Page 23 of The Dragon's Captured Heart
“Hi,” he said awkwardly, holding his hands out.
I was still back in the cockpit of my downed helo. Jill’s mangled body beside me while the rest of my squadron beat a hasty retreat, unable to come to my aid.
The building was crumbling, and then the dragon was there once more, peering down into the cockpit. I vividly recalled those bright red scales, shining in the daylight the same today as they did months ago when the beast had ruined my life.
“So, you see,” Callum said. “It was easier this way. Now, you—”
“You ruined everything!” I shrieked, launching myself at Callum.
Yelping more out of surprise than anything, he tried to dodge, but I guessed correctly, and leaped on him, raining down a flurry of fists to his head, screaming murder the entire time.
“What the fuck?” he snarled as I drove a knee into his face and tried to slam my foot into his groin. “All right, that’s enough.”
My whirling dervish of an attack was abruptly cut short. Arms stronger than steel wrapped around me, fingers squeezing until my limbs refused to answer. I tried to bite at him, to take a chunk out of his ear or neck, but Callum casually held me still, keeping me at arm's length.
Until I kicked him in the nuts again.
His reflexes put a knee in the way, but anger surged through him. He was on me in a flash, one thick arm snacking under my neck while the other locked my arms behind my back.
“Stop. Struggling,” he growled in my ear, taking me down toward the roof of the palace while the blood was slowly cut off to my brain.
“Fuck. You,” I wheezed, trying to bite his arm even as the world went dark.
“Get yourself under control,” he ordered. “You won’t win.”
“I can try.”
“This is ridiculous,” he spat. “Some thanks I get for what I did.”
I went limp in surprise. “Thanks?Thanks?You think I should bethankingyou?”
“Yes,” he said, letting go and rolling me off him.
I caught myself with both hands and bounced back to my feet, standing tall. “Are you joking? Thank you? Forwhat?”
“Seems like the polite thing to do when someone saves your life.”
“Saves my life … saves my life. When someone saves my life.” I had to repeat the phrase over and over. It was comical. Hilarious.
I laughed. In his face.
“What the hell is so funny?”
“Saving my life? You think that’s what you did?”
“I certainly didn’t kill you,” he pointed out.
“That sounds so much better.”
Callum frowned. “It really doesn’t.”
“No. Besides, you didn’t save my life,” I said. “You were driven off before you could kill me, for starters.”
“Don’t sound so upset about that.”
“Why not?” I shouted as I got in his face as best I could with a foot of height difference between us. “You didn’t save anything. Youruinedmy life!”
“Ruined it?”
