Dragon by Midnight by Karen Kincy

Author:Karen Kincy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Karen Kincy
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

Cinderella

Cinderella didn’t want to let Sikandar out of her sight.

An ashen hue replaced the warmth in his brown skin. Before she bandaged him, he had been losing enough blood that she feared he would fall asleep and never wake up. Tears blurred her eyes, and she blinked fast to hide them.

“Are you still hungry?” she asked.

“A little.” His voice sounded rusty. “You don’t have to bring down an entire deer for me.”

“Was that a joke?”

He raised his eyebrows. “For you, I try.”

“I’m not sure I want to leave you alone.”

“Do I look that bad?”

She didn’t confirm his suspicions. “How about some chai? Tea does wonders for the constitution.”

“Thank you.”

He was still using the pack as a pillow, so she gingerly unbuckled it. He leaned away, cradling his injured arm against his chest. The bullet had exited through the back of his arm, so at least she didn’t have find it and dig it from his flesh. The very idea made her woozy.

She found a bottle full of glowing red leaves. “What’s this?”

“Ember coriander.”

“You found it?”

“Along with void saffron and kraken ink.” He managed a weak smile. “Don’t worry, I paid for them.”

“And the king’s guards still shot you?”

His smile faded. “What did you expect? I’m not Viridian.”

She didn’t know what to say except, “I’m sorry.”

After finding the copper kettle and tin of chai in his pack, she glanced at the hot springs, then thought better of it and packed the kettle with snow to melt over the fire.

“The king’s guards will be looking for me,” he said.

“But you teleported away.”

“They know I’m a sorcerer. We shouldn’t stay here.”

Words boiled over inside her. “We’re not running away while you’re hurt. Sikandar, you could have died.”

His mouth hardened. “I was stupid and got caught.”

“You are not stupid.”

“I will be if we don’t escape.”

Her temper flared. “We’re staying here!”

He flinched before he looked away. Why was she shouting at him when she cared?

God, she cared about him. More than she would ever admit.

“The snow melted,” he muttered. “You can add the chai.”

Afraid her voice would betray her, she swallowed back everything she wanted to say. She added tea and spices to the kettle. The scent reminded her of him, she realized.

She was realizing a lot of things tonight.

“Maybe you’re right,” she said. “Maybe we should go to Scaldwell and find a place to sleep.”

“The king’s guards would find me first.”

“Not if we’re clever.”

“Clever?” He glowered. “If anyone sees a wounded brown boy from Azurum, it’s all over.”

“You can’t be the only brown boy in Scaldwell.”

He scoffed. “Besides, you would be the only blue dragon.”

“Why not a glamour?” If she could have snapped her fingers, she would have. “Disguise yourself as someone else, just long enough to book a room.”

He stroked the stubble on his chin, which was quite distracting. “I studied glamours, but I wasn’t good at them. Doubtful that I could glamour an entire dragon.”

“Don’t glamour me. Brew the potion instead.”

His sigh clouded the cold. “I can’t fault your logic.”

“So, it’s a yes?”

Jaw clenched, he unpacked a shirt and put it on, avoiding his wound.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.