Page 68 of The Dragon 1
Wild jasmine and stormwater.
Hot stone and forbidden fruit.
The smell hit his beast with a hunger so deep it rattled through his heavy bones.
Though her hands did not lower, though her magic hummed like a threat on the air. . .
He saw it.
A flicker of fear in her eyes.
Still, she did not run.
She did not flee.
She did not submit.
Yes. I like her.
He roared once more, not in challenge. . .but in promise.
I will see you again.
Then he fled into the dark— wings tearing across the moonlit sky. Flame curled in his throat.
He would definitely return.
He had to.
But next time, it would not be as a dragon.
No.
She’d seen the beast.
Next, she would meet the man.
His human form was one he hadn’t worn in decades; A form he’d buried to become legend.
But tonight had changed everything because he had forgotten what it felt like to becurious.
To wonder—not about war, not about conquest—but aboutsomeone.
What was her name? Her voice? Did she always smell this way? And where did she get such great power?
He was a god of flame, born for vengeance, carved from fury. And yet now, flying in the sky, he had shifted to a boy with a crush.
It made him feel confused.
Heart-warningly lost.
Nervously uncertain.
But not weak.
Just very. . .human.
It terrified him.
