Page 57 of Red and Her Dragons (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 4)

I couldn’t fly. I couldn’t use my magic. I could barely even think straight.

Burning fire entered my other wing. I flapped it and quickly glanced at what was left of my poor, tattered wing. These people wanted to disable me completely before killing me.

That was just cruel.

But a strange sensation started to take hold. My heart started to race, and my lungs didn’t want to work. Panic filled me. I started lashing out because I knew it wouldn’t be long before I was a goner. And I was going to fight to my last breath. Enchanted weapons or not, I wasn’t going to make taking me out easy on them.

Sharp pain entered my side. Blinding, searing pain burned through me. Something wet and sticky poured over my scales. Whatever weapon they used on me had wounded me pretty bad. Really, bad.

The humans wouldn’t let up. I started to lose my grip on reality, and my consciousness started to fade. I blinked my eyes and shook my head as I continued to fight tooth and nail to make it through.

But the sad state of affairs? I was becoming weaker by the second, and I might as well have been trying to tickle them versus slapping the life out of them.

As the black rim surrounding my vision started to grow, it occurred to me the humans had done extensive research of our kind to be able to take out two of us. So far, the only one I hadn’t heard was Bret. But… and this was a big but, there was a possibility that he didn’t have enough time to roar.

I hoped he was okay. A world without my brothers would be a harder, much colder world to live in.

But it didn’t change the fact that our enemies had done enough research to know exactly how to disarm and disable a dragon to kill it. With the evidence to support my theory, things didn’t bode well for me and my team. But I found peace in joining Marcus on the other side… that was if he had died.

If not, I hope he was giving the remaining people still fighting hell. Lots of it.

Things were looking grim. My resolve to stay up on my feet was slipping. I was losing consciousness by the second. I let out a long and painful roar. I didn’t want to die, but if I had to in order for others, especially shifters, to live… In that case, my death would be a good one. I couldn’t think of a better reason to die.

Just as my vision started to fade, Emily’s blurred form jumped in front of me.

I tried to step forward, to get her out of harm’s way, but I stumbled and nearly bumped into her. My heart pounded harder. She shouldn’t have come. I couldn’t stand the thought of her standing in the way of the ones trying to kill me. She was going to get herself hurt.

I wanted to fight against my failing body and keep her safe. I would gladly give my life to make sure she lived. I tried to take another step forward and dizziness overwhelmed me.

Fear worked its way through my system as the terrifying fact echoed through my mind. I was dying, and she had put herself between me and my killers.

I tried to blink away the dark rim that was taking more and more of my vision by the second, but it seemed to have done me no use. Just when I would get my vision in focus, it would blur again.

Then I watched as her form moved and held what breath I had left. She faced the humans and lifted up her hands. A bright light grew from her fists, swallowing everything in sight, and stole away her image. As the light faded, so did all the sounds around me.

A distinct sensation of falling blanketed me as darkness fell all around me. I exhaled the breath from my lungs and surrendered to the dark.

23

EMILY

I didn’t know what had come over me. But whatever it was that I had done, it incinerated the humans trying to kill Jax. That was the final straw for the human army. Despite all of Collin’s demands and threats, every last remaining member of his army left him. With nowhere else to turn to, he sulked into the shadows.

“This isn’t over. I’ll be back, and when I do, I’ll erase shifters from the world,” he said as he faded into the trees.

After ensuring the bear shifters had things covered and Cassie was doing fine, Marcus carried me back to the castle. Bret carried Jax’s human form. He had lost a lot of blood, and there was no telling whether or not he was going to make it.

Bret had surprisingly come out of the battle with little more than scratches and bruises. Apparently, no one took him seriously. Or maybe it was the fact that he blended so well into the shadows that he used them to his advantage.

Whatever the reason, I was grateful he was okay. And Marcus too.

A couple of hours after the fight was over, we were back at the castle, and Marcus was hard at work, trying to save Jax’s life. The few hours I had spent waiting in silence with Bret were the longest I had ever had to endure in my life.

“I should probably go back and help clean up and make sure all the fires don’t become bigger ones,” Bret said after a while.

“You’re seriously leaving?” I asked, shocked.

He smirked at me, but it was full of sadness. “Jax is my brother, and I don’t do so well with bad news. It’s probably best that I keep myself busy.”

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