Inside, she’s reading the old woman’s journals. I can smell the yellowed paper, hear the whisper of pages turning. Learning about us. About herself.
Go to her,the dragon demands.Explain. Protect. Claim.
If I go to her now, I’ll pin her against the nearest wall within seconds.My claws score the shingles.And I won’t be gentle. I won’t be careful. I’ll claim her with fire and teeth and she’ll burn.
The rogues make their move just before dawn. Three of them, young and stupid, drawn by the Fire-Bringer’s scent. They approach from the east, their shadows slinking through the pre-dawn mist.
I’m on them before they get within a hundred yards. Silent. Efficient. I leave them alive but broken, their wings shredded, their pride destroyed.
“Tell your masters,” I snarl at the one still conscious. “She’s under my protection. Anyone who touches her answers to me.”
He spits blood on my feet. “She’s a Fire-Bringer. Every dragon on the continent will come for her. You can’t protect her forever, Guardian King.”
“Watch me.”
I leave him crawling toward his broken companions and return to my perch. Inside, she’s still awake. Still clutching that bat. Still muttering curses at the universe.
She’s stronger than she knows.I fold my wings against my back.But strength won’t save her from what’s coming.
Nothing will.
Except maybe me.
The thought terrifies me more than any rogue army ever could. Because if I let myself protect her—truly protect her—I’ll have to be near her. And if I’m near her, the dragon will demand more than protection.
It will demand everything.
The sun breaks over the mountains. Golden light spills across the forest, catches on my scales. I should leave. Report to my brothers. Maintain distance.
I don’t move.
Inside, I hear her stand. Stretch. Start making coffee with determined clanks and muttered complaints.“Dragons. Grandma was writing about dragons. Completely normal. Everything is completely normal.”
I settle deeper into my crouch, watching the smoke curl from the chimney.
Ways I could overwhelm her: pin her against the wall. Cage her with my body. Mark her throat with my teeth. Burn my claim into her skin until she?—
I force the thoughts down. Lock them away. They don’t help.
She’s mine. Every cell in my body knows it.
Which is exactly why I can never let myself have her.
The morning light catches the smoke from her chimney, curling up through the cold air. She’s alive. Safe. For now.
Tomorrow, the rogues will regroup. Tomorrow, word will spread through the territory about the Fire-Bringer in the Guardian King’s domain. Tomorrow, everything changes.
But for now, I hold my position on the roof of her cabin, scales darkening to blend with the shadows, and I wait.
Guarding what I cannot claim.
Wanting what I cannot have.
TWO
SELENE
Morning light filters through the cabin windows, pale and watery. I’ve been awake for hours, watching the shadows retreat across the floor.
