Dragon Bound (Elder Races #1)(40)

There were other layers to the mélange of contradicting, complicated emotions. Shock from the crash lingered. Fear clung, along with anxiety about what would happen next. Excitement welled that she was actually in an Other place.

Dragos existed at the center of all of it. He was her one point of stable reference, her compass point, true north.

His dark bronze skin seemed more intense, his inky hair more glossy, the gold of his eyes more burnished than it had been before. She wondered if it was an effect of the magic-saturated land, or if it was a side effect of the Elven poison working its way out of his system. Perhaps both.

She studied his dangerous face as he reclined on one shoulder and watched what happened outside. His gold eyes were calculating, and he kept the Goblin sword he had captured ready against his side.

She weighed the odds. On one hand, thirty or forty armed Goblins, give or take. On the other hand, one seriously pissed-off dragon. She thought of the enormous strength in those hands as he reshaped the metal near her legs. Maybe she was biased, but those Goblins were toast.

The trick would be how and when he was going to toast them.

“The problem is me,” she said, pitching her voice low like he’d told her to.

“What are you talking about,” he said in a soft voice, only half paying attention to her.

“Just like it was when the Elves had you surrounded. You wouldn’t fight them because I was in the way.” That got his full attention. She felt calm and clear. “I bet you could have gotten yourself out of the wreck probably well before we crossed over.”

“Speculation like that is useless,” he told her, frowning.

“Maybe you could have gotten free of the wreck before the Goblins even got the car onto the flatbed, right?” she persisted. “You didn’t, though, because of me. I’m holding you back.”

“Let’s be clear on something,” he said. “I don’t know what the hell you are. We’re adding that to a growing list of things for that conversation we’re going have when we get out of here. But one thing you’re not is a problem. Let’s say you are a tactical consideration.”

“Tactical consideration,” she huffed. “What does that mean?”

“It means you factor into the decisions I make. Stop fretting.” He flicked her nose with a forefinger. “Looks like we’re coming to our destination.”

She propped herself up on her elbows and looked out. They had been traveling for a long time. She wasn’t sure how long, because she had heard time moved at a different pace in Other lands. The sun had lowered until it looked like late afternoon or early evening, but if she went with what her body clock was telling her, it felt like they had been trapped into that awful wreck for an entire day.

The land had gotten rockier and wilder since she’d last peered out. Ahead against the bottom of a bluff was a grim-looking stone . . . fortress? Wow, she’d never seen a fortress before. A couple Goblins broke off and jogged ahead of the main group. Anxiety got the upper hand of all the other emotions in her mélange. Her stomach clenched.

Dragos’s hand settled on her shoulder in a firm, steady grip. “You listen to me,” he whispered. “You are going to do as I say. Do you understand? Now is not the time to argue or disobey me. I am the expert here. Got it?”

She nodded. She focused on regulating her breathing as her gaze clung to his.

“Here’s what you’re not going to do,” he whispered, looking deep into her eyes. “Do not draw any attention to yourself whatsoever. Do not give them a reason to believe you’re anything but incidental. Do not look them in the eyes. To a Goblin, that’s a sign of aggression. Do not speak to them. Do not struggle. Do you understand?”

“I think so,” she whispered back. That galloping horse was back in her chest. The way things had gone this last week, she’d lost ten years off her life from stress.

“Here’s what I think is going to happen. They’re going to separate us. They might hurt you.” His grip tightened to the point of pain. “They won’t kill you. They’ll have seen I was tending to you in some way, so they’ll want to use you as leverage to control me. Goblins have no interest in human women. They won’t rape you.”

A spasm of trembling hit her, and then it was gone again and she was calm. “It’s all right,” she told him. “I’m all right. I’m glad you’re telling me this.”

“That’s my good brave girl.” He let go of her shoulder and brushed his knuckles against her cheek.

“That’s pretty patronizing,” she said, refusing to acknowledge how her idiotic heart had swelled at his words. It seemed pretty clear by now she had no sense or good taste.

He gave her an impatient shrug. “So?”

Just like that she cracked up. His raptor’s gaze narrowed. She clapped both hands over her mouth to muffle the noise and sobered fast. “This is still about that penny, isn’t it?” she said into her palms.

“This is about the f**king penny,” he agreed. “I think it was used to put a tracking spell on me, much like the one we used on you. I don’t sense any real Power here yet, but I bet our orchestrator of events is on his way. It’s all the more reason you must not draw attention to yourself.”

“I won’t.”