Page 30 of King of Tides

“Time for what?”

“Time for you to connect with your inner self, the part of you that has the power to accept me. Time for you to find your strength within so my place can be prepared. You and I will connect at the core.

“They are coming, and you will need to be ready, young master. Soon, you will learn to count on others once again. When you return home, you will fully understand,” the dragon says.

I can’t believe I’m standing in the middle of my kitchen talking to a fucking dragon. Scratch that, a dragon who has half its body sticking out of my damn tea kettle.

“Return home? This is my home.”

“Yes, but not the home I speak of. You were touched with power; it is time for it to awaken. Water and ash are within you. Your power is pushing at the surface. Just reach for it,” it replies.

My toast pops up in the toaster, breaking the vision. The dragon disappears, leaving me baffled and confused. I really need to have my head examined.

Muttering to myself, I change my mind about the tea. I’m no longer interested. I’m grabbing the butter for my toast when there’s a knock at the door.

I roll my eyes. Carson never listens. Good thing he didn’t arrive a few moments ago.

That shit would have freaked him out. I wonder if he would have seen it in the first place. This could be my own brand of crazy.

Lost in thought, I head for the door to answer it before someone sees Carson in the hall. Nervously, I bite my lip as I think of him and Ardan running into each other.

“I told you to text me,” I say as I open the door to rush him inside.

I’m taken by surprise as I’m pushed back into my apartment by three large guys. I stumble back in shock. However, it only takes a second for me to snap into action.

I turn for the lockbox to grab a gun, but I’m grabbed by the back of my hair. This guy is huge and so much taller than me. The tight grip he has on my hair causes me to panic for a second.

My heart races as I think of how this can all go wrong. I bet these guys belong to Ricci. He’s finally going to finish me off. I wonder if he knows I’m his daughter or if he even cares.

I throw my head back as I’m lifted off my feet, hoping to connect with this bastard’s face. When I don’t make the connection, I begin to panic more. He starts to head for the door with me still in tow.

My instincts begin to kick in. If they get me outside of this apartment, I’m fucked. The vision from the kitchen comes back to me. Maybe this has nothing to do with Ricci.

These guys seem a bit off and uncharacteristically tall. I really start to panic as I think this could be some unnatural shit happening to me.

I kick at the guy nearest me, and he stumbles back. I then kick out at the one holding me and connect this time. He drops me and I spin to kick him again.

As I drop him to his knees, the third one comes at me. That’s when I get this feeling to just hold out my hands. As soon as I do, an axe and shield appear in my palms. I don’t know how, but I know exactly what to do with them.

I twirl the axe in one hand as I hold the shield in front of me with the other. The first guy I kicked recovers and throws a bolt of light at me. I knock it away with the shield and throw the axe at him.

It catches him in the forehead, and he falls back. I grin with satisfaction as his body drops to the floor. The one who grabbed me is now back on his feet and looks like he’s about to toss an orb of light at me.

I block the attack just in time as I cross my arm in front of me. The orb bounces off my shield and returns to the sender. The asshole bursts like a water balloon and falls to nothing more than a puddle on the floor.

With a quick glance, I note that my axe is now sitting in a pool of liquid as well. The guy whose head it was lodged in is now gone. The last one comes at me, but my fighting skills kick in and I kick his ass using my shield like a weapon instead of a guard.

I tire him out quickly, then wish the shield had a sharper edge so I could slice his throat and be done with it. As I hit him in the side with the shield, it comes away with blood on the edge. I narrow my eyes and see the edge gleaming like the edge of a sword.

I take a chance and swing for his throat. Suddenly, his neck is slashed and then he too bursts like a water balloon and falls to the floor in a puddle.

I bend at the waist, panting. My mind is reeling and now my heart is racing ten times as fast as it was when I was fighting for my life. I knit my brows in confusion and reach to clench at my T-shirt.

My veins feel like they’re on fire. My skin feels like it’s going to peel right off my bones. I may have bested those assholes, but did they slip me something to kill me?

This is madness. I’ve gone twelve rounds in the ring and have never been this winded. My mind races for answers.

What the fuck is wrong with me? I start to become lightheaded. That’s when a slow clap begins from behind me. I turn quickly to find Ardan standing in my living room, looking back at me. I hold my hand out and the axe comes to me.

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