What Fire Dragons Treasure - Cristina Rayne Page 0,9
place Henry can’t step foot in. I came to this particular dragon-viewing platform in the hope of seeing a dragon—sentry?—that I could plead for asylum from the man that is a danger to my son and me. I left Houston early this morning. I never expected Garrett’s thugs to find me so soon or to open fire in front of witnesses. I saw a bunch of cars parked in the viewing platform’s parking lot before I was forced off the road, so there had to be at least a handful.”
Raphek’s eyes seemed to literally ignite with fire. “This man, Garrett, he’s hurt the child before?”
Amber’s arms once again tightened around Matty. “The bastard backhanded Matty hard across the mouth and made him bleed quite badly. I knew in that horrible moment that no matter what happened to me, I had to get Matty far away from him and that family permanently. Elysia South is the only place on this earth that I believe Matty will be safe from that monster.”
“Far be it for me or any Draknos to turn away a child in need,” Raphek said gruffly. He abruptly stood, and Amber once again hastily averted her eyes before she could get another inadvertent eyeful of his manhood. “I must speak with my captain in the Guard as well as the king. In the meantime, allow me to fly you both to stay with a couple of friends that live within the mountain. They will call for a healer to see to your wound properly while I am occupied.”
“I don’t want to inconvenience anyone…” Amber said uncomfortably. The last thing she wanted was to intrude in someone’s home.
“My friend’s mate, Emma, will understand your plight better than you think,” Raphek interjected with the same kind tone he had used while talking to Matty. “She’s only one of two humans that live here permanently in Elysia South.”
Amber sucked in a sharp breath as the mountain of problems that were currently riding on her shoulders lifted just enough for her to breathe a bit more easily. Even if only a couple, there really were humans living among these dragon-shifters. Maybe her whole crazy plan wouldn’t turn out to be such a fool’s errand after all.
“Matty and I would love to meet them,” Amber said sincerely.
Matty lifted his head and looked up at her with wide eyes still wet with tears. “Are we going to ride the dragon now?”
Amber’s smile was more a grimace. Yikes. She really needed to make him understand that the dragons were people not animals sooner rather than later.
“No sweetie. We’re going to sit on his hand while he flies just like before.”
Matty tilted his head quizzically. “But where’s the dragon?”
“Right here, little one,” the same deep, dragon voice from earlier abruptly announced.
Amber’s gaze shot up from Matty’s face, startled. Sure enough, the red and black dragon from before had replaced Raphek’s human form.
To Amber’s surprise, Matty’s lips stretched into a wide smile. “He’s so big, Mommy!”
No matter how much he seemed to love dragons and dinosaurs, she had honestly expected him to be scared—or at the very least, nervous—to get near a real dragon when given the choice. It was one thing to see a dragon landing in the distance from a viewing platform. It was quite another to have one grinning down at you from a mere foot away with teeth almost as long as you were tall.
Amber kissed her son’s forehead. “See? Didn’t I promise that you would get to see a dragon today?”
Raphek’s grin widened and then slowly picked them both up in one large, black-taloned fist that was honestly disconcerting and carefully set them down onto the warm palm of his free—hand? Claw? She noted that it was indeed covered with a smaller type of red scales than the rest of his body.
“You aren’t afraid of high places, are you?” Raphek asked.
“No…why?” Amber asked suspiciously.
She hoped to God that he didn’t try to do any loop-de-loops like a freaking stunt plane. She might not be bothered by heights, but rollercoasters with loops on the other hand…
Besides, Matty was way too young to ride anything resembling a rollercoaster.
“You’ll be traveling with me cupped protectively between my hands, the same as before,” Raphek explained. “I’ll try to keep my fingers loose enough that you’ll both be able to see between them if you so choose. The view of our lands as well as our mountain from the air is a sight to see.”
“Mommy! The dragon talks