Page 65 of Forgotten Queen

Cole and I took turns ruthlessly hacking at the legs in vain.

Adrenaline pumped through my blood, sharpening my senses. Our magic was useless here. I hadn’t realized how much I’d come to trust it.

The dragon lunged for Cole. I charged at its outstretched neck, hoping to slice away part of the patchy skin.Crack. My blade collided with a crunch. The dragon roared in pain, rearing up on two legs. I landed on three limbs, barely keeping my grip on the blade.

The only thing that succeeded in doing was pissing off the dragon. It landed again and turned its attention fully on me. I danced back out of the way of its claws. We were getting closer and closer to the houses. Crap.

My body was exhausted. Sparring, the ball, all on too little sleep. But this was no time to rest.

The undead dragon surged forward, catching me off guard. My sword went flying. I was knocked to the ground, and this time I didn’t land right. My ankle twisted at an unnatural angle.

Fuck.

The creature must’ve been intelligent. The look in its eyes was furious, but there was more to it.

I looked at it and I saw the pits of Tartarus.

And it saw an easy target.

This was it. There was no way I could dodge this next strike. I couldn’t even stand.

The beast swiped at me with another massive claw.

It should’ve killed me.

But in a fraction of a second, Cole surged across the battlefield and pushed me aside. The talon sliced through his back like tissue paper, soaking the dark fabric.

My heart stopped.

Cole’s amber eyes were half open, fixed on me.

“Run, Avery,” he said, desperate. “Get away.”

I forced myself onto my broken ankle. And I ran. I ran with everything I had to reach Cole. Pain exploded through my nerve endings, but none of it compared to the fact I couldn’t breathe as I looked at Cole.

He can’t be… he can’t be!

I threw my body over his. The dragon had reared back and readied itself for a killing blow.

Live. Live.Live.

I chanted the word over and over in my head. There was no logic, no reason left in me. Just a desire to live. I wanted to live. Colehadto live. The citizens of Hell. Daphne. Hecate.

Life. We all deserved life.

I held onto that thought with everything I had.And if I lose him in this life, I will find him in another.

I’ve done it before.

Live. Live. Live.

I waited for the killing blow to land. For the dragon to snap us into its powerful jaws and treat us to the wonders of an undead digestive tract.

But the blow never came.

Hesitantly, I lifted my head to look while still shielding Cole’s body with my own.

The dragon’s mouth was just three feet from me. It was bent low, as if on the precipice of swallowing us whole when it cocked its head to the side. It was looking at me curiously. My skin was covered in a glowing green web of magic.

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