Kiss the Dragon (Maidens Book One) by Michelle Fox Page A

thunder. This witch is important. You have to save her.
    Why? I asked. Since when did the voice care about saving anyone other than me?
    She is a maiden.
    Well, shit. In that case, I need to get her to Scotland ASAP.
    No , said the voice.
    No what? Save her, don’t save her, just make up your mind. I don’t have a lot of time here. In the physical realm, my body had frozen on the ground, but the weight of the witch continued to rest on my stomach. It hurt, but I couldn’t do anything about it.
    Save her, but leave her behind. She’s not ready for Scotland. She’s still evil.
    You expect that to change? Are you sure she’s a maiden? Would the dragons really be interested in a wicked witch? And should I really help her? As usual, the voice talked, but never managed to say anything meaningful.
    The movie screen sped up then and I got the gist of the witch’s future. She needed to find a new path and tonight was the start of that journey. The witches had led her astray, but she would be worthy of her dragon if I could buy her the time she needed.
    The movie screen disappeared after that and the voice fell silent. I opened my eyes, I could move at least that much, and strained to catch sight of Alec. From the corner of my eye, I could see he had dealt with all the witches except for my attacker. Motionless lumps of black dotted the parking lot, most of them covered in crackling fire.
    Victory still was not ours, though. While I’d been caught up in the future, the witch on top of me had lodged a sharp knife at my throat in the present. Her other hand, she held out to Alec, palm up as if she were a cop directing traffic.
    “Don’t move or she’ll bleed to death.” She dug the knife into my skin.
    I held very, very still and tried to figure out my next move. So much for Alec saving me. He could only do that at the expense of his brothers and I couldn’t do that to him.  It was up to me to figure this one out.
    “Let her go, witch,” Alec said, his voice distorted in dragon form. The Scottish accent was lost to a deep guttural tone. “Or I’ll burn you to ash.”
    “You do that and she won’t be nothing but a bloodless corpse.”
    I tried to talk, but my throat wouldn’t work, whether from the spell or fear of the knife I couldn’t tell. Gritting my teeth, I tried again and managed to squeeze out, “We need to talk.”
    The witch looked at me, surprise mixing with derision on her face. She was pretty enough, with auburn hair and pale green eyes. Her mouth formed a generous rosebud and her figure was all soft curves, the kind men liked to conquer. Whichever dragon was hers would fall hard for her…if she lived long enough to be his maiden.
    “About what?” asked the witch.
    “Your future.”
    “See something, did you?” Pulling the knife back a bit, she said, “Go ahead. I’ve heard about your power, but this will be the first I’ve ever seen it. I have to say I’m curious.”
    “This isn’t your path. You’re not going to kill me,” I said. “Not unless you want to die, too.”
    The edge of the knife slid into my neck again. “You’re my insurance policy. The reason why the dragon over there isn’t going to light me up like a firework.”
    “Listen to me.” I stared hard into her eyes, trying to impress her with the truth of what I was about to say. “You need to live. I don’t want you to die. You’re meant to do something other than this. Let me go and leave. I’ll handle the dragon. He won’t touch you.”
    “He burned my sisters,” she said with a sniff.
    “They weren’t your sisters.” I caught a snippet of a vision. A flash that strobed in my mind’s eye. There and then gone and this time a future that never would be. A first for me. Would the wonders of the voice never cease?
    “You were new, right?” At her nod, I continued, drawing on what I’d seen. “They were going to sacrifice you at the next ritual. You were just a blood offering to them. Don’t call them