NO!

CLAUDIA!

Sharp pain stabs through my side, and my chest feels heavy. Oh. Oh… My hands move in slow motion to my side, where it seems to be wet and full of lead. Painful, painful lead. The mayor shot me to force Kael to leave. That…was a stupid plan. As stupid as my leap off the dragon’s back. I want to laugh, the sheer ridiculousness of the situation bubbling up inside me, but everything hurts too much to even breathe. All I can do is lie there and hurt.

There’s more screaming. More popping bangs. I look over in a fog as the mayor fires his gun at Kael’s head, over and over. The dragon ignores it, massive jaws clamping down over the top half of the mayor’s body and ripping him apart in a bloody show of force.

Rage fills my dragon’s thoughts, a jumble of madness and chaos, and I’m reminded of how he’d been before we’d met, those glimpses into his mind. He’d been so happy to be free of the rage polluting his brain. It makes me sad that he’s letting himself sink into it again, and I want to help him.

I told you not to eat him. So not kissing you now, I tell him dreamily. Unless we find a dragon-sized vat of mouthwash.

Claudia. My mate. Kael’s mental voice is full of anguish. As I gaze up through the haze of my swimming vision, my big dragon wheels about, and his enormous head comes into view just over me. I feel the hot whuff of his breath against my neck. You will get up now, my Claudia. I command it.

Getting up is probably a good idea. I nod and try to sit up, but my limbs aren’t working. Oh, this might take a minute.

“Claudia?” Amy’s sobbing intrudes on my blurry thoughts, and I feel her cold fingers grip mine. Strange that my sister’s freezing in this weather. Or maybe it’s me that’s cold. It’s so hard to tell. “Oh my god, Claudia!”

“It’s okay,” I murmur to Amy, and then repeat it to Kael mentally. It’s going to be okay. You need to get Amy out of here before someone else comes up—

Get up, he demands again with a nudge of his nose. Climb on my back. We will go.

Just the thought of taking my next breath feels like an enormous task. I don’t have much longer, I think. I can see it in Amy’s face as she presses my hand to her cheek, weeping, the blindfold around her neck. At least she’s safe with Kael now, though. My poor dragon. He won’t understand.

My mate, Kael entreats, nosing me again. Rouse yourself. We must leave. You wish your sister to be safe. We must take her away from here, but I cannot if you do not get to your feet.

I hurt at the desperation and fear in his thoughts. My poor Kael. All he wanted to do was love me, and I made that so hard for him. I…don’t think I’m going anywhere, I tell him, a weak smile curving my mouth. I’m sorry. I love you, though. I want you to know that.

NO. Claudia. Get up. Now. Please.

To my surprise, the dragon shifts, and in the next moment, Kael is there in human form, his skin a golden amber in the sun. He kicks off the mess of straps and saddles and then steps forward, kneeling next to me. I hear Amy’s gasp of surprise and want to laugh, imagining my sister’s shock at seeing the naked, well-hung Kael at my side.

But I’m too tired for all of that.

“Hey,” I murmur softly, gazing dreamily up at Kael. How had I ever thought he was scary? I love his stern, not-quite-human face. “Promise me you’ll take care of Amy for me.”

“No,” he growls again, sounding feral. “Claudia, no.” He pulls me into his arms, his clawed hand stroking my brow feverishly. “Claudia, no. No.”

“I’m sorry, Kael.” I want to touch him, too, but I’m so sleepy. “Thank you for saving my sister. Now get her out of here.”

“No,” he grits out again. “No. NO.” His hands move over my body, pressing at my wound. Then he sends a bolt of thought, strong and clear, into my mind. You are my mate. You cannot die. Without you, I have nothing. Claudia, please.

Oh, I hate the anguish in his tone. How did I ever resent my dragon for being who he is? Domineering and savage, but with the best damn heart. It takes all my strength, but I reach up and stroke his jaw, then close my eyes. If these are my last moments, I’m going to enjoy them.

Hands press on my wound, sending a searing pain through my abdomen and stealing away my peace. “We need a doctor!” Amy shouts at Kael between her sobs. “Go get one. Do you understand? Doctor.”

“He’s not good with English,” I murmur. “Be nice…”

And then I pass out.

31

KAEL

Terror as I’ve never felt before grips me as I gaze down at Claudia’s pale, limp form in my arms. She bleeds, her side hit by the spitting fire from the fat man’s stick. At her side, her sister wails, pushing her hands against Claudia’s wound. She keeps repeating the same word over and over again.

Dawk-terr.

Dawk-terr, she weeps. Babbles a few more incomprehensible words, then that one again. Dawk-terr.

What does it mean? I try to push her hands away from my mate’s wound, and to my surprise, the weak, pale female slaps my hands away. She repeats her word, along with a string of other nonsense syllables, and I wish I’d taken the time to learn the human language like Claudia kept trying to teach me.

I repeat the word back to Amy. “Dawkh-terrrr?”

“Yes!” she screams, practically jumping up in excitement. “Yes!”

I know the word yes. “Dawkh-terrrr yyyyesss?”

“Yes! Doctor!” She points at Claudia and pressed on the wound again. “Doctor for Claudia!”

I don’t know what this dawk-terr is, but judging from her sister’s anxiousness and the way she keeps pointing at the wound, it might be something to help my mate. I cradle Claudia close, feeling her cool skin against mine. I would do anything for my mate. Anything.

So I stand, gathering her in my arms. Her weight is slight, her body limp, and it makes me feel cold inside to see her like this. I gaze down at her, heart aching, and then look to her frantic sister again. “Dawk-terr?”

Amy nods eagerly and points over the side of the building, practically running. She is trying to show me something. I carry my mate, carefully cradled against my chest, and follow the sister.

“Doctor,” Amy cries, pointing over the side. “Doctor!”

I gaze down below and notice that Amy keeps pointing at a small human burrow with a symbol written over the door. Whatever it is that Amy wants, it is in there, and she believes it will help Claudia.