Page 27 of Guardian's Dilemma

I had told everybody else to report in immediately but I didn’t do that. I’d wantedthemto do it so that I could get over to them straight away, to protect them. As far as I could see, there was no reason at all to have the rest of the clan come here to fight these monsters.

Then I reasoned with myself and shifted back to my human form. I picked up my phone and sent a message to Lord Somerville:They’re breaking in at the south-east. Keep the rest patrolling in case it’s a diversion.

I needed them to know that there wereridirewandering around the territory, but I also wanted to make it clear that the others were to stay well away. I didn’t believe for a second that there were more than these six anywhere near us, but Lord Somerville wasn’t to know that.

Theridirebroke through and they moved forward in an easy formation, two at a time, searching left and right for any sign of attack. I let them get further out into the open before I made my move.

They actually walked right past me and I let them. I was glad to find that it was only my mate who could see me when I used my magic, not allridire.

It was difficult to get close to them because they were creeping along out in the open and my magic worked best at the edges and in the shadows, but I managed to get close enough to the furthest-back without being seen. I slashed my claw across his throat before he even realised I was there, and I shimmered back into the shadow as quickly as I could, darting along the edges of the treeline so as not to be anywhere near where they thought I was.

It was lucky I had kept moving because, as the body thudded to the ground, the others turned, saw, and flung a barrage of spells at the space where I’d disappeared.

A tree beside me exploded in a shower of bark and leaves, raining down on me with tiny needles of wood. I kept moving. I wasn’t even sure if I was afraid or not because my dragon was alert inside me and its overwhelming thought was of its duty to protect, and whether we were in danger or not was irrelevant.

Still, one down, five to go.

I couldn’t sneak up on them again. They changed their formation into a loose circle, and their eyes were everywhere. I didn’t dare risk walking up to them in case they could sense my blood in my veins.

The best thing was to shift again. My dragon surged out of me, relieved to finally be let free. It felt right to be in my dragon form, to have that thick hide and those tough scales to protect me. I knew that Seren had left some protections on me, too, and they’d been what had saved me before, when my mate had drawn blood. I had my fire and my claws and my teeth. I was as strong as I was going to get.

This time, instead of sneaking up to them, I charged. I was aiming for the back one, since he was the most exposed. I didn’t get him.

One of the others turned at the last second and flung out a shield of magic. My teeth scraped across it and the shield shattered but the others were ready by then. I only just took to the sky in time to avoid the arrows of magic they were shooting at my wings.

It looked like picking them off one by one wasn’t going to work. Shame.

I’d need Plan B.

???

It felt unnatural, to actually leadridireto my vault but it was the most logical course of action. I couldn’t let them spread out across the territory in case they stumbled upon one of my clan, and I couldn’t let them find the castle, either.

The vault was enclosed and underground, which might go against the instincts of some dragons but it played right into my strength. I knew my way around it, it was filled with edges and corners and shadows, and I’d laid a few little back-up measures around it, just in case.

The hardest part was getting the balance right between flying fast enough to look like I was fleeing for my life, and going slowly enough that they could follow me. The dragon’s blood they’d swallowed made their magic surge inside them but they still had human legs, and they trailed behind me, getting further and further away.

When I entered the vault, the first thing I did was to check on my mate. He was sitting in the same place but I could smell the tang of blood in the air. It was his blood, though, not a dragon’s. He’d been twisting his wrists to get out of those cable ties, just like I’d known he would.

“Stop that now,” I told him. “They’re here.”

He gave me a look of triumph and I smelled the pride in his scent, mixed with fear and uncertainty. My mate wanted to be rescued, of course he did, it was just that his soul had found its mate, whether he wanted to acknowledge that or not. The fact that he knew they’d kill me wasn’t sitting so well with him, after all.

Sure enough, he said, “You should run. There’s time for you to get out. They aren’t here to bother with you; they’re here for me.”

“They know we’re here now.”

“Yes, but—”

I raised my eyebrows expectantly. He couldn’t finish that sentence.

“Just wait. I’m going to use you as bait after all.”

With that, I shimmered into the shadows and waited for theridireto enter. I heard their footsteps on the tiles and it was incredibly hard to stand still and wait, just wait for them all to get inside. I had to hold on a bit longer, too, because I needed them away from the door.

Only when they were well into the vault did I slip around the outside and close the door behind them. I’d added a few protections to it, a few modifications. Once I closed it, the door couldn’t be opened again.

With the sheer amount of power theseridirenow had, they might be able to blast their way through, but it would take all of their concentration. They couldn’t get out and fight me at the same time. I was relying on the fact that I was going to win this fight and not leave them to get out and wander round outside.

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