To Date A Dragon: BBW Dragon Shifter Romance (Weredragon Warriors Book 1) (10 page)

“I'll go in first,”
Edriq said, stepping forward.

“I'll bring up the
rear,” Zul said, backing Edriq. They were keeping Rohan
between them, and they weren't letting him out of their sight. Rohan
didn't bother arguing with them. Edriq and Zul would be able to
concentrate on fighting the enemy better if they weren't worrying
themselves silly about him. He would go with them on this.

They entered the cave slowly,
weapons drawn. Rohan could hear water dripping somewhere deeper in
the cave, and he could sense that they were being watched. Edriq was
right. They were walking into a trap, but there was no other choice.

Tessa was in here. He could
feel her. They couldn't blast the cave with dragon fire and burn
everything and everyone in it.

General Nhor was watching
him. Rohan was sure of it. Watching in the dark, waiting to make
his move…

Edriq shouted a warning and
raised his knife. A dart stabbed into the hilt of his knife. Edriq
yanked the dart out and snarled, “Poison darts.”

Rohan stepped forward and
said, “They already know we are here. So...”

Edriq nodded. “The
best defense...”

“...is a good offense,”
Zul answered and threw his knife straight past Rohan's shoulder.

There was a loud thud as a
Slayor crumpled to the ground. Rohan nodded at his brothers and they
charged into the cave, firing their weapons as they ran.

Slayors began to pour out of
their hiding spots. Rohan pulled out both guns and kept firing.
Bullets were much faster than blades. He needed to kill as many
Slayors as possible.

He glanced over his shoulder
to see Edriq using his guns but Zul was merrily slicing and dicing
with his long knives. Zul was covered from head to toe in black
blood but there was a maniacal grin on his face.

Zul was like a tornado,
churning and whirling unstoppably round the cave. He seemed to
relish digging his blades deep into a Slayor's body and pulling the
slimy innards out. Rohan heard Zul crow in triumph when he
decapitated three Slayors at once.

Zul grabbed one of the heads
and rolled it towards a group of Slayors who were coming at him. The
Slayors tripped and fell like bowling pins. “Strike!”
Zul hollered and pumped his fists in the air. “Woohoo!”
Then he spun round and buried his knife in another Slayor's neck.

His brothers could take care
of themselves. They even looked like they were having fun.

Rohan ran ahead, shooting
with deadly accuracy to clear a path for himself.

As he moved deeper into the
cave, the Slayors thinned out and the attacks ceased. All the
Slayors had gone out to the front to fight.

The sound of fighting receded
behind him, and he heard the echo of Zul's laughter. The guy was
having a little too much fun.

Rohan followed the sound of
dripping water until he reached a large pit at the back of the cave.
A muffled sound rose from the pit and Rohan leaped down quickly. He
landed soundlessly on his feet, his guns aimed at the moving shadows
before him.

The pit wasn't very deep but
it was huge. There were rock pillars and boulders, and Rohan made
his way carefully around them.

He heard approaching
footsteps. Two Slayors emerged from the shadows and stood in front
of him.

“Daddy!” Rohan
jerked at the sound of Tessa's scream. He turned and saw General
Nhor moving out of the shadows. Nhor threw Tessa on the ground and
pinned her face down under his boot.

Rohan lurched forward but a
small, glinting blade flicked out from Nhor's boot and pressed
dangerously close to Tessa's eye.

Rohan dragged his gaze from
his daughter's tear-stained face to the woman kneeling in front of
General Nhor. The smile on Nhor's face widened as he yanked the
woman's head up by her red hair and pushed a knife against her
throat.

“Amelia,” Rohan
said in a pained whisper.

Amelia opened her eyes at the
sound of his voice. She stared unwaveringly at him and her lips
moved.

Save her
, Amelia
mouthed to him.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN

Amelia tried not to flinch as
Nhor nicked her skin with the point of his blade. She saw Rohan's
eyes blaze with fury when he saw her blood drip onto Nhor's finger.

