Jaime Rush - Dragon Awakened

Magda took advantage of Ruby’s distraction and knocked her to the ground, landing hard on top of her. Magda lifted her tail, like a scorpion, and readied to lance her with it. Ruby could only reach Magda’s arm, but she bit hard just as the tail was coming down. Magda screamed as scales broke and bones snapped. The tip still jabbed into Ruby’s thigh, sending shocks through her entire lower half. A series of seizures overtook her body, smashing over her like wave after wave. Magda crept closer with a cruel smile to deliver the final blow. And damn it, Ruby couldn’t move as her body convulsed.

Cyn threw himself between Ruby and Magda, lashing out at her with his talons. Using the element of surprise, he knocked Magda down and lunged toward her throat. A green bolt of lightning hit him in the neck, tearing through the scales and into muscle. It threw him back with a grunt of pain. He sent an arrow of black smoke hurtling back at Purcell. It speared his shoulder, making him stumble back.

The bolt raced back around again, aiming for Cyn. Oh, God, it was those horrible moments at Mon’s all over again. Cyn dodged the bolt and sprinted away from her, probably so she wouldn’t get hit accidentally. He left a trail of blood on the floor.

Please let him be all right.

The wound looked severe, but it was already beginning to heal itself.

She saw no sign of the other two men, so she assumed they must be dead. From the corner of her vision, she saw Magda about to strike. Ruby whirled around and shot spikes of fire at her eyes. Several hit the vulnerable area Cyn had told her about, tearing away strips of skin. Magda roared, whipping her tail ominously as she circled Ruby. Hell, the aftershocks of the last attack still sparked through her.

Ruby could only see Cyn and Purcell from her peripheral vision as she faced Magda. The bubble around Purcell kept Cyn from doing much damage to him. He could hardly do much anyway as he fended off the damned star orb that was intent on impaling him. Killing Purcell was the only way to defeat it. And Ruby couldn’t help with Magda deviling her, even with her destroyed arm. Now she needed to disable her tail.

Every time Ruby checked on Cyn, Magda took advantage and tried to attack. So this is where emotions weakened. Cyn kept pounding it in that Ruby use her logic instead of letting emotion drive her.

But wait. Ruby could use Magda’s emotions against her. “Too bad you didn’t have a man who would give you everything you wanted. Oh, how you must have hated when my father was the one who figured out the solution for portable Deus Vis .”

Golden flames burst in Magda’s eyes. “Shut up.”

“I remember how sad you were when you kept miscarrying. I can imagine how hard it was when my mother got pregnant so easily. Did she rub that in your face, too, or did you just see her happiness that way?”

“You little bitch. How dare you—”

“And then the last thing your husband said was how women weren’t worth sacrifice, how they— you , he meant—were insatiable bitches.”

With a cry of rage, Magda stormed at her. Ruby twisted out of the way at the last moment. As Magda’s tail whirled past, Ruby clamped onto it and bit down hard. Magda screeched. The tip thrashed, stinging Ruby’s cheeks. She held on through the shocking pain, her jaw aching from exertion. More, more, more, and then she heard and felt the snap of bone. Magda’s tail fell limp.

Ruby took advantage of her surprise and battered her with a stream of spikes. Sprawled on the floor, Magda grabbed hold of her tail with her good hand, probably intending to use it as a sword.

Be ready to kill, Cyn had said. She descended on Magda, everything in her ready to end it. “It’s been lovely, but now I have to kill you.”

Except the lightning bolt shot past her, snagging her attention. Cyn tried to evade it, but the bolt shifted and plunged into Cyn’s chest. He went to pull it out but jerked his now burned hand away.

Magda smiled. “Now you know how it feels, you—”

Ruby sank her teeth into Magda’s throat and tore away a chunk of flesh and scales. As Magda struggled to push her away with one hand, Ruby ripped at her again. She couldn’t even feel the victory when the Dragon fell limp, emitting a pained cry as Cyn dropped to the floor.

Purcell burst out of his bubble and tore out the door.

Ruby sank down next to Cyn, tears blurring her eyes. “No. No!”

His voice was hoarse and low. “Good job on Magda. Go, Breathe her power, quickly. Then Breathe me, like I told you to do.” His uninjured hand closed over her forearm. “Ruby, you must do it. You’ll need all the power you can get to defeat Purcell.”

She shook her head.

“Ruby, damn it, logic, not emotion.”

How could she put aside her emotions now? Once again she was watching someone she cared about dying, helpless to do anything about it. She couldn’t bear to look at the gaping hole in his chest, focusing on the gash in his neck instead.

He trembled, wincing in pain. “Go.”

She got to her shaky feet and approached Magda. Ruby had to do it before Magda died and became human again. Had to…

To hell with logic. She was not helpless. She dragged Magda’s body closer to his, kneeling between them. He’d told her to pull it deep within. A frenetic energy hovered all around Magda’s body, her essence. Ruby Breathed but she did not pull it all the way inside her. Instead she moved close to Cyn, pressing her mouth over his, and Breathed out. Like he had done to her in that apartment to heal her. Maybe she didn’t have enough power to heal him, but Magda did.

He thrashed his head, murmuring, “Ruby, don’t take a chance.”

She felt the same frenetic energy around him, too. “No! I will not lose you, Cyn. I can do this.” She braced her hands on his cheeks, staring into indigo eyes with very few embers left. “You made me love you, you arrogant, hard-assed Dragon, so you cannot die on me!”

She didn’t know if he’d heard because he seemed to sink into oblivion. She went back and forth between Magda and Cyn, trying to transfer her power to him. Magda Catalyzed to human in death, a naked, blood-covered woman sprawled on the black tile floor. The energy dissipated.

“Cyn, come back to me.” Tears flowed down Ruby’s cheeks as she pressed her face against his and whispered, “Cyn, please.”

His chest was still rising and falling, but his exhalation was nearly imperceptible. Her finger, pressed against the scales at his neck, picked up hardly any pulse. She fought the tide of grief that threatened to drown her. She’d gone against his orders, risked everything, and failed.

Then she felt a change in his energy. She sat up as he Catalyzed to human. “No. No!” She shook his shoulders, willing him to return to Dragon where he had a chance of healing. She buried her face against his chest and gave into the grief for a few seconds. But wait. His heart was beating. She sat up and searched for some sign of life. His eyes were still closed. The wound in his neck…it was healing.

His eyes slowly opened; then he jerked upright, sending her tumbling back. He patted his chest, searching for his fatal wound, then took in the room, Magda’s lifeless body, and then her. “What did you do?”

She Catalyzed, too, and smiled. He was alive, even if he was peeved. “I Breathed Magda’s essence into you. If there was a chance of saving you, I was going to do it.”

He got to his feet, pulling her up with him. Now he surveyed her. “You’re hurt.”

She glanced down at all the scratches, cuts, and swollen places. “They’re mostly healed. We have to get the reactor. Fernandez showed up. He must have followed us, desperate to find out where this place was. He grabbed it and ran. Purcell went after him.”