Before She Ignites (Fallen Isles Trilogy #1)(70)

Hot wind made fires jump around her, and the whole ship groaned and shuddered under the violence of an angry Drakontos rex. It was going to sink, and she would fall with it.

Heat gusted, pushing me backward, but I pushed forward. This was dangerous, I knew. Unwise. But there was still some part of me that believed I could help this dragon.

I reached out my hand through the heavy, dry air which tasted of ashes. I reached as though I could touch her. “Lex!”

Still, she thrashed her head and roared at the sky, spitting out flames that sputtered deep red. Her fire was dying, and so was she.

“Lex!” I took another step forward, my arms open toward her.

This time, she heard me. Or she saw me. I couldn’t be sure. But either way, she released her grip on the mainmast and abandoned the sinking galleon. With one heavy pump of her good wing, she leaped to the docks.

Wood cracked and crumbled beneath her, falling into the churning sea. Lex clawed toward me, her gaze locked with mine.

And behind me, screams began anew. Everyone thought the dragon was coming to eat them; they didn’t know Lex would never harm a human.

Well, not before all this. Now? I couldn’t be sure.

My heart pounded as the great Drakontos rex prowled forward, head low and wings arched. Her talons gouged into the docks, and bloodred fire burned deep in the back of her mouth, behind a hundred knifed teeth.

“Lex,” I said, as gently as I could. How many times had I actually met her? Ilina had far more contact with the big dragons than I, but Lex had seen me before. With Ilina. Multiple times.

I kept my hands lifted toward the great dragon. From here, I could see that her scales were duller than they’d been, and her eyes sunken inward. She was ill. Starved. Abused. If she’d been LaLa, I could have taken her in my arms and kissed her nose, but Lex was as big as my bedroom. She was a wild creature, not one who obeyed my commands.

And yet, as she reached me, Lex rested her chin on the docks at my feet, her golden eyes turned upward to me. Her wings pulled in, and the rest of her body lowered as well.

“Hello, my sweet.” Slowly, I began to kneel. Heat rose off her scales in waves, cooling as the shock and anger wore off. A soft groan worked through her throat. “Poor Lexy,” I murmured.

“Now!” a man shouted.

Bowstrings twanged and a volley of arrows flew in from the north, dragging a heavy net behind them.

Latticed ropes crashed onto Lex, and at once, I realized my mistake. All of my focus had been on her, and none on my surroundings. While I’d been distracted—while I’d kept Lex distracted—police and soldiers and guards had staged themselves at a distance, just out of my peripheral vision.

“No!” The scream ripped from me, but I was too late.

So was Lex. She reared back, but the arrows plunged into the water, drawing the net tightly over her, and pinned her great wings to her sides. Flame curled from the back of her throat, but there wasn’t enough to save her. The fire died at the tip of her tongue.

And then, her golden eyes shifted back to me, and she surrendered. Breaking free of the ship had taken all her effort, and now she was resigned to captivity once more.

“Go,” I rasped, reaching for the net. “Try one more time.” But before I could even touch the net, everyone swarmed in: soldiers and police to Lex, Elbena and Luminary Guards to me.

I was surrounded. The white-uniformed men took my hands and arms, drawing me away from the fray of everyone struggling to contain Lex. I thrashed, feeling as wild as the dragon, but it was no use. The Luminary Guards were bigger. Stronger. And there were ten of them. “Stay still!” one shouted.

“Let me go!” All I wanted was to get back to Lex, but I couldn’t even see her through the wall of bodies. “Let me go!” I jerked my arm free, only to find another’s hands clasped around it.

“Release her!” Elbena shouted.

All ten Luminary Guards stepped away, and I started to run toward Lex again, but Elbena stood in my way. It was over. Lex was lost to me.

I crumpled to the ground with a desperate sob.

“Oh, Mira.” Elbena pressed her hands to her heart. “What a brave thing you did. Are you all right?”

Adrenaline rushed through my veins and my chest squeezed. I was not all right. But what could I do but nod? The movement was jerky, and I was certain that nothing I did right now looked natural.

Elbena extended a hand to me, her smooth brown fingers in a delicate arc. “Let me help you up, dear.”

We were in full view of everyone who could bear to take their eyes off the dragon.

I counted the masked guards ringing us. Still ten. Twenty-five Shadow Spires in the city. Fifty people gathering nearby, gawking at us, and at the display on the docks behind us.

Innumerable cries from Lex.

“Mira.” Elbena’s voice was firm. She still held her hand toward me.

Hating myself, I placed my work-callused hand in hers and allowed her to pull me into a brief hug. “Don’t do anything to jeopardize your freedom,” she murmured.

I gave a jolting nod, but couldn’t bring myself to give voice to assurances of my behavior. It was all I could do to keep my trembling at a minimum, and my tears caged inside me.

“Good.” Quickly, she smoothed my hair, straightened my dress, and pulled me around to survey the activity on the docks.

The burning galleon was half-drowned by now, and a terrible shrieking came from within. Not a shrieking of the ship, but something else. Something real. Something terrible.