Page 39 of Dragon’s Rebel

“Don’t be stupid. If I didn’t have faith in him—and you—I wouldn’t have agreed to do this in the first place.”

Thorne gave a fiery huff, but he dipped his head in acknowledgement. It’s as good a place as any.

He sat up on his hind legs, towering above her, and reached one giant clawed forepaw down. Rebel climbed into it, settling into the hollow of his palm.

He cupped the other hand around her. Rebel heard the leathery rustle of his wings, and then he jumped off the roof.

She rose to her knees, resting her hands on one of his giant talons, drinking in the sight. If this was the last time she would fly with him, she wanted to remember it all.

The voice came quietly into her mind. Not Thorne’s, but the dragon’s.

She answered him silently. Are you—are you talking to me?

Thorne can’t hear us?

The serum? You want to take it? It could kill you.

The dragon sounded confident.

Rebel tried to be gentle. But it could happen.

the dragon insisted.

Rebel didn’t know about that, but she wasn’t going to argue with someone who was possibly about to sacrifice himself.

He’ll only be half a person with you gone, she said.

The voice faded away, and Rebel sensed Thorne’s presence again, the churn of his emotions. She hoped he could feel her too, so he wouldn’t feel alone.

She leaned back in the palm of his giant dragon hand, stroking his huge talon. He seemed to like it when she stroked his skin. It’ll be okay, she said silently.

He didn’t answer, but she could feel his emotions settling down, and she rested her cheek against his hide, trying not to cry.

They flew in and landed on the roof of Rebel’s rental house, Thorne using his dragon cloaking ability to make sure they weren’t noticed by the neighbors.

Rebel climbed out of Thorne’s hand and looked down into the backyard. It was a wreck—Thorne had knocked limbs off the trees and ripped up the shrubbery the last time he was here.

“Well, at least we can’t trash the backyard much more than it already is,” she said.

I’ll pay to have it fixed, Thorne told her.

“Damn right you will, Lizard.” Rebel walked down onto the roof of the back porch and swung herself over the edge, holding onto the gutter. She dropped the last few feet. “You coming?”

In a minute. I’m setting a dampening field so the neighbors won’t hear or see anything.

In case his dragon got noisy, or thrashed around. There went the rest of the trees.

He closed his eyes for a minute, as if concentrating, and then opened them. I’m coming down now.

Rebel backed up onto the porch and Thorne hopped down into the backyard, turning so he was facing her. Luckily the backyard was fenced for privacy, but there wasn’t a lot of room. Thorne was bigger than a good-sized RV, not including his tail.