“Prince Rohan of
Draca.” Nhor gave a bow and laughed. “I had the
pleasure of slitting your father's throat. I'll let you watch your
daughter die before I take you back to my Emperor. That way, you
don't have to worry about her when you leave.”

Rohan didn't look at Amelia.
He kept his eyes locked on Nhor as he said, “Let the woman go.
She's got nothing to do with this.”

“But she does.”
Nhor smiled. “She's right smack in the middle of all this. I
found out that she's your daughter's teacher, so I thought I could
get to know the nice kindergarten teacher and get her to trust me.
Then I'll be able to get your daughter easily.” He shrugged
and tapped his knife against Amelia's cheek. “Too bad our date
didn't go as planned.”

Amelia bit down a curse.
“Norbert” had wanted to use her to get to Tessa. She had
been too trusting, too naive and gullible. She had told him which
kindergarten she taught at when they chatted online. Stupid, stupid,
stupid!

Rohan continued speaking in a
low, steady voice. “Let them go, Nhor. I'll come with you.
You can take me back to your Emperor.”

Nhor tilted his head,
pretending to consider the trade. “I can deliver you alive to
my Emperor. Or I can bring him your head in a box. I think I'll do
the latter. But thank you for your offer, Prince Rohan of Draca.”

Nhor gave the signal and the
two Slayors charged Rohan together.

The two Slayors were strong
and skilful fighters. Their attack was brutal and relentless, and
they didn't seem to feel any pain even when Rohan slashed them
repeatedly across their chests. Their muscle shirts were stained
with black blood but they didn't slow down. Rohan roared in pain
when one of the Slayors plunged a knife into Rohan's shoulder.

Amelia winced as she watched
Rohan wrench the knife out of his flesh. She gulped and suddenly
realized that Nhor was no longer holding his knife to her throat.

Very slowly, she turned
around.

Nhor had discarded his human
shape. A giant serpent was now looming over her.

Amelia turned and saw Tessa
lying facedown on the ground, whimpering and shaking.

As Amelia looked up into
Nhor's glowing yellow eyes, she knew in a flash what he was going to
do.

She was just a means to an
end. Tessa was the target.

She moved a fraction of a
second before he did.

Amelia threw herself over
Tessa just as Nhor widened his jaws and lurched towards the child.

The strike was swift and
deadly.

Amelia screamed in agony as
Nhor plunged his fangs into her leg and injected his venom into her.
Her entire leg felt like it was on fire, and she could feel the venom
coursing through her bloodstream, rushing towards her heart.

Amelia clung tightly to
Tessa, shielding every inch of the girl's small, trembling body. She
would not let Nhor get to Tessa. She curled protectively and
determinedly over Tessa, making her body an impenetrable shield over
the girl.

Nhor hissed in fury and tried
to push her away, but Amelia locked her limbs and muscles firmly in
place. Every tiny movement caused her excruciating pain but Amelia
forced herself to hold on. She would protect Tessa for as long as
she still had breath in her.

But there weren't many more
breaths left. She could feel her lungs burning and it became more
and more difficult to breathe.

Nhor reared up, his eyes full
of hate and fury. Amelia made sure Tessa was fully covered before
she glared up at him, her eyes flashing with defiance and triumph.
“I won't let you touch her, you shit!” she snarled.
“You. Can. Bite. My. Ass!”

He did.

But this time, she felt no
pain from the bite.

In fact, she felt nothing at
all.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT

“Amelia!” Rohan
roared. “No!”

Driven by pain and wrath,
Rohan charged heedlessly forward. He fought like a demented man,
delivering blow after blow to his enemies but feeling nothing from
the vicious wounds he received.

With a terrible, anguished
cry, Rohan plunged his dagger into the Slayor's chest. Rohan didn't
wait for the Slayor to crumple. He pulled out his gun and shot the
other Slayor between his eyes.

