Page 17 of Ensnared (The Dragon Captured #1)

B ack when Sousa took over, he made us do as many plyo push-up burpees as we could in ten minutes, every single morning.

Ten solid minutes.

I was in decent shape, so when I first heard that, I thought I’d be fine.

The first few days I did them, my legs felt like lead, and my arms shook like leaves in a windstorm.

I couldn’t do very many, either. None of us could.

About four or five minutes in, I’d slow down so much that it felt like I was barely moving.

But I didn’t give up.

I started doing another ten minutes every night at my own home. By the end of the month, no one could do more than I could. So at night, I started doing fifteen minutes. Within a few months, I actually looked forward to my burpees each day, because they turned my body into a machine.

I’m familiar with the idea that pain is weakness leaving the body. I’m comfortable with pushing past my limits to improve.

Two hours with Penelope still have me wanting to cry in the corner.

“Look, witch,” I shout, “I’m trying, okay?”

“I can’t feel anything anymore. I should feel a distinct pressure when you push me to do something.”

“I hate you.”

“You’ve said.” She’s smiling. “More than once.”

My head’s pounding like it’s been hit with a hammer repeatedly. “I can’t push any harder.”

“Are you sure you were ensnared?”

I yank the neck of my shirt down over my shoulder and show her the seal. “I’m sure.”

She shakes her head. “I tried everything I could to resist my blessed, but pushing commands was always easy.”

“Maybe it’s because you were pushing to humans, and I’m trying to force someone like me.

” Suddenly, an overwhelming compulsion to flip over on my hands and knees and bark like a dog grips me.

I’m dropping to my knees when I realize it’s from stupid Penelope.

I grit my teeth and push back as hard as I can.

She stumbles backward and swears under her breath. “What was that?”

“Well, clearly you send commands to me just fine.” I sit down on the grass, rubbing my temples.

“But you didn’t act on mine, either.” She frowns. “Maybe it is harder to command another ensnared. I’ve never been given permission to try.”

Ha! Maybe I’m not as pathetic as she thinks.

“I should have brought along a human or two. I suppose I could summon one now.”

“I’m supposed to have my own later tonight.” My stomach turns. “I hate the idea.”

Penelope shrugs. “You’ll get over it quick.”

“Maybe you did. I don’t even plan to try.”

“Your blessed will make you,” she says.

“So I’ll lie and say I’m deficient.” I shrug. “You should get more creative.”

She frowns. “I never even thought of that.”

“I may suck at mind-controlling people?—”

“Because your blessed is weak, probably.”

“But I’m great at ticking off my dragon.”

“Wait.” She swallows slowly. “You intentionally make him angry?”

“All the time,” I say. “Once I stabbed him in the throat.” It almost killed me, but for some reason that image still makes me smile.

All the blood has drained from Penelope’s face. “You. . .did what?”

“I know it was stupid, but at the time, I didn’t realize that whatever injury they sustain also hurts us.”

“But you actually stabbed him? With what?”

“I found this umbrella,” I say, “and he’d just ensnared me. First, I stabbed his buddy, but then after he healed?—”

She drops to her butt on the grass next to me. Her eyes aren’t focused on anything.

“Hey. What’s wrong?”

She turns toward me slowly. “You can’t resist even the slightest command of the blessed. None of us can. Their wishes, their whims, they’re all as good as unbreakable commands once we’ve been ensnared.”

I snort. “Maybe there are some advantages to having a mud dragon prince as my blessed.”

“What did you just call me?” Axel strolls around the tree on the corner of the property.

Penelope’s eyes widen, and then she bows, her head scraping the ground in front of her. “Blessed is the day.”

Is she making a joke? “Get up.” I push the thought at her, figuring she needs a little help.

Axel folds his arms over his chest. “Looks like the training has been a huge success.”

I hop to my feet. “Did you really think she was going to turn me into a good little slave?” My hands are itching to punch him. “Think again, Your Majesty. I’ll never be a good slave. Never ever.”

Penelope sounds like she’s choking.

“You may return to your household.” Axel sounds tired. “I appreciate your efforts.”

“Shall I come again tomorrow?”

Axel looks at me and raises his eyebrows.

“Oh, sure. It wasn’t fun, but I think I’m learning stuff.”

“Same time,” Axel says.

She salutes as she hops to her feet, but she never picks her eyes up higher than his feet. She practically scurries away. The same woman who was so haughty I could barely stand her is now acting like Axel’s the Maharajah of India.

