Morgan roared, spitting fire at the red dragon's face, clawing at him, and, startled by Morgan's ferocity, he pulled away as Morgan harried him through the sky.
Intent on his foe, Morgan didn't realize they had come in a large circle until he saw the tents below them again. He didn't see how low they had flown until the red dragon landed right next to Harper.
They were close enough that Morgan could make out Harper's bright and panicked gaze, the way the child she held clung to her. He could see how the red dragon's claws dug up the soil like a great earth mover and how his tail lashed out like a mad snake, knocking over a large pavilion with one swipe.
Mine. My mate. Mine, mine!
Fury and love and fear came out in Morgan's bellow, and he fell from the sky like a stone.
Chapter Nineteen
∞∞∞
Not even the impending danger could take Harper away from the heart-pounding excitement of flying. She had flown by dragon before, but being in a car towed by Reese was entirely different from being held so securely in Morgan's claws. She stared up at the dawning sky, and then she was looking down over the ridge and the forest below them. For a moment, she forgot all about the danger and only reveled in the power and the beauty of being with Morgan in this strange and wondrous moment.
When the roar from the rogue came again, Morgan spiraled down to drop her on the campsite where there were people running every which way. She looked up to see Morgan's head craning back and forth, looking for help, but she shook her head.
“Go! Do what you need to do, I'll be fine.”
She might have waited from him to answer, but then out of the corner of her eye, she saw a little girl, small and dressed in a nightgown that made her look like a ghost. She was sitting flat on the ground, crying her eyes out, and Harper started for her, not looking at Morgan.
A moment later, she felt a gust of wind that told her that he had taken wing again. She spared a moment of fear and desperate love for her mate, and then she was swooping down to scoop the little girl up in her arms.
“Mama,” the little girl sobbed. “I want my mama.”
“Oh, it's all right, it's all right, kiddo, we'll find her...”
One moment she was holding a little girl, and the next the child was out of her arms, slippery as a fish and running for it, crying for her mother in a low and panicked voice. With a yelped curse, Harper took off after her, even as the mountains echoed with the roaring of two furious dragons.
Have to get the kid, have to get to safety, Morgan can take of himself, of course he can…
If she thought about Morgan too long, his wounded side, the way his human body hit the ground so cruelly after the previous two flights, she would freeze. She couldn't afford that. Right now, all she could do was catch that kid, and by God, she was going to do it.
She put on an extra burst of speed, grabbing the girl up in her arms, and this time, she squeezed tight.
“We're going to find your mother. Don't run again,” she ordered.
“You're not my mama!”
“No, I'm not, but we'll find her, I promise,” Harper said, looking around.
For all the little girl's protests, she clung to Harper, chubby arms thrown around Harper's neck, and it would do for now. A roar made her look up and Harper stared at the two dragons that met in battle in the dawn sky over her head, suddenly closer than they were before.
There was no doubt in her mind that it was the red dragon that had attacked them twice before, and now for the first time she could see how much bigger he was than Morgan. Where Morgan was lean and graceful, almost serpentine in his shape, the newcomer was like a tank, all coiled muscle and menace. He lashed out with tooth and claw, striking at Morgan who seemed intent on staying just out of range.
Harper tore her eyes away from the primal sight, and she started to follow in the direction taken by the people around her. They were retreating back into the caves, she realized, and she started to run. The caves, if there were places where people could fit but dragons couldn't, would be the safest option open to them in this remote location.
She was well behind most of them, however, and then, just before she gained the trees, the red dragon landed in front her, crashing through the branches, heat and fire and clawed terror filling her head with panic.
No, don't panic, don't panic, don't panic…
She skipped back just in time to miss the slash of the red dragon's tail, and then she was sprinting back the way she had come, holding the girl in her arms tightly.
If he breathes fire, maybe I can protect her, shield her…
Then there was a terrible thud, and she looked back just in time to see Morgan land, facing the red dragon and putting himself right between them and the rogue.
There was an instant, just an instant, when Harper glimpsed a flash of copper, Morgan's startled gaze, and she knew that he saw her. Then he was facing the rogue, head lowered and tail thrashing as he formed the most daunting barrier he could between her and the enemy.
Harper would have run farther, but the red dragon roared and struck the ground with his tail, sending an unbelievable tremor through the earth. It was enough to bring Harper to her knees, and the little girl in her arms squalled, hanging on even tighter. By the time she made it back to her feet, Morgan had pushed the red dragon back. Now he had the rogue crouched down to the ground, his wings out
