Page 4 of Stryker
She didn’t stop walking. “So they kill me, or I starve to death. I’ll take my chances.”
I was wrong. She was absolutely on the stupid side of stubborn. “You said you take care of your parents.” I stepped over a molehill poking up out of the rich grasses and got in front of her. Planting both hands on her shoulders, I locked gazes with her. “If you die, who will take care of them?”
She seemed to pause. Then tears sparkled in her eyes. “What choice do I have?” Her voice was barely more than a whisper. “Either we starve, or I get taken out by hit men. I’m damned if I do, damned if I don’t.” Her scent filled my nose and I inhaled. Something sweet and juicy like fresh fruit emanated from her and I longed to lean in and really breathe her in. It wasn’t body wash; her natural scent just sang to my senses.
She shrugged off my hands. “Look, I’m glad I met you. Thank you for saving me. But I need to save myself now.”
“And how are you going to do that?” I threw the words at her retreating back as she walked away from me. Her shoulders squared and she stopped in place. A moment passed, then she turned to me, her eyes red rimmed and her nose pinker than it had been a moment before.
“I’ll carry my dad’s pistol.”
“Do you know how to shoot?” She didn’t stand a chance against these guys. She’d pull out the gun and get shot a dozen times before she could even bring it up to aim at one of them.
She shook her head. “I’m a fast learner. Clever, remember?” She tapped her temple with her index and middle finger, but the gesture looked more like she was pantomiming putting the gun to her head instead. The mental image hit me like I was reading the future.
If I walked away, she’d be dead by the end of the day.
If I helped her, I’d risk everything. The brotherhood, my job, my own life.
But could I live with myself knowing I’d sent her to her death?
“Where do you live?” My words were gruff, and she eyed me sideways, like she didn’t want to tell me that. Smart girl. She knew when she was staring danger in the face. “I’ll get you home.”
“You don’t think people will see the damn dragon?” She arched an eyebrow at me.
I shook my head. One rule of the brotherhood; always use cloaked flight. It was a skill we all possessed that had kept us from being found out for centuries. “No one will see us, I swear.”
She studied me. “I live off Fifth and Jackson.”
I shifted, feeling the tearing sensations as I grew. Every scale tore from my flesh and I gritted my teeth. The bullets had left bruises in my hide, but I was whole and mostly unharmed. I lowered my face to her, and she stared at me, then reached out with one hand like she was going to touch me.
I pulled back, the instinct to protect my soft spots—my eyes and snout—taking over. She didn’t back down; instead she waited for me to be still, then crept closer, hand still outstretched. Her fingers trailed up my nose, then her whole hand flattened to my scales and her sweet, juicy sent filled my lungs.
With a look of wonder, she stared at me, her lips parted. Her hands moved over my face, then toward my chest. I stayed put as she stroked my scales, then touched my claws.
I jumped back and she stood there a moment, looking confused before turning back to me. Her eyes adjusted and I knew she’d been unable to track my fast motion. I lifted off and flew in the air over her head.
She watched me, turning in a circle before I cloaked. “Where did you go?” Her soft voice prompted me to uncloak myself. “That’s why we won’t be seen, isn’t it?” A smile tugged the corners of her lips.
I landed before her, shifted swiftly. “You say nothing of this.” I snorted and she stared at me, a confused look on her face as her eyebrows knitted together.
“Of what?” She peered up at me, perplexed.
“Aboutme. No one would believe you anyway.”
Her brows scrunched closer over a crease in her forehead. “Why would I betray you? You saved my life.”
I hesitated. I hadn’t expected that response. She smelled like she told the truth and I wondered if our paths crossing meant something more. I wasn’t the type to believe in fate, but I’d been roped into this divide and conquer method by another member of the brotherhood. I’d been tailing those thugs looking for someone else. Instead, I’d found her. Saved her. And something about her gripped me and refused to let go.
She didn’t deserve to die. I could smell the good rolling off her. The honesty, the kindness. I made a decision; I was going to save her. Without payment. No matter how much it pissed off my dragon brotherhood.
I’d already lost everything once.
I wasn’t going to lose this woman too.
Not when I had the power to save her.
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