Page 8 of Ensnared (The Dragon Captured #1)

I t took us almost an hour to get home, thanks to the interaction with the dragons. Even without that, we’d have taken half an hour to cover those two miles. But on our way to the dragon’s camp, we move far, far faster than I’d have thought beasts without wings could move.

I saw the silver dragon that electrocuted things—it had wings.

As did the enormous red one that breathed fire.

Why don’t these ‘earth blessed’ dragons have wings? Seems like I’ve been enslaved by the weakest caste of dragon, which isn’t very inspiring. And as we approach the dragon’s den, I see more and more of the awful creatures.

Any hope I’d been harboring that perhaps there weren’t many of them dwindles and then dies.

Silver electrodragons dart and dip and wheel around above our heads. Two of them take down a fighter jet as I watch, the flames from the jet catching a home on fire. I say a silent prayer that the home was empty and that the pilot was the only fatality.

So much for thinking that perhaps the US government isn’t aware of the threat and will soon arrive on the scene to save us.

“Was that a jet?” Coral shouts.

I nod.

Jade’s eyes are wide, but surprisingly, she’s not crying. I’m proud of her for that. She usually devolves into tears when someone complains that she’s talking too much.

Sammy’s clinging for dear life, his eyes tightly clenched most of the ride.

The horrible Gordon actually slows down several times when it looks like Sammy’s slipping and waits for him to adjust his grip.

For the first fifteen minutes, as we move at a speed that must be close to fifty miles per hour, I keep thinking that we’re surely close to wherever we’re going. But we never seem to stop.

I was counting dragons, the silver in the air and the brown and green ones on the ground, but after I hit a hundred several times over, I stop counting. How many can there really be? Where did they come from? Why are they here?

I don’t bother asking more questions they’ll just ignore.

After nearly half an hour, we start seeing signs for League City—that’s a place I’ve been. Mom has a friend there named Anna. But before we reach the road she lives off of, we veer sharply left and head for Nassau Bay. “Are we going to NASA?”

We came here because that’s where most of the boats that you sent off planet originated.

NASA. They’re here because of NASA. I used to think it was cool that we lived in the town that housed our government’s space program. Now I hate it.

Because it brought them here.

We’re nearly there.

“Good, because if Sam gets tired and falls off and breaks his ankle, I’ll break mine, too. I hope that hurts you a lot.”

Is he. . .shaking? I can almost hear the laughter in my head. It won’t hurt me, so don’t do anything that stupid.

“Don’t tell me you care whether I’m injured.” As if.

We were told earth blessed couldn’t ensnare a human. Somehow I have, but that will make you a curiosity. While I’m the Prince of the Earth Blessed, we’re the weakest of the blessed.

Hunch confirmed. I’m the vassal of the Prince of the Rat Dragons. Great. “Will I be in danger just for existing?”

No reply. That’s not very comforting.

“At least arm me, if that’s the case.”

You’ll be given weapons and training as well. I can keep you safe, as long as you don’t do anything stupid.

My idiocy puts him at risk. If I’m killed, he’ll be incapacitated for days.

That’s what they said. For the first time today, I feel a little bit in control.

I have the teensiest bit of leverage with him, but if I push it too hard, or if I overplay my hand, I’m done.

“I won’t. I’m a warrior among my people. ”

You did best Gordon.

That I did.

We’re here.

As if they’re arriving to welcome us, a trio of fighter jets fly overhead.

I need to coordinate our defense. Get out and hide in there.

We’ve stopped in front of a furniture store—Star Furniture. They seemed excited about going inside a human home earlier, so why did they choose a furniture store as their den?

Probably because a home wouldn’t accommodate them in their dragon form, but a store with a massive entry would. At least this place has bathrooms and plenty of beds, I assume.

“Alright, guys,” I say. “We’re here.” I slide down from Axel’s back and land pretty hard on my feet. That prompts me to jog toward Sammy and catch him just as Gordon stretches upward, dumping him straight down.

