Burning for the Dragon: BBW Dragon Shifter Paranormal Romance (Fated Hearts Club Book 1) (8 page)

The flight from her building had been a terrifying ordeal.
Alexa waited until they were outside before shifting into a dragon. Penelope
tried to run, darting between cars screeching to a stop and people pointing
their phones at the beast as long as a city bus, but Alexa rose into the air
and snatched her up in her claws. With large sweeps of her shiny, black wings,
Alexa launched out of the streets and shot into the sky from between the
surrounding buildings. Penelope thought the dragon would drop her to fall to
her death, but Alexa flew on and ignored the prey beating at her with tiny, human
hands.

The only positive was that so many people saw the shifting
dragon. Luca would surely hear of it within hours and come looking. If the mad
woman left her alive that long.

Alexa flew toward the mountains Penelope and Luca admired
during their date the night before. Her stomach roiled when the dragon didn’t
slow down. She would be thrown into the side of the mountain, that’s what the
woman had planned for her. Crushed bones and instant death were preferable to
the flaying she threatened.

But instead of being flung to her death, the dragon tucked
her wings and dove for a dark spot on the tallest mountain. Penelope wasn’t
afraid to admit that she passed out.

A sharp slap across both cheeks woke her to see she’d been
placed in a cave with her hands bound at her back.

“Where are we?” She sputtered. She slumped against the rough
wall gouged with what looked like claw marks. She’d never heard of caves in the
mountains and figured the dragon must have dug it out herself.

“Must I cut out your tongue?” Alexa asked in a tired voice.
Penelope shut her mouth and didn’t answer. Alexa mostly ignored her after that.

Alexa sat at a small, rough desk. She lifted her eyes from
the page she wrote on anytime Penelope made a movement. So she stayed as still
as possible and tried to get her bearings.

The cave was fit like rough living quarters, complete with
desk, bed, and a chest that likely held her belongings. It wasn’t hard to
imagine the dragon shifting into the human, and using the space as an apartment
away from the city.

Penelope didn’t know what worried her more: that Alexa was
prepared to have a hideout, or that her claws were sharp enough to dig through
rock and make a sizeable dwelling. Carving up human flesh would be nothing next
to making her own cave in the mountainside.

Humming jerked her attention back to her captor. Alexa
nearly vibrated in her seat as her pen scratched across the page. Then she
turned her dark eyes on Penelope. A shudder tore through her body at the
obvious threat on her face.

She never felt more like prey than when Alexa locked eyes on
her and slowly stood from her desk. One step after another brought her closer.
Penelope tried to become one with the wall behind her, but there was nowhere to
run. She was at Alexa’s mercy.

The dragon knelt in front of her. Her humming hadn’t
stopped. She raised one hand and Penelope’s eyes widened as her fingertips
lengthened and turned black. Her nails turned to sharp points of claws meant
for tearing into others.

She tried to stare down the woman who came for her blood.
The slice along her collarbone stung and she whimpered in pain. Alexa only
smirked. Unease wormed its way through her body and settled in her stomach. The
woman liked causing pain.

Still humming, Alexa wiped a bit of blood on the letter she
calmly held in her other hand. She hummed on her way back to the desk, where
she wrapped the paper in a ribbon and signed the front with a flourish. Without
another look, she walked to the front of her cave, shifted, and launched into
the air.

After she flew out of the mountain, Penelope shot into
motion. She didn’t want to wait for Alexa to return if she could help it. She
felt along the rough wall for anything to cut her bonds. Inching to the side
and feeling with her fingers and palms, she finally found a sharp spot of rock.

Penelope sawed at the ropes binding her hands. Each jerk of
her arms irritated the cut along her collarbone. Penelope winced when she felt
the wound break open again and a new warm line of blood dripped down her body.
She kept trying to cut the rope, ignoring her tired and sore muscles.

She didn’t know how long she would have alone. She couldn’t
tell how long it’d been since Alexa flew off. She didn’t even know exactly
where they were or if she’d be able to get out. But she couldn’t sit around and
wait for her fate. The woman was clearly crazy and willing to do her lots of
harm. She would fight for her survival until she couldn’t draw a breath. Which
might not be much longer.

