Rhuron's Bride (Crystal Glass Dragons 1)

I turned, walking the other way towards a busier street.

“Wait, we got off on the wrong foot, let’s talk…” He trotted after me. His shoes clicked against the pavement like a horse’s hooves.

“Please leave me alone.”

He smelled incredible; even out here in the open I could scent him.

It wasn’t a perfume or some weird soap or lotion. Rather, he radiated it like a flower: a natural scent that flooded from his pores straight to my mind in a dizzying manner.

“I can’t leave you alone, we need to talk.” It sounded urgent.

I walked faster.

I wasn’t going to reply anymore — wasn’t going to give him anything to reply to.

Maybe if I was justquiet, he’d get bored.

Nope.

The man grabbed my arm, spinning me towards him, and before I could push him away, we were airborne.

He wasn’t just some random creep; he was adragon shifter creep.

Oh, awesome, that’s just what I needed at the end of another long workday. He shifted so quickly that I hardly recognized his strong hands that held me against his chest were now claws. His stomach wasn’t scaled, but was instead smooth, hot skin, stretching and relaxing with every beat of his wings as he lifted us higher and higher.

“Stop!” I screamed as the city lurched out of my periphery.

I couldn’t see anything but his chest, but I could feel the air change as we rose up. My heart was hammering so hard I was sure I was going to pass out, or have a heart attack, but he didn’t stop. He carried me quickly, I could hear the loud beats of air with every thrust of his wings. I could smell the burning of his breath. A fire breather.

I’d never even seen a dragon shifter in person before, much less been carried away by one.

I felt helpless, infinitesimal.

If I struggled too much and he dropped me, there was no doubt I’d die.

Where was he taking me, though? Was it any better than death could be, really?

Filled with adrenaline-riddled anxiety, I hollered at him to bring me down, to let me go back to the shop, back home. He didn’t reply and just kept going.

In my nervous state, I couldn’t tell if we’d flown for five minutes or five hours.

There were no city sounds and no lights for a good period of time, and then suddenly it was like we were entering a glimmering daylight. I tried to turn to see where we were, but he kept his grip firm on me.

It wasn’t until we lowered down, his hind legs hitting the ground first, that he let me go.

I backed away from him quickly, keeping one eye on him, and was in awe.

Wherever we were, it was like being among a kaleidoscope of stained-glass windows.

His dragon form, as black as it was, shimmered with the colors of the lights and windows around us, reminding me of his hair. The cobbled square we had landed on was surrounded by buildings only a few stories high, but endless and intricate. I couldn’t imagine how much it would cost to live here — definitely beyond a flower-shop wage.

Trying to gather my wits, I ran.

My sneakers gripped onto the stone road beneath me, and I ran for the nearest building. It looked small, but as I ran inside, I realized my mistake. It was built into the mountain, and the first room I entered was larger than my entire apartment complex.

“What is this?” I gasped.

Warm gold details swirled against stained glass panes which bedecked the walls and ceilings in colors from teal to deep purple. I ran along them and could hear him running behind me. A door caught my eye, finally, and I grabbed it and quickly shut myself inside, unhappy to realize it wasn’t able to be locked. Endless boxes sat ahead of me. I spared only a quick glance at them before pushing a heavy cabinet in front of the door to block him.

“Izzy?” I heard him shout from the other side. He tried the door, and then knocked. “I don’t want to break my way in and risk hurting you, please come out.”

Rhuron sounded like he thought I was being unreasonable; I wanted to smack him.

That would mean coming out of the room, though.

This was my fortress.

I was safe here.