Page 74 of Been There Dragon That
She clawed at Jeff’s hand and twisted her body, trying to break away.
Jeff grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her against the side of the vehicle.
Her head bounced against the glass and the trim on the door.
“Shut the fuck up.” His words were black and dark and filled with vitriol.
Black dots clouded her vision, like someone had splattered her eyeballs with paint. The ground spun, and Jeff’s words echoed in her ears like she was underwater. Everything felt and sounded like it was in slow motion.
Her face felt wet.
And then she couldn’t feel anything at all.
ChapterTwenty-Four
Wrath
Wrath practically leapt from the truck before Tor could even put it in park. He needed to see Rylee. Needed to touch her, smell her, everything. All of it. Forever.
Leaving her that morning had been torture.
After everything that had happened with Ryan, her fragile existence as a human was front and center in his mind. He couldn’t change her into a Reylean. And he wouldn’t wish being a dragon on her, not in this world where they were so feared. It was a hard life to hide what you were every second of every day.
Not being able to fly every day.
Not being able to feed.
But losing her to an injury or a sickness made him question his doubt.
“Wrath.” Tor shouted at him.
But he was already walking through the front double doors of the community center. The large entry room was decorated for winter. Paper snowflakes hung from the ceiling. Crayon-drawn pictures of Denali and snow-covered forests covered the walls from floor to ceiling. Katherine’s after-school groups had been busy.
He pushed open the doors to the gym and inhaled.
He could smell where she’d been, but the scent wasn’t strong enough for her to be in the room. If she wasn’t in the gym, where was she?
His gaze flew from group to group to group. He accounted for every single woman. Naomi. Penny. Tara. Ava. Katherine. Dawn. Lorelei. Connie. They were all here and more. The magick-benders were both there too.
His heart climbed into his chest, and pain seized both his lungs. He couldn’t breathe.
Something was wrong. He knew it.
“Rylee.” Her name came out in a pleading breath.
“Wrath,” Naomi called out, a bright smile on her face. There was no worry in her expression. Nothing. Was he overreacting?
The bathroom. Maybe she was in the bathroom.
“Rylee went to the kitchen to get a mop.” She pointed to the swinging door on the far side of the room. “We had some toddlers crash into the drink table.”
His pulse slowed slightly.
They weren’t worried.
He made his way carefully through happy children running amuck in the gym. There were large bouncy balls, small bouncy balls, and things Katherine called noodles being wielded by children like swords.
He inhaled again, focusing on Rylee’s scent. Then let his dragon push forward enough to change his vision. A quick scan through the wall of the gym and into the kitchen revealed nothing.
