I reach backward and touched his cheek tenderly, but I don’t respond. I need tomorrow to happen before I can promise my future to anyone.

Because if Amy isn’t safe, how can I ever be happy with Kael?

29

CLAUDIA

The next morning, the skies are crisp and clear, as if even the weather is smiling on our plan.

“We ready?” I ask for the dozenth time, tightening the straps on my legs once more. I’m nervous. Super nervous. Have been since I woke up. Well, okay, I was woken up with sex. That was awesome and distracting. But after that, I was nervous, and the knot of worry in my stomach isn’t going away.

Kael sends a wave of assent to my mind. We are ready. I am calling to Dakh.

“Okay,” I breathe, and then clasp my gloved hands, trying to stop their trembling. We can do this. We can. Amy and Sasha’s safety depends on it.

I can’t quite shake a sense of foreboding, though. Like this is all about to go tits up in the worst possible way and I’m just too stupid to see it yet. Theoretically, everything’s in place; there’s an extra saddle rigged behind me on Kael’s back, and additional straps so I can let someone ride in front of me. Dakh knows his role as distraction, and Kael has an image of the building that Amy is being kept in thanks to our mental connection. Provided that Amy’s still in that building, everything should go smoothly.

So why am I so worried? I’m teaming up with two dragons, two big, scaly, bus-sized badasses. It’s not like we don’t have the power. Humans can’t hurt dragons at all. This is a totally one-sided fight.

But still…there’s something inside me that worries.

All will be well, Kael tells me. Trust in me.

And there, I suppose, is the problem. I do trust him. How could I not? We’re as intimately connected as any two people—well, two beings—can be. Yet privately I worry that Kael will think of Amy and Sasha as threats, or rivals for my attention, and abandon them.

But maybe I’m just making mountains out of molehills. I swallow hard. Only one way to find out. Let’s do this, then.

Hold tight. Kael takes to the air with a trumpeting blast, and it’s echoed a moment later by Dakh, far in the distance. I adjust my swim goggles and peer at the skies. Oh, this is much better; it’s so much easier to see when the air isn’t sandblasting my eyeballs and my hands are warm in the gloves. I cling to my handlebars, heart beating a nervous staccato in my breast. This will all be over soon, and Amy and Sasha will be safe. That’s all I want. The rest doesn’t matter.

Kael’s powerful wings beat hard, and he lifts into the skies, darting between broken skyscrapers and flying even higher. Dakh whirls a short distance away, and when I peer in his direction, his eyes are flashing black. Uh oh. I swallow my alarm. Check out Dakh—his eyes are dark. Is he okay?

He struggles, but he will do this.

All right. I have to trust. I can’t do this on my own, and Kael won’t let me down. He’ll keep me safe, and he knows how much my sister and Sasha mean to me.

I just have to trust in his plan.

The flight toward Fort Dallas seems to take forever. I know it’s not that far from the tower we’ve claimed as ours, but each wingbeat seems to happen in slow motion, each breath inhaled, an eternity. I glance back at Dakh as he circles in the sky, never flying close, but just far enough that I know he’s still with us.

Slowly, the city comes into view, and I suck in a breath as Dakh speeds up and swoops low.

All is well, Kael tells me. Dakh knows the plan.

Yeah, but Dakh is crazy. But I have to trust. It’s not Dakh’s fault that the sight of the other dragon is drawing up bad memories, other days and other dragon attacks. He might not have had anything to do with those. I can’t blame every dragon for what happened in the past, not after knowing what I know now, and not after sleeping with Kael.

I still feel helpless, though. It’s weird, because on Kael’s back, I feel strong, yet surprisingly powerless. I need a weapon, I think. Maybe a spear or a gun. Heck, even a freaking slingshot would do. Just some sort of projectile weapon so I can go from passenger to participant in this raid. But I suppose it’s too late for something like that, since we’re already over the city. But in the future—

And then I stop myself. Raiding the city isn’t going to be a regular thing. Just because they’re assholes, it doesn’t mean that I have to be one. Nor do I plan on leaving my sister and Sasha behind.

In the distance, I hear the sirens go off, warning the residents of Fort Dallas that a dragon attack is imminent. I feel a twinge of guilt that I’m the one bringing the dragons, but I force myself to squelch the worried thoughts. If Amy was free, I wouldn’t have to do this. They’ve forced my hand.

Dakh dives toward the metal car barrier that surrounds the fort, and a great gout of fire spews forth from his mouth. I watch closely, because that looks like real flame and looks like enough to hit the ground and hurt someone. He’s not supposed to do more than frighten people. His flame shouldn’t hit the ground. It should be controlled.

But as I watch, Dakh roars and flames again, and the fire licks along the metal barrier. Somewhere on the other side, I see dark, oily smoke plumes go up, which means something’s caught on fire. “What the hell is he doing?” I ask Kael, worried. “We said no real attacks!”

I do not know. I will speak to him. Kael wheels about in the sky, heading for Dakh. I can sense my dragon’s displeasure even through his calm thoughts. He knows my wishes.

The other gold dragon dives at the city once more, flaming away. It looks entirely too real to be a diversion. Maybe it’s the worry-wart in me, but I don’t like it. I’m pretty sure my concerns are echoed by my dragon, because Kael trumpets an angry challenge and circles Dakh.

To my shock and horror, Dakh turns on us, flaming. His eyes are totally black, and this isn’t the face of a dragon that has his senses. He’s totally gone right now.

Kael roars in fury, rearing backward. His wings rise high, and suddenly I can’t see anything but leathery wing and scale as Kael forms a protective barrier around me. Dakh is lost. His mind is gone to the madness again. It is the smells of the human hive. It is too much for him.

Well, shit.

Panic rushes through me. I’ve brought a dragon to scare people and fake a few attacks…and now he’s really attacking. People are going to get hurt, and it’s my fault. I duck lower in my saddle, trying to keep out of sight. Can we pull him away somehow?