by Rinelle Grey
She felt the rush of wind as he passed over her head, his wings almost touching her. At the same time, she felt a wave of love and affection wash over her.
Love?
Had she really felt that?
Lisa was so shocked, it took her a moment to focus on the job she had to do.
The Trima dragon’s screech of anger reminded her. He was coming straight for her, his dark shape barrelling towards her position. His eyes locked on her.
He’d seen her.
Lisa’s heart gave a leap, then ratcheted up into a painfully high position. She fumbled with the torch in her hand, almost forgetting how to turn it on in her panic.
The light came on, blindingly bright on the lightning dragon’s silver scales. Even the reflection off his scales made her squint painfully. Lisa swung it around, trying to aim it into his eyes.
He was too close. Closer even than Verrian had been.
He was going to hit her. Crash into her on the sand.
Her heart thumping, it took every ounce of willpower she had not to drop it and run. Lisa forced herself to swing the torch around wildly until she saw it reflect off his slitted silver eyes, then she threw it to one side and threw herself to the other, desperately trying to avoid the dragon bearing down on her.
She hit the sand hard, winded, not game to move.
Had it worked? Had the light blinded the dragon?
She heard his roar of frustration, and her heart lifted. She started to roll over, to try to judge his position, when she felt it.
Claws, sharp as razors, raking down her side. Pain sliced through her, and Lisa heard a scream escape her lips, although it sounded eerily distant.
Then everything faded away.
*****
Verrian’s wings beat strongly, trying to get as much distance between him and the Trima dragon as he could. He needed that distance to use his sound boom. Hopefully Lisa’s gutsy move would buy him that.
He felt strong and confident as he swung around, his eyes searching for the shape of the lightning dragon. Together, he and Lisa could do anything, he was sure of it.
But the scene didn’t look right. The torch light shone up at the sky at a wild angle. And he couldn’t see the Trima dragon anywhere. He struggled to make out the scene.
Then he saw a shadow pass through the light of the torch. The Trima dragon circled around something on the ground.
A small, dark patch that wasn’t moving.
Verrian’s heart skipped a beat. In that moment, everything came crashing down around him.
Lisa.
Verrian gasped for air as though the other dragon had barrelled into him and knocked it all out. Every breath he took caught painfully in his throat. He wanted to land on the sand next to her, and scream at the moon.
But he couldn’t. The other dragon was still there.
The dragon that had done this. That had injured his mate. A rush of adrenaline flooded Verrian, overwhelming all the panic and fear. He roared in anger, not caring now if anyone, dragon or human, heard him.
His nostrils flared, and for a moment, he wondered if he’d developed the ability to breathe fire, he felt so hot.
Verrian didn’t even bother with his sound boom. He flew straight at the lightning dragon, barrelling into him, letting his weight crash them both into the sand. He raked his claws across any body part he could reach, and sank his teeth into the nearest patch of scales that weren’t his own.
The Trima dragon struggled under his onslaught, but not to attack back. Every flap of his wings or heave of his feet was an attempt to get away.
Another surge of adrenaline rushed through Verrian. He was winning.
But Verrian had no intention of letting him regroup and come back. He needed to finish this, so he could get to his mate.
Was she hurt? Would she be okay? The fear bubbled to the surface again.
“Lisa?”
There was no answer. Verrian’s heart skipped a beat.
Was she dead?
No, if she were dead, he’d know it. The mate bond would tell him.
He’d be dead himself.
She was still alive. But for how long?
Verrian roared again, and sunk his teeth into the Trima dragon, tasting the sharp tang of blood. He attacked over and over again, until the other dragon was no longer moving, no longer struggling to get away.
Only then did he pull back a little, but the other dragon didn’t move.
Verrian had beaten him.
This time, he felt no adrenaline. No excitement at having won.
All he felt was an overwhelming feeling of dread, no longer masked by anger. His heart was too filled with fear for his mate to take any pleasure in victory.
He leapt off the Trima dragon, leaving him lying in the sand while he crossed to Lisa.
Her frail, human body lay on her side in the sand, not moving. Blood glistening on her clothes in the moonlight.
Verrian’s breath caught in his throat, and for a second he thought he wasn’t going to be able to take another.
Lisa, his Lisa, was hurt. Wounded.
Barely breathing, he put a dragon paw on her side as gently as he could. She didn’t move. Didn’t even moan.
He could feel her heart beating, proving what he already knew. She was alive, but for how long? Humans weren’t as tough as dragons. If they lost too much blood, they died pretty quickly. The fact that Lisa was already unconscious wasn’t a good sign.
He needed to do something. Save her. But how?
She wasn’t a dragon. He couldn’t ease her into the Mesmer sleep. Human’s didn’t heal like that.
They went to their places called hospitals, where other humans helped to heal them.
Verrian scanned the sand, but Bruce and Narrian were long gone. There was only him. He’d have to go into the human settlement to find a hospital.
He knew it was a bad idea. The humans were already looking for Lisa, and he’d be taking her right where they could find her.
But he didn’t know what else to do.
