Page 98 of Claimed by the Savage Dragons
As I give chase, the coast comes into view, dark waves crashing against the shores. I follow him, diving down as fast as I can. He's not escaping me again. He heads towards a weather battered island and, to my eternal shock, he changes, stumbling onto the lone hill, and turning to face me, he already knows he's lost.
I change as well, landing on the rocks and stalking towards him.
‘How could you do this? I thought you cared about our kind!’
He doesn’t answer. There’s madness in his eyes and I shake my head at him.
‘Though you've been a thorn in my side for too long, Aziel, I would still have let you return after banishment. But then you took my mate!’
His jaw clenches at my admission, and I bear my teeth at him. ‘Yes.My Mate. She carries the first dragon to be born to our faction in over twenty years.’
He splutters. ‘That's impossible!’
‘No. The doctor has already found evidence. Mari carries one of our kind, and if Del is right, there will be more. With the humans.’
‘Humans and dragons will never interbreed!’
‘You're living in the past, Aziel. There’s no future for our faction there.’
He screams something unintelligible and runs forward. At the last moment, I realize he has another one of those small knives in his hand.
He pierces my forearm, and I scream in rage, putting my hands around his head and snapping his neck. I fling him to the side, giving him no more thought than I would an ant, but the dragonsbane that was coating the knife is already coursing through me. I don’t have much time.
I don’t wait even a second. I run towards the cliff edge and jump off of it, morphing into my dragon and gliding across the surface of the water, hoping that I have enough of the antidote still in my system that I'll make it back.
But I can feel the poison sapping at my resources already. It was a concentrated dose, much stronger than whatever has been put into my food for the past year or so. It's meant to kill me quickly. I fly fast but I’m flagging by the time I see the mountain, and all I can think is that I have to make it back to Mari. I have to.
I half crash into the entrance hanger. Unlike earlier, there are now dragons milling around. A couple of them gasp as I take my human form, using pretty much the last of my strength to do so.
‘Mari,’ I say weakly. ‘Where is she?’
‘Get him to the med bay!’
I'm put on a stretcher, and then time seems to leap forward, and I'm suddenly in the surgery room. Someone's screaming. Del is standing over me, looking concerned.
‘Dragonsbane,’ I whisper weakly.
She nods. ‘I know, just hang tight. I'm giving you a full dose of the antidote. This should counteract it. It's lucky I had a couple left.’
I grasp her hand weakly, and she smiles, giving my shoulder a squeeze. ‘Hang in there. You'll be okay in a few hours.’
I hear another scream, and I realize it’s Mari. I try to get off the table, but Del stops me.
‘You’re no good to her like this, Commander,’ she tells me with a pat to my chest. ‘Your mate is in good hands. Let me work.’
She leaves me and all I can do, to my eternal shame, is watch as my mate writhes in pain. She's holding onto the bed, standing, scrunching up the covers with her fingers. She pounds at the bed and curses.
‘It hurts!’ she screams.
‘I know, but it shouldn't be long now,’ Del says soothingly. ‘Everything is going okay. You don't need to panic, I promise.’
Mari nods jerkily, and her eyes find mine.
‘I want to be with Drey too,’ she says.
Tor and Brax, who are hovering close by, help her to my bed, and she grabs my hand tightly.
She squeals and squeezes my hand as tight as she can.
