Page 1 of Surge of Storms

ONE

Samantha

The chilly airwhips at me, but I don’t care, I’m drowning in desperation, in a soul-deep need for Granger to surface. To be okay.

He has to be okay. He has to be.

My gaze is on the water, hoping against all odds that Granger will surface. That he’s still alive. My mind keeps replaying over and over the green dragon taking Granger to such an impossible height and then… just dropping him. Like he was nothing. Like he wasn’t one of the most important people in my life. And each time I picture it, I feel pure and utter devastation.It can’t have happened. This has to be a nightmare.

Something smashes into me from behind, and the green dragon’s awful scent of rotted flesh rushes over me for half a second before his claws dig into my body, tearing at my flesh. A wail explodes from my mouth, and I struggle to escape, but can’t. He’s bigger than me, stronger than me.

I have no hope against him. Not like this.

It’s strange, being torn between the pain in my body and the pain in my heart. It’s so overwhelming that I feel like dying. Like giving up. But I can’t. I have to find Granger.

I’ve always known Granger was important to me. I always knew that my life would feel meaningless without him, but knowing that andfeelingthis are two completely different things. Just the thought of never seeing him makes me feel a kind of pain and emptiness I never thought possible.

How can I keep breathing without him?The answer is simple: I can’t.

The green dragon’s claws shift, slicing into my wings. I feel hot blood coating my flesh, which is strangely jolting compared to the cold all around me. I twist in the air, trying to keep in sight the place Granger went down, but the green dragon’s grip on me makes it hard to control my direction in the air.

Get off of me, I shout, but my words are broken by sobs. It’s the first moment I realize I’m crying.

Did I know dragons could cry? Did I care?

I knew your weakness for humans would be the key to your downfall, he says into my mind, sounding so pleased that I want to tear his fucking throat out.

Fuck you!I buck, but he holds on tightly.

This time, this lifetime, little female, there’s no one left to save you. You will be mine.And there isn’t. My men are too far away to ever reach me in time. One of his claws shifts, clamping further onto my wings and tearing.

I’m fighting, fighting for my life when all I feel like doing is dying. I want to sink into the water with Granger and just stop existing, anything to relieve the terrible aching in my chest, but something inside of me, a stubborn refusal to surrender, won’t let this green dragon destroy me.

Granger wouldn’t want that.

Thunder booms above us, and my eyes jerk to the storm that’s rolled in without me even noticing. The clouds are dark and thick, gathering in a circle above us in a strangely menacing way. Shock courses through me.Hadn’t the sky been clear only moments ago?

Balor digs his claws deeper into the tissue of my wings, tearing them through the delicate parts. I sob into my mind. The pain is excruciating.I can’t believe I’ve lost Granger, and that I’ll be a slave to this dragon. I just… can’t. I can’t let it happen.

Is this really the way you want to get a female?I ask through my pain.

I do not care how I get you, just that I do. You are the one I have always wanted. For every lifetime. You are the most powerful alpha female, the one who will give me strong young.He sounds excited.Fuck, is he turned on?

Thunder booms overhead and lightning strikes so close to us that I can feel the power of it. It’s like everything around us is sizzling. Electrified.

I toss and turn, trying to free myself from him the way Zane taught me to, but he just shifts his grip with his back legs, so that his claws are digging into my back. Spots dance in front of my eyes, and it’s impossible to drag in a full breath.I’ve lost Granger. The green dragon is tearing me apart. It hurts. All of it hurts so badly.

Thunder crashes and lightning strikes again. It feels like we’re in the very center of the storm. Rain begins falling, cold and startling, clearing my mind just enough that I start going crazy. I don’t care how much I get hurt, if it frees me from him. I’m doing everything in my power to throw the larger dragon off.

But it doesn’t work.

His claws slice through my back, and I feel my blood mixing with the rain.How much longer before my wings are useless and I’m left to his mercy?Too soon. I know it in my gut.

I try to flap my wings, but I can’t. Balor’s wings alone are keeping us in the sky now, and that realization makes me sick.Are my wings destroyed then? Or is it just that the pain is too much?

You are mine, he roars into my mind, and before I can answer to agree or disagree, he drags his claws in a way that makes me scream in pain.

Suddenly, the storm seems to still, and a familiar voice roars into our minds,No she isn’t!

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