Page 22 of Draco

So why did I feel like such shit about it?

13

Luna

The netting enclosed me tightly, and I swung as a slight breeze picked up. Anger flared through me, and I promised myself I’d get even with Mr. Draco the Dragon next time I saw his infuriatingly handsome face.

It all made sense now. The reason he’d let me walk away, the reason he hadn’t been following me, the smug little smirk on his face when I’d run out. The jerk had set traps!

I had no doubt he had trail cameras out here in the trees, watching me. No doubt he was sitting on the other side of some screen right now, laughing at me while I swung from the tree all helpless.

The ground seemed far away, not that I had a knife or anything to cut my way out. I glanced up. Far overhead, the tree’s leaves fluttered in the wind, and I noticed the same little space between the netting and rope I’d noticed before, but dismissed. It wasn’t a large opening. Maybe I could squeeze out through the top?

It was a long shot, but I had to try something. I was going crazy just sitting here waiting for whatever would happen next. I wanted to be in charge of my destiny, not just waiting for life to happen to me.

I scooted until I could get my feet under me and stood up in the netting. The whole net changed to fit my taller shape, and I grabbed the rope holding the whole things closed. With one hand on the left, one on the right, I tried to pry them apart with all the strength I had in my upper body. They wouldn’t budge, so I pulled harder, grunting and straining as I struggled to pull them apart.

I’d be grateful for even an inch. I’d be grateful for any indication that I could, in fact, move them. Because that meant there was a chance I could get free this way.

I glanced at the ground and gulped. I was up pretty high, but I’d figure that part out when I got there. Maybe I could climb the outside of the netting and lower myself as close to the ground as possible before letting go? Still, my ankles and legs ached just thinking about that drop. It would be better to be free and hurt, than captive and fine, though.

No luck pulling them apart. But I was pretty sure I was on to something here. Maybe, if I angled myself the right way, maybe I could slip out through the small opening. It would be tight, I’d have to wiggle and shimmy and getting my shoulders through would be really tricky, but I had to do something. I wasn’t just going to wait here for him to decide he’d had his fun and come get me.

I was going to get away. And all he’d see in his camera was an empty net and my backside as I raced away to freedom. This time, I’d get on the road, on the driveway and stay there. After all, he wouldn’t trap a road other people might drive on, would he? The other dragon seemed to have made it in in one piece, so it had to be possible.

All around me, birds sang, and the wind made the tree branches shiver and shake. It was a really peaceful area. Maybe this was the kind of place I should settle down. Somewhere off the grid, somewhere quiet and surrounded by nature. Somewhere I could listen to the birds sing and watch fat squirrels playfully chase one another around and around and up trees.

I watched one such set of squirrels chase each other across the moss and suddenly jolted as I realized someone was standing there staring at me. A man, totally motionless with an easy grace in his beastly freaking frame and stance.

“You scared the crap out of me!” I glared at him, and his golden eyes met mine. My heart hammered inside my chest, and every hair on my arms and the back of my neck stood on end as a tsunami of pinpricks, both icy and red hot, crashed over every inch of me.

I knew instinctively he also had to be a dragon. Was he one of Draco the Dragon’s friends? Someone sent here to laugh at me?

“Was not my intention.” He studied me as if I had all the answers to the questions he had to ask. “Why are you here?”

I crossed my arms. Because Draco the Dragon is a dick. Instead of answering, I just stared at him and turned his stupid question right back on him. “Why areyouhere?”

The guy looked like a Hemsworth brother. Strong brow line, powerful square jaw, full lips, and huge arms. Maybe he could just rip the tree out of the ground and lay it on its side so I could walk out of this damn trap. No joke, he was built. I’d thought Draco was impressive, but this guy seemed better. Obviously, dragon gyms focused on bulking—but not to an Olympic bodybuilder level. His shoulder-length brown hair suited him, and I wondered he ever put it up in a man bun. Somehow, I didn’t think so.

He hadn’t answered my question. Instead, he merely studied me with that quiet curiosity he’d had the whole time.

“Don’t you have better things to do than stand here staring at me?” I would have put my hands on my hips if that were an option. It wasn’t with the net so tight around me, so I did it in spirit instead. “Don’t you have someone to help or something?”

The corners of his lips curved up in an infuriating grin, but he didn’t respond.

“Since you’re just standing there being a total creep, could you cut me down from here?” He could. I knew he could. But would he?

His grin stretched, but he still didn’t respond.

“If you’re not going to help me, why don’t you get lost?” I said the words but didn’t really mean them. I wanted him to help me, to say something to cut me free. But he wasn’t doing that.

He shrugged, slipped his hands in his pockets, and walked off. I stared after him, wanting to call out to him not to go, but choosing not to. How had he found me? I couldn’t see the driveway from where I was, so there was no way he could see me swinging here. Draco must have told him where I was and told him to come mock me and make me even madder.

And it worked. I was pissed. I wondered if I could chew through the ropes. But even as I considered trying, a soothing calm washed over me, and I relaxed back a bit. The anger washed out of me, and I focused on the sound of the birds, the wind in the trees, the sights and sounds of nature all around me.

I wondered what kind of tree it was that had the nearly purple-red leaves. I wondered what kind of birds I heard singing. I wondered if time stood still out here, because it sure seemed like it. I’d run out at dawn, and now the sun seemed to be straight overhead. I could see it filtering down through the thick canopy of leaves, and here and there it splashed beautifully on the forest floor, leaving rays of light sparkling with swirling dust.

It was beautiful out there in the trees in the wilderness. Why hadn’t I spent more time just enjoying nature? How had I not known how tranquil and peaceful it was out in the middle of nowhere?

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