Lerin's Bride (Crystal Glass Dragons 3)

“Stay back,” Lerin urged, putting his arm out in front of me.

“No—”

Without pause, I lit my hands, my bright blue magic coating my fingers in a thick glow. Lerin’s jaw dropped, and I slung a quick spell at the red dragon. He let out a screech of anger as his claws were sealed to the ground. “Run,” I demanded. Lerin laughed and followed my lead just long enough to shift. I slipped onto his back, wrapping my thighs around his muscular dragon neck, and let him tear through the castle.

But waiting in front of the large entrance doors was a cluster of shifters still in human form—watching us.

Rhuron was at the forefront.

He shifted into a colossal black dragon and pounded towards us, claws flashing and smoke clearing from his mouth. My heart dropped. He really was as terrible as Lerin said. I tried to summon magic, but the panic choked me. We were going to die or spend the rest of our lives in jail.

Why did I talk him into this?

Rhuron grabbed Lerin’s neck in his jaws, and I screamed. He dragged us outside into the courtyard, where the crowds quickly dispersed. Rhuron pinned Lerin down on his stomach, and I clung on for dear life.

“I need you to strike me. I’ll fake a hard fall and you can flee.” I heard Rhuron’s voice despite his mouth not moving. Lerin’s eyes narrowed for a moment before he made the tiniest nod while his brother’s claws were fake choking him.

“You’re faster than any of them, you can get away.”

His brother was saving our lives.

Lerin opened his mouth, breathing ice like it was fire, and it narrowly avoided actually hitting Rhuron. Rhuron bellowed out in fake pain as he fell back. Lerin quickly brought us off the ground, wings thundering air as we hurtled into the sky. Some of the shifters checked on Rhuron, while others took to the sky after us.

My heart was pounding in my ears, and I kept myself as flat to Lerin as possible.

Within an hour, the last of the shifters had fallen back.

It was now just us in the sky.

We’d made it out.