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I get to the top of the stairs, stumbling around the corner and pulling the bathroom door open, slamming it shut behind me and locking it. I don’t know what use the locks are going to be against—what did they say they were? Dragon shifters? Are they actual dragons, wings, and scales and all that? No, this can’t be real. No, none of this can be real. I’m going mad.
I hear Lysander’s heavy feet thudding up the stairs after me. He is real, and I have to find a way to escape. I look around the room for anything. Anything at all to defend myself with. My eyes flicker to the small, frosted window. I’ve never climbed through it. It’s thin and I’m not sure I will fit through it. Fuck it. I have to try. I start cranking it open when I hear the bathroom door handle being twisted, the door shaking. My mouth parts in surprise as clear water runs up the door from the bottom, smothering every inch of it. I don’t move as the water suddenly turns to ice, the door shattering in shards of wood and ice. Lysander stands on the other side, leaning against the frame, his thick arms crossed. “Running is completely useless, Elle.”
“Don’t call me that. You killed the last person who called me that!” I snap. I might have hated Finley for cheating and attacking me, but he didn’t deserve to burn to death.
He raises an eyebrow. “I don’t control fire, Elle. I’m the water dragon king, so you can’t blame me for that one. If it matters, I agree with Arden. He deserved to die for laying a hand on a woman. I would have done far worse with him if we had more time.”
For a moment, he lets me see past the charming smile to the true darkness hidden in his soul, and it scares me. I’m not going with them. No fucking way. “Don’t make us chase you. It’s boring and pointless. You can’t escape.”
“Fuck you!” I snap, picking up the nearest thing and throwing it at him. My nan’s multi-coloured squeaky duck flies pathetically through the air, and he catches it. Lysander’s lips twitch in amusement before he squeaks it once and throws it over his shoulder. “Fine. We’ll do this the hard way if we must.”
He steps into the bathroom and reaches for me. In a split second, I look around quickly for anything and grab the top of the toilet lid, lifting it and smashing it straight across his head. He looks so surprised for a second, right before he collapses onto the ground, blood pouring from a deep cut on his forehead. “Holy shit.”
I drop the toilet lid on the floor, wasting no time as the others might notice. I go to the window again, propping myself up on the ledge and pushing my legs through first. I manage to squeeze right through the window as I hear them running up my stairs. My heart pounds as I softly shut the window and lie down on the tiles of the back porch, listening to them for a second.
“Whoa, the little human princess knocked him out. How the fuck did she do that?” Arden questions.
Emrys laughs. “Make sure Grayson doesn’t do anything stupid, while I heal him. She’s impressive, that one. Make sure she doesn’t hurt herself trying to escape.”
“It was the toilet seat,” Arden laughs, and I hear him picking it up. “Or was it the rubber duck in the hallway? Either way, it’s hilarious.”
“I’ll get her,” Grayson’s dark voice states.
The others go silent. Emrys clears his throat. “Don’t hurt her.”
His voice is like death. “The brat hurt us.”
“Gray!” Emrys shouts, but Grayson doesn’t reply. Dammit, he is coming for me, and I’ve wasted too much time. I slide down the roof panels, some of them clicking under my weight. Rain begins to pour out of the sky, making the roof slippery. A cry escapes my throat as I slip, sliding off the roof and slamming hard onto the grass. Ignoring the pain in my ribs, I climb to my feet and start sprinting straight up the garden. All at once, thick green vines shoot out of the surrounding ground, coming out of everywhere, and one trips me. I fall over, only to be caught in the vines. I fight them as they are wrapping around my legs, arms, and chest. I manage to snap a few of them, but more just keep appearing until they’re wrapped so tightly around me, squeezing me until I almost can’t breathe.
Grayson’s face comes into the moonlight. He is gorgeous with thick brown hair, dark golden skin, but there is a harshness to his silver eyes that matches the cruel smirk he gives me. He looks at me like I’m pathetic. “You’re going to die first in the Dragon Crown Race. You’re clearly stupid.”
