“Help them,” I urge him. “I won’t go anywhere.”
The people in the crowd murmur, and some idiot eggs the other dragon on with gleeful shouts. They’ve come for me—and there are so many gathered out there.
“Jack,” Maya calls from the edge of the crowd, waving at her brother. “We’re here. Anything we can do to help?”
Maya didn’t escape to get away from me, she only went to get her partners. She moves forward with Cora and Juniper trailing her. Surely they haven’t come to support the lynch mob. And ifthey’rehere to support me, maybe others are, too.
I just don’t know how to tell friend from foe.
“Ward,” Ty warns the other dragon as he joins Jack and Aiden on the porch. “You don’t want to do this right now.”
Oh, so the attacker is none other than Mr. Devlin Ward, the grumpy man who always scowls at me at the grocery store. Aiden told me he’d run against him in the election for clan leader.
The older dragon now seems to be making a second attempt at beating Aiden. Or maybe he’s trying to get through Aiden to get to me. I’m a witch, yes, but I’m pretty sure I’m flammable. If a jet of flames hit me, I’d be roasted in seconds. Instinctively, I move back a step. But no matter how dangerous this situation turns, I can’t leave the men to fight my battles for me.
Ward launches himself forward, and Aiden retaliates, defending the porch with vicious blows of his strong forelegs. His broad crimson wings flare wide to protect Jack and Ty from a stream of fire, then he slashes his talons over the older dragon’s neck. Droplets of dark blood fly through the air. Ward bellows, his large eyes open wide and manic in the light shining from the porch.
With a leap, he grabs the porch railing with one huge clawed paw and tears off a chunk, sending splinters flying. Ty and Jack shout in alarm. The porch sags underneath them. The older dragon jumps back, his tail lashing out. A thud, and Maya flies through the air, her body colliding with the trunk of a fir tree at the edge of the clearing.
Everyone freezes. The effect of that sound would be almost comical if it wasn’t so horrible.
Ward swivels around, his wings flapping. His bulk shields whatever is happening from our view, but he visibly flinches back, then retreats several steps. Shudders rack his large body, and golden sparks race down his tail as he slowly shifts back to his human form. Within a minute, a naked man crouches on the grass in front of the demolished porch, and behind him…
“Maya!” Jack’s shout pierces the silence that has fallen.
He vaults over the broken railing and races to where his sister’s crumpled form lies on the ground. Cora sobs, on her knees beside her, and Juniper is calling someone on the phone, her voice urgent.
Aiden shifts, his change rolling over him in seconds. He’s naked, too, the remains of his clothes strewn in tatters all over the porch.
“How is she?” he demands.
The gathered crowd is completely silent. No one moves as their clan leader strides down to where Cora is now checking over Maya’s prone body.
“That fucker,” Jack shouts. He stands, facing Ward. “I’ll fuckingkillyou!”
He launches himself at Ward, but Ty’s there to intercept him. “No, man. Think! This won’t help Maya. We need to help her.”
Jack lets himself be dragged back, and both he and Ty shuck their sweaters to cover Maya.
“Nurse MacLeod’s on the way.” Juniper drops to her knees in the grass. “She says not to move her in case her spine’s injured.”
Aiden swears and turns to Ward. “You fucking idiot. Is this what you wanted?” He hasn’t put on clothes, and his body vibrates with tension. “If you’re still in the village at sunrise, I’ll have you arrested for attempted murder. You’ll spend the rest of your miserable life rotting in some human prison.”
Ward’s head snaps up in indignation. “I want another vote. You’re not fit to be our leader.”
A low growl rumbles from Aiden’s throat. “Do I need to fucking repeat myself?”
For a moment, I think Ward will argue with him. Then the older man’s shoulders hunch, and he slinks away into the darkness. Several villagers leave behind him, their forms melding with the shadows.
Aiden faces them, his beautiful features harsh in the yellow light streaming from the porch. “And you. Don’t think I’ll forget that you came out here to lynch an innocent woman. Are you happy now?” He points at Maya’s near-lifeless body.
More people leave, some muttering quietly among themselves. I’m frozen to the spot, too freaked out to move. It’s one thing to witness a man turn into a sea dragon when he’s friendly and wants to take you out for a swim, but what happened here was a stark reminder of their dangerous nature. These people are mythologicalmonsterscapable of doing serious harm.
Then Jack casts a look in my direction. “Skye!”
And I run to him as fast as I can, jumping over fallen debris and landing next to him with a slide. Maybe I’m mad—maybe I should run away from this place—but I can’t. This village has become my home in the past months, and it doesn’t matter that some of its inhabitants don’t want me here.Thesepeople do. They showed up for me. And I’ll do everything I can to help them.
“What do you need me to do?” I ask. “Should we get a stretcher, maybe?”
