Chapter Five: Alyx
Everything was quiet.
Alyx could feel her heart beating in her throat. Everything had happened so quickly.
And nothing had gone according to plan. She'd hoped to find a way out—but instead she'd run into a weird fire dragon who claimed he wasn't like the others, and had ended up pressed against Mr. Nice Fire Dragon's unfairly hot body in Lady Zena's wardrobe.
I bet I could make the column of the year out of this.
&nbs
p; If she ever got back to a computer. If she still even had a job.
And even then, they wouldn't let her write about dragons, of course...
Everyone knew dragons didn't exist. And her job was to write about fashion and lifestyle. Her boss would expect a review of the hot new cocktail bar—not a description of her flight from a fire dragon cave.
I could turn this into a movie script. They'd cast someone way hotter than me to play the lead—but that's okay, I'm used to that.
Braeden was still standing so close that she could feel the hard muscles of his body. Alyx swallowed.
They wouldn't have to cast anyone else to play him... Even Hollywood doesn't get you that hot and ripped.
Then she took a deep breath. Right now, her priorities had to be survival and escape. And definitely not thinking about a certain fire dragon's muscles.
Once she made it out, maybe it was time to ditch her job. No more writing about cute new eyeshadow palettes or the organic hipster coffee shop that now served everything with turmeric.
Maybe it was time to become the real deal. A real journalist. Someone who wrote about important stuff.
She had to warn people about the fire dragons. She had to. But how was she going to do that? No one would ever believe her...
“You okay?” Mr. Nice Fire Dragon whispered.
Alyx turned to glare at him in the darkness, even though he couldn't see it.
Of course she wasn't okay! What a question.
“I'm trapped in an underground lair with hundreds of evil dragons,” she hissed. “What do you think?”
“Sorry,” he said—and for some reason, he sounded genuinely sorry.
Maybe it was just because he was hot, and no one had been nice to her in weeks, but she felt her anger and despair suddenly melt away.
Beneath the anger, there was nothing but weariness and a deep hopelessness. But she couldn't give in to that. She had to keep fighting.
“It's okay,” she said softly. “Just be quiet.”
He hesitated. She couldn't see him, but she could hear the way his breathing changed.
There was a very careful touch—his hand against her shoulder, tentatively offering comfort.
She almost shrugged it off, because how could a fire dragon comfort her?
But the truth was, it felt good. It felt more than good.
Somehow, her body seemed to trust him, even though her mind was still full of wariness.
After a moment, she relaxed.