He laughed. “Do you think I am without any protection?”
She looked around him and sure enough the air seemed to shimmer around the edges. Maddie noticed though that none of the guards had this same distinction.
“Perhaps you do. But they don’t.”
He shrugged. “There will always be more to recruit. I may never find you again though.”
The doctor nodded his head and Maddie yelped at a pinch in her arm. She looked down at a small dart.
Wonderful.
And now she was done being nice. Squeezing her hands tight, Maddie felt within herself. Transformation spells wouldn’t fix this, although it could make the guards less of an issue. As the surrounding air grew warmer and warmer, her anger grew with it.
“Fine. Have it your way.”
Maddie mumbled the only spell she could think of that would help protect some of them. She wasn’t a murderer.
Kal, get us out of here in three, two …one.
As if they were one, Kal half-shifted, breathing fire into the space, forcing everyone to scramble. She enchanted the only exit the doctor could get to, a wall of fire blocking them in as Kal grabbed her hand.
“Run!” she said.
The voice of the doctor echoed against the roar of flames. “You’ll need me soon enough.”
She didn’t care to think what he meant as Kal shifted back to human and held the door at the opposite end of the fire.
She sprinted through, taking the flights of stairs as quickly as her borrowed energy would allow.
They reached the top and pushed through the door.
Tufts of smoke billowed out as they stepped into the charred remnants of a room. She winced only to realize it didn’t burn or sting her eyes.
“Keep walking. You’ll be fine. My magic won’t let the fire harm you,” said Kal.
They trudged through remains of a charred building.
“Is this you? Or was this someone else? The other one the doctor was screaming about?”
She felt the palm of Kal’s hand against her lower back. Guiding her through the destruction.
“Eadric and most likely the female we encountered.”
The roof, already collapsed in a few feet ahead, allowed the billows of smoke out and moonlight to sprinkle in.
“How long have I been here?”
He grunted. “Long enough. This way.”
Leading her through what was once a wall she supposed, her feet crunched against gravel. Maddie remembered none of this.
“Move aside while I shift. I’ll fly us back.”
She blinked and his dragon appeared. Would she ever get used to this? He was magnificent.
Glancing around, she stepped towards him. “Wait. What about Eadric?”
He rolled his eyes and nodded his monstrous head.
He’s already headed back.
She nodded and put her foot on the forepaw offered, swinging her legs over his neck.
Home.
The hard, silky scales under her hands felt like home. Although the power still beat through her, she still hadn’t recovered. For the first time since she’d been taken, she allowed herself to let go. As the hard muscles of the dragon moved under her, she stopped fighting the exhaustion.
Part of her wanted to turn back, watch as the flames grow higher. She didn’t though, better to focus on her new future. Rubbing the sore spot on her arm, she tried to envision where they were headed.
Don’t worry about everything now.
Of course he heard her thoughts.
“I’ll worry if I want to.”
The dragon turned his head, one eye focused on her.
You mind your own business, she thought back.
Maddie felt his snort of defiance as his body moved under her legs.
You are my business, Mate.
The calm of him near her settled around the sting of panic from earlier. Would she ever be able to go back to Roswell, knowing these people lurked mere miles from the town? Would Roswell be safe for anyone anymore? She’d talk to the sheriff and some other witches in town when she got back, just long enough to grab the few belongings sitting in her car and leave again.
Then again, maybe it was just time to go. Perhaps he had been all they’d wanted.
She’d allow Kal to take her wherever. Mars, the moon, a new galaxy, wherever. She just needed him.
As the wind tossed her hair, she calmed and leaned in close to him.
Dreams of a place she’d never seen filtered into her head, although she swore she wasn’t sleeping. A red sky overhead. Clouds blue instead of white.
She smiled as she fell asleep, her body still not quite caught up to the day's events.
Her last thought. She enjoyed playing with fire.
15
Kal’s paws sunk into the sand as he landed beside the ship.
We’re back.
He shifted and Maddie nearly slid down his flank. Something was still wrong with her. He stopped as she adjusted herself, and he noticed the movement.
His brothers slowly walked out of the ship one by one.
“Is this her?” asked Deo.
Kal huffed in response. Stretching out his long neck to reach back. He nudged her with his snout. Maddie stirred as if she’d been asleep already. He watched her sit up straight and blink at him.
I’m going to shift back, can you stand?
Maddie looked around.
These are my brothers. They won’t hurt you.
He smelled the air, pulling in the scent of her as she climbed down. Something smelled wrong, but neither he nor his dragon could figure out what or why. She wasn’t afraid, though. At least there was that.
She staggered, and he shot out a paw. Her weakness pulsed through him. Damn, he hated to see her this way. Hopefully, now that she was with him, she’d fully recover. Maybe he could finally understand what had happened.
His dragon watched her. They both studied Maddie as she grappled with her own balance. Once Kal was certain she wasn’t going to fall, he shifted. Seconds passed before he could touch her again.
The moment human hands replaced his claws, he wrapped her in his arms and pulled her against him. Only then did he look back at his brothers.
“Yes. This is Maddie. Maddie this is, well, everyone.”
Leaning into him, she steadied. Her pulse thrummed through him, stronger at least than he’d felt at the strange compound they’d just destroyed.
“Wow. You’re