Rufus is nicer, waiting for me to reach his side before shifting to dislodge the girls. They seem shell-shocked, and they’re definitely all exhausted, but they look alright otherwise.

Go inside and don’t come out until I return. Axel, Rufus, and Gordon disappear as quickly as they arrived, not even waiting to see whether we listen.

“Okay, so we’re in the dragon base camp,” I say. “We should get inside quickly.”

“Hey!” Coral’s looking up at the sky and waving. “There are jets up there. Maybe they’ll see us.”

A split second later, a massive red dragon launches from somewhere to our left and hurtles upward, flames spewing from his mouth. A plane goes down, careening into the bay. The other two circle around and open fire.

“Get inside,” I yell.

Sammy and the girls start for the store, but it’s too late. Those warheads are going to hit—the red dragon whips around and swallows them. They just disappear into his body. A moment later, there’s a loud boom , but the red dragon merely shudders.

Then he roars in fury and accelerates.

“Go, now,” I say.

The kids start to run, and I’m only a step behind them.

I’m too slow to miss seeing the red beast reduce the two US fighter jets to piles of slag that sink into the bay next to their fallen companion.

In the space between heartbeats as I’m about to duck into the furniture store, I swear that the red dragon turns toward me.

And smiles.

It chills me to the very bone.

Can Axel really protect me from that ?

Can anyone keep us safe when a creature who eats missiles and melts fighter jets is flying around loose?

I need to figure out what they’re here for if we’re going to have any chance of getting rid of them.

The last desperate strings of hope in my heart that the government might appear to save me are gone.

I’m all we’ve got.

And maybe the other ensnared. He did say I’d be training. Surely I’ll meet others, and if we work together. . .

“Liz?” Coral’s trembling.

If my bravest sibling’s shaking, it’s time to get them somewhere safe. Warm. They’ll need food, too. My stomach’s rumbling, and I’m not even growing like they are. I take a good look around the furniture store to identify the exits and the closest bathroom.

“Let’s head over here,” I say, pointing at the bathroom near the bedroom section. “We can each pick out a bed, alright? Any one you want.”

Sammy’s hand slides into mine. “Can I sleep with you?”

“Me too.” Jade takes my other hand.

Coral sets her jaw. I wonder what it costs her to always be the brave one. The one who has to walk alone, because both my hands are taken. “I’ll take this one.” She points at the king-size bed closest to the bathroom.

“That one looks amazing,” I say. “I wonder if it would fit all of us.” I hate sleeping in the same bed as anyone else, but if it helps them, I can do it.

“Yay.” Sammy drops his backpack and scrambles up onto the bed. “Can we jump on it?”

I open my mouth to say no, but somehow, I can’t do it. “Sure, why not?”

Five minutes later, the two girls have changed into pajamas—I told them to bring essentials, and they all brought not one, but two pairs of pajamas.

Sammy’s still wearing the clothes he had on—minus the Ben Ten jacket that he put in his bag with his Legos.

I think that tells you something about our family.

We like to be comfortable. And Sammy does not care about clothes.

They’re all jumping on the bed together.

Sure, they could bump into one another and get a black eye. One of them could break an arm. It might not be good for the mattress or the box springs. But when the world’s ending, you do what you can to find joy.

That’s how Axel sees us when he hunches over to squeeze through the massive Star Furniture sliding doors and drops the back half of a mangled cow on the ground.

I brought food.

All four of us stare, gape-mouthed.

“Is that a cow?” Jade’s lip quivers.

Blood’s pooling under the cow, which is apparently quite fresh.

Coral covers her eyes.

Sammy starts to cry.

What do you eat? Another ensnared told me that you eat cows.

Oh, good heavens. “We do,” I say. “It’s just usually cooked when we do.” I swallow, not able to look away. “And in smaller portions.”

