Page 82 of Red Dragon’s Heart

“Yes… worth it. Love… you.”

“But I can’t help you,” he said frantically. “I can’t heal you. Even if I had my dragon powers.”

In her mind, she heard a harsh voice. There is one way.

It was the monster. She could hear the monster in Zak’s mind. Cool. It said, Mate. The bond heals.

What? Zak said to it. No. No way.

Yessss. Mate.

I can’t do that to her. It’ll kill her.

The monster could heal her? Zak seemed to hear the thought in her head. Only if it turns you into a monster too. She saw an image of the monster biting her.

She was too tired to talk. In her mind she said, We’re already part of each other. I love you, your dragon, the monster… all the parts of you. And I don’t want to die.

You might anyway.

But this is a chance. I love you, Zak monster. Bite me.

The monster rose up; she could feel it, even though part of Zak was still fighting it. She felt him ripple and Change again, felt his breath hot on her neck, his teeth sinking in, right on the big muscle between her neck and her shoulder.

She’d thought she was beyond feeling any more pain, but she wasn’t. He bit deep, deep, and as he did she felt what the monster felt.

It was angry because it didn’t belong here. It had been called here from some other place, and just being here was painful for it. It was angry, and alone, and hated everyone.

Kind of like Zak. Only he belonged—he just didn’t know it.

Maddie didn’t fight—she gave herself to the monster. She remembered its teeth on her arm in the cell, its sadness and despair, the way her music soothed it. She could hear its thoughts; she was the first person who’d been nice to it, and she’d touched its heart. She sang to it, in her mind, and embraced it.

She felt a calling, piercing through her soul to… somewhere else. And something was coming through that gap, ripping her apart from the inside out, growing inside her.

Anger. Ferocity. Pain. Protectiveness. Love.

Blue light sparkled around her and Zak-monster both. And she heard him growl, Mate.

Dimly, she could hear more shouting in the room, excited this time. Something about the monster’s ability to Turn a human.

And then she felt her whole body wrenching, tearing. Her bones broke with terrifying cracking noises, her skin and muscles stretched and ripped and repaired themselves.

Something burst out of her skin, and she was on all fours, covered in scales, with wicked claws and big sharp teeth.

And right in front of her were enemies.

Kill them! She roared, and surged forward.

She heard Don’t! just as she struck the force field. She was thrown back, every nerve ending burning.

Zak’s monster stood over her, nosing her.

Well, that sucked, she said.

I tried to tell you.

Now what do we do? We’re both captives.

She felt a humming vibration around her neck. She was still wearing Zak’s necklace, she realized. And it was getting pissed off.