Page 1 of Dragon Me Through Space

CHAPTER ONE

“Catch my bride!” a brown, male Bolsan, a humanoid being with a bull-like face and ears, shrieked behind me.

“I’m not your bride!” I screamed as I ran down the alleyway of Lothantai, the planet I’d hopped to two days ago. I frantically scanned the network, searching for an escape. I refused to marry a Bolsan, especially one that snatched me from my hotel room and tried to force me into a shotgun wedding just because I had beaten him at a game of spades.

It wasn’t my fault he sucked at cards and had a super easy tell!

My scanner lit up bright green. A ship was departing in fifteen minutes! I had just enough time to get my things from my hotel room and make it there to escape. Hacking into the city’s network, I switched all of the intersection lights to green in the direction I headed. That way, I didn’t risk getting run over … again.

Once was enough for me.

“Stop!” a deep male voice yelled.

Hazarding a glance back, I squealed at the sight of a tall, stout, absurdly handsome Dragonkin with pearly grey eyes right behind me. Dragonkin were easy to identify due to the horns on the top of their heads.

“No!” I yelled back. “He stole me! I’m not his! I don’t belong here!”

The Dragonkin’s eyes flashed, his eyes changing and the dragon slitted pupil showing for a moment in his anger, and he spun around, turning on the Bolsan chasing me. “You stole her?!” he bellowed.

The Bolsan shrieked in fear and began muttering apologies. Their voices grew faint as I continued my escape, not bothering to stop to see if the Dragonkin believed him or not.

Finally, some good luck! I was desperately due for some. In the past three days I had been drugged, kidnapped, and received two broken fingers during fights. This was why I never came to Lothantai. Trouble lay around every corner here, despite it looking like a beautiful oasis. It was not a friendly planet.

While I was glad the Dragonkin had helped me, I wasn’t sure why he had done it. They were known for being harsh, direct, and lethal.

The streets were strangely empty as I continued my escape, which made me wary. Where was everyone? I didn’t sense any traps ahead.

“Scout!” I barked.

A small silver disc the size of a fingernail slid out from behind my ear and zipped along next to my head. This piece of equipment was the only thing I had left from my home planet. Scout was one of the most advanced pieces of technology I’d found and had kept me alive more times than I could count on all my fingers and toes.

“Check ahead for traps,” I ordered it.

Scout beeped in acknowledgment and zoomed off ahead of me, obeying.

My feet were sore from running on the hard concrete barefoot, but it was better than running in the high heels they had given me. Plus, one of the heels was lodged in a guard’s head back at the church.

My ear buzzed in warning and the next instant an image of two male Dragonkin standing in an alleyway the direction I was headed popped up in my visual display. They were both attractive and muscular, even for Dragonkin, and one of them had beautiful green eyes, almost emerald. They seemed to be deep in discussion. Maybe I could slip by them before they realized I was close.

Scout hovered out of their sight and turned so I could see myself approaching. Just fifteen more feet.

I pushed myself harder, running as fast as I could past the alley and the males who were still deep in discussion. Their heads whipped around as I ran by and Scout watched them for me, waiting to see if they pursued.

One of their communication devices rang and the Dragonkin with grey eyes who had stopped the Bolsan appeared on the screen. “There is a human girl running. Keep an eye on her. A Bolsan kidnapped her and tried to force her to marry him.”

“You give the Bolsan to the cops?” one of the Dragonkin in the alley asked.

“Yes. Protect the girl. There’s something familiar about her. I couldn’t stop her and talk to her, though.”

“She just ran by. We’ll pursue,” he replied.

Both Dragonkin left the alley and began pursuing me.

Crap!

“Scout, return!” I ordered it.

The disc slipped back behind my ear a moment later, nestling into its hiding place.