Page 57 of Red Dragon’s Flame

Devon gathered her courage. “Okay,” she said.

At first it was crazy fun. Mikah egged her on, and they went all-out, belting out the words and doing the dance as well as they could with microphones in their hands.

The wolves loved it. They filled the dance floor and crowded the area in front of the stage, everyone doing their drunken version of the dance. Devon almost couldn’t sing, she was laughing so hard.

And then it all went wrong. A group of wolves jumped onto the stage to dance there, jostling Devon around. Mikah tried to grab her and pull her away, but the wolves got between them.

Devon could feel panic rising up in her, and the dangerous fire that always came with it. Not here, she begged the phoenix. Not now.

At least she was wearing the amulet that would keep the fire contained, so it didn’t burn anyone or anything.

But she hated this—she hated the people crowding her and that she couldn’t get to Mikah.

More wolves jumped on the stage, and Devon got pushed toward the edge. Somebody tripped and fell into her—and she was off the stage and into the crowd.

She started to struggle, full-blown panic taking her over. “Get me out of here,” she was yelling, amidst the gyrating bodies. “Get me OUT!”

Some of the wolves grabbed her and tried to lift her above the crowd, but they were too drunk and she started to fall. The fire filled her skin, with no way out because of the amulet. Devon felt herself overheating, getting more and more scared. Mikah fought his way towards her, but the crowd was packed and he didn’t want to hurt anyone.

And then someone’s hand caught on the chain of her amulet. He jerked away, and the amulet fell to the ground.

Flames rose up in her, licking across her skin, fighting to break free. Devon screamed Mikah’s name.

The wolves panicked and dropped her, howling, and the crowd shrieked and fell over each other trying to get away.

Mikah raised his hand and slammed a shield around her just in time. She dropped to the floor and a pillar of flame burst through the top of the shield, all the way to the ceiling. One of the huge support beams caught on fire.

She saw Mikah freeze, irresolute, wanting to come to her but needing to make sure the fire didn’t spread.

Devon made the choice for him.

Still burning behind the shield, she ran to the door, scattering wolves before her, and escaped out into the night.

Chapter 26

Mikah cursed in all the languages he knew. He wanted to go after Devon—can’t-even-breathe needed to—but he was the only dragon in the room, and the fucking support beams were on fire.

He smothered the fire with a spell, and then had to do a restoration spell to shore it up. The second it was done he scooped up Devon’s amulet from the floor and stormed through the crowd, letting the wolf healers deal with anyone who might be hurt.

The idiot wolves needed a few burns, and a good smacking around, but he didn’t have time for that. He slammed through the door and down the porch steps, looking for Devon and sniffing the air for flames.

She was nowhere to be seen.

Damn it. Why hadn’t she waited for him? The bar was on the edge of the village, with forest all around. She could be anywhere—but he’d bet half his hoard that the one place she hadn’t gone was back to the castle.

She was like a wild animal—always skittering away just when he thought they’d made a real connection.

What was he going to have to do to get her to trust him? He’d saved her life. Brought her somewhere safe. Given her his heart, for fuck’s sake. What else could he do?

his dragon grumbled.

Not helping.

Deep down inside, he admitted it—he didn’t just want her trust, he wanted her to love him. And not because she had nowhere else to go. He wanted her to choose him.

He tracked her into the woods, following the faint scent of burning and the barely visible trail of scorched leaves.

She was huddled in a small clearing by a pond, as if she’d instinctively headed for water. She looked up at him, her eyes gleaming electric blue in the darkness. “I should have known you’d find me,” she said furiously. “It’s like having a stalker.”