his shift. He shimmered back into human form and fell to one knee. “Fallyn.”

His voice was barely more than a whisper.

Ky had never seen anything like this happen to Match. Even when he'd been contrite after challenging Ciara to prove that she was a true mate, he still had his alpha of alphas bravado. What the hell had just happened? How could he have known Fallyn?

Ky turned to see the girl's reaction. The smile immediately dropped from her face. There were no more giggles, the laughter was gone. It was replaced by pure hatred, fueled by the fire in her eyes sparking like dynamite.

She pulled a dagger from a sheath strapped around her thigh and threw it toward Match. She grunted something angry that, Ky didn't understand in a harsh guttural language when her weapon narrowly missed Match's head.

She threw another almost immediately after, which Match snagged straight out of the air.

That apparently made her even madder, because she stomped her foot and turned and ran up the tunnel.

“What the hell was that? Do you know her?”

Match examined the dagger in his hand and slipped it into his pocket. He didn't answer Ky's question, but shifted back into his Dragon. “You go after the mermaid, I'll find Fallyn.”

And then what? Match flew up the tunnel where Fallyn had disappeared.

“Guess I'll see you up top later, bro.”

He was back exactly where he started, minus the Black Dragon.

Plan A. Get Azynsa, get the holy fucking hell out of this goddamn hellhole.

Ky headed up the tunnel where the prison cell cave was. “Azynsa, ready to get out of here?”

No reply. Shit.

At least he had his Dragon back and could track her. Ky scented the air and thought for a second he caught a scent of something sweet and fruity. Not likely down here. It was probably because he was starving and missed Jada. He would forever associate the scent of strawberry rhubarb with her badassness.

Thinking of her did several things to his body. He ached for her. Probably always would. But that ache came with a hollow gnaw, one that tried to warn him. He was going to get hurt. His age-old instincts told him to push that need for her away. Like a second serving of pudding,

He loved pudding.

Sometimes he ate it first.

And maybe that was the key to dealing with this problem of Jada. It wasn't like he was going to give her up, and he knew that even if their motives were working against each other, their bodies knew how to be together.

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