Page 86 of Midnight Enchantment

For the first time since they had met, she was truly afraid of him.

She looked up as Ava and Mason came down the stairs. They came to an abrupt halt when they saw him.

“Lily,” Ava said, very softly. “Come to me.”

Moving slowly, Lily tiptoed toward her. She shrank back when Raedan turned to look at her.

“Do not mourn for me if I do not return,” he said, and his voice was low and deep, like the rumble of distant thunder. “Only remember that wherever I am, I will always love you.”

Blinking the tears from her eyes, Lily whispered, “Please come back to me.”

But he was already gone.

Dark gray storm clouds hovered over the mountains, shutting out both moon and stars. Lightning flashed in the distance, promising rain before the night was over.

Raedan stood outside the house a moment before transporting himself to the place where they had encountered the dragon the night before.

He smelled the creature as soon as he arrived. A wicked slash of lightning split the skies and in the brief flash, he saw the dragon perched high atop one of the peaks, wings spread, tail whipping angrily back and forth.

Why are you here?The dragon’s voice penetrated his mind like fire.

I need your blood.

Foolish man. It is I who will feast on your flesh and drink your blood before the night is through.

I did not come to destroy you.

The dragon’s laughter sounded in his ears.As if you could.

I need only a cup. Surely you can spare that much.

The dragon hopped down from the peak. Standing so close, he towered over Raedan. Lowering his head, he sniffed Raedan’s chest, and then reared back.Demon, as I thought.

One possesses me. I wish to rid myself its evil influence.

You think to give it to me?

No. I seek to destroy it.Raedan doubled over as the blood-demon unleashed its power. Excruciating pain, worse than anything he had known before, exploded through every fiber of his being, burning hotter than the sun. He dropped to his knees, his head bowed, as the pain went on and on, clawing at his vitals, turning his blood to fire, threatening to consume him from the inside out.

The dragon looked on impassively for several minutes. He had hated mankind for untold centuries, destroyed all those who had come hunting him and felt nothing at all. But this creature was not a mortal man.

Using one of his razor-sharp talons, the dragon made a tiny cut in the man’s shoulder and lapped up the blood. And he felt the man’s pain, his anguish, his love for the woman he had left behind. This man, too, had suffered for centuries. A kindred spirit, the dragon mused, as pain continued to rip through the helpless creature.

Raedan looked up when he felt the dragon’s mind invade his. Their gazes met and he felt the dragon’s pity.We are alike, you and I. Both outcasts. Both hunted.

The dragon nodded.

Raedan pulled a flask from his hip pocket and held it up.Grant me that which I seek, or destroy me and put me out of my misery.

The dragon regarded him for a long moment, then opened a shallow gash in his massive chest. Thick red blood, so dark it was almost black, oozed from the wound.

Teeth clenched against the agony that engulfed him, Raedan held the flask under the wound, capped the container when it was full.May I?

As much as you wish.

Lurching to his feet, Raedan licked the blood still dripping from the wound in the dragon’s chest. It burned through him, momentarily distracting the demon and easing the agony that threatened to tear him to ribbons.

My thanks, Lord Dragon. If ever I can be of service, you have only to call my name and I will come.

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