She said she can’t resist a single whim of her dragon. Not a whim. What does it mean that I barely feel Axel’s emotions, and that his commands and orders do almost nothing at all?

“I think our bond may be broken,” I say. “I suck at commanding humans to do things, and apparently the other ensnared are like, boot lickers.”

“Boot. . .” Axel blinks, and then he throws his head back and laughs.

I can’t help watching him when he does. I’ve seen him smirk.

I’ve even seen half-smiles. But I’ve never seen him laugh, and it’s a painfully beautiful sight.

His perfect, shiny, ebony hair ripples. His crystal sharp jawline is thrown into sharp relief.

His dancing golden eyes look like they belong on a movie star.

And his entire, sinewy, sculpted body shakes in a way that I can’t help watching in awe.

I’ve been so full of contempt and disgust that I’ve never really looked at him before.

I mean, I noticed he was beautiful, but if he were a human, he’d be slap-your-mom and steal-your-best-friend’s-boyfriend gorgeous.

He’s taller even than Gideon. He’s broad without being blocky.

And his skin’s a perfect, deep bronze color.

He could be on a tanning bed print ad without being airbrushed or filtered.

And now he’s smiling, and it miraculously makes him look kind.

I know he’s not kind.

It’s probably something excreted by my ovaries that’s making me this stupid. He’s a devil sent to destroy all of us, and I’m sitting here getting all heart-eyed while he laughs at a joke everyone else on planet earth has heard thirty million times. Shut up, traitorous hormones. Shut up right now.

“You’re lucky,” Axel has finally stopped laughing. “That I don’t want my boots licked. I don’t mind a little insouciance as long as you entertain me.”

Great. Now I’m a court jester. “I think I’d rather lick boots.”

His eyes are dancing again. “But you’re better at entertaining. Your tongue’s too busy talking back to do any licking.”

“I don’t talk back,” I mutter. Which is when I realize that even now, I’m talking back.

Axel holds out his hand, and there’s a small box resting on it.

“What’s that?”

I think about the cow carcass, which is the only other thing he’s ever brought me, and my lip curls involuntarily. “We still have some food left over from what I grabbed that time I went out. Speaking of, can I go out again soon? Or, like, where do we get food?”

“You’ll no longer be in charge of food location or preparation,” he says.

“While I’ve been ignoring you, we’ve been working around the clock to restore some semblance of normalcy to the humans still in Houston.

The supply chains for food, energy, and basic needs are nearly in place.

Your first ten humans, who will see to your basic domestic needs, are arriving before sunset. ”

“My domestic needs. . .” I swallow. “Ten is way too many. How about we take one. Or at most, two?”

“Ten’s a third of what the others have started with.”

Thirty? Penelope started by managing thirty humans? “I have a splitting headache from practicing for two hours with Penelope,” I say. “I think your ensnared is a real dud. You should adjust your expectations.”

He chuckles. “We’ll see.”

I try to move past him. It’s been a while, and I want to make sure the kids are alright in there.

He grabs my arm, and other than the time he healed me and the time he gave me a ride—in his dragon form—it’s the only time we’ve really touched. A thrill runs up my body, and it sets off a shiver that I can’t suppress. Quit it , I tell my ovaries again.

“Quit what?”

“Good heavens. I can’t even talk to myself anymore?”

“You talk to yourself often?” He frowns.

I yank my arm free. “What do you want?”

“You didn’t take this.” He shoves the box in front of me again. “It was difficult to make. I had to do it myself.”

I knock the lid off, but I have no idea what he’s giving me. “You made me. . .” I squint. “A pile of gold fluff?”

He sighs, reaches into the box, and lifts out the gold filaments. Then he shakes them from the point he’s holding. They’re apparently all attached in that one spot.

I still have no idea what it is, but it’s beautiful, at least. The sunlight glints off them, and they ripple in the light breeze. “Is it. . .a decoration?”

“It’s your visor,” he says. “You’ll wear it on your forehead.”

This time I’m the one laughing. “It’s supposed to be solid,” I say. “Like a crown for the front of your face, kind of.”

He frowns. “I made it exactly as they told me to make it.”

“Is it possible they were pranking you?” I wiggle my wrist, and the filaments ripple and twist in total abandon. “This looks like a tassel for a graduation cap.” I mean, it doesn’t, really, but it looks more like that than the visor Penelope was wearing. “Looks like we’re both duds.”

He grabs my wrist, and again, my stupid body goes haywire. My heart races. My breathing gets shallow. I should be scared of him, not panting from his touch. I steel my nerves, just as I would before a fight.