Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
“Huntley, didn’t you say there were three dragons?” Ever since I’d been there, I’d only seen two. The third never revealed himself.
“Yes.”
“Have you seen him?”
Huntley peered to the caverns, as if the third dragon would appear.
Pyre raised his snout and exchanged a look with the blue dragon, a silent conversation passing between them.
“Something happened to him…” Maybe I could speak dragon, because I felt as if I understood the exchange between them.
Pyre turned to stare at the cavern for a long time, and he slowly turned back to me, the sadness in his eyes.
Huntley seemed to understand too. “He didn’t make it.”
I bowed my head and shut my eyes, because the guilt that overcame me was too intense to keep up appearances. If I’d been able to heal them when I’d arrived here the first time, the outcome could have been different. “I took too long.”
“Don’t do that.”
“If I’d been here sooner—”
“If I’d trusted you like I should have, we could have gone to Delacroix first and saved time. If you want someone to blame this on, blame me. Not that I feel responsible, because the person responsible is the asshole who put him here in the first place.”
The blue dragon lowered himself to his belly against the dirt just the way Pyre had and wiggled one of the stumps of his former wing. He issued a whine as Pyre had, eager for me to get to work.
Huntley stared at me. “You couldn’t save him, but you can still save these two. That’s what matters.”
I felt the moisture in my eyes, felt the hot tears that were only growing in size. “Yeah…I guess.”
Pyre bowed his head again and gave me a gentle nudge.
I suddenly felt a layer of affection move on top of me. Warm air. White shores. A cloudless sunset. I felt the wind in my hair, felt like a bird in the clouds. It was peaceful. Easy. “Thank you.”
I turned back to the other dragon. “I should give you a name. How about…Storm? Your scales remind me of the ocean at its deepest.”
That seemed to be agreeable to him, because he lowered his snout onto the ground so I could climb up.
“Well, I’ve got work to do.” I turned to Huntley. “I guess I’ll see you later.”
“I’ll bring you some lunch.” His hand moved to my ass and gave it a squeeze.
I smacked his hand away. “Did you just squeeze my ass?”
Both dragons moved in, their snouts pressing close.
He wasn’t the least bit apologetic. “And I’ll do it again.” He gave my ass a hard smack before he walked away.
Huntley had cooked dinner in the daylight, so it was cold when we ate. But it was filling and good, along with the potatoes he sautéed. He’d harvested more fruit from the jungle, and there was an assortment on my plate, acting as a small dessert.
He sat beside me, his back against the tree, his arms on his knees. “How’d it go with Storm?”
“He’s a lot more impatient than Pyre. Kept snapping his jaws at me.”
He gave a quiet chuckle. “He seems bossy.”
“Bossy is the perfect word. Pyre is a sweetheart.”
“I have a feeling I’ll be more compatible with Storm than Pyre.”
“Or less compatible—since you’re similar.”
He looked at me. “We’re the same, and we get along just fine.”
“We are so not the same. You’re stubborn and angry…”
“And you aren’t, baby?” He wore a slight grin, like this was all amusing.
“No.”
He looked forward again. “Sure. Whatever you say.”
“I’m not.”
“Okay.”
I smacked his arm. “I said I’m not.”
“You just smacked me, but yeah, you aren’t angry.”
I released a loud growl similar to Pyre’s and told myself to let it go.
The silence passed for a while, neither one of us saying anything.
“I still can’t believe Pyre has wings.”
“When he can fly in the daylight, it’ll feel real.”
“How are we going to get them back to HeartHolme?”
“That’s your job.”
“Mine?” I asked.
“Pyre likes you, so that should be easy.”
“Well, Storm is still pissy with me because I didn’t fix him first.”
“He better change his attitude. If it weren’t for you, he’d never fly again. They may be dragons, but never forget they’re forever in your debt.”
“I didn’t do it so they would owe me. I did it because it was the right thing to do.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“I’ll try to talk to them about it. But now that they have their wings again, I imagine they won’t want to fight for strangers.”
“Where else are they going to go?” he asked. “They can’t go back to where they came from. Remember how they got here in the first place.”
How could I forget?
“So, they need a new home anyway.”
“I guess that’s true.”
My back was sore from sitting upright on the dragon all day long, and the rest of my body was exhausted from focusing so hard throughout the day. I wanted to get into the bedroll and pass out, but Huntley and I hardly spent any time together. If we were back at home, we’d at least be doing it all night long, but it wasn’t as enjoyable on the hard ground. Most of the time, we did it up against a tree or on my knees, but it wasn’t the same as having a nice mattress beneath our bodies. “I’m excited to go home soon.”