Page 7

The humor in his tone irritated me. If a dream monster could give a lascivious look, that’s exactly what he did.

I huffed in denial, attempting to mask the blush I felt warming my face. “Don’t change the subject.”

“Don’t worry, Sol. We can come back to that intriguing subject later,” he purred in my mind, causing a shiver to snake its way down my spine before I could fight it.

“A dragon is this ‘monstrous servant of Uriel’ you believe me to be. I shift between two forms—one is a dragon, and the other—a little less daunting for you—is the form of a fae.” he said, flaring his wings a little to illustrate his point.

I startled at the movement, sidestepping another pace, but he quickly returned them to his sides.

“You don’t need to fear me, Sol.” His low voice whispered directly in my mind, almost as unnerving as his appearance.

I scowled, jutting my chin out. “Why do you keep calling me that? It is not my name.”

“It was what I called you when we first met. You were young and would not share your name.”

“I don’t know what you mean. My name is Azariah Sorelli. I go by Zaria. I don’t know a Sol, and I have never laid eyes on you before.”

He puffed out a breath of disgust.

“What?” I demanded.

“You have been hidden away and lied to. You know me. Do you not remember?”

“You lie!”

“Can you not feel it?” The closeness in the curl of his tone sent a shiver down my spine. He didn’t have to be near to make me feel as if he was.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel other than afraid, but I know that if I had ever met a—a—'dragon,’ I think I would remember.”

He growled low. “I told you, I have another form much like yours.”

“Prove it,” I challenged.

“I can’t,” he conceded.

“Oh, well, I’ll just take a demon at his word then, shall I?” I almost laughed at the absurdity of this situation. Was I arguing with a dragon rather than running away like anyone else would?

“For now, you have no choice.”

“There is always a choice. If you say you know me but not as…this”—I gestured to his body—"then change and prove it to me.” I broke out in a fit of coughing, noticing for the first time that the smoke had reached the hilltop and was surrounding us on all sides.

“It’s not possible with all this Dragon’s Bane burning. I can’t shift.”

I didn’t know what he was talking about, but my heart lurched at his words, and the thickening smoke suddenly reminded me that I had been standing here arguing with this…thing while my family was in danger and our village was being destroyed.

“My family!” I turned to look down at the burning village, but the smoke was too thick to see. I had to get back there. The terrain was rough on the slope, but I had no choice. I made to start the descent, but in a flash of wings and scales, the dragon was barring my path. “You can’t go back there. It’s too dangerous, and if we don’t leave now, before the bane weakens me, I won’t be able to fly us out of here.” He lowered his chest to the ground. “Do you think you can ride?”

“I’m not going anywhere with you. I have to go back. They need help down there.”

“It’s too late for them, Sol. We have to leave before it’s too late for us too.”

“You don’t know that! I have to try—” Deep body-wracking coughs seized me, and I fell to my knees, unable to catch my breath.

My vision tunneled, and before I could right myself, he scooped me up with one…arm? I guessed it was an arm. Claws pressed against my ribcage, digging in as he vaulted into the air.

My stomach flipped. I was going to be sick.

“Put me down! Where are you taking me?” I screamed over the wind, only for my voice to be swallowed in the beats of his wings.