Page 48 of Henrikk’s Secret

The dragon stopped abruptly, the surge of momentum creating waves that lifted Asher’s raft and nearly overturned it. The vampire barely managed to stay on.

Sharp pain shot through Henrikk’s right shoulder as two talons plucked him up and held him suspended in the air.

His legs and arms dangled as he stared into glowing red eyes.

What about my wings? Dargotika seethed.

“I pity you for them,” Henrikk said, summoning disdain. “To have never flown nor seen the world from above.”

I did fly, the dragon corrected sharply, her tone like the lash of a whip.

Henrikk lifted his chin. “Did you?” he asked carelessly. “I’m sure your wings were amazing.”

They were magnificent.

“Once, perhaps. But certainly not anymore.”

Angry smoke rose from the dragon’s nostrils.

“Henrikk!” Asher shouted in warning as her dark throat glowed gold.

Henrikk squeezed his eyes shut, but the dragon did not spit fire on him. She swallowed the embers back down her throat amidst thick clouds of smoke.

She glanced up at the skies resentfully, and Henrikk knew the temptation to fly again was hard to resist.

You have no witch, Dargotika finally said in a sullen tone. No idea where she is.

“But I will. I just need a little more time.”

No. No more ‘time’. I should kill you for your insolence. Perhaps that will loosen your Asher’s tongue.

“Go ahead,” Henrikk said calmly, trying but failing to catch a glimpse of Asher over his shoulder. If this was the end, he wanted to see him one last time. “He cares naught for me.”

Oh? I highly doubt that. The dragon eyed him calculatingly. But we shall see. Either he procures information about the witch, or you die screaming. Both outcomes will bring me satisfaction.

Before Henrikk was aware of what was happening, the dragon had unceremoniously dumped him back onto her head amidst the walls of spines. A few seconds later, Asher landed on top of him.

It was not romantic, and they both groaned as Asher clambered off him. Henrikk seized his arm, wanting to pull him into a fierce hug. Instead, he hissed, “You idiot. What the fuck were you thinking?”

Before Asher could respond, a rush of air pressed them down against the dragon’s head as she reared upwards, launching herself up into the sky.

For a suspended second, the dragon was upright, only her tail and hindquarters in the water, looking to the clouds, her tattered wings fluttering weakly.

Henrikk felt a twinge of genuine pity for the creature as she gave a desperate cry.

Then she began the slow fall back to earth. As her head lowered, Henrikk caught a brief glimpse of something that made his heart stop. There, on the horizon, he saw several undulations that were unmistakably a land mass.

He exchanged a wide-eyed look with Asher before the dragon’s stomach slammed down against the water, spraying them with thick droplets.

“Did you see that?” Asher asked in awe.

“Land,” Henrikk whispered. The general had been right. The dragon had been lying. There was far more to this world than the tiny island Henrikk had isolated himself and Asher on. And if Asher’s theory was right, there were probably people out there, too. Vampires, perhaps.

Before Asher could stop him, Henrikk fell into his arms and pressed a hard kiss against his lips.

It was not soft or sensual, but it conveyed all the fear and hope for Asher’s safety that had burnt through him. He broke off the kiss before Asher had a chance to kiss him back or push him away—Henrikk could not have survived the latter.

“I shouldn’t have called you an idiot,” Henrikk said by way of an apology. He kept his voice low, even though the dragon was swimming back towards the island, the rush of water masking their voices. “But what did you think you would find out there? Even if you had found civilization, Dargotika would have hunted you.”