“Okay, good dragon,” she murmured as she ran her hand over its solid surface. It was as unyielding as steel beneath her, but there was something comforting about its warm, strong body. “Good dragon.”
Crawling closer to its mouth, she worked the chains from its snout. “Please don’t eat me.”
And with those words, the chains fell free.
CHAPTERTWELVE
When the chainshit the ground with an echoing clink, Cole didn’t move. He pulled the shadows closer around Lexi as the dragon opened and closed its mouth like the creature was cracking its jaw.
Finally, its mouth remained closed, and its eyes swung toward her. Claws erupted from Cole’s fingers; he’d slice the head off this beast just as he’d done to the one who ate his father. Every instinct he had screamed at him to pull her away from this thing, but he had to let her test her abilities and spread her wings, no matter how much heloathedit.
Prepared to launch onto the dragon, Cole remained riveted on the creature as it stared at Lexi. He waited for the dragon to attack and wouldn’t give it a chance to hurt her. Between him and the shadows, they would tear this beast to pieces.
And then, it nudged her with its snout like a dog looking for a pet. Cole didn’t relax, but his mouth parted, and he was sure a breeze could have pushed him over.
Lexi laughed as she tentatively rubbed the dragon’s snout. When it snuffled, its breath blew the hair back from her face as it leaned into her touch.
What the fuck?Cole had expected a connection between them, butthis?
This was insane, unheard of, and completely unpredictable. Alina hadn’t been this tender with Lexi. Was that because they had her friend in chains, or was Tymin a kinder soul than the dragon outside? Would Alina have sought to connect with Lexi like this if he’d dropped the shadows?
Either way, it didn’t matter as Tymin’s eyes closed, and Cole swore happiness radiated from the creature. But Cole knew how the dragon felt; she’d often tamed the beast in him too.
But was this because she’d freed the dragon or because she was an arach?
Cole had no answers, but the phenomenon of what was unfolding between them wasn’t lost on him. A crunch drew his attention toward Orin as he crept through the shadows toward them. When he spotted Lexi and Tymin, Orin froze.
But the crunch didn’t just draw Cole’s attention; it also alerted Tymin to Orin’s approach. The dragon’s head snapped around. Hatred emanated from the beast as Orin stumbled a couple of steps back but didn’t run.
“No!” Lexi cried as she grabbed one of the dragon’s two long spikes, which could also be considered its horns, and jerked its head toward her. The key tumbled from her hand and fell to the ground. “Don’t kill him!”
“Lexi!” Cole shouted when the dragon roared.
Cole surged forward as the shadows swarmed around Lexi, encasing her in a protective barrier. His claws extended as he leapt onto the dragon’s leg.
The dragon lurched toward Orin, but the chains binding its legs pulled taut and yanked it back. The whole cave quaked when it crashed to the ground.
“Get out of here!” Cole bellowed at his brother when the dragon lunged again. The creature wanted Orin dead, and his brother’s presence had pushed it beyond reason. “Getout!”
Orin finally broke out of his stunned stupor and retreated into the shadows as Cole scrambled up to sit behind Lexi. Wrapping his arms around her, he grasped the dragon’s horns above her hands as it lurched and jerked before collapsing again.
The beast’s sides rose and fell as its breath heaved in and out. Smoke coiled from its nostrils, but it didn’t try to break free again.
Cole released the shadows forming a wall between the dragon and Lexi as it remained unmoving beneath them. Then, he detected the coppery scent of Lexi’s blood on the air.
“You’re hurt,” he said.
She lifted her hand and turned her palm over to reveal the slash across it. She fisted her hand against the blood, but it still seeped between her fingers.
He would kill Orin for this.
Cole’s eyebrows shot up when the dragon released a sound more like a whimper. If he wasn’t mistaken, thisthingwas upset it cut her.
“I’m fine.” Lexi stroked the dragon’s neck with her other hand as she stared at him. “I’m fine.”
Cole cradled her injured hand and, pulling it close, tenderly kissed her palms. “Let me finish freeing him, and we’ll get this bandaged.”
“You’ll get hurt.”
