Dragon's Isolation - Miranda Martin Page 0,54

my shoulder and miss my next step. Before I can stop myself, I’m tumbling head over heels down the dune.

When I come to a stop at last, sand is in every crack and crevice, but I can’t stop laughing. The look of concern on Shidan’s face only makes me laugh harder. He lands lightly in front of me having leaped down over half the dune. He kneels down, grabbing my shoulder, and staring intently into my face.

“I’m fine,” I say, still laughing. “I hate to say it, but that was fun!”

His brow furrows as he frowns. I climb to my feet with his help, then gather up the packs I was carrying, since they scattered up and down the dune as I fell. Shidan helps and we’re done much faster than I could have done. I kiss him, letting my fingertip linger. The answer has to be here with us. I can’t lose him.

Now it’s time to find out. Together we head for Addison.

“This is great,” Addison says.

She looks even worse than when we left. Her cheeks and eyes are sunken, making it clear she hasn’t slept much, if any at all, since we left.

“Nothing was labeled so we brought all we could,” I say.

I’ve already told her about everything we saw in there, and now I’ll need to debrief with Rosalind too. Shidan shifts his weight back and forth and keeps looking around. The way his tail twitches and his wings twitch are all signs he’s nervous or uncomfortable. It isn’t until he starts pacing that I really begin to worry though.

“Shidan?” I ask, stepping into his path.

Shidan glares, mouth moving, struggling to say something. I wait, patient. I can’t imagine what he’s going through or how this is affecting him.

“Mal-co-lm,” he growls.

“Malcolm?” I ask and he nods. “What about him?”

His face contorts with anger.

“Whe-re?” he asks.

“He’s with Jolie, you know this,” I say, worrying. “We’ll go see him soon.”

“Everything okay?” Addison asks.

Shidan growls, baring his teeth. It’s actually frightening. I take a step back, and then everything goes wrong. Ladon or Ormarr slam against their door hard enough that the sound echoes through the room, and at the same time Melchior enters the room.

Shidan moves like lightning. My mind doesn’t register what’s happening until it’s happened. Shidan hits Melchior, whose arms are loaded with stuff. Melchior is knocked into the wall, items flying around, as Shidan runs past him.

“SHIDAN!” I yell.

“Stop him!” Addison yells.

Melchior pushes off the wall and gives chase. I’m behind him, unable to keep up with his much longer legs. Melchior skids around a corner, and something hits him, hard. He stumbles to the side, hits the wall, then roars in rage and pain. There’s blood running from his forehead.

He pushes off the wall, staggers, and Shidan flies into him, roaring. He’s lost to the bijass, more animal than man. His fists slam into Melchior before Melchior can get his bearings, hitting him over and over until Melchior drops.

Shidan stops, looks at me with wild, bloodshot eyes and growls. I stumble back, heart pounding, stomach fluttering. He’s lost, but when we lock eyes, something happens. I can’t say what exactly, but his face shifts, and almost he looks like he’s in control.

Melchior rises behind Shidan. I need to keep him distracted. My chest clenches until it feels like my heart can’t beat. I take a step toward him. My own instincts screaming not to approach, feeling the danger, the predator he is.

“Shidan,” I say, my voice quavering. “Plea—”

Before I finish the word, Melchior acts. He grabs Shidan, hooking an arm around his neck and jerking back and up. Shidan is lifted off his feet. He fights, wildly. Legs kicking, tail swinging, he slams his elbows backwards, but Melchior has shifted around and is holding him on his side, keeping Shidan from being able to make contact.

Tears run down my face from seeing him fight, seeing him hurt, but what choice do I have?

“I’m sorry,” I wail. “So sorry, Shidan!”

He stops trying to hit Melchior with his elbows, both his hands grabbing the arm around his neck choking him. Melchior pulls harder as Shidan struggles less and less until his arms drop and he hangs limp. Melchior holds him longer still.

“Let him go!” I cry out. “You’re going to hurt him!”

Melchior doesn’t listen. He keeps his tight grip on around Shidan’s throat. I run and hit him, pounding my fists on his arm and chest. It bruises my fists, and they throb with pain, but it

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