Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 86059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
He turns his head. “Leave us.”
I expect her to sass him again, but she gets up in a furious swirl of skirts and glares at him. “We’re going to talk about this later.”
“I am sure we will,” he says dryly, his attention fixed on me. The door shuts and Melina leaves, and his shoulders sag slightly, as if with frustration and disappointment. Then, he gestures at me again. “Go on. I promise you I have no nefarious plans for this information. I simply wish to understand.”
“Understand what?”
“Why the dragon has chosen you, of course.”
I sputter, clutching the blanket higher against my chest. “No one’s chosen me for anything—”
“Don’t play dumb with me. Which dragon is he?”
I frown at him. “What do you mean, which dragon is he?”
“I mean, what is his name?”
I blink, astounded. “It has a name?”
“Don’t you?” he snaps. “Enough with these foolish games. I grow weary of your lies.”
“I’m not lying,” I protest. I haven’t even had a chance to lie to him yet. “Why would I know a dragon’s name? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You are not bonded to this dragon?”
What on earth does he mean by bonded? “I don’t see how.”
“He dropped a head of dead cattle in the courtyard minutes ago,” Azar says, voice crisp and succinct. “He’s trying to feed you.”
“So?”
“Do you not grasp what that means?”
“You feed me. What does that mean?”
He makes an irritated sound in his throat at my belligerence. “Have you mated with this dragon?”
I gape at him, utterly shocked. “He’s a dragon, you pervert.”
Azar curls his lip, ever so slightly. “I suppose that answers whether or not he has shown you his two-legged form.”
I…don’t know what he’s talking about. “What do you mean, two-legged form?”
“You truly are clueless, aren’t you?” He takes off his sunglasses and then blinks his eyes slowly at me.
I gasp at the sight. Lord Azar doesn’t have normal eyes. He has eyes like the dragon, full of swirling colors and motion. “You…you’re one of them?”
“Hardly.” His lip curls. “I am of a superior people, but we came over at the same time. The drakoni served me. I simply want them back. I want them to protect our new home and guard it. That’s why I gathered so many human females and kept them safe.” He gazes at me with those odd eyes and smiles, and his teeth are square—too square, maybe—and almost human but there’s still something not right about him. “And I have fed you and kept you safe and now it’s time for you to earn your keep.”
“What do you want?”
“Something simple. I need you to befriend your dragon friend.” He smiles again.
12
RACHEL
I shrink back on my cot, as if I can somehow get away from this unfolding nightmare that is my life. “What do you mean? How am I supposed to befriend a dragon?”
Azar gestures at me. “You are already on your way. He thinks of you as his. Encourage that. Welcome his attentions.”
I think of how the dragon cradled me in his claws. Crooned to me. And I think of how I popped him across the face and ran for the hills, which just made him mad enough to dump Brady’s body here. “I’m pretty sure I can’t be his friend. He’s a wild animal.”
“He is not. He is a thinking creature, as intelligent as you or me.” His chin lifts ever so slightly. “Well, closer to you than to me. But he is no mindless beast.”
I ignore that little jab. I’m too curious at what he’s saying. “You mean he’s a person?”
Azar nods. “He is trapped in battle-form right now, the form that you see. There is something in this world that pollutes the minds of the drakoni and makes them violent and impossible to reason with. Back in my world, they are a physical people, but they are not senseless like they are here. It is my mission to save them.” His expression takes on a pious look that I don’t entirely trust. “In saving them, we can save both your world and mine.”
I lick my lips, uncertain. “What do you mean, your world? Polluted minds? Battle-form?”
“Do not play stupid.” He gestures at his eyes. “I blend with your people but you have realized I am not one of you.”
“So you’re a dragon like that one?” I half-gesture with my hand. “The one that’s after me?”
He stiffens. “I am not like them, no. I am their lord and they are my servants, but we communicate in much the same way.” He taps his temple. “Your people speak with words and voices. Mine speak through mental links and a touching of minds. It is that which has been corrupted in this world when we came through the Rift.”
Psychic dragons from outer space? Now I’ve heard everything. “You’ll pardon me if I use the term ‘bullshit’ right about now.”