Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Again, the female sends her thoughts out to me, and her strange gray eyes whirl. I want more than anything to connect with her—or Azar—and tell him that I know what he is up to. That I am aware of him, that I will never let him have my Emma. But memories flash through my mind—of others who have lost all sense of who they are, carrying the hated Salorians on their backs as they stare ahead with cold, dead gray eyes.
Not again. I do not remember, but I sense that in the past, I have been where she is. I know I cannot go back to that. My thoughts are hazy, but I know it is wrong. It is bad. I will lose all sense of self.
I will become like this female—mindless. And I have been crazed for far too long, already.
I resist her mental entreaties and lunge forward, snapping at her. Vague memories of fighting tactics surge into my mind. Of tricking your opponent with feints. Of dodging and moving low when she moves high. Of feigning injuries to force your opponent to lower his guard and then moving in for the kill. Of training amongst other warriors and long-forgotten drills. Flashes of this wing back through my mind and I use these old memories. When she lunges for me with her claws, hissing, I slide to the side, then ram her with my bulk. I knock her off her feet and she stumbles backward. Her wings flare out to catch herself and re-balance, and that is when I use my claws to strike.
I go for the root of each wing, clawing and snarling. I know to dig where the scales part to expose tender flesh, just as Azar knew where to place the spikes on my vest to destroy my own wings. I remember that it is dishonorable to do such a thing to another, but my mate is in danger and I care nothing about honor when Emma’s safety is at stake.
The female bugles distress, releasing a torrent of flames in my direction. She tries to roll her body to protect her wings from me, but my talons are locked onto her and I gouge at her flesh with tooth and claw.
She gives another bellow of pain as I connect, and I can feel delicate membranes tear apart underneath my grip. Furious, she snarls at me and lashes out, trying to bite at my throat.
I shift my weight to avoid her, and then the surface we fight on crumbles and gives way. The roof collapses and we fall through into the store. Dust and paper and broken wood surround us in a cloud.
Emma!
I struggle to get to my feet, to right my body. At my side, the attacking female does, as well.
I’m okay, comes the thought. Look after yourself! She’s biting at you!
The female pounces onto my back a moment later, snarling, and goes for the roots of my wings. I roll my body, trying to prevent her from grabbing hold. Over and over we roll, trying to get the advantage on the other. My claws slide off her scales only to have hers do the same. She snaps her teeth at me in a warning, her mind pressuring my own to accept her call, but there is no recognition in her blank gray eyes, only madness. There will be no stopping her until one of us dies.
She lunges for my throat, and I duck my head, and then we flip over again. This time, the female lands on top of me and her jaws close around the back of my neck. My scales are heavily plated here, but it is a warning and request for submission.
That will not happen. Not this day.
A book comes sailing through the air and smacks the female on the nose. “Leave him alone, bitch!”
Shocked, I realize that it is my small human mate who attacks. Another book flies across the room and hits the female, and she lifts her head. A moment later, she bounds off of me and heads for Emma, who has another book in her hands and readies to throw it.
No! If she takes Emma…
I snarl and lunge at the female’s wing, tearing at the wound I created. She bellows in pain and retreats, and I move between Emma and the female protectively. She will not touch my human.
I send out another surge of warning through my thoughts, increasing the force of them. Emma is mine.
The female pauses, and the gray flickers out of her eyes. They sink to black for a moment, and I sense that Azar’s hold has grown weak. A moment later, her eyes return to gray. The insistent call she is sending out in her thoughts disappears. She bellows another warning at me, snaps at the air, and then spreads her wings, launching herself into the sky. I note with pleasure that she struggles as she goes aloft, and I can smell her blood in the air.