Not if it will put you in danger. His voice is a low growl echoing in my mind. He doesn’t land, either.
If you don’t take me down right now, I’m going to jump off your back, I warn him, frantic at the sight of Amy held captive. I can’t think with the sight of that gun pressed to her head. Do it now, Kael.
He gives a snarl of rage, this time audible. I will not!
“Fine!” I throw my leg over his side and slide down his back. I have to get Amy back, no matter the cost.
CLAUDIA. DO NOT—
He dips a shoulder low to catch me, but it’s too late. I tumble off his back, and then I’m free-falling through the air for a terrifying moment, and then I tumble to the concrete a short distance below, dazed.
Well. That was…dumb.
I lie flat on my back, mentally assessing my wounds. The breath has been knocked out of me, and everything fucking hurts. I’m scraped on hands and knees from my roll, but…I’m alive. And I’m on the ground.
A moment later, a heavy thump lands beside me, a shadow falling over my face. I look up to see Kael staring down at me, his eyes dark with terrible anger. He leans over and nudges me with his enormous head. Speak to me. Are you hurt?
Just my pride, I tell him, sitting up slowly and wincing as everything screams a protest. That was…less badass than I’d hoped. I look over at the mayor.
There’s a loud click as he cocks the gun, and he hasn’t moved away from Amy. “Call off your dragon.”
Amy whimpers, her body stiff with fear. The blindfold prevents me from making eye contact with my sister, but I know her. I can tell she’s utterly terrified. It’s that fear that drives me constantly. I’m the one who takes care of Amy, makes sure she’s safe. The fact that she’s been put in this position because of me makes me feel helpless and awful.
I get to my feet slowly, wincing at the stabs of pain that shoot through my body. My gaze remains on the mayor at all times. “Let my sister go. She’s done nothing wrong.”
“I don’t care if she has or she hasn’t. She’s the only leverage I have against you.” His fat face gleams with a thin sheen of nervous sweat. “Now, call off your dragons.” His eyes are crazed, his face flushed red, and I don’t like the way his hand trembles as he holds the gun to Amy’s temple.
I give him a weak smile. “What makes you think I can get the dragons to do anything?”
“You rode one in,” he snarls, spittle flying. “You made them attack the city, didn’t you?”
“That’s what you wanted, right?” I say, letting a sneer get into my voice to hide the fact that I’m so damn frightened for Amy. “You wanted me to fuck my way into controlling a dragon or two, right? Wasn’t that the grand plan? Why you threw me out there into the Scavenge Lands? Well, surprise surprise, I lived. And I made a friend.”
His fat face shakes with rage. “I wanted you to tame the dragon and make it stop attacking us! Not make you turn on your own kind!”
“No, you didn’t give a shit what happened to me,” I correct. “You figured I’d die, but it didn’t matter, because I was just a thief, right? And now you expect me to have loyalty to the city that threw me out? That turned my sister into a prisoner? Are you kidding me?” I can hear the rising hysteria in my voice. “Why should I be loyal?”
The mayor’s gaze slides to Kael, and I suspect my dragon’s getting agitated behind me, probably due to my own rising emotions. In response, the mayor pushes the gun harder against Amy’s temple.
Amy chokes back a cry.
I go completely still, unable to look away. Back down, I command Kael silently. Please.
“Leave, and I’ll let your sister go,” the mayor says.
“Bullshit. If I leave, you’re going to keep holding my sister hostage as leverage to try and force me not to use the dragons to attack the city. But newsflash, this is the only dragon I control.” I gesture at Kael, who’s looming behind me. “And even that control’s a little iffy, if you haven’t noticed.”
“I don’t care if you have to suck dragon dick, I just want you out of here.” The mayor shakes his head, sweat flying as he does. “And I can’t give you back the girl. Just turn around and leave right now and she won’t get hurt.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Then it seems like we’re at an impasse. I’m not leaving until I get my sister, and my dragon’s not leaving unless I do.”
Shall I eat him? Kael’s voice snakes through my mind, along with a mental image of him chomping the fat mayor in half.
No! Gross! You’re totally not kissing me with that mouth if you eat him.
“If you won’t leave, I’ll make you leave,” the mayor snarls. “I’ll make both of you leave.”
I clench my fists helplessly and take a step forward. “Don’t you fucking hurt my sister—”
He turns the gun. There’s a moment of confusion as I stare at the barrel of it for a hot moment. A loud pop. Something slams into my side and knocks me over.
My first thought is that Kael has gotten overzealous and accidentally pushed me down. But as I smack to the concrete, skidding backward, I hear Amy’s scream as if through a tunnel, and a loud roar in my mind and rumbling aloud.
NO!
CLAUDIA!
Sharp pain stabs through my side, and my chest feels heavy. Oh. Oh… My hands move in slow motion to my side, where it seems to be wet and full of lead. Painful, painful lead. The mayor shot me to force Kael to leave. That…was a stupid plan. As stupid as my leap off the dragon’s back. I want to laugh, the sheer ridiculousness of the situation bubbling up inside me, but everything hurts too much to even breathe. All I can do is lie there and hurt.
There’s more screaming. More popping bangs. I look over in a fog as the mayor fires his gun at Kael’s head, over and over. The dragon ignores it, massive jaws clamping down over the top half of the mayor’s body and ripping him apart in a bloody show of force.
Rage fills my dragon’s thoughts, a jumble of madness and chaos, and I’m reminded of how he’d been before we’d met, those glimpses into his mind. He’d been so happy to be free of the rage polluting his brain. It makes me sad that he’s letting himself sink into it again, and I want to help him.
I told you not to eat him. So not kissing you now, I tell him dreamily. Unless we find a dragon-sized vat of mouthwash.
Claudia. My mate. Kael’s mental voice is full of anguish. As I gaze up through the haze of my swimming vision, my big dragon wheels about, and his enormous head comes into view just over me. I feel the hot whuff of his breath against my neck. You will get up now, my Claudia. I command it.
Getting up is probably a good idea. I nod and try to sit up, but my limbs aren’t working. Oh, this might take a minute.
“Claudia?” Amy’s sobbing intrudes on my blurry thoughts, and I feel her cold fingers grip mine. Strange that my sister’s freezing in this weather. Or maybe it’s me that’s cold. It’s so hard to tell. “Oh my god, Claudia!”
“It’s okay,” I murmur to Amy, and then repeat it to Kael mentally. It’s going to be okay. You need to get Amy out of here before someone else comes up—