Pucker Up (A Damsels of Distress Novel) (13 page)

spitters still attacking, heading her way.

She willed her breathing to slow down.

Last time, she fired a second too soon.

She couldn't afford to make that mistake

again.

She tried to steady her trembling

arm.

Breathe in.
The sling, tight and

ready, aimed at the target.

Breathe out
. Her palms began

sweating.

Wait for it. Wait for it.

Teeth slowly came into view as

it opened its mouth. One beat after her

instincts told her to shoot, she released

the Orb. She held her breath as she

watched helplessly. Did she hit the

mark?

Orange light glowed deep in the

dragon's throat.

No, no, no!

But then, a small hurricane

erupted in its maw, dousing out any

flames.

The giant beast coughed and

sputtered as it dropped out of the sky.

“Yes!” Excitement thrummed

through her veins as she jumped around

in a victory dance. She felt enormous

and invincible, bigger than any dragon.

That was so cool.

“You're not done, yet. Big

Momma's coming to your side,” Garren

called out. He'd been taking the smaller

ones out. Only a few remained. They

might actually make it out of this, after-

all.

Only one more Water Orb was

left. She merged it with another yellow

and loaded the slingshot. As she waited

for the queen, the onslaught continued.

Firebombs

peppered

the

shields.

Suddenly, a loud explosion shook the

plane. Noises that were muffled only

seconds ago now blared. She glanced

over just in time to see a fireball blast a

hole through the side.

That's not good.

Chapter 7

“We lost the shields, didn't we?”

Ivy yelled against the commotion. The

sounds of dragon roars and fire blasts

were deafening. The plane shook harder

than before, tossing them around like a

goldfish in a plastic bag.

“Ya think?” Garren held on to

the machine gun, more for support than

to fire it. Only a few dragons remained,

but without the shields for protection, it

might as well be a hundred.

The cold wind, no longer

blocked from enchantments, bit her nose

and stung her eyes. Blinking back tears,

she aimed the Element Orb she held at

one of the three remaining spitters.
I just

want to go home.
She fired. Unlikely to

do any damage, but what else was she

supposed to do? The odds were once

again out of their favor.

But then water swirled around

the black dragon and hope surged inside

her. It was knocked back by the

manufactured storm and smacked into its

brother, taking them both out.

“Damn, I'm good.” A small smile

graced her lips.

“Quit your celebrating.” Garren

said. “We lost the shields, there's a hole

in the plane, and we still have one

monster of a dragon after us.”

Just then, the plane tilted. He

tumbled over, slamming into her. His

weight pounded her right hip into the

sharp edges along the wall. She gritted

her teeth to keep from screaming out in

pain.

“I think Thane needs help,” he

grunted as he braced himself on against

the side to keep from crushing her. The

plane jerked again, leveling out.

She pushed him off and stood.

She gently rubbed her throbbing hip.

“That freakin’
hurt
.”

Between the wind and the

dragons, the plane jumped. They

attached themselves to the nearest stable

object.

“Maybe you should go help

him,” she suggested. She'd rather face a

dragon than see the captain’s body again.

“Will you be all right back here

alone?”

“It's all good.” She pushed

herself off the wall she was hugging.

“I've got the hang of it now.” Placing a

hand on his shoulder, she nudged him

toward the cockpit. “Go help your

stepbrother and get us out of here.”

“Fine. Just don't— Look out!”

A stream of fire burst through the

opening and grazed her back. She fell

forward, into Garren.

“Holy crap!” He smacked her

back repeatedly to extinguish the flames.

Her parachute was ruined. The stench of

burned hair filled the air and stung her

nose.

She reached back and found it

only singed the end of her ponytail. She

sagged against him, too tired to sit up.

“I’ve changed my mind. I don't

want to do this anymore,” she mumbled

into his jacket. Giving up wasn't really

an option, but she needed to rest, if only

for a moment. Her head rocked with the

rise and fall of his chest. She wanted to

close her eyes and fall asleep, leaving

the nightmare behind. She was surprised

Garren let her rest against him for so

long, though it was only seconds. It was

almost... comforting.

Another blast shook the plane.

“All right, get off me,” he said as

he pushed her up. “I'll check on Thane.

You get rid of those two.” He motioned

toward the outside of the plane with a

nod of his head.

Unsteadily, she stood. “No,

wait.” She grabbed his sleeve as he

turned to go. After being set on fire, she

didn't want to be left alone. “It'll be

faster if we work together.”

“But just a minute ago you were

shoving me up front.” He shrugged her

off. “You okay?”

No. I’m a terrified mess.
“I'm

fine. Let's just get rid of these last two

and then we can both see Thane.” She

stood in front of him, waiting to see what

he'd choose to do. When he silently

made his way to his machine gun, she

blew out the breath she unconsciously

held in.

