Page 37 of Dance for the Dragon
Horrid screams tore through the air around her, followed by a blast of heat so intense her entire left side felt sunburned. The vampire’s single-minded focus was momentarily diverted and he whipped his head around, his long hair tickling her face. His hold on her throat loosened just enough for Devon to suck in a resistant breath. She began to cough.
The vampire, eyes never leaving whatever he was looking at, released her with something that sounded like a curse and yanked her to her feet by one arm.
She staggered, falling back down to her hands her knees, her eyes glued to the dragon not a hundred feet away from them.
It stood nearly as tall as the trees around them. Granted, they weren’t the tallest trees in the world, but still, they had to be a good twenty or thirty feet. Black wings stretched out wide to either side. Thin, leathery skin—interspersed with blood-red veins—stretched between the bones. With a rush of wind that battered everything around it, they swooped down against its body, and Devon saw they were tipped with lethal spikes that dug into the ground. A large reptile-like head was held low to the ground, pinning them where they stood with Kohl’s glowing eyes. Blood dripped down one side of its face. The neck was long and protected with two rows of plated bone, as was it’s sinewy back.
Standing on powerful back legs, a long, muscular tail with more spikes on the end whipped to the side as it opened its wide mouth and roared. When it moved, Devon saw its skin wasn’t black at all, but multi-chromatic with jewel tones that shimmered in the moonlight. Three smoking piles burned between the dragon and them.
The remains of the other vampires.
“Motherfucker.” The vampire pulled her in front of him like a coward, using her as a shield, and Devon immediately lost any respect she may have had for him as a legitimate adversary. Wrapping a hand in her hair, he yanked her head violently to the side. Tears filled her eyes again.
The dragon wavered in front of her as it watched them, following the vampire’s movements with sharp eyes. Stretching its head forward, it opened its mouth and screeched in anger. Or hunger. It was hard to tell.
Devon cried out as a razor sharp fang tore into her throat. Blood, warm and wet, ran over her collarbone to cool and congeal in the fibers of her sweater. An ingrained survival instinct took over, and she managed to wiggle an arm between them. Shaping her hand into a claw, she found the bulge of soft flesh between the vampire’s legs and squeezed as hard as she could, twisting her wrist.
The vampire tore its fang from her throat with a yelp, and Devon was almost as shocked as him that her technique had worked. She took advantage of his surprise by slamming the back of her head into its face. Then she threw her body forward with such force she stumbled forward about five feet before she fell. Scrambling to her feet, she ran toward her car.
The ground shook beneath her feet and a sudden gust of wind blew her hair into her face. She tried to keep her footing, but it was near impossible. Stumbling every few steps, Devon’s foot landed in a hole she had no way of seeing and her ankle twisted painfully. With a cry, she fell forward, barely catching herself before she face planted.
She managed to struggle to her feet again, but when she tried to put her weight on her ankle, it gave out. Through strands of wet hair—wet with what, she didn’t even want to know—she saw the vampire disappear in the direction of trees. There one moment and gone the next, leaving her on her own with the dragon.
It was right behind her. She felt the warmth of its breath on her damp back. Panic shot a surge of adrenaline into her blood, and she got to her feet. She made it two steps before she fell again. Pulling her good leg beneath her, she pushed with her hands?—
And was hit around the midsection and lifted into the air. Wind whooshed past as she watched the ground grow farther and farther away. Pushing her hair out of her face, she found herself directly beneath the dragon’s belly. Large wings flapped lazily as it gained altitude.
Devon drew in a ragged breath, and screamed.
She must’ve startled her rescuer, because her stomach lurched just like it did in airplanes when they hit air pockets. “Oh…God! Please don’t drop me!” she shouted.
The dragon responded by tightening its talons around her middle.
Though her hands were cold and aching, she did her best to hang on. Long minutes passed with Devon taking turns praying to anyone who happened to be listening and trying to convince Kohl not to barbecue her alive, and then her stomach flipped as they plummeted toward the ground. He skimmed the tops of a group of trees until they came to a clearing. There, the dragon tucked in its wings and descended rapidly toward the ground. Rearing up at the last minute, it gently deposited her on the grass between two mounds of cactus.
Devon pushed herself up onto her knees just in time to watch him land like some giant, ancient bird just a few feet away from her. The large head swung from side to side, nostrils flaring as it scented the air. Then he cocked his head to the side, and she got the impression he was listening, though she didn’t know how he could hear anything with such tiny ears on top of his head. When he appeared satisfied, his glowing eyes found her. A low purring sound rumbled deep within his throat.
Afraid to move, she tried to gauge his mood. But he seemed perfectly content to stand guard over her for the time being. From this angle, Devon saw more wounds on his neck and shoulder, and one of his wings was torn near the second spike closest to the tip. Slowly, she stood on her good leg and tested her ankle. It was sore, but she could walk on it now.
The dragon—Kohl—speared her with one glowing eye. She stilled, her blood freezing in fear she was about to be flambéed like the soup she’d eaten earlier, but he only huffed as though to fuss at her for trying to walk and went back to surveying the area around them.
It took a few seconds, but eventually her heart gave a couple of good hard pounds and then settled into its natural rhythm again. Devon swallowed hard and looked around, trying to figure out where they were. But the moon was hidden behind the clouds, and it was impossible to see very much at all. It was even darker than it was on the lake. At least there, the houses across the way gave her some point of reference. If it weren’t for the dragon’s eyes, she wouldn’t be able to see anything at all.
Devon turned her attention back to her companion.
As if sensing her attention, he shifted about restlessly, favoring his wounded shoulder. It looked like he was trying to tuck his body in on itself, as though to appear smaller.
She crossed her arms against the cold, intentionally ignoring him. She didn’t know what she could do to help him anyway, even if he would allow her to get close enough to look at his injuries.
But it only took a few seconds for her to admit defeat. She wasn’t one to stand by and watch creatures suffer, no matter what they were. So, she looked to the heavens for strength, then back at the dragon. “Please don’t eat me. Or worse, burn me alive.”
The eye facing her slowly closed and opened again as another purr rumbled through him in response.
Careful of her bad ankle, she limped over. When she was close enough, he lifted his injured wing. Devon froze, ready to duck, but he only tucked it around her like a shield.
He was still protecting her.
She took a steadying breath.
