No, she wasn’t.
Once he found Ash and returned to Earth, she would be Michael’s responsibility. Until then, she was his.
Race scanned the skies again, the early morning still concealed in darkness. She’d been trapped in this realm too long. If the she-dragons caught her scent?—
Dammit. Eyes shut, he sent his psychic senses out into Caelvyrn once more. The realm’s ancient magic whirled around him, blurred with chaos and pained energy. Wisps of it brushed against him, imploring?—
No.He growled low.Not fucking interested in Caelvyrn’s ghosts.
Just Ash.
Screams, like glass shattering, pierced the night.
Race’s head snapped up, his dragon surging beneath his skin.She-dragons!
They were hunting.
Fuck!He had to find Ash before they did.
Furious shrieks broke the quiet, and Ash reared up from the pile of cushions where she’d fallen into a restless sleep, her heart pumping as if it would escape her.
She scrambled to her feet and dashed to one of the pillars at the entrance, ducking behind it. Thank God no dragon could land on the small ledge. She peered outside. The sky remained relentlessly dark, with occasional glimpses of moonlight peeking through enormous clouds. But the acrid smell of sulfur made her stomach churn—even the heat seemed to have intensified.
Several dark shapes froze her in place, their scales flashing like jewels in the sporadic moonlight—sapphire blue, ruby red, and emerald. The she-dragons dove for one another, their snarls and bugling cries ripping across the city, vibrating through her bones.
Oh, shit.Ash stumbled backward, further into the darkness of the cave before they smelled her. Her spine hit the warm granite wall. As the three swooped closer to her hiding place, the heatwave they emitted stole the breath from her lungs.
Mother of all PMSing reptiles.She clapped her palm over her mouth, not daring to move, to breathe as they trumpeted again. Flames hit the pillars and streamed inside in a ferocious roar, licking frighteningly close.
No.She squeezed her eyes shut, heat searing her.Where the hell had Skaldr gone, leaving her in fucking danger?
So much for his bloody assurance she was safe as long as she stayed out of sight.
The she-dragons bugled and swooped closer again, wings beating furiously, sending more hot air into the cave, their cries echoing across the heat-drenched land.
Gasping, feeling as if she were burning from the inside out, Ash sank to the ground and slumped against the hot stone. The dusty cushions, silk wall drapes, carpet, hell, even her thermal top and parka had been reduced to cinders in the blast.
Another volley of flames, and she would be incinerated?—
A terrifying roar pierced the air, echoing off the cave walls. Ash froze, her heart thundering so hard against her ribs that it actually hurt.
The she-dragons surged off, banking hard toward the sound.
Ash’s gaze fixed on an enormous form blotting out the moonlight, wings wider than an airplane, its scales gleaming blacker than midnight as it soared closer.
Like death incarnate, and far more enormous than the jeweled ones, the black wheeled around the other three, its blast of flames washing over the smaller dragons in a fiery arc.
The sapphire dragon lit up like Guy Fawkes, and it roared, taking to the skies and disappearing into the distance. The emerald followed with a bellow. But the ruby one dove for the black?—
A thunderous roar erupted, flames enveloping the ruby. Shrieks of agony tore through the air as the she-dragon spiraled down into the sparking ebony river, streaks of red, revealing its molten core.
Christ.Ash pressed her fist to her hammering heart.
While she wanted to skewer Skaldr for bringing her here, she prayed he would come for her before that black dragon decided to burn down this mountain cave with her inside. Because Race obviously was a lost cause?—
A growl snapped her out of her wallowing. The gigantic obsidian dragon, dominating the dark sky, glided through the air, then turned and swooped toward her hiding spot.
Fuuuuck.Her lungs threatened to shut down as the creature’s head lowered to peer inside. Its eyes, the size ofsaucers, burned like banked hellfire and fixed on her with predatory intensity.
