Leah's Hero - Miranda Martin Page 0,21

caused the deaths of thousands of beings.”

“Why?” I ask.

“He wants to use the females—” Rakstan says, snapping off the last word making it clear there’s more to be said but he isn’t.

“Use them?” I ask, looking at Angota for the first time.

“Breeding,” Angota fills in the final piece.

“They’re… compatible?” I ask, surprised.

I know what my dragon wants but I’d not even considered it so hadn’t followed the thought through before now.

“Yes,” Angota says, “very.”

He looks over at his female and the connection between them is so obvious a blind male could see it.

“They are hunting you, then,” I say.

“We’ve been safe here,” Angota says.

I shake my head. “For now.”

“Yes,” Rakstan answers. “For now. They are hunting us.”

“The Eye isn’t going to give up the females,” I observe.

I close my eyes tight, take a deep breath, and steel my resolve. Slowly I rise to a sitting position, and this time no one stops me.

“I have to warn my friends,” I say.

A loud rumble of thunder stops anyone from answering, and it’s immediately followed by the sounds of a hard rain.

7

LEAH

I can’t follow all the conversation, but I do understand enough, in bits and pieces, along with reading the body language. He wants to leave. My stomach drops and I want to cry. It’s stupid, I’m stupid, what claim do I have to him? Why would I think he’d want to stay?

They argue back and forth in Zmaj and I try to follow along wishing I had a better knack for languages. He stands up and seems to be mostly steady on his feet. An urge hits me to throw my arms around his neck and kiss him. I don’t, I’m not bold or stupid or whatever but there’s an instant where I do take a step closer before I stop myself.

That would have been embarrassing. Throwing myself at some guy who isn’t interested. Every time our eyes meet, he looks away. That’s not a good sign now, is it? He’s attractive, sure, but that’s not it, is it?

These feelings for him, they’re not simple lust. This is a lot more than a hey, let’s jump into a bed and have some fun kind of feeling. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I do know it’s not that. Butterflies dance in my stomach, my heart flutters, and I want to talk to him. Learn about him. Know everything about him. More, I want him to know me. I want to share my darkest secrets with him.

How crazy is that? I don’t know this guy, but I want to share my secrets with him? Obviously, I’m off my rocker.

“…warn…. Friends,” he says more, but those two words I understand.

He’s on his feet and looking at the door out. Neither Angota nor Rakstan are moving to stop him leaving. I yelp in surprise as a peal of thunder rumbles through the room then the sound of a downpour comes.

“You can’t leave!” I cry out.

It slips out before I can think it through. Everyone looks at me. The table looks really good right now—I could crawl under it and maybe they’ll all forget I’m here. My skin crawls, cheeks flush hot, and I’m as shocked as they are by my outburst.

“Leah?” Ziva asks, a knowing smile on her face and her eyes sparkling.

Swallowing, I shake my head. One desperate look around, but no one is going to let me off of this easy. They’re all waiting for my next words and the room is heavy with anticipation.

“The storm,” I say, latching onto the one logical reason for my outburst. “He’s badly hurt, I can’t send my patient out in a storm like this.”

Good lie. The best lies have an element of truth in them. The tension in the room eases, a little, enough that I can breathe again. The pressure on my chest is less. The three Zmaj look at each other then he looks at me.

His eyes land on me and with them comes a weight. I thought it was hard to breathe before, but I was wrong. That was freewheeling and easy compared to this. My heart is in my throat, my stomach an iron knot. My lungs burn but I can’t inhale. His eyes are… kind. Loving.

No, I’m projecting. They’re not kind, they’re eyes. Eyes can’t be kind. That table is looking better and better. It’s dark under there, advantage of no electric lights. Maybe they’ll all forget I exist.

“Leah is right,” Rakstan says. “Travel … dangerous, … wounds.”

There are