The enormous dragon tilts his head. Then he snorts. I had no idea dragons could roll their eyes, but this one does, right before he picks up the cow haunch and drags it back out.

I’m unsure whether I should ignore the enormous pool of congealing blood on the floor of the entryway, or whether I’m supposed to clean it up. Is it rude to clean up the entrails from a dragon’s gift? Or as the human vassal, is that my job?

“I should have gotten a manual or something,” I complain. “I mean, how hard is it to give me a little more direction, really?”

Jade laughs.

“His royal scaliness probably doesn’t know what you’re supposed to be doing either,” Coral says. “He seems pretty clueless, like a puppy or something.”

He does seem a little out of his element. I suppose it’s new to them too, overtaking Earth and massacring thousands. Or more. The thought makes me sick, and I can’t stop thinking of the people that electro dragon fried. The pilots the red dragon roasted. The houses that were burning.

Why are they even here?

What do they want from us?

“Liz.” Jade’s nose is scrunched up. “There are flies.”

Even though it’s October, she’s right. Flies are landing on the blood puddle. If I don’t get it cleaned up, this store’s going to get really gross, really quick.

“I can help,” Jade says. She does most of the cleaning at our house. Mom doesn’t usually notice the mess, and Dad’s gone a lot.

“No way. You three stay here.” I point at my bag. “Eat a granola bar, and then go to bed.”

“What about brushing our teeth?” Sammy asks. “Mom said if we don’t brush our teeth every night, they’ll rot out of our heads, and I forgot my toothbrush.”

How very un-hippy-like of her. She never made me brush my teeth if I didn’t feel like it. Maybe my dental bills scared her straight. I’m a little sad to hear that Mom has caved to the man.

“Jade can help you,” I say. “You can use my toothbrush. March into the bathroom when you’re done eating and brush brush, okay?”

He nods.

I mop up most of the sticky, disgusting blood and chunks of I-don’t-want-to-think-about-what with towels I find in the supply closet.

I set the soiled towels just outside the door to deal with later, and I’m on my hands and knees, going over the spot with a wet paper towel and some Clorox spray, when the doors reopen.

The smell of sizzling steak floods my senses as Axel drops the same cow carcass on the spot I just cleaned. At least this time, it’s not blood that’s pooling. It appears to be sizzling juices. . .or grease. Ew.

I’m understanding a little more why Mom’s a vegetarian.

Eat.

“Actually, we already ate,” I say. “Maybe you can eat it instead.” I don’t point out that he just made a huge mess in the place I just cleaned. I’m proud of myself for that.

He frowns. The dragon overlord I’m bound to frowns.

“I really appreciate all the hard work you did,” I say. “I mean, I didn’t even ask you to do it,” I mutter. “But we all ate granola bars, and other than me, the three kids are vegetarian.”

He stares blankly.

“It means we don’t eat the flesh of animals,” I say.

“And you know what? I’d been considering moving to that, too.

I just had this competition coming up where my coach wanted me to get more protein, and—you know what?

Doesn’t matter. We want you to have as much as you want to eat, big guy. ” I pat his back leg. “Alright?”

He growls, and it’s so loud that it fills the entire empty space and echoes off the walls.

“I’ve been meaning to try meat,” Coral says. “I could have a bite.”

I shake my head. “You agreed to protect them, not bully them.” I point at the door. “If you’re going to growl and grump, get out.”

For a split second, it looks like Axel’s thinking about biting my arm off, but he doesn’t. He grabs the cow, again, and drags it out one last time. I ruined it by cooking it for you, and you won’t even try it.

I hear the implied ‘how rude’ even though he doesn’t say it.

“Are you coming back? Or can we go to sleep?” I yell.

Sleep , he says. I’ll be back when the sun rises.

Oh, goodie.

As lullabies go, his threat to return with the sunrise isn’t the best one. I toss and turn and get kicked in the nose twice, but at least we’re all alive the next morning.

That’s more than plenty of other people can say.