Cruel Daddy Dragon (Candara Dragon Ops #3)

Chapter 16 - Sarah

The police cruiser whines as I punch the pedal all the way to the floor. The engine is whining, and the tires screech every time I turn a corner.

I don’t check the speedometer. I don’t care.

The only important thing right now is getting there on time.

I’m taking the corners up the mountain dangerously fast, feeling the back end of the car swing out as I take the corners. But even over the noise of the car, I start to hear grumbling in the air—it’s a snarling, like thunder rolling through the skies. Most people wouldn’t know it was dragons fighting—but I feel like I recognize one of those voices in my soul, even if it bypasses my brain.

Rufus!

I haul the car as far up the mountains as it can go, up until the roads themselves stop. Once I can’t drive anymore, I just wrench the car into park and throw myself out of the door. I don’t bother to stop the car or close the door. I just sprint. I run toward the roaring, the snapping, the sound of the draconic voices through the air.

Please don’t let me be too late! Please don’t let me be too late!

I’m getting closer. I can tell—I can feel the voices of the dragons through the air more than hear them now. It’s like a heavy bass shuddering through my chest cavity.

I draw my handgun and keep sprinting.

Then, I see a gleam through the forest, and I recognize the scales.

Rufus!

But I slow down as the blood-red scales follow where Rufus falls—my best advantage is the fact that they don’t know I’m here yet.

I follow along at a distance. Rufus is fighting back, but it’s not where I remember him dying. His dragon body is curled around a tree, and it wasn’t in my vision. I think I have a moment. I keep running forward but keep my footsteps as light as I can.

The blood-red dragon leaps on Rufus’s back, and my heart skips a beat. But Rufus rolls over and kicks the dragon off him, slithering away.

“How many of you are we going to have to kill before you leave Greyson Ridge alone?!” Rufus snarls.

I see him slightly limp as he walks past; I think he’s buying time.

The blood-red dragon bellows out a few barks of harsh laughter.

“Oh, you can’t think that Soleilus has enough members to protect this town forever,” the new dragon sneers, “If nothing else, we’re going to outlast you.”

I tread forward, getting slower and sneakier as I go. Soon, I close in on them, hiding behind a tree.

“I can’t wait until you’re all gone,” the Eclipse dragon jeers, “Every one of you. Did you really think a straggler clan like Soleilus could keep a powerful cradle of magic like this one away from any other clans? I can’t wait until the town is ours.”

The blood-red dragon stalks toward him, and Rufus limps away.

Then my heart clenches: that’s the place he got killed! It’s just about to happen!

I don’t have any more time. I aim my handgun at the blood-red dragon’s head. I pull the finger and open fire:

CRACK, CRACK, CRACK!

I see the rounds soar and hit the scarlet dragon at the back of his head.

“Ow!” h e snarls.

But other than that, the bullets fall away, making tinkling noises as they plummet, hitting the scales as they tumble down. The dragon growls. Their nostrils flare, and plumes of hot air escape. Then the beast turns around, fixing serpentine eyes on me.

“You?” he snarls simply, “You did that?”

Shit. Those bullets did as much as a mosquito bite!

The blood-red dragon turns around, his mighty feet crashing into the snow and shuddering the ground as he swivels to meet me.

“ A human?” the dragon asks, “What is a human doing up here?”

“Sarah!” Rufus roars suddenly.

The blood-red dragon starts barking horrible, bitter laughter.

“You care about this one?” he asks, “Even better!”

The crimson dragon leans down to me. His wings spread, and his mouth opens. There’s a glow starting to build at the back of his throat.

Fuck!

There’s nothing else I can do—I point the gun at him and fire at the inside of his mouth. I pull the trigger a few more times.

CRACK! CRACK!

But as it hits the fleshy pink inside, the dragon suddenly cringes and rears back, roaring in agony. As he does, I see a shining gleam of scales behind his head.

In a moment, Rufus has sunk his teeth into the back of the dragon’s head. He screams. Rufus wrenches his head back and forth, and— SNAP!

With that, the dragon falls limp, falling like a tree and crashing into the snow. He’s suddenly very, very still.

But I can’t take the time to absorb what just happened—Rufus gets off the back of the fallen dragon, his eyes fiery:

“Sarah, what the hell are you doing here?!” h e shouts, “It’s dangerous!”

At first, I freeze; I’ve never heard his voice that loud. But a moment after that freeze, my own retaliatory anger flares up:

“I’m out here saving your dumb ass!” I shout back.

“Get out of here!” Rufus shouts, “I can’t fight with you here!”

“I came to help!” I clap back.

“I don’t need your help—we don’t need any humans’ help!” he yells, “What was that about you letting us protect Greyson Ridge with you?! I can’t protect you when I have to worry about you like this!”

“Bullshit, you don’t need my help!” I roar, “You would have died if I wasn’t here!”

Rufus scoffs.

“Oh, yeah, sure!” h e says sarcastically, “Not like we’ve been doing this for years!”

“You would have died!” I howl, “You would have died over there!”

