Page 7 of Dragon's Captive

"Darius, don't!" I scream. "Run!"

Kairyx's body tenses beneath me, a rumbling growl building in his chest that I feel more than hear. His head turns toward the threat, golden eyes narrowing to dangerous slits.

"A challenger?" he asks, voice deceptively soft. "For my rightful claim?"

"She's not yours," Darius declares, the rifle steady in his hands despite what must be crippling fear. "She's a human being, not property."

I watch in horror as Kairyx's chest expands, his mouth opening slightly to reveal sharpened teeth and—oh god—the faint glow of building flame behind them. Dragons can breathe fire. Commander Emberscale can reduce Darius to ash with a single exhale.

"No!" I yell again, twisting in Kairyx's grip with renewed desperation. "Darius, please! He'll kill you!"

Kairyx's attention shifts back to me, something calculating entering his golden gaze. "You know this human," he states, not a question. "A friend? A lover? Perhaps part of the same network that supplies your illegal suppressants?"

The blood drains from my face. One word from me could condemn not just Darius but our entire resistance cell. Years of careful operation, dozens of lives, all balanced on my next breath.

"He's nobody," I lie, voice steadier than I feel. "A town resident. I know him from the library."

Kairyx studies me for a long moment, clearly assessing the truth of my statement. His nostrils flare again, scenting the air between us. Then his attention returns to Darius, who hasn't lowered the rifle despite the futility of his stand.

"Your concern for the female is noted," Kairyx says, voice carrying easily across the distance. "But unless you wish to join today's entertainment as a pile of ash, you'll lower your weapon and remember your place."

I lock eyes with Darius, silently pleading with him to back down, to live, to continue the resistance even if I'm lost to it now. After what feels like eternity, his shoulders slump slightly, and the rifle's barrel dips toward the ground.

"This isn't over," he calls, the words foolishly brave.

Kairyx's chest rumbles with another laugh. "For you, it is." He shifts me in his arms, securing his hold before his wings begin to unfurl to their full, impressive span. The crowd gasps and retreats further, giving him the space he needs. "For her, it's only beginning."

The last thing I see before we launch skyward is Darius's face, etched with helpless rage and sorrow. Then the ground falls away with sickening speed, my stomach lurching as Kairyx'spowerful wings carry us upward with impossible force. The wind tears the scream from my throat, cold air rushing past as we climb higher into the sky.

Ashton Ridge shrinks below us, the neat grid of streets and buildings becoming miniature, toy-like. My hands clutch desperately at Kairyx's jacket, terror of falling momentarily overriding my hatred of touching him. One of his arms secures me firmly against his chest while the other guides our direction, making minute adjustments to our flight path with practiced ease.

"Enjoy the view, librarian," he says, his voice somehow perfectly audible despite the rushing wind. "Consider it your first lesson in your new reality."

I risk a glance downward and instantly regret it. We're so high now that the town is merely a smudge against the landscape. The Appalachian mountains spread in all directions, their tree-covered slopes and jagged ridges a testament to the wild beauty that survived even the Conquest. Under different circumstances, I might have appreciated the breathtaking vista. Now, it only reinforces the hopelessness of my situation.

There's no escape from this height. No running, no hiding, no chance of rescue. I'm completely at the mercy of the predator carrying me to his lair.

And in the distance, growing larger with each powerful wing-beat, looms a jagged mountain peak that can only be our destination. Drake's Peak—the fortress carved into living stone where Commander Kairyx Emberscale makes his home. Where I will be taken. Where I will be claimed.

Where my life as I know it will end.

CHAPTER 4

FLIGHT TO THE MOUNTAIN

Terror has a taste.Metallic and sharp, like blood pennies dissolving on the tongue. It floods my mouth as the ground falls away, as Kairyx's massive wings beat against the air with a sound like distant thunder. My stomach lurches upward, trying to escape through my throat as we climb higher into the cold mountain air.

I'm bound against his chest by arms harder than steel, my back pressed to scales that radiate unnatural heat even through layers of clothing. The contrast between his burning body and the freezing air rushing past makes me dizzy, disoriented, caught between opposing elements just as I'm caught between earth and sky.

"Stop struggling," he growls, his voice vibrating through his chest and into my bones. "Unless you wish to discover if humans can survive a fall from this height."

The threat is unnecessary. My body, traitor that it is, has already plastered itself against him in primal fear. My fingers clutch desperately at his forearms, nails digging into scales that don't yield like human skin would. I couldn't release him if I wanted to—terror has locked my muscles as surely as any physical restraint.

We bank sharply to the left, the world tilting at a sickening angle. A whimper escapes me before I can swallow it back, and I feel rather than hear his rumble of amusement. He's enjoying this, the bastard. Enjoying my fear, my helplessness.

"Look," he commands, one clawed hand moving to grasp my chin, tilting my face downward. "See your world as we see it."

I want to close my eyes, to deny him even this small victory, but curiosity betrays me as thoroughly as biology did. I look.

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