Page 40 of Ash

Panicked, she lost the rhythm of the wingbeats, and began to spiral from the sky.

No! Where was Ash? She needed Ash—

Dani woke up gasping, and she bolted to a sitting position, her heart pounding. Wings? Flying? Where had that come from? It had felt so real that it surprised her to be lying in this bed.

Bed?

Shocked, she glanced around.

She’d never seen such a room. The ceiling and moldings were ornate plaster and looked like something out of a medieval palace. The walls had dark paneling on the lower third, the paint on the plaster above it was a deep, rich red.

Every bit of furniture in the room looked antique. It was all wood, carved and inlaid with ornate designs. The dollar signs popped up in her head as she perused them.

The bed itself was a masterpiece, with carved Dragons writhing up the posts to the very top, chasing each other’s tails. Burgundy cloth draped from above. King size, at least. She was like a tiny mouse in it.

A naked mouse. Dani clutched the sheets—they felt like silk to her breasts. Where the hell was she?

Loud voices came from the other room. The soundproofing was good—even with her enhanced hearing, she couldn’t understand the words. Definitely male, though. Who was out there?

Her last memory was of the Dragon leaning over her. Must have been why he’d invaded her dream. Had he saved her from Rindek?

Why would he do that? She’d thrown things at him in the battle. Largish things. Perhaps he simply didn’t want Rindek to have her. As a strategy, it made sense.

Dani liked it when she understood motives. There was a certain security in it. Interpreting actions could make the difference between survival and disaster.

If only she had some clothes. Nakedness was a vulnerability she could do without. One of her foster moms had, long ago, told her she should always wear clean underwear because if she was in an accident, you didn’t want the doctor to see you in dirty panties.

It hadn’t made much sense to her at the time. But now she amended it to “always have underwear.” Or outerwear. Or any wear. So long as you had something to cover the essentials. It was an entirely new level of “be prepared.”

A cool breeze ruffled her hair. She clutched the sheets to her as she examined the room. Was this the Dragon’s home? Thoughts of him carrying her naked form here fanned a welcome spark of outrage. Had she been rescued from the frying pan, only to fall into the fire?

She slipped from the bed and almost did a face-plant onto the parquet flooring. Her legs were so shaky she could barely stand, and her head ached. What had Rindek put in that stuff he threw at her? Gritting her teeth, she tugged the sheet off the mattress to wrap it around herself and tiptoed to her potential exit. Maybe she could shift to Dire and get the frigging hell out of here.

Dani hadn’t imagined the breeze. What she’d assumed was an enormous window extending twenty feet along one wall was actually not what it seemed. The entire section stood open to the sky.

She felt like a child in this place. The missing wall, the furniture, the broad expanse of space—even the ceilings were a solid twelve feet from the ground.

Dani shivered when another gust of cool air hit her. Clutching her sheet, she edged closer to the opening. The voices were louder here.

“. . . When father discovers she’s in your quarters, there will be hell to pay.”

“Yes, I know. It will help if she can tell us something useful about Rindek. That is my hope.”

A thrill ran through her at that speaker’s voice. Deep, and powerful. But Rindek? She didn’t know anything about that bastard, other than the fact he was one.

Now therescuemade sense, though. They’d brought her here to extract information. Why did that disappoint her? It was always good to know where you stood.

The other voice said something about Dani reporting to her boss...

And with a poof of flame, a creature materialized only a foot away from her.

Dani staggered into the wall, ducking tongues of fire. It was a bird, but not like any bird she’d ever seen. Had it really spat fire at her? Motes of ash dropped from it as it cocked its head and hovered. A feather floated off into the abyss beyond the opening.

“What are you going to do if she starts flinging stuff at you?” The other voice continued.

Dani blinked at the bird as her mind absorbed what she’d heard. The Dragons knew about her ability? It confirmed that these were the ones from the battle, then.

Not promising.

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