She gulped and tried to push the thought away.

Finally, the rope around her wrist snapped. Penelope
stumbled forward in her rush to get out of the cave. Thunder and lightning added
to the rain were pouring down outside, but she didn’t care. She’d walk a
thousand miles through the rain and mud if it meant she could get away from
Alexa.

She walked toward the dim light and wanted to cry.

The ledge jutted into the open air. The valley was a
dizzying distance below. Hard rock with no sign of a path lined either side.
Alexa had made her lair well.

She was trapped.

A thunderous roar was her only warning. A huge dragon
streaked toward her. She scrambled back from the ledge as the black beast
snapped its wings to its body and dove for her. Her back hit rock and she squinted
her eyes closed against death that was sure to come.

“Get up.”

Penelope’s heart sank. Even though she hoped the dragon was
anyone but Alexa, she wasn’t surprised to hear the woman’s mocking voice.

“I said get up!”

A hard kick to her ribs sent Penelope scurrying to her feet.
Her injured and tired body protested the movement and she sucked in a sharp
breath at the pain. Alexa didn’t care or didn’t notice. Penelope edged along
the wall. She didn’t know where she could go to protect herself, but all her
instincts told her to get as far away from the dragon woman as possible.

The other woman strutted in front of her, long hair swaying
behind her like an alive thing. Her eyes flashed brightly and her hands
clenched and relaxed in sporadic turns. Alexa could barely contain her
annoyance.

“I don’t appreciate you running from your fate. Dragons will
be talking of this day, you know. The day we took back what we should
rightfully rule. You’re a coward, just like Leo at the end. Will you beg for me
to stop, too?”

Penelope stopped in her minuscule escape, her mind racing.
Luca only spoke briefly of his brother, but his story hadn’t mentioned Alexa at
all. He could have been hiding her, yes. But she didn’t think he’d let anyone
involved in his brother’s murder remain alive.

She spoke slowly. If she could keep Alexa talking and not
doing any carving, perhaps she could still find a way to escape. It was a long
shot, but she had nothing else up her sleeve. She wouldn’t just lie down and
take whatever Alexa dealt her. “But a dragon slayer killed his brother.”

“You think those nitwits would know a dragon shifter from a
Gila monster?” Alexa laughed maniacally.

Penelope didn’t know if she’d get out alive. Probably not
without assistance, unless she had some hidden shifter abilities that would let
her sprout wings and glide out of the cave. She didn’t know if Luca would
arrive in time. Probably not, as Alexa seemed anxious to cause pain. The only
thing she knew for certain was that Alexa was off her rocker and Mayor of
Crazytown.

Keep her talking, she reminded herself. She stretched for
questions to ask. None of it made sense. She wasn’t part of their world. She
didn’t know how they operated. If she asked the wrong thing and set Alexa off,
it could mean the start of her death. “But why kill Leo? Were you...involved
with him, too?”

Alexa eyed her suspiciously, then continued her pacing. “You
little idiot. This is why you’re not worthy of Luca. You don’t understand the
first thing about our people. Leo needed to be removed so Luca would have a
clear path to the Dragon Throne.”

Her eyes widened. She knew Luca was a dragon, of course.
He’d spoken in vague terms of the power structure, but nothing that named him
as the big dragon in charge.

Alexa continued. “A human, worthy of being the Consort of
the Dragon King? You don’t have an ounce of dragon blood in you. My kind will
tear you apart.”

The callousness appalled Penelope. Alexa had murdered for
power and showed no remorse. She didn’t want to be stuck in some medieval
succession crisis. She didn’t even know the role she played, but she was threat
enough to warrant kidnapping.

Alexa picked up on her cluelessness. Her eyes glinted with
smug superiority. “He never told you? Pity, he must have known deep down you
weren’t the right choice. Dragons are secretive by nature. He certainly
wouldn’t want to reveal that he was heir to the throne to one of the ants of
the world.”

Penelope didn’t want to believe her, but it ate at the doubt
that already darkened her heart. Luca hadn’t told her of Alexa and yet she was
certainly a big part of his life. His entire future was tied up in dragon
royalty, but not even a whisper of it was told to her. She sagged against the
rough wall and fought the tears that crept up on her. She’d been kidnapped and
hurt, but Luca’s hidden life was the last bit that tipped her into despair.

