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“True, but the line ends with you, while the dragons and the witches go on.” I shrugged. “Funny how our lines converge again and you still haven’t learned from the past. Greed took down your family back then and it’s happening once morenow.”
Spencer shook his head and his brow furrowed. “It was the dragon and the sorceress who ruinedeverything.”
“No, the sorceress offered to marry the king. She loved him, but because she had no wealth, the king had no use for her and threw her in the dungeon,” I explained. “That’s why your family has been cursed eversince.”
“Tell him what he has to look forward to, Mishal,” Peri murmured from behindme.
“You’re going to be arrested, tried and convicted for more than a dozen murders, and probably sentenced to death, or life in prison. You’ll never enjoy a penny of your ill-gotten gain. The money will revert back to the Dracos.” I sighed, almost feeling sorry for him. “Meanwhile, Peri and I are going tomarry.”
“Funny, I don’t remember you asking,” shegrumbled.
“You’re right, I’m jumping the gun.” I turned to her, caught up in the moment. “Peri, will you be my mate and marryme?”
She’d been smirking at me, but now it turned into a full-blown smile, lighting up her entire face. “I always wanted to marry a dragon,” she joked. “I had no idea it’d be you, but I’ll make do.” Peri laughed. “Think you can loveme?”
“Silly cupcake,” I teased. “Can’t you tell that I already do?” I leaned low and pressed my lips to hers. In that moment, all else was forgotten. Unfortunately, Spencer took advantage. A movement from the corner of my eye had me breaking off the kiss much sooner than I would’ve liked. “Dammit,” I growled, “wait here!” I raced through the woods, my bare feet suffering from the pine needles, twigs, and stones lightly covered over byleaves.
“Nice try.” Peri raced beside me, much faster in hersneakers.
Still, Spencer beat us to the cabin and bolted inside, which had me halting and throwing out an arm to stop my beloved. “Wait. You’re tired and he’s dangerous. Let’s let the dragon handleit.”
She clasped her hands under her chin and nodded almost imperceptibly. “Stay safe,” she whispered. “I’m starting to love youtoo.”
“Starting?” I questioned as Ishifted.
Peri laughed. “I never claimed to be easy,dragon.”
I rolled my eyes and cautiously made my way to the cabin roughly fifty feet away. Through the window, I could see him cowering behind an overturned wooden table. I planned to close in, rip the roof off, and yank him back outside. Instead, he pulled out a semi-automatic weapon and a spray of bullets flew through the door. Unable to dodge in time, several penetrated my scales. I hissed in pain and flopped onto myside.
The door burst open and Spencer snarled. “Not this time, dragon. I get the money and the girl.” He stared past me to where Peri stood, horrified andafraid.
She rushed toward us, despite my shrieks, and Spencer grinned, completely confident in his success. “Think again, you miserable twat-waffle.”
My head moved enough to see her raise her arms, then I looked away, fully confident her powers would erupt in a blinding flash. Sure enough, a white light radiated past me, and hit Spencer square in the chest. He landed on his back and slid several feet, but immediately struggled to point his gun at me once more. And then I realized he’d never stop. The man was so blinded by hatred he couldn’t even love himself enough to try toescape.
Fury boiled in me. The rage from his audacity, his determination to destroy the dragons, and his fixation on Peri finally erupted. I rolled onto my feet, inhaled as deeply as possible, and spewed a stream of fire that traveled across the floor of his tiny cabin, igniting everything it touched. The flames spread until everything under the roof was ablaze, even Spencer. He screamed in pain and stumbled around until he finally dropped to what was left of thefloor.
I looked away. It had been hundreds of years since I’d been forced to kill anyone. Doing so, even to protect Peri, saddened me. The entire structure had disintegrated in a matter ofseconds.
Beside me, Peri dropped to her knees and examined my wounds. I shifted into human form, and reached out to cup her face. “You took a bullet for me again,” she whispered as her eyes filled with tears. Then she noted the multiple holes in my torso. “Make that several. Are you sure you can heal from this?” Her lower liptrembled.
I grinned weakly. “Cupcake, I’d die for you, but not today.” I winked. “Make sure these went all the way through, then I’ll shift. I heal faster in dragon form,” I explained as I propped myself on my elbow so she could examine myback.
Nodding, she swiped at her eyes. “Okay.” Her fingers danced over my skin as she examined every inch ofme.
While she touched me, I marveled over how I could need to heal so badly, but still suffer from the overwhelming desire to claim her. “How’s it look?” I asked herquietly.
“Back here we have a bullet that didn’t finish going through. What do we do?” Peri tried to sound calm, but I knew she had to be drained from using so much magic and all those heightenedemotions.
“Pull?” I joked. “I’m not sure it’s in a place where I can flex itout.”
She swallowed hard. “Okay then. Let’s go. You’re losing a lot ofblood.”
Together, we managed to remove the bullet and when we were finished, I reached out and held her ever so briefly. “You can leave,” I whispered. “Stephen is driving around looking for you. Find the road, flag him down, get a meal and come back for me in the morning. I’ll be good asnew.”
Peri shook her head. “Oh no. I’ve learned my lesson. Yes, I’m a strong and independent woman, but I’ll never leave you again.” She kissed me tenderly, then stood and took a step back so I could shift. When I was done, she curled up in between my neck and my front leg. I was so happy, I could’vepurred.
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