“Koal?” she yelled, her stomach churning. What if another dragon had caught her scent? The last one tried to capture and sell her.
A creature screamed.
She jumped, clutching the pack’s straps, her heart battering like it wanted out.
The air shifted, rippling in the shadows like an entity?—
Her own scream tore free. “Koal!”
Chapter
Thirteen
Terror rippedthrough her as a tall form took shape in the gloom.
“No!”Ash stumbled, landing hard on her backside, the snaps and crackles growing louder. She scrambled backward until her shoulders hit bark, her breath hitching, lungs refusing to work.
“It’s me.” Race was suddenly there, crouched beside her, his eyes blazing red as they swept the trees. “Are you all right? What happened? Where the hell is Koal?”
“I thought, I thought…” she could barely get a word out.
“There are no strange dragons here.” Cold fury bled off him as he gently brushed her hair from her damp cheek. “Conceal your powers, Ash.”
“What?”
He nodded to her clenched fists.
Oh, shit.The snapping and crackling was coming fromher.
Lightning licked at her skin, and it stung. She swallowed hard and mentally forced the power deep within her until it ebbed. “I’m okay.”
Race surged to his feet. “I’m going to fucking kill him?—”
Twigs snapped nearby.
“Ash, it’s me!” Koal burst through the underbrush, mud-splattered and panting, a huge six-legged hare—nearly the size of a Labrador—dangling limp from his hand.
Race was on him in an instant, hauling him forward by the shirtfront. “You left her alone?”
“Race, stop!” Ash scrambled to her feet. “It’s not his fault. I just—after what happened—I panicked.”
Koal hastily lowered his head. “I was close, sire. I heard her and knew she wasn’t in danger, but I was mid-hunt…” He lifted the dead animal, his gaze still downcast. “I returned immediately.”
“Not in danger?”
“Race.” Ash grabbed his arm. “Please, it’s my fault?—”
“It only takes a heartbeat for anything to change.” His glare pinned Koal with murderous promise. “I should paint the forest with your blood for causing her distress.”
Koal exhaled slowly. “Aye, I understand. But I couldn’t stay. She needed privacy.”
Power pulsed off Race, singeing the cold air with the acrid odor of burning ozone. Smoke curled from his nose. “Then don’t fucking volunteer.”
“Race, stop, please.” Ash pushed at his chest, trying to move him. She didn’t understand his rage. Heseemed beyond reason. “Let him go.”
He spun to her, hauled her against him so fast that the breath punched from her lungs—then the world folded in on itself.
They reformed inside the cave, near the pit. Race released her and raked a clawed hand over his face, scales popping along his jaw, rasping against his palm. Then he turned and strode for the exit.
