Page 67 of The Dragon Recruit
And yet, she could barely crawl along the floor toward the door. The closer she got, the more blood she saw on the floor.
No, no, no. She wouldn’t think of him dying. She couldn’t.
Her dragon spoke up.He’s strong and resourceful. If there’s a way to survive, Antony will find it. Now, pack away your emotions like in the army and help him.
Her dragon’s words snapped her back to the present. And while it was harder than any time in the past, she slowly pushed her panic and worry and fear down, deep down. The best way to help Antony was to remain calm and try to get up.
She stood slowly, ignoring the jolts of pain, and studied the open door and hall in the distance. As far as she could tell, no one was there.
However, investigating the passageway alone would be stupid. She needed help, no matter how much she wanted to charge after Antony.
Just as she debated how to get out and ask for help, a rope dropped close to her, and Kai slid down it. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he surveyed the area as he said, “You’re hurt. Where’s Holbrook?”
After taking a deep breath to steady herself, she quickly explained what had happened and added, “We need to rescue him.”
The door grunted as it slid closed inch by inch. Panic rushed through her—if it closed, she might not be able to get it open again. Antony might be lost forever.
Her training faded away as she tried to dart toward it, but Kai’s arms wrapped around her middle and held her back. Struggling, she didn’t even notice the pain. She blurted, “We can’t just abandon him.”
“Look at me, Iris.” After a beat, she slowly turned her head until she complied. Kai continued, his voice firm but a wee bit softer, as he said, “We’ll find him. But charging after a raging, unstable dragon will most likely get us all killed. We need to be clever about this, or we’ll all die.”
Her first instinct was to say Antony could already be dying. However, her dragon spoke up before she could spiral.Antony is not only a valuable asset to the hunters, but also a fighter. If anyone can find a way to hang on and survive, it’s him. Let’s be clever and not make things worse.
But—
No buts. We’ll find him, end of story.
Her beast’s reassuring voice helped calm Iris a fraction. She’d watched emotions get others killed before. She needed to be strong, to be the bloody good tracker she knew she was, to find Antony and help him.
Not alone, though. She had some of the best Protectors in the country nearby, as well as Antony’s team. Together, they could do this. She just knew it.
An unusual sense of calm came over her, and she stopped struggling. She said to Kai, “They’ll probably keep him alive as long as they can get information out of him.”
Although she knew Antony would rather die than share secrets.
Kai grunted. “I agree. Now, we need to retreat.”
She wanted to shout no, she couldn’t leave him behind. Even if she’d been unconscious, she knew Antony had garnered the dragon’s attention to save her life.
Still, as she glanced at the blood trail on the ground—at Antony’s blood—her throat tightened. Humans were so much more fragile than dragon-shifters. Had he survived?
He will. And we’ll give him as much dragon’s blood as needed to get him back to full health.
“Iris?”
She cleared her throat, nodded, and looked back at Kai. “Aye, we’ll retreat. For now.”
Especially since there could be listening devices anywhere. They’d been kitted out with mini-signal jammers, but she had no idea if they were still working.
Kai tied the end of the rope to make a sling seat, and Iris ignored her pride to sit on it. There was no way she could climb the rope unless her life was on the line.
And as they hauled her upward, she glanced at the now-closed door and the blood in front of it.
Right then and there, she vowed to rescue Antony, no matter what it took. Even if she eventually had to go in alone because of the danger, she would. Because he was her human, and she would finally claim him as hers, or die trying.
Chapter Twenty-One
As Zoe started regaining consciousness, she heard a hum of voices. Doing her best to remain still and not give herself away, the voices slowly became clearer until she could make them out.
