“Oh, Cobalt.” Her smile turned brittle. “You make it sound so easy.”
Her knee came up, hitting me between the legs, sending a blinding stab of pain through my groin. I convulsed with a grunt, staggering away, and she followed it with a savage kick to my temple. I threw up my arm, taking it on the shoulder instead of the noggin, but the impact still rocked me sideways and made my head ring. During the second roundhouse that followed, I managed to grab her leg, turn and throw her to the ground. She rolled with the impact, coming up on her feet, but it was enough time for me to take a breath and get my balance again, and for the shrieking pain of my sensitive bits to fade somewhat.
I shook my head and grinned at the other dragon, who was balanced on the balls of her feet in a fighting stance, still holding the briefcase in one hand. “Playing dirty, Mist? Why does that not surprise me?”
She smirked. “It sure as hell surprised you a moment ago.”
“Fair enough.” I stepped forward, letting my muscles relax and my senses sharpen, taking in my surroundings and the girl in front of me. “Let’s see if you can do it again. No Shifting, though.” Fighting as humans was a lot safer than fighting as dragons. You could pummel your opponent senseless, but fists and feet were still less dangerous than claws and fangs. Once we Shifted, the tone of the fight changed into something far more lethal. And, shady or not, I didn’t want to kill her.
Mist shrugged. “Fine,” she agreed, and tossed the suitcase to the forest floor. “I can take you down just as easily as a human.”
“You talk a big game, hatchling.” I edged closer, smiling. “Let’s see you put your money where your mouth is.”
“Actually, I’d rather put my foot where your mouth is,” Mist replied, and lunged, kicking straight up toward my chin. I jerked my head back, feeling her leather boot miss my nose by about a centimeter, and dropped low, sweeping her other leg out. She tumbled backward, somehow turned the fall into a backflip and landed on her feet again like a damn cat. I had about a second to be impressed with her flexibility when that leg shot out again, side-kicking me in the gut and driving most of the air from my lungs. As I staggered, bent nearly in two, I saw her bring her foot up, almost touching the side of her face, right before her heel slammed into the back of my head.
My chin struck the ground, clacking my teeth together painfully, and the world went fuzzy for a moment. Instinctively, I rolled to the side, hearing her foot slam into the ground where my head had been a moment before. Before she could pull it back, I grabbed that slim ankle and yanked hard, jerking her off her feet. She landed on her back, and this time I heard the explosion of air leave her body as she hit hard and lay there for a moment, stunned.
I lunged forward before she could recover, straddling her waist and pinning her wrists to the ground. She froze, and for a moment, we stared at each other, panting. Mist gazed up at me, defiant, silver hair spilling around her head like a cloud. She felt…suddenly fragile. Her wrists, clamped beneath my fingers, were long and slender; I felt I could snap them if I squeezed hard enough.
“Well.” Her voice came out breathy, and for some reason, I felt my stomach prickle. “Here we are. Now what?”
I licked suddenly dry lips. “You could always tell me who you’re working for.”
“Are you going to hold me down until I do?”
“I’m sure Wes or Ember will miss me eventually.” I smirked down at her, settling my weight fully. “I’m a dragon. I can be patient. Or you can just tell me now and get it over with. Because you’re going to tell me eventually.” I tightened my grip on her arms, and she grimaced. “Who is your employer, Mist?” I demanded, my voice hard. “Tell me. Give me a reason to believe you’re not selling us out to Talon. I can’t let you go until I’m certain.”
She slumped, closing her eyes. “If I tell you,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. I leaned closer to hear. “You have to promise me one thing.”
My heartbeat picked up, thumping in my ears. “What’s that?”
Abruptly, her head shot forward, the top of her skull striking me square in the nose. I yelped and shot backward, my hands going to my face, and Mist kicked me in the chest, shoving me off.
“Don’t assume the fight’s over until it is.”
Through blood and tears of pain, I looked up and saw her foot coming at my head, aimed at my temple. Knowing that if it landed I’d probably be knocked senseless, I lunged forward instead, catching her around the waist. She threw a couple quick elbows into my face, making my already abused nose scream with agony, but as we toppled backward I somehow ended up behind her. Snaking an arm beneath her jaw, I tightened my grip, putting her into a rear-naked choke, using both arms to cut off the supply of blood to her brain. She tucked her chin, trying to save her neck and give herself a few seconds as we struggled in the grass. An elbow hit me in the ribs, hard enough that I felt something crack, but I gritted my teeth and hung on.
Briefly, it flashed through my head that, if she were to Shift right now, I’d be in trouble.
Beneath me, Mist shuddered, her struggles growing more frantic. I knew that, if she didn’t break free, she was seconds away from passing out. Dragon or no, six to eight seconds was all it took for someone to go unconscious once the blood flow to the brain was cut off. Again, Mist jabbed me in the ribs with an elbow and threw her head back, attempting to bash me in the face. I ducked my chin, setting my jaw. I didn’t enjoy this. Choking out a girl half my weight was not high on my list of things I was proud of, even if she was a Basilisk who could easily kick my ass if I wasn’t paying attention.
The girl slumped in my arms, and just as I was tensing for the Shift, her hand came up, tapping my elbow three times in rapid succession. Signaling surrender.
I let her go immediately, not pausing to think that this could be a ruse, that she could be lying to get me to lower my guard. If she wanted to escape, all she had to do was change forms, and I’d be unable to hang on. Though her comment about making assumptions was still echoing through my brain, mocking me. Mist fell forward, coughing and gasping, one hand going to her throat as she sucked in air. Panting, I sagged against a tree, watching her recover.
“Why didn’t you Shift?” I asked after a moment.
She shot me a confused look. “We agreed…to no Shifting, didn’t we?” she asked, still breathing hard.
“Yes, but…you’re a Basilisk. Lying is in our job description. If I didn’t let up, you’d be unconscious right now.”
Her brow furrowed. “If I had Shifted, you would’ve been forced to change form, as well. And like you said before, that would have upped the lethality of the fight by a great deal. One or both of us could have sustained serious injuries, and that would have been counterproductive to what I’m supposed to do here.” She blinked, and the slight frown deepened. “Do you really think so little of me that you believe I would try to kill you to protect my secrets?”
“I don’t know, Mist,” I said truthfully. “I don’t know anything about you. I have no clue why you’re here, who you’re working for or what your real agenda is. You assure me you’re not my enemy, but you go sneaking off in the middle of the night to meet with suspicious people in secret. How can I be sure they’re not part of Talon? How can I trust anything you say if you’re only telling me half-truths?”
She held my stare for a moment, then sighed, bowing her head so that her silver hair slipped forward to cover her face. Her next words were soft, barely audible, even in the stillness.