Page 99 of Ensnared

I thought she meant me, but I realize she’s talking about Axel.

Azar’s lip curls, and he begins to glow.

“What’s going on?”

No one answers my question.

The reddish golden haze around Azar glows brighter and brighter, becoming so bright that I’m forced to look away. And then there’s a low humming noise, like an engine that’s stuck in one gear, followed by a shattering sound, like a million glass panes being hit with a baseball bat at the same time.

When I open my eyes slowly, it’s not nearly as bright as it was.

What have you done? Ocharta’s looking around herself—she’s trapped in a large red glass-like bubble. Release me.

“What’s that?” I whisper, hoping maybe Gordon will know.

He, helpfully, shrugs.

Rule from here. Or waste away. Maybe your ensnared can free herself when you’re at the lowest ebb. Azar tosses his head at me.

“Meet me at home?” I whisper.

Gordon frowns. You’re traveling with Azar?

I can’t believe his two lieutenants don’t even know his secret, but Azar seemingly has no plans to change that. Axel wants you and Rufus to redirect the earth blessed. They’re to search any humans along the perimeter for Sammy, Coral, Jade, and the other one. Azar tosses his head again, clearly impatient with me holding him up.

I finally walk away from the red-bubble-caught electro dragon. “You’re sure she can’t get out of that?”

Azar’s laughing when I climb up on his shoulders. He doesn’t wait for me to get a good hold before launching into the sky. I lose my grip and have to scrabble forward, one tightly gripped handhold at a time.

Once I pry my heart out of my throat, I’m pretty annoyed. “You know, Gordon made me a saddle.”

Azar’s laughter is deep and full as he redoubles his speed.

“Ash brain.”

It takes me a moment to realize what we’re doing, but once I realize we’re rocketing past the earthen walls the dragons created, I settle in and try to enjoy the ride. I keep my eyes open, of course, searching for sweet little Sammy, darling Jade, and tough Coral.

The wind beats my hair into tangles I’ll likely never undo, but I become a little more accustomed to the dips, drops, and direction changes, only nearly falling off once. Eventually, though, the terrain starts to look a little familiar. “I think we’ve flown over this already,” I say. “I remember that weird purple trailer.”

Azar ignores me.

But eventually, he decides it’s a waste of time, and he flies me home. When we get closer, I can sense the humans—my humans—who live across from me. When Azar lands, it’s almost a mile away, behind an uninhabited section of smaller homes.

Instead of changing into his human form after I slide off his back, he changes into his earth dragon shape. It’s interesting, looking at the two of them, one immediately after the other. They’re clearly the same dragon. They have the same elegant, intelligent head shape, the same curvature to the brow, and the same toothline.

And the same golden eyes.

Once I know, it’s obvious.

It’s funny how many things we blindly miss because the world tells us a lie.

Climb back on.

“Still no saddle?” I ask. “Really?”

Axel rolls his eyes.

It doesn’t stop me from grumbling as I scramble up, my hands now scraped, sore, and straining.