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)
Good.
I watch her go with grim satisfaction. Azar is taking her away to regroup and decide upon a new plan.
For now, though, my Emma is safe.
I turn to my human, nuzzling her. Her hair smells of dust and she’s panting and sweaty, her eyes wide. There’s a faint scent of fear on her, but she seems more confused than anything. “What just happened? Why were her eyes gray?”
Azar has her mind.
Emma’s eyes widen. “I knew it! And was he trying to take you over, too?”
Possibly. I think he was more interested in stealing you and forcing me to come after you. The thought is a horrific one. I nose her to make sure she is all right, that she has no wounds. She does not smell of blood, so that pleases me. You should have stayed hidden, my fires.
“Right, like I’m going to sit with my thumb up my ass while she tries to kill you? Not likely.” Her hands move over my snout. “Are you okay? You have blood all over your face.”
It is not mine, I reassure her.
Her small nose wrinkles at the realization, and she looks at the smear on her hand and then wipes it on my scales. “I should have guessed.” She pats my scales. “You’re too fierce for it to be yours.”
I nose her again. I like her affection, but I worry that we cannot stay here. Gather your things. We must leave this place before Azar sends the female back.
She nods quickly. “Since we can’t fly, we’ll need to travel on the ground. Will she be able to follow your scent?”
My mate is clever. I nod. We will need to find a way to cover our trail. How, I’m not exactly sure. In the past, I would simply take to the air, but without the ability to fly, everywhere I step will leave a scent trail.
My Emma gets a devious smile on her face. “You leave that to me.”
26
ZOHR
A pained groan slips from between my teeth.
Standing on one of my wings, her hands covered in lotion, a sweaty Emma looks over at me, a hint of alarm in her thoughts. “Did I hurt you?”
Only with your scent, I tell her sourly, and concentrate on breathing through my mouth.
Laughter peals from her throat and she wipes her forehead, then returns to working on stretching the tight tendons in my wings. “Quit being such a baby. It’s only perfume.”
It is terrible. It makes my face hurt.
“It’ll hurt a lot more if Azar’s dragons find us again,” she says, her voice cheery. Her hands work over my wings, pushing hard, and I can sense her exhaustion despite her upbeat manner. She is tired, but she is determined to not give up. “How about the wings? How are they feeling?”
They ache, but I hope the ache means good things, so I ignore it. Well enough. You should rest. Do not work yourself so hard. We might need to travel again tomorrow. When she ignores my suggestion, I nip the back of her shirt and drag her off of my wing.
“Hey!” she protests. “I’m trying to help, dammit.”
You are helping, I assure her. But it will not be fixed tonight, no matter how hard you work. It is time to rest. I set her gently on the ground between my forelegs and then nose her sweet mane. I take a deep breath, wanting to savor her scent—and then choke on the perfume that overwhelms my nose.
She sighs and sits down on the ground, crossing her legs under her. “I guess you’re right.” She swipes at her arms and legs, which are covered in more of the lotion and rubs at them. “Least my skin will be soft, right?”
You are already soft, I reassure her. I want to grab her in my claws and clasp her against my scales, but I know she does not like that. My Emma does not like to feel trapped. Instead, I just nudge her with my nose again. You will rest now?
“I’ll rest,” she agrees, and flops down on her back, closing her eyes. “Glad we found this place, though.”
I send a thought of assent, though it does not matter to me where we go. I have no home here in this strange world. I do not care where I am as long as she is at my side and she is safe. As long as Emma is pleased with where we are at, I am content. Emma calls this strange building a “wholesale club.” I do not know what these things mean, but the ceiling is high and there are many boxes of human things up high that intrigue Emma. She wants to explore them tomorrow and I have promised her we will…as long as it is safe.
It has been a strange afternoon. Once the female drakoni flew off, retreating to Azar, Emma wasted no time. She put on her strange “clothing” skins, gathered her bags, and climbed onto my back. From there, she directed me where to travel. We crossed many streets, and when we found a stream full of murky, scum-covered water, she got excited. That was our way to hide our scent, she told me.