Page 88 of Ensnared

Ocharta rocks back and spreads her wings halfway. You have yet to choose a mate. It’s been said that you want an equal. Someone who’s willing to do whatever it takes for the good of the blessed. Someone who thinks for herself.

Azar hops down, his wings half-spread as well. I’m not the only person who’s on the edge of my seat—all the dragons around me have leaned forward, craning their necks for a better view.

I wouldn’t choose you if you were the last blessed on earth, Azar says. I’m looking for any reason why I shouldn’t kill you, and you haven’t given me one yet.

Ocharta’s wings drop to her back. Kill me? She hisses. You wouldn’t dare.

This is not going well. I don’t see my mom anywhere, but her life is dangling by a thread. I wonder whether she knows it? Why can’t Ocharta just back down?

“Hey,” I whisper. “Gordon.”

He cocks his head back. Hush.

“What would happen if another dragon challenged Ocharta? Do they ever do that?”

Why would they? She’s about to die.

“But if someone did, do you guys have, like, rules?”

Gordon sighs. Usually, if another blessed issues a challenge, they’d be allowed to fight her. She’s pretty irritating, so she’s been challenged several times.

“What happened to the dragons who challenged her?”

They’re all dead. She’s irritating, but she’s powerful.

Awesome. “What if you defeat her, but you don’t want to kill her?”

You would kill her.

“But what if you didn’t want her dead?”

Gordon rolls his eyes like I don’t even deserve a response.

Axel must’ve asked Azar to spare her, because he looks irate, but she’s still alive. You must issue an apology and promise never to do something similar again. Without both, you leave me no choice.

Ocharta’s eyes are flashing and her tail’s whipping back and forth. I’ll apologize to you, Lord, for insubordination, of course. But I won’t apologize to Axel, to whom I owe no respect, and I certainly won’t promise never to challenge him again. He’s beneath us, and I despise him.

Azar’s practically shaking. Flames are literally bursting from his nose intermittently. Ocharta’s just desperate to get herself killed.

Which would be fine, except for my mother.

But the US Government chooses this moment to make all of this moot. Two fighters roar overhead, firing on the gathered dragons. If the regular fighting falcons and raptors are here, the larger jets carrying the nuclear warheads won’t be far behind. The military may not have had much success so far, but they’ll send in the distractions first, and once the huge red dragon’s busy, they’ll drop the big guns.

Nukes.

That means time’s up.

19

Chaos would be a mild term for what breaks out among the gathered dragons. The first round of missiles hits in four places, and dragon bodies are flung in every direction. Luckily, none of them strike near Gordon and me. Rufus has bounded up next to us, and he’s already itching to leave, gesturing at Gordon and shouting.

We’ve been ordered to the perimeter.

Gordon wheels around and begins to run, which doesn’t feel very brave when his leader’s under attack, but then again, he doesn’t have wings and it’s mostly an air battle here. Since I’m just a passenger on his back, I don’t get much input on where we go. I watch as a much larger jet approaches. The dragons were warned, but whether they listened. . .

I’m sure that one’s carrying the nukes. Even though the fighter jets have already wheeled away, Azar’s not moving. He’s watching the bigger aircraft, and he looks totally calm—way less upset than when he was shouting at Ocharta moments before. In fact, he almost looks bored.

Doors open beneath the jet up ahead, and it drops a projectile, a much, much larger one. I’m sure it’s a nuclear warhead.