Page 12 of Guardian's Dilemma

I used the darkness and my light tread to sneak round behind my mate. Just as I lifted the silver cuff, my mate moved. I’d been reaching for his wrist and hadn’t noticed that his fist was clenched. He released a spell at me and I felt the burning sensation of it worming its way inside me.

My mate moved and I lost my chance.

Chapter 6: Kingsley

I’d always been one of the best fighters in my coven and I was known for my sound strategies. I was proud of what I’d achieved in ridding the world of such evil. Only, none of the other dragons I’d tracked down had fought like this one.

Glimmer – no, I reminded myself, it was a dragon and didn’t deserve to be named – moved around the edges of the room and I hadn’t expected it to turn the lights off like that. This dragon was smarter than the rest.

Because if I’d been fighting it properly it would be dead already. It knew this place well, which gave it an advantage, and it was clever enough to use that against me. Of course it was. It wanted me dead as much as I wanted it dead.

When it had grabbed me, I’d struggled and bucked and I’d managed to flick my wrist enough to send my spell out, slicing through the dragon. It was a strong spell that I’d been gathering to me the whole time he was slinking around the edges of the room and avoiding me. It would teach him: fight me, or I’ll only get more powerful.

Turning, I grabbed for the dragon. If I could blind it, that would help, though not as much as snapping its neck. He dodged out of my way, though. Damn, he was fast.

He backed away and I looked down at where he was clutching his stomach. There was a cute little frown between his eyes.

No, damn it, he was not cute at all! He was a vicious, murderous, evil dragon and it was my duty to execute it.

“That hurt,” he said.

I grunted. It was trying to get me to talk, distract me, and I wouldn’t be distracted. Not now. Especially not like this.

“What was that spell?”

He actually sounded curious. It nearly tricked me into answering, but I clamped my mouth shut and took a step to my right. My sword lay about eight feet away, which was just too far for me to risk throwing myself at it. I might not get to it before the dragon got to me.

When I stepped again, the dragon stepped with me.

“Tell me what you want.”

I stepped again. He stepped with me. Only, this time, he stepped nearer.

The spell that was rippling through him would be sending waves of pain through his body but it wouldn’t kill him. I’d thought it would distract him, make him weak, make him lose focus, but for some reason this dragon was remarkably focused. Those light blue eyes were fixed on me and never wavered.

Against my will, my body began to heat under that gaze. I felt it like a blush that worked its way up from my legs, up, up, and I was sure I was radiating heat.

I was five feet from my sword. Time to risk it.

Just as I threw myself to the side, the dragon darted forward. He landed on me and I rolled, trying to pin him beneath me. To my surprise, I managed it. He lay underneath me, my legs on either side of his hips, sitting heavily on him to pin him down, one hand around his wrist, the other around his throat. I squeezed.

I knew dragon strength. My own power lay in my training and my magic. I was only human. Vulnerable. It was the defensive spells that I layered over myself that protected me from monsters like this. But dragons? They could throw a human across the room without breaking sweat.

So why wasn’t he struggling?

It confused me and I faltered. My hand released his throat and I asked, “What are you doing?”

He blinked up at me, those eyes pale and his entire form ghost-like in the gloom of the darkened room. He looked ethereal. This whole thing felt unreal, like I’d slipped into a horrible dream, but the warm, solid feeling of him under my hands and between my thighs assured me that, yes, this was real.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“What?”

He’d sounded… genuine?

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I can’t let you hurt my family.”

My hand tightened around his throat again. That was a threat, I was sure of it. I’d have to kill him quickly before he could—

---