Page 56 of Dragon Thief of New York
Kat
Thishasgottobe the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. Heat permeates the air as I get close to the volcano. I can still hear the roar of the fight. Otto and Damian are outnumbered. I shouldn’t have left them, but this is the challenge, and if I don’t attempt it, Lincoln will die.
I speed toward the top of the mountain, fighting the currents, the burning heat. Without warning, something grabs hold of my tail. I’m yanked backwards. I breathe fire at my attacker and charge forward the moment his teeth release me.
The volcano looms at an impossible height. The air thins, and it feels like I’m flying through mud, thick and heavy and hot.
The other dragon is trailing right behind me, and a second joins us, racing me to the top. This one is a beautiful red. Just asI reach the rim of the mountain, they open their mouth and scream.
The sound splits my ears and my consciousness. I can’t think, and for a moment, I fall backwards. But then I remember Lincoln. I’m doing this for Lincoln. There’s another reason, too. Something… no, someone, I can’t remember.
There’s a sharp, excruciating pinch of pain in my chest. My right wing goes numb. But I won’t let it end like this. With a final flap of my wings, I push myself just high enough to clear the edge of the volcano before I plummet into the lava.
Chapter 32
Otto
IcaughtDamianjustbeforehe hit the water, just before the air split with the sound of a siren’s scream.
I’ve heard that sound before. Last time, it burst my eardrums and nearly stopped my heart. I would have fallen to my death if my friend hadn’t caught me and saved my life.
This time, I’m far enough away that it isn’t lethal, but the pain is still excruciating. And the fear is worse. The siren’s scream is coming from the mountain, and Kat’s there.
If she were already a siren, it wouldn’t hurt her. If she were already in the lava, it might shield her. But I can see the speck of her form, hovering just above the mountain. And she’s falling.
No!!!I roar.
It’s as if everyone is holding their breath. The fight stops, and everyone looks toward the mountain. Damian’s prone body, shifted back into his human form, hangs across my back. I look over my shoulder at him and find him conscious again, looking toward the mountain with the same anxious fear that squeezes my chest like a vise.
Did she make it? Were we too late?
The High Priestess said there were three outcomes, but I suddenly realize that’s not true. There’s a fourth, much more terrible option. One that takes Kat from us forever.
Thick tears cloud my vision. The siren’s song cuts out. The dragons surrounding us from the Ruby Diamond horde huff with what sounds like laughter. They swoop down toward the entrance to the temple. Most likely to report their victory, celebrate, and nurse their wounded. They don’t need to kill us. They’ve already won. With just the threat of their siren, they can continue to maintain dominance over the other hordes, as they have for the past century.
I need to get Damian inside the temple. He’s bleeding heavily and needs urgent care. But I stay where I am, hovering on a breeze that draws me closer to the top of the mountain. Unable to turn away.
She can’t be gone. She can’t.
Damian lets out a gut-wrenching sob that shatters my world. She should have come out by now. If it had worked, she would have come out by now, right?
I force myself to fly down the mountain toward the temple, numb to each flap of my wings.
And then a sound meets my ears, a sound sweeter than any I’ve ever heard before. A song without words, pure emotion flowing from each note. I’m drawn like a fish on a hook. I turn and see her.
“K-kat?” Damian gasps.
The most stunning dragon I’ve ever seen—blood red—swoops down to us. She rubs her neck against mine, tangles our tails, and breathes over my back onto our injured mate. A breath, a song, and he shifts. Healed.
I had no idea sirens could do that.
Damian flaps his wings just above me, and we tangle together. I don’t know where they end and I begin. It’s impossible to fly, so we let ourselves fall, wrapped around our sweet siren mate. Just before we hit the water, her song crescendos, and we break apart.
Kat throws a toothy smile over her shoulder, and then she’s racing away from the mountain, away from us. Overcome by instinct, Damian and I give chase. She flies north until she lands on an iceberg, claws scraping the surface as she hits the groundhard and slides. Damian and I are on her in a heartbeat, circling, stalking.
She shifts, laughing with delight as she takes her human form. Her eyes meet mine, twinkling with mirth. “If you catch me, you can have me however you want.” Her gaze shifts to Damian. “Maybe the way you took me in the shower?”
When did they have sex in the shower? Where was I when that happened? Oh… Oh. It worked.