“Let me go, you fucking monster!” I scream, struggling and wriggling the best I can. He smells like the earth itself and a mixture of sandalwood that reminds me of forest walks. “Let me go! Let me go! HELP! I’m being kidnapped by crazy magic men who think they are dragons! HELP!”
“Shush, brat. You’re just embarrassing yourself and giving me a headache,” he mutters, picking me up with the vines like I weigh nothing. He throws me over his shoulder. “It’s time to go.”
My eyes widen as he twists around to look at the others, who are walking up the garden path to us. There’s something in the middle of our garden. It looks like a shimmery wall, almost like it’s water, but it’s gold, illuminating and bright on the other side. Creatures fly through the air around the mountains and castle in the distance. They are too big to be birds. They are dragons. Actual dragons. Through it, I can see tall mountains and a silver castle nestled right in the middle of them. Orange fields surround the mountains, luminated by the night sky full of glowing yellow stars. I scream, panicking as Grayson turns and begins to walk towards it.
“Will you knock her out, Emrys? She is pissing me off,” Grayson growls. I’m pissing him off? They are literally kidnapping me and making it sound like a chore. I hate them so much. What is my grandmother going to think when she comes home, finding a pile of ash and that I’m missing? She is going to be so worried. She has lost everyone else.
Emrys walks up to me, his eyes surprisingly soft as I keep screaming, hoping someone will come and help me. No one is going to save me from them. Oh my god. “I’m vaguely impressed with you, Elle. I hope you win.”
He touches my cheek, and suddenly I can’t breathe. I gasp for air right before everything falls away into darkness, where I can hear wings.
CHAPTER 3
Every inch of me feels groggy as I wake up, my mouth dry. There is a stale taste of something almost earthy in my mouth, and it’s cold wherever I am. I breathe in the scent of fresh linen as I open my eyes, blinking up into the dim darkness. I jolt, memories of the men who kidnapped me coming back to me in a flash as my eyes adjust to the light. Those bastards kidnapped me.
My head smacks into something metal, and I look up to realise I’m on the bottom of a bunk bed. The sheets I’m lying on are dark red, soft, and expensive. Where the hell am I? There’s another matching, empty bunk bed a few feet away, and the room is small, with two dark wooden doors. The walls are silver stone, and there is a breeze coming through, explaining why I’m cold. I throw my legs off the bed, thankful that I’m still dressed in the clothes I came in when those dragon shifters kidnapped me.
Dragon shifters? Oh, my god. It was real. It was all real. “Don’t freak out. You’re okay.”
I look over to see that I’m not alone and three pairs of eyes are watching me. There are three other girls in the room, all similar ages to me. One with long curly blonde hair and a friendly smile comes over. She is slim, much taller than me, and very pale, making the freckles on her cheeks stand out. Her eyes remind me of honey. She sits down on the bed. “I’m Arty. Well, my full name is Artemis Wood, but that’s a mouthful. I prefer Arty. Yes, my parents loved Greek gods, before you ask. I don’t like the goddess of the hunt personally. She historically killed a lot of people, and animals, and I don’t like violence. What’s your name?”
I’m thankful she stops rambling. I gasp, placing my hand over my mouth as I remember Finley. I’m not going to cry over him, as he was going to attack me, but I’ve known him since I was six years old, and his mother is the sweetest woman. Her son is dead, and she won’t know that. He is just going to be classed as missing, along with me. Even if I manage to get back home from this place, she won’t believe the truth. I barely believe it happened, and I was right there. Arty’s hand hovers in the air near my shoulder for a second before she puts her hand on my shoulder and awkwardly pats me. “I’m sorry about whatever made you sad right now. I hope it wasn’t me. I’m not sure if this is helping, but I—”
“Please stop talking,” I snap, moving away so she stops patting me. “Did they kidnap you too?”
She pauses, hurt flashing in her eyes, and she nods. “Yes, but I was expecting it, so does it really count as kidnapping if I went willingly after saying goodbye to my family?”