Blood rushed in his ears, and he felt weak and shaky from the withdrawal of adrenaline. The darkness seemed to close in around him, but all he could see was Lisa, lying lifeless on the sand. He couldn’t lose his lifemate. Not when he hadn’t even had a chance to tell her he loved her.
Why, oh why hadn’t he taken Taurian’s advice and just told her?
Verrian picked up her body as gently as he could in dragon form.
He wouldn’t let Lisa die, no matter what it cost him. The humans could do whatever they liked to him, so long as they helped Lisa. They’d do that, wouldn’t they? She was one of their own, even if she was mated to a dragon.
Hopefully he could find a hospital when he got there. Probably all he had to do was land in dragon form, and then the humans would be rushing him. Someone would get Lisa to a hospital when they saw how injured she was.
Wouldn’t they?
Chapter 58
Verrian rose into the air awkwardly with Lisa cradled in his front legs, staring around trying to orientate himself. When he saw the human settlement, his heart sank. They’d come further than he’d realised. It would take nearly an hour to reach.
Lisa wouldn’t survive that long. When he’d moved her, the bleeding had intensified, but she still hadn’t stirred or made a sound. She was a dead weight in his arms. And he was sure her heartbeat was getting weaker.
It was too far. He wouldn’t make it in time. There was nothing he could do.
His heart sank like a stone, and it seemed like a struggle to keep his wings beating. What was the point if Lisa wasn’t going to make it anyway?
If she died, so would he. The mating bond made that a certainty. And right now, Verrian welcomed it. He had no wish to live if Lisa didn’t. The world would be grey and lifeless without her in it. He stared down at her, tears blinding him at the thought.
Then he shook his head. She wasn’t dead yet, and he wouldn’t give up until she was.
But what could he do? He stared around desperately, as though he could somehow will a hospital to appear in the middle of the bare and deserted outback.
Not a hospital, but his eyes fell on a mountain, looming all in the moonlight. Ultrima’s lair. His heart skipped a beat.
It was much closer than the human settlement. Less than twenty minutes flight.
But what help could he find there?
Yes, if Lisa’s plan had worked, there would be humans there now. Lots of them. But they were there to accost Ultrima, not heal anyone. Ultrima would be the one needing help. Then again, he had a life dragon, or so Lisa had told him.
Verrian’s heart skipped a beat at that knowledge.
Ultrima had a life dragon.
A life dragon had healing powers far above any other dragon. They could even heal humans.
Was there any way he could convince them to heal Lisa?
His heart beat a thousand times a minute as he considered that thought. The idea was absurd. Ultrima was his enemy. He’d attacked Verrian and all his clan. Why would he help Verrian’s mate?
But Verrian couldn’t help remembering that Ultrima hadn’t killed him, even though he could have.
He’d also made that strange deal with Taurian to leave his clan alone as long as Taurian mated Karla, the human he loved.
Verrian hung in the air, his wings beating slowly, indecision freezing him. The urgency to do something, anything, right now, made it hard to think. Did this crazy plan have any chance of success?
Did he have any other options? If this failed, Lisa was dead, and so was he. It wasn’t like the plan was any riskier than that.
Besides, the Trima clan may be his enemies, but they were also, in a strange way, his family. Or they had been.
His mind made up, Verrian turned towards the mountain, and began to fly as fast as he could trying not to jolt Lisa too much.
The flight was long enough that Verrian was regretting it before he arrived. Why did he think Ultrima would help him? Especially not right now when he had other problems on his mind.
Problems Lisa had caused.
What if the humans had captured all the Trima dragons? Or killed them? Or they’d all fled?
But he still couldn’t think of any plan that had a better chance at success, so he flew on.
As he neared the mountain, he dropped lower, until he was just skimming over the tops of the trees. No point in being seen by the humans before he had a chance to find Ultrima or the life dragon.
Where were the humans? Verrian couldn’t see them anywhere. Had they not come? Lisa had wondered, when she heard nothing on the news.
The memory of Lisa, alive and well such a short time ago, made his heart ache. He could almost see her in front of him, that worried crease between her eyebrows, the need to help him and his clan. She was so perfect for him. He couldn’t bear it if he lost her.
This was all his fault. If he’d stayed at the lair and let someone else go on this mission, he and Lisa would probably be in bed by now. Maybe sleeping, maybe making love.
Maybe he would have even found the courage to tell her how he felt about her.
Verrian shook off the thought. It wasn’t helping him now. Right now, he needed to figure out how to keep his mate alive.
Ahead, he caught a pinprick of light from between the thick bush. Someone or something was there. But if he went any closer, he’d be seen. His dragon form would be impossible to miss. He needed to get past the humans, to Ultrima.
Verrian was past the point of caring if there was more risk to him in human form. He didn’t care what happened to him, just so long as someone helped Lisa.
Finding a clearing in the trees, Verrian transformed back to human form. He felt a moment’s regret that he was naked. If the humans saw him, they’d guess immediately what he was. But he’d worry about that if it happened.
Still carrying Lisa, he made his way as close to the light he’d seen earlier as he could.
“My people have no grievance with yours.” Ultrima’s voice rang out through the trees. “If you leave us alone, we will leave you alone.”