The victorious feeling didn't last

long as she picked up the slingshot to

resume the battle. Behind her, Garren

cursed under his breath, struggling to

unjam the gun. Gunshots sounded

seconds later.

The box of Element Orbs was

nearly depleted of anything that would

do any good. The Water Orbs were gone

and the Fire Orbs probably wouldn't do

much damage to a dragon. That left

Wind, which there was already plenty

of, and the Earth Orbs.

What did these do again?
She

racked

her

brain

to

recall

the

conversation with Irene. Something

about rocks. They turned what it hit

into...

“Oh!” She picked a green ball

and loaded it. “Where are you, you fire-

breathing bitch?”
You can't set me on

fire and get away with it.

Another explosion rocked the

plane. She cradled the orb in her hands

until the worst of the shaking was over.

It wasn't getting better.

“Damn it! It got one of the

engines,” Garren yelled.

Smoke trailed after the wing like

a birthday party streamer, only there

wasn’t anything to celebrate. He kept

firing.

She tried to steady herself

enough to aim. Dropping this Orb was

not an option. Spending the rest of her

days as a statue wasn't appealing.

“Got it!” Garren pounded his

chest with a fist.

The green dragon in her sights,

so she assumed the last spitter was gone.

“That's great. Now can you help

me?”

She jumped when his hands

grabbed her hips from behind. All this

stress couldn't be good for her heart.

“Here it comes,” he said right

next to her head.

I can see that.
She pulled the

sling back and barely missed hitting his

face. The plane rocked again, but he held

her steady.

The dragon hugged its wings to

its body then dove down from above.

She held on, waiting for just the right

moment to let go.

Garren's fingers were digging

into her hips. “Now,” he said.

She released.

The dragon swerved just in time

and the glowing green ball flew past.

That didn't stop its course as it headed

right at them. It opened its large mouth.

Flames peeked out from behind its gums.

Oh no.
She moved to duck, but

Garren held her up.

He does want to kill me. I knew

it.
She threw her hands in front of her

face as she turned away from the inferno.

When she felt the heat, but not the burn,

she peeked between her fingers to see

another, smaller shield in front of her.

What the hell?

As soon as the fire ceased and

the dragon flew under the plane, the

shield vanished. He slumped against her.

She glanced back to see his face flushed

and sweaty.

“Did
you
do that?” she asked.

He

nodded.

“She's

coming

back,” he said between heavy breaths.

Impressive
. Never in the year

that she'd lived in Salmagundi did she

see him do something so cool, and

useful.

Inside the box, only two more

green Orbs remained. She picked one up

and set it in the sling. Taking a couple

deep breaths, she got into position.

“Not too soon,” he whispered in

her ear.

“I know,” she said through

clenched teeth.

“Just a little closer.” His hot

breath tickled her neck.

“Shut. Up.” She followed the

dragon's path as it flew closer. After

watching this dragon fight, her gut told

her it was going to try and fake her out.

She was ready. That's why when it

rolled to the right, she didn't fire.

“You missed your chance,”

Garren yelled.

She knew its next move. It was

going to come up on the left, fly high

over the plane and swoop back down.

Just like the other four times.

She fired the shot straight up.

The Earth Orb hit the dragon's

wing as it looped over the plane,

instantly turning that wing to stone.

“I got it!” The last obstacle

keeping them from making it to the

airport was gone. Hope swelled in her

chest.

It

screeched

and

thrashed,

desperate to fly. The stone wing pulled

the beast straight down like a lead

weight tied to a balloon.

Right over the plane.

“No!” Garren screamed as he

yanked her away from the open window.

They ran toward the front. A second

later, a stone wing crashed through the

tail and chopped it clean off.

The plane lurched. She tripped.

Garren gripped her arm and pulled her

as far away from the gigantic hole as

possible. What was left of the plane

spun like a merry-go-round as it fell

toward the open ocean below.

“We need to jump,” Thane said

as he emerged from the cockpit. “The

stabilizing shields will only last about

thirty seconds before we nose-dive into

the ocean.” He snatched one of the travel

bags they brought and turned back the

way he came.

“What? I can't... Can't we...?
Oh

gawd
.” If there was anything left in her

stomach, it would be all over the floor

right now.

“You can do this, Ivy. Just let

your para...” Garren didn't need to finish

the sentence.

Tears sprang to her eyes,

knowing she couldn't jump because her

parachute was about as useful as an

anvil. But he could do it. If he left now,

he and Thane had a good chance of

surviving. They still had perfectly good

parachutes still strapped to their backs.

“Go,” she ordered, her voice

c r a c ki ng.
Please, don’t leave me.

“Now!” All the power she could muster

went into that one word. If he was as

smart as he always bragged to be, he'd

jump out right now and save himself.

She didn't want him to die out of some

misplaced act of chivalry trying to save

her. She couldn't be saved.