I point to the spot, and Rufus frowns, looking for a moment before coming back to me.

“I saw it happen!” My voice cracks halfway through my scream.

Rufus misses his chance to clap back. He just leans back in surprise, blinking for a moment, frowning. I feel tears spring to my eyes, and I have to heave a deep breath.

“What?” he just says.

“Guys! Cut it out!” A new voice carries through the air a few moments before a large, dark dragon lands nearby.

At first, I flinch, but Rufus doesn’t react. The new dragon speaks again:

“There might be more! Don’t draw them over!”

That voice… I’ve never seen this dragon form, but I know that voice.

“Are you… Orion?” I ask.

The dragon looks at me, and even the serpentine form has that mysterious foxy face. He nods.

“Sarah,” Rufus says, “what do you mean you saw it happen?”

I swallow hard and look back at him.

“I saw you. It was… like a vision.” I try not to let my voice crack a second time, “I saw your neck being bitten out in some snowy place, so I got in my car and drove up here as quickly as possible.”

Rufus blinks and looks at Orion, who nods.

“Well, that’s interesting,” Orion says, “We have a third fated mate with visions!”

So it is normal…

“Anyway,” Orion grunts, “we need to tell the others that Eclipse was around the hole. The ones who battled us were the same ones I smelled pacing around—if we’re lucky, those are the only Eclipse members who know about this, but we can’t rely on being lucky.”

He looks at Rufus.

“Kaius and Milo should still be at Lena’s shop by the police station,” Orion says, “I think you ought to drop Sarah off there so those two can make sure she’s safe, and then go to Cyrus and Evander on the way back here.”

“Good idea,” Rufus says, “Are you going to be okay here by yourself, O?”

“I think so,” he says, “Those two are the only ones I smell around here.”

“Okay,” Rufus then says, “I’ll fly her off now. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Erm!” I bark loudly, “Excuse me! Don’t you boys want to hear what I think?”

Both dragons look at me.

“I took my cruiser here. Those things are tracked, so I need to bring it back,” I say, “Besides, if there’s a risk of Eclipse flying around here, surely we don’t want to take flight in case there’s an aerial ambush? They won’t be expecting you to leave in a car if they are still around.”

There’s a second where the pair are silent. Rufus looks at Orion, but Orion just nods a little, looking a touch impressed. He looks back to Rufus.

“She’s got a point; never in a million years would Eclipse expect us to drive away from a battle like this,” he says, “It genuinely might be safer.”

“Really?” Rufus sighs.

He almost sounds annoyed. I grin smugly at him.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t just fly? It’d be quicker,” Rufus says.

“And what? Abandon my car?” I ask.

“She’s got a point,” Orion says, “It’s a tracked car, so now she’s driven it up here, we need to bring it back down.”

“But what if they follow her car?!” Rufus protests, looking between us.

“It’s a police cruiser . It’s not my car,” I say, “If an Eclipse member were to follow me, he'd only follow me to the police station.”

“And what if they follow you from there?” Rufus challenges.

“The garage for the personal cars is underground,” I clap back, “They can’t follow me to my car unless they go into the police station. They won’t know which car is mine.”

“We’re wasting time here, Guys,” Orion says, “Rufus, go get in the police cruiser.”

“Who’s side are you on?!” Rufus snaps.

“Logic’s side,” Orion says, “And she makes a good point—she has a tracked car that needs to be brought down from the forest again. Eclipse will never expect us to drive away from this, and you’re going to the police station anyway. Just shut up and get in the damn car, Rufus.”

Rufus growls. I chuckle smugly, then look at Orion and give him a small nod. He just shrugs, but there’s a smile on that draconic face.

Rufus sighs again and shifts back into his human form. For a moment, I’m stunned by how gorgeous his naked form is. I just stare at his bare chest for a moment, the peaks and valleys of his abs, so strong I could chip a fingernail on it, I’m sure. I run my hands down the pinched muscle to his waist and—

Orion draws my attention by speaking:

“Okay, Guys,” he says, “Can we stop wasting time already?!”

Shit, I was staring!

Suddenly, Rufus is the one chuckling smugly. Suddenly, he’s acting like he’s the one who’s won. I feel a hot flush reach my cheeks. I sneer at him.

“All right, let’s get to the car already!” I snap, “Put a shirt on! I can’t have a naked man in my police cruiser!”

Especially not him. Not after that dream I had, or I might be too tempted…

“Yes, ma’am, Sheriff,” Rufus says, still with that cocky grin on his face.

“Okay, seriously, go,” Orion says, “This place is still dangerous—if the Eclipse members didn’t tell the clan as a whole about the cave, others might be here to check why its patrol isn’t back.”

“Okay, fair. We’re going,” Rufus says.

I gesture toward him and start leading the way. As I walk, Rufus darts in my way and starts striding in front of me.

“Hey!” I bark, “You don’t even know where you’re going!”

“I can trace your scent,” Rufus answers, then gives me a smug grin over his shoulder, “And I need to be in front of you so I can protect you, right? ”

“Asshole,” I grumble at him.

He starts cackling as we walk away.