Rohan tried to move towards
Amelia and Tessa, but the giant serpent slithered out and blocked
them from his view. Nhor lunged at Rohan and his long, powerful
fangs splinted the boulder just in front of Rohan.

Rohan rolled away and trained
his gun on Nhor. He fired again and again, but the huge snake
twisted away with lightning quick reflexes. Nhor moved with clear,
cold precision and Rohan took a sharp, ragged breath and forced
himself to focus.

His hands were shaking and he
wasn't aiming properly. He just wasn't seeing clearly. All he could
see was Amelia's limp, discolored body draped protectively over
Tessa. There were ugly, jagged puncture wounds on her bare leg and
her skin was turning a dark, purplish hue.

The venom was spreading
through her body, paralyzing her and shutting down her bodily
functions. She looked like she was bruised all over, from the inside
out.

Nhor slid slowly to the side
and Rohan saw a rivulet of blood flowing out from under Amelia's red
hair. He couldn't see her face but he knew that she was bleeding
from her mouth, nose and eyes. She was dying.

Rohan flung his gun away and
pulled out a knife from his side. He clicked a tiny button on the
hilt, and the blade elongated. Another click and the knife was now a
sword.

Rohan gripped his sword with
both hands and ran forward. Nhor's fangs sliced down towards Rohan
and clashed against his sword. The venom oozed out from the
serpent's fangs and Rohan jerked away just in time.

A large glob of venom
splashed on the ground where Rohan had been standing a heartbeat ago.
The lethal venom sizzled and evaporated, filling the cave with
noxious fumes.

Rohan gripped his sword and
ran at Nhor again. He was running out of time.
Amelia
was
running out of time.

He swung his sword down and
cut a deep gash in the snake's leathery skin. Nhor shuddered
violently as black blood poured from the wound.

Breathing hard, Rohan closed
both fists over the hilt of his sword and faced his enemy.

Nhor thrashed and spat jets
of venom from his fangs. Rohan moved deftly out of the way and held
his sword out in front of him. But he didn't attack.

He stood still and waited,
conserving all his strength for the final blow.

Nhor came at him again,
spitting and hissing. Rohan looked straight into Nhor's eyes as the
snake swung its head down towards him, its jaws opened wide.

Rohan didn't hesitate. With
one decisive, powerful move, Rohan brought his blade down just behind
the snake's head.

He severed the head cleanly
from the body, and staggered back.

Venom spewed from Nhor's
fangs as his head rolled away to rest against a boulder. The
gigantic body fell to the ground with a loud thud, sending sand and
dust up into the air.

Rohan rushed to Amelia and
Tessa, and very gently lifted Amelia's cold body off Tessa.

“Daddy!” Tessa
clung to him and sobbed into his shoulder. Then she swiped away her
tears and scrambled to Amelia's side. “Miss Amelia! Miss
Amelia, wake up! Is she...d-dead? Please save her, Daddy!”

Rohan held Amelia in his arms
and felt her life ebbing away. Her heart was still beating, but very
weakly. He had only seconds to save her life.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE

Rohan cupped Amelia's face in
one hand and pressed his mouth to hers. “Be strong, Amelia,”
he whispered.

He didn't know if it would
work but there was no other way.

He would either save her, or
kill her.

Closing his eyes, Rohan held
Amelia to him and inhaled her final breath into himself, into his
dragon.

His dragon rose and writhed
within him. Amelia's breath mingled with his dragon fire, stoking
the flame, making it burn white hot within his dragon.

Rohan's eyes blazed like twin
suns as he breathed his dragon fire into Amelia. His dragon roared
as it released its fire into its mate, claiming her and marking her.

Amelia began to convulse and
her body temperature spiked dangerously. Her eyes rolled back and a
pulsing red mark appeared on her shoulder, just below her collarbone.

He had claimed her as his
dragon mate, but he didn't know if she would survive the change.