Haunting Shadows (Book 2)

Chapter 62

Andreas’ eyes followed the girl’s gaze which had moved from her dragon to the ground where her daggers now lay. Her muddy green eyes were calculating, and Andreas could see a plan forming in her mind. The bigger dragon had shifted its attention back onto Eric, Raphael and himself, but already a plan was forming in his own mind as well. Those daggers seemed important. Perhaps he could use them.

Before Andreas could act, however, the girl’s dragon lunged at the other dragon, biting its tail. The dragon whipped around and faced her, what could very easily be mistaken for sadness in his eyes, and threw her off him easily.

“Aska, I am sorry,” the dragon said as he readied himself to attack the female dragon.

“No!” the girl shrieked as the dragon flashed his teeth at the weaker dragon. Andreas’ gaze danced between dragon and dragon lady. They seemed to be on their side, at least for the moment being. And this dragon, Aska, had just stopped the other dragon from attacking him. Andreas didn’t much pride himself on being a noble man, but he’d be damned if he allowed Aska to get hurt for trying to help him.

He teleported himself in front of Aska, and threw a force-field up just as the other dragon lunged forward to sink his teeth into the female dragon. The force knocked Andreas to the side and he crashed against the front door of his mansion in a heavy thud.

The distraction had given Aska the leverage she had needed and she countered by sinking her teeth into the older dragon. Argento, standing off to the side near Casian and Kalen, took the cue from Aska and bit into the dragon’s leg. The dragon let out a whelp of pain, providing a distraction for Aspen.

“Give the daggers to the girl!” Andreas yelled at Raphael. The latter appeared confused for a split second, before he noticed the daggers on the ground. He brought them to him, but Aspen noticed and threw the girl to the ground. She landed roughly with a ground, and Aspen lunged at Raphael, trying to get the daggers away from him.

Andreas slowly got to his feet, but was almost knocked down again by someone coming from the manor. He managed to steady himself and the new comer, before he fully registered exactly who the new comer is. His eye balls almost popped from their sockets as he took in the last person he had expected to see for a while.

All the commotion around him, everyone else outside in the yard, the dragons, the people fighting, it all vanished from his mind as his attention focused on this girl in his arms.

“Lana,” he breathed. It was impossible. He had sealed her in her room with a very powerful spell. One that would not easily be undone, even when he would have done so himself. Yet here she was, standing next to him, her blue eyes staring up at him with anger and more determination that he had ever seen from her before.

She pushed him away from her. “I will deal with you later,” she said in a sharp voice before she faced the scene before them. Andreas was stunned into silence, a feat not often accomplish. Had he really underestimated his little witch so much?

Her attention shifted from him and her gaze instantly found Kalen. Her eyes flashed from blue to brown, and back again. The concern she felt for the injured sorcerer evident on her face. Andreas felt a sharp and sudden pang of jealousy.

Lana started moving to where Kalen and Casian stood, not paying attention to what was going on around her, and Andreas noticed the dragon’s large, flailing claw heading right her way. Aska and Argento were still on him, but he was trying everything in his power to shake them off. And Lana was not paying attention. Andreas quickly grabbed her around her waist, pulling her body flush into his, mere seconds before the claw made contact.

Her breathing was harbored, eyes wide, as she turned to look at him after realizing what had almost just happened. He picked her up effortlessly, and started pushing her back into the mansion. “I told you to stay inside!”

***

Roxi quickly scrambled to her feat. Her father had finally let her go, and now was her chance. He was throwing punches at Raphael, but the other man that was with him, caught hold of Aspen’s hand, immobilizing him for the time being. But her father was no stranger to fighting two men at once. He quickly shifted his attention to the younger man, and landed a perfect punch to his face. Raphael dropped her daggers and immediately moved to the other man’s aid. Roxi watched carefully, waiting for the opportune moment, before she started crawling to them, to grab the daggers. The three men were locked in a fist fight, and Aspen tackled Raphael to the ground, moving the three of them further away from the daggers.

She felt a sharp pain shoot through her arm, and she gaze back at where Aska was fighting Timophy. The older dragon had regained the upper hand, and even with the combined effort of the younger dragons, they were no match. Aska was limping away from Timophy, trying to reason with him once more. But he was seeing red.

There was only one way Roxi could end this. She needed to threaten Timophy’s life. Aspen might not care for the dragon much, but his own sense of self-preservation would cause them to flee. Her eyes fell on the daggers once more. Aspen and Raphael had moved a considerable distance away from them now. All she had to do was grab one or both of them now.

She would end this. And luckily, she knew exactly how to kill a dragon.