Fireblood Dragon: Fire In His Blood Part 25

CLAUDIA. DO NOT- He dips a shoulder low to catch me, but it's too late. I tumble off his back, and then I'm free-falling through the air for a terrifying moment, and then I tumble to the concrete a short distance below, dazed.

Well. That was...dumb.

I lie flat on my back, mentally a.s.sessing my wounds. The breath has been knocked out of me, and everything f.u.c.king hurts. I'm sc.r.a.ped on hands and knees from my roll, but...I'm alive. And I'm on the ground.

A moment later, a heavy thump lands beside me, a shadow falling over my face. I look up to see Kael staring down at me, his eyes dark with terrible anger. He leans over and nudges me with his enormous head. Speak to me. Are you hurt?

Just my pride, I tell him, sitting up slowly and wincing as everything screams a protest. That was...less bada.s.s than I'd hoped. I look over at the mayor.

There's a loud click as he c.o.c.ks the gun, and he hasn't moved away from Amy. "Call off your dragon."

Amy whimpers, her body stiff with fear. The blindfold prevents me from making eye contact with my sister, but I know her. I can tell she's utterly terrified. It's that fear that drives me constantly. I'm the one who takes care of Amy, makes sure she's safe. The fact that she's been put in this position because of me makes me feel helpless and awful.

I get to my feet slowly, wincing at the stabs of pain that shoot through my body. My gaze remains on the mayor at all times. "Let my sister go. She's done nothing wrong."

"I don't care if she has or she hasn't. She's the only leverage I have against you." His fat face gleams with a thin sheen of nervous sweat. "Now, call off your dragons." His eyes are crazed, his face flushed red, and I don't like the way his hand trembles as he holds the gun to Amy's temple.

I give him a weak smile. "What makes you think I can get the dragons to do anything?"

"You rode one in," he snarls, spittle flying. "You made them attack the city, didn't you?"

"That's what you wanted, right?" I say, letting a sneer get into my voice to hide the fact that I'm so d.a.m.n frightened for Amy. "You wanted me to f.u.c.k my way into controlling a dragon or two, right? Wasn't that the grand plan? Why you threw me out there into the Scavenge Lands? Well, surprise surprise, I lived. And I made a friend."

His fat face shakes with rage. "I wanted you to tame the dragon and make it stop attacking us! Not make you turn on your own kind!"

"No, you didn't give a s.h.i.t what happened to me," I correct. "You figured I'd die, but it didn't matter, because I was just a thief, right? And now you expect me to have loyalty to the city that threw me out? That turned my sister into a prisoner? Are you kidding me?" I can hear the rising hysteria in my voice. "Why should I be loyal?"

The mayor's gaze slides to Kael, and I suspect my dragon's getting agitated behind me, probably due to my own rising emotions. In response, the mayor pushes the gun harder against Amy's temple.

Amy chokes back a cry.

I go completely still, unable to look away. Back down, I command Kael silently. Please.

"Leave, and I'll let your sister go," the mayor says.

"Bulls.h.i.t. If I leave, you're going to keep holding my sister hostage as leverage to try and force me not to use the dragons to attack the city. But newsflash, this is the only dragon I control." I gesture at Kael, who's looming behind me. "And even that control's a little iffy, if you haven't noticed."

"I don't care if you have to suck dragon d.i.c.k, I just want you out of here." The mayor shakes his head, sweat flying as he does. "And I can't give you back the girl. Just turn around and leave right now and she won't get hurt."

I cross my arms over my chest. "Then it seems like we're at an impa.s.se. I'm not leaving until I get my sister, and my dragon's not leaving unless I do."

Shall I eat him? Kael's voice snakes through my mind, along with a mental image of him chomping the fat mayor in half.

No! Gross! You're totally not kissing me with that mouth if you eat him.

"If you won't leave, I'll make you leave," the mayor snarls. "I'll make both of you leave."

I clench my fists helplessly and take a step forward. "Don't you f.u.c.king hurt my sister-"

He turns the gun. There's a moment of confusion as I stare at the barrel of it for a hot moment. A loud pop. Something slams into my side and knocks me over.

