VALEN
Fuck…FUCK!
I shake her and pat her cheeks, but her eyes stay closed and her heads lolls limply against my arm.
A mixture of fear and fury fills me. It’s just like in the vision that fucking Door of Uncertainty showed me! Is she dead, like she was in the vision, or just sleeping?
I don’t have time to find out because a moment later I hear a voice shout,
“Who goes there? What’s going on in here? By order of Sir Horace, show yourself!”
Fuck—there’s no time. I can hear the sound of boots echoing on the flagstones and I know I’ve got to get Irena out of here before it’s too late. Luckily, the back door to this fucking dungeon is still open—I made sure to leave it swinging wide when I came in.
I scoop her into my arms and run for it, bare feet slapping on the flags as I cradle her to my chest, praying she’s all right.
We get through the door and out into the night and I’m racing down the grassy hill with my princess in my arms. I hear shouting behind me and the sound of a bowstring singing. An arrow flies past my ear, barely missing me. Another flies over my head.
Fuck—I need to get out of here! If I was alone, I’d shift and fly away, but Irena’s in no shape to ride on my Drake’s back.
Let’s Shift anyway, I hear him urging me. I can carry her in my claws!
You’d hurt her, I object.
Never! I can be careful. We have no choice! he sends, as another arrow flies so close it grazes my bare shoulder, leaving a line of fire behind as warm blood drips down my arm.
He’s right, I realize—we have no choice. But it’s going to have to be fast—the fastest Shift I’ve ever done in my life.
I am ready, my Drake urges me. Let me out!
Wait until we have some cover!
I duck into a copse of trees—the same one where I first drank from her…and where I let her go. I lay her safely down, trying not to see the way her head rolls on her neck, and get to a safe distance.
Then, just as the guards burst into the small clearing, I Shift.
82
VALEN
My Drake bursts out of me and is already breathing fire by the time he emerges.
The guards back up in a hurry, their eyes wide as the gout of white-hot flame shoots over their heads.
“MINE!” the Drake roars, his deep voice bellowing into the night sky. “SHE IS MINE!”
“Shit!” I hear one mutter as they begin to back away. “It’s a fucking dragon—a real fucking dragon!”
That’s right—most of them haven’t seen one of my kind before. Not in Shifted form, anyway. Now—when faced with the reality of a twenty-ton beast—they stare at my Drake in horror.
Horror turns to terror when he breaths flames again—this time much closer to their heads. Several get sparks in their hair and have to beat them out.
“Run! The Princess is lost—run!” one shouts.
And the lot of them turn and rush away—as though they could outrun my Drake’s fire if he decided to burn them.
Luckily for them, we’re both more concerned with Irena. Gently…so gently…my Drake scoops her up in one enormous foreclaw.
Be careful! I tell him and I can feel him promising he will.
