Page 35 of The Last Bachelor Dragon

“It must have been the island, I don’t know what else it could be,” Cameron said, then took another shocked breath. “And the girls, I feel Kennedy, they’re thinking about us.”

He concentrated on the power now flowing through his veins, and a smile slowly spread across his face. “It is them; I can feel it too,” he said. “I knew the island wouldn’t let us down, not after everything we’ve all been through.”

The power pulsing between the eight men filled the shoreline and made him feel jittery, ready for action, but he stood waiting with the rest of his friends until a big boomand a flash of light filled the darkness. “That’s it,” Cameron said, stepping out of the shadows. “Let’s go kick some bad guy butt.”

One by one, they shifted into their dragons, filling the air with a different kind of magic. Then Keith, Cameron, Theo, and Harrison slipped into the water and disappeared without even a splash. He looked over at his three other friends, then nodded his head, and almost as one, they rose into the air. The only sound they made was the powerful swish of their wings as they shot into the night.

The group of boats roaring through the waves came into sight just a few seconds before the second line of charges went off, and he was pleased to see one of the boats sustain a direct hit. The four men inside were thrown into the water as the boat flipped over, and he watched them struggle in the waves before turning away to focus on the other five boats still coming at them.

Hovering above the water, he spotted Carlos Adaloni in the boat at the rear of the group, surrounded by armed men. He was screaming orders at his men, trying to get them reorganized. Just as they got back into formation, the third set of charges went off, taking out another boat and putting Adaloni’s men in disarray again. This was the moment they’d been waiting for. Looking over at his friends, he nodded his head, thrilled that their plan was going perfectly.

With a cry that the men down below heard even over the roar of the ocean, Simon, Blake, and Archie shot through the air straight at three of the boats, their targets firmly in their sights. His only focus was on Adaloni in the rear boat; he pumped his muscular wings, closing the distance between them in only seconds, then dove at the boat. The men inside saw him and began to scream, but Adaloni didn’t move, just stared up at him, then calmly began to raise his gun.

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Keith cameshooting up out of the water and slammed into the boat, knocking Adaloni and his men off their feet. All around him, he could hear the screams of panicked men as they were plucked off the boats and dropped into the water, but he never took his eyes off the source of all the trouble. Clearly a bit dazed, Adaloni shook his head, then slowly climbed back to his feet, the gun still clutched tightly in his shaking hands.

Ready to end things, he dove for Adaloni just as Keith shot up out of the water again, this time diving for the other men in the boat. Terrified, they jumped into the water before he could get to them and disappeared into the waves, but Adaloni stood his ground, staring defiantly up at him. The defiance disappeared, replaced by terror as he closed the distance between them, talons extended to rip the man off the boat, but at the last second, Adaloni managed to raise the gun and fire it.

He felt the bullet rip through his wing and lodge in his chest, but it didn’t stop his momentum and he slammed into Adaloni, sending them both over the side of the boat. The water closed around him instantly as pain paralyzed him for a second, and he almost sucked in a lungful of water but managed to stop himself at the last second. It was impossible to get back to the surface with only one wing, and he continued to sink into the sea, unable to stop himself. Lungs burning, chest on fire, he closed his eyes and thought about Nora, wishing he didn’t have to leave her. A second later, he felt the water swirling around him and suddenly Harrison and Keith were there, lifting him up through the waves and into the air.

He tried to fight through the pain, tried to stay conscious as they flew through the night toward the island, but eventually, the pain became too much, and his vision darkened and then went black. Floating in a state of nothingness was a relief after the agony of those few minutes, but his peacedidn’t last. He came awake with a jolt when they set him down in front of the infirmary.

A rush of power hit him when Harrison and Keith shifted, and then he felt them beside him. “Hang in there, buddy,” Harrison said, kneeling next to him. The doctor is on the way; she’ll get you all fixed up.”

“I can’t treat him like that,” Dr. Hernandez shouted, running into the courtyard. “And I can’t treat him out here.”

“You’re going to have to shift back to your human form,” Keith said, leaning over him. “I know it’s going to hurt, but it’s the only way the doctor can treat you.”

Pulling together the last of his energy, he shut down his magic, letting out a scream of pain when he took back his human form. Feeling himself beginning to go under again, he grabbed Keith’s arm. “Find Nora,” he said. “I need her.”

***Nora***

Nearly ten minutes had passed since the third explosion, and Nora was just beginning to think that everything must be fine when a gunshot echoed over the water, splitting the silence of the night. The women all jumped to their feet, worry etched on their faces in the moonlight, but it was Nora who began to feel the burning sensation in her chest and arm. A sense of doom began to settle over her as she struggled against the searing pain, and she fought to suck in a deep breath, looking around frantically, not sure what to do.

“Something is wrong,” she said, panting in an effort to fill her lungs. “Max is hurt, I have to find him. He needs me.”

The women around her did not argue. “They’ll take him to the infirmary. Dr. Hernandez is waiting there in case someone gets hurt,” Stella said, wrapping her arm around Nora’s shoulders. We’ll all come with you.”

“I can move faster on my own,” she said, giving her friend a hug. “There’s no time to waste.”

She took off running before Stella could say anything, heading for the trail that would lead her back to the village, holding back the fear and panic as she ran by sheer force of will. The pain in her chest had faded, but the urgency to get to Max had become even stronger, and all she could think was hold on, hold on, don’t leave me, I need you too much, hoping Max could sense her feelings and would fight to stay alive.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t see the dark figure heading toward her and screamed when a pair of strong arms grabbed her. “Nora, thank God, Max is hurt,” Simon said. “He’s at the infirmary. He was asking for you.”

A few tears slipped down her cheek, but she sucked the rest down and took off on the trail again, Simon right behind her. When she got to the infirmary, she raced through the doors and down the hallway, coming to a skidding stop when she saw the other men crowded around a door. Forcing herself to take a deep breath, bracing herself for the worst, she walked over to them, each step feeling more like a mile.

“How is he?” she asked. “Please tell me he’s not dead.”

“He took a bullet to the chest,” Cameron said. “We got him out of the water and over here as soon as we could. Archie and Dr. Hernandez are working on him right now.”

She absorbed the news, her knees suddenly going weak, but Keith was there, putting his arms around her and holding her up. “He’s going to be okay, Nora,” he said. “Max is too tough to let something like a little bullet take him down.”

“Keith is right. As soon as they get the bullet out, he’ll start healing,” Theo said, his voice full of conviction. “Shifters heal twice as fast as regular humans. This won’t take him down.”

“The magic will be there,” Blake said. “And if it’s not, the island will be. We just have to have a little faith.”

She forced herself to take a deep breath, their reassurances easing some of the fear and panic, but no less desperate to see for herself that she hadn’t lost him. To anxious to stand still, she began to pace up and down the hallway, unable to stop the tears that rolled down her cheeks. When the door to the room finally opened, she was the first one there, holding her breath as Dr. Hernandez walked out.

“He should be just fine. We were able to get the bullet out before the wound started healing, but he lost a lot of blood,” she said. “It will be a few days before he feels like himself.”

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