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)
“You don’t believe me?” Azar gives me a look of amusement and leans back in his chair. “You mean to tell me there was no intelligence in the dragon? That when you saw him, he did not attempt to talk to you in his way? That he did not look at you in a way that spoke of more than just an animal?” He lifts his chin, indicating my bandages. “Would an animal stop that? That’s what happened, wasn’t it? He saw you get attacked and destroyed your attacker.”
I hate that he’s right. The dragon followed me. He saw Brady hurting me and killed him. He held me in his claws and licked at my bruises, trying to comfort me. Hadn’t I wondered myself if there was something more behind those swirling eyes? I shift uncomfortably in my cot. “You’re saying there’s a brain in there—a person—and he needs a friend? To help his head?”
Azar nods. “I have heard that the only way to bring their minds back from total madness is to link with a strong human one. The connection will dull out whatever is causing the chaos and insanity. It will restore him to his normal self.”
“How do you know it’s a him?”
“Only golden dragons are ‘him.’ The females are red.”
Oh. I think about the dragons on the barricade. All of them are gold with those blank gray eyes. Does that mean something? Or is it just coincidence? “So…how do I link with him? How do I do the mental bond?” This is a lot and I’m not entirely sure I believe it, but I find that I’m…curious. So much of what he’s saying—as insane as it sounds—matches up with my bizarre experience with the dragon. I can’t stop thinking about how he held me and crooned to me, as if he wanted to make me feel better.
If I can establish a bond with him, maybe we can become…friends. Or more than friends. Maybe we can both help each other. He can hunt and I can…be his friend, I guess. It seems like a one-sided sort of affair but maybe there’s more to it.
“To create a mental bond, you must link your mind to his. Since humans seem to be woefully inept at that sort of thing, I suspect the only way you can link with him is to create a mating bond.”
I recoil. He brings that up again? “I can’t mate with a dragon.”
“He is not a dragon,” Azar bites out. “He has a dragon form. You have to help him remember that he has another form, one that is almost identical to your own.” He arches a brow at me. “I should think you would be thrilled at this opportunity.”
“Why? Because I’m ugly and maimed?”
“Because it is power. A bond with him will make you special. It will raise you above the others. Doesn’t everyone want that?”
I want to tell him no. That I don’t want anything along those lines…but I’d be lying. What would it be like to have even just a fistful of power and authority in this world? To not feel as if I have to scramble and claw for every meal, every scrap, everything?
I like the idea far more than I should. I just don’t know about the whole “mating a dragon” part of it.
I eye Lord Azar skeptically. “So why are you so invested in me hooking up with a dragon?”
He spreads his hands, a benevolent expression on his face. “It hurts me that so many of my people are lost in their own minds. I want to save all that I can. I want to help him return to himself.”
I purse my lips, the expression painful thanks to my swollen mouth and bruised face. “If I help him…he’s going to be like one of the dragons here? In the fort? The ones on the barricade?” Because I don’t think I like that. There’s something awfully…wrong about them. I don’t want to become friends with a dragon just so he can turn into a zombie of some kind.
Azar shakes his head. “Not like those, no. They are under my control because they cannot be trusted within their own minds. I only manage them until they can be restored to themselves. I am stretched to my limits, though, which is why you must create a bond with your dragon on your own.”
“My” dragon. The thought’s a little alarming. “So you’re going to pimp me out because you’re overextended.”
Irritation flashes across his features. “Is that what I’m doing? Shoving you out into the street and forcing you to spread your legs for a meal? Or am I asking you to participate in your own destiny? To help with the greater good of your people? Your females exchange sex for food and safety all the time. Why is it different when I ask you?”