Page 89 of His Greatest Treasure

The magic struck me in the chest and I gasped from the shock. It took a second to register what had happened. His magic was like ice, cold and sharp.

I stumbled backwards and the hand holding mine tightened, trying to hold me upright. Lady Somerville held me until I found my footing again and I looked down at the lance of icy magic sticking out of me.

Only when I raised my eyes to meet Alfie’s did it actually seem real and then, suddenly, I registered the pain. It was as though I hadn’t been able to process it before, but suddenly I felt everything.

Alfie’s eyes went wide with shock, he reached out a gentle hand and touched the tip of the large splint of icy magic. I was too stunned to do anything. All I could do was watch as Alfie’s eyes began to glow yellow and then orange and then gold.

I saw the golden scales ripple across the skin of his cheeks and down his neck, and then he turned his attention from me to his father just as his dragon burst out of him.

Chapter 36

Alfie

My mate was hurt.

He was in pain.

The roaring in my head became louder and louder, drowning out my own thoughts.

I couldn’t think. I couldn’t speak.

All I could do was feel the red-hot fury that burned at my core.

My dragon came out, furious and huge and protective.

We had one goal: protect Blaze from this man.

“Alphonse.”

We vaguely recognised that name, a sound we’d heard before, but that was all it was, a sound.It wasn’t us.

We stalked closer, moving our bulk between the threat and our mate.

A dagger of ice struck us in the shoulder and we felt it pierce our scales, burying itself inside our flesh. It hurt, but we ignored it. It wasn’t deep enough to seriously harm us and this insignificant pain barely registered.

“Alphonse, stop. Shift back.”

The man was talking. We growled out a warning, trying to tell him to back away, to stop using magic. If he would only stay away from our mate, he would live.

His eyes darted round and locked on something behind us. “Attack the dragon, you fools! It’s trying to kill us.”

We roared and twisted round, afraid that someone behind us would attack our mate, but nobody there moved. They were huddled together, frightened. We recognised them. We were sure we recognised them.

Whoever they were, they were weak.

We didn’t like that. Our bonds fanned out across to them, bright and clear. That made them ours. Ours to protect.

Whirling back towards the man who was the threat, we locked eyes on him as he sent another spell crashing into us. This one was thicker and sharper. It cut into our neck, lodging deep inside.

Blaze screamed, “No!”

That scream made us angry. We didn’t want Blaze to be afraid or frightened. We wanted him to feel happiness and love and safety only. His scream made us roar.

We leapt forward, our claws out, our jaws open to reveal our teeth, and it was all instinctive. We weren’t thinking at all.

The barrier we crashed into knocked our head and it was cold, so cold. That was unnatural.

“Alfie, my darling, are you hurt?”

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