Page 60 of Fated to the Grumpy Dragon
Water lapped at my feet as we entered the ocean, the waves crashing around us.
Killian once more howled at Rhyse, who urged me on. The waves were soaking the beautiful glani, sticking it to my skin as we walked out.
“Rhyse, wait,” I half-moaned, still not fully in control of myself.
Images of fire and flame continued to pound the front of my brain, creating a splitting headache.
“We have to go, Emma.”
“Wait!” I said more forcefully.
“Wecan’twait,” he growled, pulling me up to my waist as another wave went by, bouncing me up and down as it passed before breaking closer to the shore.
Moving away, he shifted into his dragon form. I knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to get me to climb on so he could swim away, to a place of peace.
But when I saw his dragon form there in the water, yellow eyes all but glowing in the darkness, I couldn’t see anything but the face of that dragon as it peered over the ruined building, evil in its eyes.
At that moment, Rhysewasthe red dragon as it crept down the side of the building, claws smashing deep through the bricks, debris cascading down. He was the dragon. And I was the tank.
My next scream was muffled by a mouthful of water. I let it sweep me away, back toward shore.
“Emma!” Rhyse called, taking a step toward me, the waves crashing effortlessly off his dragon form.
Just like the bullets had been rendered harmless. Nothing had stopped them.
I turned for the beach, wading through the water. Behind me, Rhyse shouted once more. He came after me, splashing throughthe surf. At some point, he’d shifted back. His hand caught my arm, spinning me around.
“Hey, it’s me,” he said as I flung his grip free, staring wildly, seeing him but not seeing him as I struggled to cope with the cacophony of visuals and sounds in my mind. “Emma!”
He took my arm again when I didn’t stop running away.
The dragons had me. They were going to kill me. Like the soldiers.
“NO!”I shrieked, whirling, and smacking him clean in the face with the palm of my hand. “Get your hands off me, you … you freak!”
The insult Killian had used came fresh to mind, and I hurled it without thinking.
Rhyse reared back, the green of his eyes turning hard as jade.
“Fine,” he said coldly, shaking his head. “Have it your way.”
From the shore came the sound of haunting laughter.
“I don’t even care anymore,” Killian called. “This is better than any revenge I could cook up. Good job, Rhyse.”
I watched him go, struck not by the anger on Rhyse’s face, but the pain.
“What have I done?” I whispered to the empty sky.
My only answer was the sound of waves crashing against the sandy shore.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Rhyse
Ishould’ve known better.
Scale bond or not, Emma would never trust me. It didn’t matter that I’d saved her life and permanently altered my own to do so. The effort I put in trying to show her a good time, taking myself out of my comfort zone, none of that actually mattered to her.
