Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
It’s like he knows something I don’t.
I go cold. What’s going on?
I do not know. I cannot tell what he is thinking.
I lift my gun and study Azar down the barrel. He doesn’t look scared. He looks…smug. All the while, that stupid clock keeps tick tick ticking away.
Clock. Clock. There’s something about it that bothers me, just like his smile. I’m not sure what…
Wait. Where the hell did he get a clock? Why does he need one? “Where’s your clock?” I ask.
He chuckles and flips another page in his magazine. “Oh, there’s no clock.”
“Then what’s ticking?”
He arches an eyebrow at me. “Can’t you guess? If you’ve come to say hello, the least I can do is bring a housewarming present.”
Oh my god. It’s not a clock. It’s a bomb. This crazy bastard’s going to blow us all up.
We leave, Zohr sends through my mind, his thoughts cutting like a hot knife. We leave now.
Azar starts to laugh, a weird, inhuman little giggle that makes my skin crawl.
I start to lower my gun…
Fuck that. I came here to do something and I’m going to do it. I raise it back up again and put my finger on the trigger, shooting. Red splashes across his chest, and his eyes widen in surprise. He clutches at his blood-spattered robes in shock, as if astonished that I dared to shoot him.
“Now we leave,” I whisper to my dragon, lowering my gun. I take one last look at Azar, who’s still clutching his bloody chest in shock. The ticking seems to grow louder and louder in my head.
Zohr grabs me around the waist and hauls me against him, racing back out of the doors of the dining room. I hear what sounds like a crash behind us—probably Azar falling to the floor—but we don’t stop. I can feel the urgency in Zohr’s mind as he races back outside. Through the lobby and out into the open air, and still he does not stop.
All the while, I keep thinking of that ticking. How much time do we have—
Something explodes.
I’m knocked forward to the ground, and the air leaves my lungs. My head bangs against the concrete of the pavement. A heavy form falls over me, and I realize dimly that it’s my dragon—Zohr’s changed back to battle-form, and his body shields me from the explosion. My ears ring and the world thunders all around us.
What—
Are you safe? His thoughts are a shout in my mind.
My face feels like it’s been flattened, and I’m coughing, trying desperately to pull air back into my lungs, but I’m alive. I’m okay, I tell him faintly, though I’m barely clinging to consciousness. My head’s thundering and I want nothing more than to fall asleep. What…about you?
It is fire. It cannot harm me. His thoughts are full of relief and affection. One big foreleg scoops me up gently, and he cradles me tight against his scales. Keep your head low. I will carry you away.
Azar? I ask.
He would not be able to survive such a blast in two-legged form.
Good. It’s the last thought I have before I fall unconscious.
40
EMMA
I rouse to the gentle nuzzle of an enormous nose against my chin.
My mate. Wake, my Emma. We are safe.
I open my eyes even though they feel heavy and all I want to do is sleep for a bit longer. My head throbs with a dull pain, and I feel as if I’ve been beaten all over. The scent in my nose is nothing but char, and I’m pretty sure my ears are going to be ringing for days.
But there’s a beautiful sight when my eyes focus—a big, golden dragon head peering down at me. I reach up and stroke his nose, not entirely surprised to see my arm covered in scrapes and soot. Hey, babe. Are you okay?
I am fine. He rubs his nose against my chin. You, however, need to rest.
I can’t believe the fucker brought a bomb. Who does that? I still can’t get over it. He was willing to kill us along with him. I’m just…shocked.
Zohr is less so. His kind do not accept defeat well. He realized we were coming after him and thought to destroy us. Luckily for him we are not as arrogant as he is and we did not wait for him to act.
No kidding. I feel lucky to be alive, and when I sit up, I wrap my arms around Zohr’s big golden muzzle. Thank you for saving me.
Do not thank me. You are my mate. I would never let you get hurt. To do so would mean my death, as well, because I will not live without you.
To hear him say that with such fervent thought makes me a little scared…but at the same time, I know just what he means. I’d be lost without him, as well. I can’t imagine having to go on without my dragon. In such a short period of time, he’s come to mean everything to me. “Let’s not do that again, okay?”