Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
To her surprise, though, the Drake didn't burn the stupid guards to a crisp. Instead, the curving claws of its forepaw closed around her gently but firmly like the bars of a cage. Then he flapped his vast, bat-like wings, causing a wind so strong it blew most of the guards over like bowling pins when someone makes a strike.
The wings flapped a few more times and then, suddenly, they were rising into the air. Addie gasped and fell back against the mattress-sized palm. Looking up, she could see the vast frame of the skylight set in the stone ceiling above getting closer at an alarming rate.
But what about the glass? she thought. What about—
Her thoughts were interrupted as the top of the Drake’s head broke through the red and blue glass that covered the skylight. Suddenly multicolored shards were raining down on her. The Drake’s claws blocked the bigger pieces but the smaller ones were like daggers falling on her from above.
Addie was able to get her hands up to cover her face but she could feel her arms and the rest of her body—which was mostly naked since the wind had blown her black cloak open—getting cut and sliced all over.
She gasped and cried out in pain but she couldn’t move—the Drake was flying upward so fast now that gravity pinned her to his palm, making her unable to do anything but try to shield her face with her hands.
Then they were past the skylight and out into the twilight sky of Crimson Moon. But still the Drake flew upward.
Addie began to feel faint and cold. The world was so far away now and the air was getting thinner. The g-forces caused by their upward ascent made her dizzy. Then the freezing wind ripped the black cloak right off her body, whirling it away into the purple sky.
“Please, Drake!” she heard herself moaning, not even knowing if the huge creature could hear her. “Please, just take me to the ship and put me down! Put me…down.”
The last sentence started as a shout…and faded to a whisper. The wind pressure and cold were too much for her. Though she tried to stay conscious to see where they were going, Addie couldn't manage it. Black flowers began to bloom in her field of vision. They spread and spread until they filled the entire sky.
Then everything was gone and Addie knew no more.
30
DRAGO
Drago woke up naked in the landing field right beside his ship. He felt shaky and weak and confused—just as he had after the Drake had taken over his body during his manhood ceremony.
My Drake!
Suddenly he remembered feeling his other half coming out and not being able to stop him. The Drake had been determined to fight the giant spider that had been menacing Addison…and that was the last thing he remembered.
But where was his Fated Mate? Looking around frantically, Drago finally located her lying several meters away from him in the tall grass of the field. He staggered over, praying that she wasn’t injured or dead. Oh Goddess, if his Drake had hurt her…
She was lying motionless on the grass, apparently unconscious. At least she wasn’t dead, though—he could see her chest rising and falling. But her soft, curvy, naked body was covered in cuts and scratches.
Drago was horrified.
Goddess, what did he do to her? How did she get injured?
He searched his memory but it was a blank. Clearly he had blacked out, just as he had the first time his Drake had come out.
Guilt filled him. Once again he had lost control of the beast that lived inside him and once again someone innocent had paid the price for his weakness. Only this time, it was the woman he loved—his Fated Mate—who had been hurt. And he had been too ineffectual to protect her.
Grimly, he knelt beside her. There were some glass shards in her hair which he brushed carefully away. Maybe that was the answer to her many cuts and slices. Drago wanted badly to heal her—but he didn’t know if he deserved to. He had failed her in so many ways—first he’d been unable to protect her from the giant spider and then he couldn’t even protect her from his own Drake! Would she ever forgive him?
Whether she did or not, Drago knew he was never going to forgive himself.
31
ADDIE
Addie woke up to find that she was being carried in someone’s arms, but they weren’t walking very steadily. In fact, it was the swaying, staggering gait that had woken her.
She looked up blurrily and saw Drago above her. There was a sneer of effort on his face and a look of concentration in his golden eyes. He looked like a man who was carrying a heavy burden up a hill and was determined to get to the top, no matter how difficult it was.