My first thought is that Kael has gotten overzealous and accidentally pushed me down. But as I smack to the concrete, skidding backward, I hear Amy's scream as if through a tunnel, and a loud roar in my mind and rumbling aloud.

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, ma.s.sive jaws clamping down over the top half of the mayor's body and ripping him apart in a b.l.o.o.d.y 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 G.o.d, 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 d.a.m.n 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 pa.s.s 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.

I will get it, then.

Gently setting my mate back down on the roof, I touch my brow to hers and rub my mouth against hers, the way she's showed me. Then I get back to my feet and change back to battle-form.

I gather Amy in one claw, and my Claudia ever-so-gently in the other, and take flight, swooping down into the city to find this dawk-terr.

CLAUDIA.

My entire side feels like it's been set on fire.

I groan, pushing through the haze of sleep and trying to surface. It's difficult. Everything-and I mean everything-f.u.c.king hurts. I feel as if I've been trampled. By elephants. Carrying wrestlers. Overweight wrestlers. My head is muzzy, and there's a horrible taste in my mouth in addition to the gnawing pain in my side. Overall, all of this is telling me that perhaps it's not quite time to wake up just yet.

I demand you return, my Claudia. Kael's imperious voice rings through my head. You are not allowed to hurt.

That makes me snort softly, even if I can't open my eyes. "Says you, dragon," I murmur. "I can hurt if I want to." I mean, I don't want to, but it's not like Kael demanding it can stop it.

"Claudia?" A soft, unfamiliar voice catches my attention. "Are you awake?" A second later, something hot presses against my side, and I hiss, trying to squirm away.

Is the dawk-terr hurting you? Alarm colors Kael's thoughts, and I hear a low, draconic growling from overhead.

Doctor? It makes sense that there's one here, given the amount of pain that I'm in. I must be in the clinic back in Fort Dallas, though I don't know how I'm going to afford treatment. I still have no money. Though my foggy brain still can't figure out how Kael is here with me. His growling intensifies, and I send him soothing thoughts to calm him. I'm fine. Really. Just give me a minute.

Familiar, achingly hot hands grip me, and then I'm pulled against Kael's ma.s.sive chest a moment later. I feel his hand drag through my tangled hair, stroking it, and I don't even mind. Tell me you are better, my mate, he demands.

Aww. So overbearing and pushy. That's kind of sweet, really. Overbearing, but sweet. "I feel like s.h.i.t, but thanks for asking."

"Hmm?" The soft hands pressing on my side pause. Someone's changing bandages. The doctor. The bandages lift and then are patted down again. That's brave, given that I'm being held by a dragon-man at the moment. "You said you feel like s.h.i.t?"

"I'm okay," I say automatically, and bite back my protest when Kael gently sets me back down on something soft. A bed. Almost feels like my bed back in our apartment. I lift one hand-jeez, that's tiring-and search for Kael. I want his touch. A moment later, his hand grips mine, all big fingers and claws, and I'm comforted. I tuck his hand against my cheek and snuggle lower in the bed. I'm so tired.

Rest, he commands, though there's a gentle note in his thoughts. I will not leave your side.

I know, I shoot back, amused. You never abandon me, ever.

Never. You are my life. Without you, there is nothing.

So fierce. I smile at that and turn my head so I can press a half-a.s.sed kiss to his hand. I'll do better next time, when I'm less p.o.o.ped. I continue to snuggle his hand, because I don't want him leaving while I sleep. I like the thought of him watching-okay, lording-over me while I rest. Is Amy okay?

She rests. Kael sends a mental image of my sister curled up in blankets on one of the sofas I'd had Kael drag to our apartment in the sky. She is well. Only you were hurt. His tone changes. And if you ever confront a human that is spitting fire again, I will skewer you with my own claws. Touches of grief and worry shade his mental tone. You are mine.

"Nag, nag," I mutter.

"Did you say something?" the doctor asks.

"Just talking to my dragon," I say with a yawn.

A clinical hand immediately presses to my forehead, and I have to suppress a giggle. The doctor probably thinks I'm hallucinating. Then again, maybe not, given that I'm holding Kael's hand, and even in human form, he doesn't look all that human. I'm guessing the doctor put two and two together. Are you safe here in the clinic? I ask him. I don't want humans coming after you while you're not in battle-form.