Page 95 of Throne of Ice and Blood
I lift my shoulders in another shrug. “So that’s why I never?—”
A yelp rips from my lips and cuts off my sentence as Draven grabs my arm and yanks me to the side.
A fraction of a second later, an arrow shoots past in the space where my head used to be. It grazes the outside of Draven’s arm since he also leaned to the side when he pulled me out of the way, and it produces a faint scraping sound as it skids off his dragon scale armor. Wooden cracking follows it as the arrow smacks into the boulder a short distance behind us.
I whirl around to face our attackers while dread pulses through me. By Mabona, don’t tell me that Kath and the others spread that rumor in order to lure Draven here so that they could try to kill him.
But to my shock, it’s not humans I’m faced with when I spin around.
It’s six dragon shifters in purple armor.
Panic clangs inside my skull as I stare at them. And more importantly, at the six drawn bows that are pointed straight at us.
I gasp as six arrows shoot through the air.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Storm winds barrel across the mountainside as Draven summons his magic and blasts the arrows out of the air. But before they have even finished clattering against the rocks, the six men from the Purple Dragon Clan loose another volley of arrows.
“Fucking hell,” Draven growls.
Dark clouds billow around him as he sends another blast of wind straight at the attackers. They duck down behind jutting rocks but shoot more arrows before Draven has even managed to knock the previous ones aside. I leap to the side as one almost gets all the way to us before another storm wind manages to blow it aside.
“Just shift into a dragon and fry them!” I snap as I scramble upright again.
“I can’t,” Draven forces out between clenched teeth while he sends winds barreling across the mountainside. “If I shift, they will shift.” He jerks his chin in the direction of the palace. “And thentheywill see it.”
“What—”
“Just trust me!”
There it is again.Trust me. And for some strange reason, I do.
So instead of arguing, I jerk my chin down in a nod of acknowledgment.
Lightning cracks into stone as Draven shoots consecutive bolts at the men hiding behind the rocks. Their yelps are drowned out by the rushing winds as they throw themselves to the side. Five of them make it. One doesn’t. His body collapses to the ground, his limbs twitching uncontrollably after being hit by a lightning strike.
The other five scream something that sounds like a furious battle cry.
Wood clatters against stone as they toss their bows to the side and sprint towards us while drawing their swords.
Draven lets out another curse and pulls his own sword from the scabbard strapped to his spine. He flicks a glance at me.
I brace myself for the moment I know is coming. The moment when he orders me to run and hide.
“You owe me nothing.” He slides his gaze back to our attackers and drops into a battle stance. “But any help you can provide will be invaluable.”
It takes me a second to process his words. Help. He’s asking me to help.
I broke down and cried and had a panic attack not an hour ago, and yet he still doesn’t see me as weak. He knows how dangerous and powerful I can be and he’s asking me to help him fight.
That thought sends a pulse of steady warmth through my soul, and I feel like my whole chest is expanding.
Dark clouds thrash in the rushing winds and lightning cracks through the air around us while I call up my own magic. Draven launches himself at the first attacker. And I go with him.
Even though I don’t have a weapon, I dart to the side and swing as if I’m attacking the guy with a massive sword. He whips his gaze between me and Draven, who is swinging an actual sword at him, and confusion pulses across his whole face.
I shove my magic at it, turning it into a wildfire.
