Pain reverberated along her nerve endings, her world going black. Blink, blink, blink. When sight returned, she realized the beast loomed over her. He lowered his face to hers, and pressed one massive foot against her thigh, pinning her in place. His claws sliced her pants, her skin and embedded in her muscle. Hot blood trickled from the puncture wounds, pooling in the dirt.

A new lump grew in her throat, this one barbed, ensuring only a mewl emerged.

Huffing and puffing, the beast stared at her with malice and aggression, a look she’d gotten used to seeing from Bane. But, with the fiend’s nose a mere inch from hers, his breath was like fire, blistering her chin. Gristle splattered his face and dripped from his teeth—teeth he displayed in all their horrifying glory when he peeled back his lips. On his shoulder, between a cluster of scales, was a bleeding gash the same size as Bane’s.

Do not make any sudden moves.

With every fiber of her being, she wanted to command him to back off, leave, something! Would the beast be forced to follow her orders, like Bane? Maybe. Probably. Her golden god certainly believed it. But deep down, Nola suspected she would do more harm than good. If she survived this encounter, of course. I will, I must. By ordering the beast around, she would be no better than the queens he despised.

So, all Nola said? “N-nice dragon. My name is Nola Lee, and I come in peace.” Ugh. How cliché. She tried again. “I’m in the market for friends, and I’d love to get to know you apart from Bane. What do you think?”

Steam curled from his nostrils, and she gulped.

“Do you go by the name Bane as well, or do you have your own?” she asked, determined. “Are you an extension of him, or a separate being entirely?”

His eyelids closed for a moment. One set of eyelids, anyway. Another set blink-blinked, and the end result was freaky. But the creature never made a peep.

Since he hadn’t burned or chomped on her yet, she figured she’d chosen the right track. So she tried again, saying, “I could call you Bane Junior, Junior for short. Or Puff. Oh! I know. What do you think of Drogo?” Of all the movies and TV shows she’d watched with Vale, one character had intrigued her more than any other—Khal Drogo from Game of Thrones.

How fitting, considering Drogo’s love interest was known as the Mother of Dragons...and at the end of the series, she’d gone off the deep end, becoming the Mad Queen.

Preach.

Not that Nola wanted to be the beast’s girlfriend or anything. Bane’s girlfriend, however...

Maybe I could, I don’t know, help his heart heal, the way I helped his body heal?