But why is he so agitated?
I remain still, not wanting to startle him, and decide to wait for him to notice that I’m awake. He remains in a state of alert, though, and doesn’t seem to be paying any attention to me. All right. I know what to do in dangerous situations—extract myself from said dangerous situation. I sit up and start to creep away, only to have one clawed paw reach out and immediately grab me, dragging me close to his chest again. I make a small noise of protest and push at one of the gigantic black talons, but instead of letting me go, he makes a cage with them.
I’m not going anywhere.
My heart starts to pound. This wasn’t how he acted last night. “Um, Kael?” I put my hand on one scaly digit. “Remember me? Claudia? Your bestest human buddy?”
His eyes continue to whirl black, and his lips curl back, revealing the sword-like incisors. Well, crap. I don’t know what to do. How do you calm down a pissed-off dragon when you have no idea why he’s pissed? I continue to stroke his scales, trying to soothe him. “Talk to me, Kael.”
Because talking would require turning back to human form, and he feels a lot less scary in human form.
The big head leans down, and he nuzzles my hair, but the claws remain tight around me. I think he’s trying to reassure me, but I’m not going to relax while he’s got all that black whirling in his eyes.
The sound of human voices touches my ear. I stiffen, instantly alert. Hope hammers in my heart.
People! Militia, from the sounds of their voices, but I don’t care. Fort Dallas sent people after me, and that’s all that counts. They didn’t leave me. Someone’s come to save me. I haven’t been completely abandoned. Joy and relief rush through me, and I push at Kael’s claws, trying to squeeze my way free.
Kael doesn’t let me go. He growls low in his throat, and his eyes are almost entirely black.
I go still again. Shit. This isn’t good. This isn’t good at all.
I don’t know what to do. I want to be rescued…but I don’t want Kael to lose his shit and squeeze me into a pile of human goo.
“We just need to check on things,” a voice says, hollow and echoing from across the way. I can barely make it out, but it’s a man’s voice. “You saw what the dragon did to this place. Something happened here yesterday, and the mayor wants answers.”
My heart sinks at that. They’re not here to rescue me. They’re here to see what happened. Don’t I matter at all?
“No one could have survived that,” another voice grumbles. “We had to rappel up half the damn building just trying to get here. He fucking tore the stairwell out.”
“Yeah, but no corpse down on the streets. That’s a good sign.”
“Unless he ate her whole.”
Well, gee. They almost sound disappointed that I’m not roadkill. Like it’s inconvenient for them that I might still be alive and they have to check on me. I’m starting to side with the damn dragon.
“Check if he’s there. Look for signs of the dragon or the girl,” one of the soldiers says.
“Won’t be any signs of her left,” the other comments. “She ain’t more than two bites.”
Kael blows another puff of smoke from his nostrils, his growling increasing. His tail lashes back and forth wildly, the dust and leaves stirring so loud it sounds like a windstorm. He’s agitated as hell, and as he nuzzles my hair with another steamy breath, I realize he’s trying to comfort me. He’s trying to tell me he’s not mad at me.
But those other guys?
He’s going to straight up roast them.
My skin prickles. I know this as much as I know the nose on my face. He’s going to defend me from them. I’m his toy now, and if they try to take me back, he’s going to make them regret it. He’s going to kill them, and their deaths will be on my head. I don’t know what to do.
I eye the dragon, and then the stairwell across the room. The moment they come through that door, they’re dead meat. I have to stop them before they come up. And Kael won’t hurt me. I hope. So I take a risk and cup a hand to my mouth. “Don’t come up here,” I call out. “The dragon’s still here and he’s angry!”
Kael sucks in a breath, the intake so sharp my hair rustles. He lowers his head until his eye is even with my face, and it’s whirling deep, deep black. Oh shit. “Sorry,” I whisper, and give him a trembling pat on the nose. “Please don’t be mad.”
My warning seems to have the opposite desired effect, though. “Hello?” one of the men calls out. “Claudia Jones? Is that you?”
I open my mouth to call out again, but Kael’s eye is still staring me down, and the low growl is rumbling in his chest so loud I can feel it shaking my body. The words die in my throat.
“We’re coming for you,” another militia soldier calls out. “The mayor’s changed his mind.”
He has? I’m not exiled? I hold my breath, shocked and pleased. Then I see a shadow move in the stairwell. Oh no. “Don’t come up!”
Kael lifts his head, pointing it at the sky, and trumpets a call. It’s loud, blaring, and utterly furious. It’s a warning. Even I know that.
“Shit!” one of the men yells. I hear the sound of scrambling coming from the stairwell.
The dragon hefts to his feet, roaring again. I’m clutched fast in his talons, and they dig into my skin as he extends his wings. I bite back a yelp as we lift into the air, just as the men run onto the ruined floor that’s been my home for the last day. We go higher and higher into the air, Kael roaring fury. I cling to him, terrified he’ll drop me far below. We’re up so high, and I’ve got nothing to hold on to except for a slippery dragon. All I can hope is that he won’t drop me in one of his less lucid moments.
As we rise, the building below us gets smaller, and I see the men stop and raise their guns. What the hell are they doing? Guns are useless against dragon-scale. That was one reason why humanity hadn’t stood a chance against the draconic invasion.
Shots ring out, the quick rat-tat-tat-tat of automatic rifles.
I scream, ducking my head and trying to protect it with my hands. Something hot scorches a path on my arm - I’ve been hit.
Are they firing at me and not the dragon?
A terrible roar sounds through the air, so loud that I feel as if my ears might explode from the thunder of it. It rips out of Kael’s throat, so forceful that I can feel it in his claws, and then we’re turning suddenly in midair, diving back toward the men with guns.
Oh no. No no no no.
I squeeze my eyes closed as we dive, helpless. I can feel the wind shift as Kael swoops low. More bullets ring out.
There’s an awful scream and the crunch of bones, and then the air changes again. We’re rising. More gunfire whizzes past. I squeeze an eye open just in time to see Kael spit out half of one of the soldiers, the body tumbling through the air. He begins to whirl around again, ready to dive on the remaining soldiers.
My stomach clenches in horror. “Oh no,” I moan. “Please, no.”