The blood-red glow of the comet pierces through the sunlight.
Zaeyr roars, and it sounds like all the thunder in the world booming at once. It shoots straight to my soul. My body floods with heat; my sex gushes. Fear and want rip through me.
I snatch my bag off the ground and turn away.
“Aida!” Both Leith and Zaeyr yell as I flee.
14
The Chase
I don’t knowhow long I’ve been running, but I don’t stop. I only hope the river is close. When the clouds dissipate, the land turns red and gold. The beach becomes rocks, and I’m forced into the jungle. Energized by adrenaline, I keep going, rushing by lounging crocodiles and through barely-formed spiderwebs.
Every time I consider stopping, I hear feet pounding behind me, the sounds of panting and snarling.
Zaeyr is close.Nerves zinging, I’m the prey.
My heart races, my body strains, and I surge forward, and though part of me wants to be caught byhim, the hurt inside me prevents me from stopping.
“Aida!” he shouts my name again and again like a beast. It doesn’t sound human.
Sweat pours down my flesh.
And then the jungle river emerges. The brackish estuary appears. Like a beacon, my pace grows faster, seeing my goal.
If I can just get across it I can lose him. Lose him and think.
Shell Rock is only several hard hours past the river mouth.
As I get closer, so does Zaeyr. Keeping my eyes trained on the water, I see Elae and Jye waiting in the river ahead. I don’t have time to question and throw my spear to the side, diving in, ignoring the bestial growl right behind me; the faint touch of fingers slipping through my hair.
The mermaids grab me and, to my excitement, swim me across the large gape. I’m at the other side within minutes reaching for the shore. But they don’t let me go.
“Thank you,” I say, trying to pull away. Their hold on me tightens. “What are you doing?”
“We need the dragon,” Jye hisses.
“Why?”
“To pay for his crimes.”
Crimes?
Hearing a splash behind us, I twist to see Zaeyr closing the distance.He’s fast. So fast in the water.My mouth falls.
Makes sense.His tail lashes behind him like a propeller.
Elae drops her hold on me and lifts a three-pronged weapon, aiming it in Zaeyr’s direction. He stops when he sees it, though his gaze goes straight for me.
His piercingly light eyes are filled with hunger. A haunting, raw, feverish look that pins me to the spot. His usually pale skin is pink with exertion, blue veins pop from his skin, and everything above water is stiff; his horns are straighter than usual.
I sense his savagery as fresh heat jolts between us.
He surges forward despite the weapon, and Elae screams, “Halt dragon! We will give her to you unharmed if you behave!”
“No,” I stammer, pulling back. Jye holds me firm.
Zaeyr pauses as the prongs of Elae’s triton stab at his chest. My heart stops.