Verrian peered through the leaves, trying to get a glimpse of the situation, his heart sinking. He needed to get Ultrima alone, away from the humans, but it looked like that might be impossible.
Ultrima stood in human form, on a large rock at the base of the mountain. Behind him stood many other human form lightning dragons. And… were those humans? With Ultrima?
This situation didn’t bode well for him and Lisa. He glanced down at his mate in his arms, and she moaned a little, tossing her head to and fro. Verrian couldn’t decide if that was an improvement to her previous lifelessness or not.
“Were you the one responsible for the… object… flying over our city earlier today?” The human in a dark blue uniform held a red and white cone to his mouth that seemed to make him sound louder. Needed, since he kept a safe distance from Ultrima.
If any distance could be called safe from a dragon.
Bright lights shone from cars and human held torches all around. Verrian was pretty sure black objects the humans also held, pointed at Ultrima, were human guns.
Could Ultrima survive a gunshot? Verrian was pretty sure he couldn’t.
For the first time, he regretted Lisa’s plan to send the humans here. If they killed his enemy, then who would he find to save his mate? His hands clenched into fists.
Ultrima laughed. “Yes,” he admitted. “I flew over your city today. But as you can attest to, I didn’t hurt anyone. Not any humans anyway.”
Ultrima glanced towards the trees, his eyes picking out the exact spot where Verrian was hiding. It was as though the lightning dragon knew he was there.
Verrian gave a shiver. If Ultrima outed him…
What was he talking about? He was here for help.
He glanced down at Lisa, at her pale face, and his heartbeat sped up. What was he waiting for? Maybe now was the best time. If Ultrima tried to attack him in front of the humans, surely they would shoot him?
He couldn’t stand around here waiting, he needed to get help for her. Now.
Without letting himself second guess his plan, he stepped out of the trees and walked towards Ultrima, holding Lisa in his arms.
Ultrima saw him immediately, his lips twisting into a sneering smile.
The humans took a while longer. But Ultrima’s focus drew their attention, and one of their torches shifted to Verrian. Then another.
He was pretty sure he made an interesting picture. Not only was he naked, but his human skin was bleeding in more than a few places where the Trima dragon had scratched him. The wounds weren’t serious, not like Lisa’s wounds, but they didn’t look good.
“Ultrima was after me,” he said out loud. “As a dragon, I was able to heal from the wounds he inflicted, but Lisa can’t.” He ignored the humans stopping in front of Ultrima. “If you wish the humans no harm, then tell your life dragon to heal her.”
Ultrima stared at him for a moment. “What’s in it for me?” He crossed his arms.
“You get a chance to prove your good will to the humans,” Verrian said immediately. He nodded his head at the humans standing behind him, all of whom were staring intently, not saying anything.
Ultrima considered Verrian. “Do you think I care about the human’s regard? Enough to help my enemy?”
Verrian swallowed.
He’d been stupid. If Ultrima was standing out here in front of the humans, he wasn’t afraid of their guns.
Ultrima wasn’t afraid of much.
Why had Verrian thought he might help him?
“There is something I want far more than the human’s regard,” Ultrima said, softly this time, loud enough for Verrian to hear. His eyes were sharp and piercing.
“My sister’s love is not mine to bargain with,” Verrian said flatly.
“Not even to save your lifemate?”
Verrian would do anything in his power to save Lisa, but this wasn’t his t
o give. He shook his head. “No one can force someone to love another, no matter how honourable the reason.”
“How about the reverse? Does anyone have the right to stop someone loving another?”
The humans had crept a little closer. Were they planning an attack, or just trying to listen in on what was clearly a private conversation?
“No,” Verrian said quietly. “But my sister made her feelings known quite clearly. You were the one who chose to ignore them.”
Ultrima stared at Verrian for a few moments, and Verrian had the uncomfortable feeling the lightning dragon was seeing right through him. Not that he had anything to hide. He stared back, trying to look more confident than he felt.
“Okay,” Ultrima said abruptly. “I’ll offer you a different deal.”
That didn’t make Verrian feel any more confident, but he was desperate. He nodded. “I’m listening.”
“I’ll heal your mate so long as you agree never to see her again.”
Verrian stared at him. “What?” His heart started thudding in his chest.
How was that even a choice? To have Lisa healed, but never see her again?
“Not so impressed by never being able to see the woman you love again?” Ultrima said mockingly. “If you love her, surely her being alive is more important than whether you get to see her or not?”
Verrian should have gone to the humans. They wouldn’t have tried to make such bizarre and unbelievable deals with him.
No, they would have just locked him up where he wouldn’t see Lisa anyway.
He was backed into a corner.
He stared down at Lisa in his arms, his heart aching.
He could no longer imagine his life without her in it. She was as much a part of him as his dragon wings were. He valued her thoughts and ideas more than he valued even those of his brothers and sisters. She’d seen inside him in a way no one else had.
To have to give her up to save her life? Of course the answer was irrefutable. Her continuing to live was far more important than his desire to feast his eyes on her, or hear the melodious strains of her voice.
But saying so, giving up that right, that should be his as her mate, wasn’t as easy as making the decision was. His throat ached, a lump rising in it that made it hard to speak.