Prince of Fire | Dragonfire Book One

Capitolo Dodici

A dragon's first instinct is to protect what is theirs: treasure, territory, kin, honor, and most importantly, their mate.

~ Draconic Book of Songs

Chapter Twelve

"Maledizione!" Dante cursed loudly as the helicopter started spiraling out of control, throwing off his balance.

Normally, he wouldn't feel as stressed in a situation like this because he could easily transform and fly away, leaving the machine to its doom. Yet, his mate was on board, along with the curator and other hunters, one of which was too close to Elena for his liking. Now what was he supposed to do? Reveal himself to save everyone or leave and let everyone die and carry his secret to their graves?

Suddenly, he heard Elena gasp and fall silent. His head snapped toward her and he watched her lean unconsciously against the wall with a blood streak across her temple, under her helmet. Merda, he thought when he realized that she had been struck by some flying object that must have been dislodged from the interior of the machine. An instinctive brevity of panic filled him as he wondered if she was still alive. She couldn't be dead, he mentally told himself. He had just met her, and she still had to survive to fulfill the prophecy.

At that moment, he didn't care if she would eventually come to betray him. He would rather her live and do so than for him to let her die.

"Elena!" Colton called out, pulling Dante back to reality. He looked around and saw that the two hunters were still conscious, and Evelyn looked like she had passed out from screaming and falling.

Quickly, he decided that he needed to incapacitate the two hunters by knocking them out. They could not see him transform and fly them all out. He clenched his jaw, unbuckled his seat restraints, and stood up, knowing that action would destabilize him even more.

Dante stumbled for Colton first, since he was preoccupied with Elena's well being. He raised his arm and hit him in the head from behind, with enough force to knock him out with the protective helmet still on, but not enough to do any permanent damage. Colton slumped in his seat, indicating that he was out. Before the other woman even realized anything was wrong, Dante had knocked her out as well.

Now that all four were unconscious, Dante initiated the Shift, but only to his half form. His leathery, cobalt wings sprouted from his back, ripping the back of his shirt, and he lunged to grab Evelyn and Elena in his arms. As soon as he felt as if he had a firm grip on both, he leaped out of the opening of the helicopter, diving into the carpet of trees, gliding down and to the side, and feeling the slap of the wind against his face.

He didn't bother to set them down carefully; their landing was already more gentle than it would have been had they stayed in the helicopter. Dante left them against a tree and jumped up, thrusting his wings to give flight. He flew back up to the helicopter, which was now spiraling awfully close to the tops of the trees. Frustrated over the time crunch, Dante growled and rushed to release and grab Colton and the other huntress. He was about to grab the pilot as well but the helicopter finally hit the tops of the tree.

Dante swore again, having been thrown off by the jarring collision, and he leaped out of the helicopter once more, still carrying the other two. He couldn't risk the three of them being trapped within the clutches of the branches, waiting for the machine to self destruct from the damage and impact. It was merely a split second decision.

But that decision was a life-saver because they escaped the helicopter right before it exploded.

The furious explosion sent a blast of force that propelled Dante further in his original direction, boosting his speed uncontrollably. The jarring sound overpowered his heightened hearing, exacerbating his ringing auditory system. He flinched at the immense sound, knowing that it was probably worse for him as a dragon than it was for the humans, who had weaker hearing.