But she didn’t have a moment to adjust to the new reminder
of how little she knew Luca. Alexa scented her weakness and continued to pile
on with more threats of chaos and calamity.

“Luca will come here and see the truth of the situation. No
human should sit at his side. He needs one of his own. He needs me. I’ll slit
your throat and we’ll consummate our mating over your hideous body.”

“And if he doesn’t see it that way?” She tried to put fire
in her voice, but there wasn’t even a spark. Why would Luca want her? She was
nothing. A small, tiny human who had trouble making her rent. Lovers left her
with dismaying regularity. Why should he be any different, especially when he
would be king of the dragons and have another dragon at his side?

Alexa snarled. “Then he’ll die with you. How sad his parents
will be when I come to them with news of their second son’s death. I’ll tell
them how this dragon slayer seduced their son and struck when his defenses were
lowered. But I found her and I took revenge for the murder of their sons.
They’ll take me, the daughter they never had, into their arms. That’s when I’ll
strike.

“I’ll be welcomed with open arms as a savior of my people.
Another killing by a dragon slayer and they did nothing. Nothing! I’ll make the
call to war. Dragons will rule over the land. We won’t be pitiful creatures
hiding our power in the shadows. We will stand proud and we will protect our
own.”

“Your plan is stupid.” Penelope snorted and regretted the
words as soon as they slipped from her mouth. She wanted to shut her eyes and
pretend she didn’t exist. It worked for toddlers, why couldn’t it work for a
crazed murderess? But no, she kept watch on her approaching death.

The woman was truly insane. She was willing to murder, which
was bad enough. But now she plotted to change the world as a whole. Penelope
didn’t see a peaceful transition. The only bright spot in the world of hurt
that awaited was Alexa’s death. The woman would fight until she was brought
down for good.

Alexa’s eyes flashed again, the black eating all the other
color. Her face rippled and changed, but settled into her human shape. She
slowly approached Penelope, nostrils flaring and eyes considering her like she
couldn’t figure out where to start on a feast of delectable treats.

“Let’s have some fun. You don’t need to be entirely in one
piece when Luca arrives.”

Penelope felt the color leave her face. The first slice of
Alexa’s claw reopened the wound along her collarbone. The second ran down the
length of her arm. Her vision darkened at the edges, but she stiffened her
spine and bit the insides of her cheeks.

She would not faint. She would not call out. She would not
give Alexa any satisfaction.

Chin quivering with suppressed screams and curses, she
prayed that any help would arrive before Alexa ripped her apart.

***

It wasn’t easy to sneak up on another dragon. They were
sensitive to changes in the air and could hear the beating of wings. But Alexa
was far more concerned with the prey in front of her than the predator that
hunted her.

Luca eyed the scene below him. He hovered in the clouds
above the cave, just low enough to remain concealed and have a clear view of
the opening. The lack of movement worried him. He couldn’t hear anything at
that distance, but surely Alexa would be watching for him.

Alexa had taken up residence in the lair he’d carved for
himself. All dragons needed a place to safely stretch their wings and the
mountains outside of the city were a perfect place for him. He’d never be able
to wash the stink of Alexa out of his lair.

His dragon wanted to leave the air and fly right into their
space, but Luca held back. He didn’t know what he’d find inside the cave. If
she was smart, she would have laid traps to slice up his wings as soon as he
entered. If she was stupid, she would have hurt Penelope. She needed to die; he
just wasn’t sure how to best make that happen without further harming his mate.

A faint scream of pain made his decision for him. He tucked
his wings against his body and dove straight for the cave ledge, tucking and
rolling at the last second. He hit the ground and rolled to his feet.

The sharp sting of blood on the air hit his nose and he
growled. Alexa had his mate pinned to the wall. Her claws were out and slicing
long lines down Penelope’s limbs. Tears streamed from her eyes and down her
cheeks, the salty scent mingling with the copper that pumped fresh with each
beat of her heart. There wasn’t enough blood to drain her, but even the
smallest drop would have enraged him. No one hurt his mate and lived.