“Hi, it’s Emma… just kidding! Leave your message after the beep.”

Damn it Emma, answer! I throw the phone at the passenger’s seat the moment the light turns green. Tears are streaming down my face, making it hard to see.

I’ve never needed my big sister more than now, but she’s thousands of miles away, in Australia with her brand-new husband Brad. I don’t blame her for marrying that hunk, but did she have to move all the way across the world?

My fingers grip the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles turn white. I put my foot down on the pedal, and my car growls as I pick up speed. Cars honk at me as I whiz by, weaving my way through traffic.

I normally don’t drive like this, but today is not like any other day.

It’s the worst day of my life.

The stupid thing is that my mother warned me about Melissa, years and years ago. “She’s only interested in your toys,” my mom used to say whenever Melissa would come over to play. I always knew Melissa could be petty and jealous, but I figured she’d grow out of it…

How wrong I was. Taking advantage of my kindness wasn’t enough — she had to take Jake as well?! I gave her a finger and she didn’t just take the hand — she gobbled my whole damn arm off!

I’ve never felt so betrayed. I still can’t believe it. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. I’ve known her all of my life. We skipped rope. Even took baths together. Unbelievable.

I can’t lay all the blame on Melissa, though. Jake’s equally at fault. I gave him five years of my life. Five years of busting my ass off to put food on the table and a roof over our heads, just so he can focus on his schoolwork.

Five years of hearing him say he’ll ‘propose soon’.

Five years I’ll never get back.

Fuck.

I punch the steering wheel with all my strength. She can have him. I’m done. Done with this town. Done with my sorry excuse for a life.

I’m a week away from turning thirty, with no job, no relationship, no friends. Today really can’t get any worse.

A red light. I hit the brakes and the car comes to a screeching halt. My phone beeps and I grasp it instantly. Emma?

My stomach drops when I realize it’s just another email. Celestial Mates? No, unfortunately not. This time it really is spam.

They didn’t even send me a confirmation email or anything. Another disappointment. Why not, they’re piling on today anyway.

The blast of a horn pulls me back into reality. The light has turned green, and I’m holding up a whole line of cars. With cheeks burning red from embarrassment I pull up.

What did I think was going to happen? That some foreign hunk was going to materialize out of thin air and swoop me off my feet? That kinda thing doesn’t happen. I’m almost thirty, damn it, time to stop believing in fairy tales.

Mr. Right isn’t going to come knocking at my door.

My fingers grip the steering wheel tightly. That email distracted me from my broken heart for a few precious seconds, but now the dull, throbbing ache in the pit of my stomach is welling up again.

I wish that email was real. I wish with all my heart that someone would take me away from this hellhole, this stupid, boring town. There’s nothing left for me here but pain.

And just like that, a bolt of lightning strikes the road in front of me.

The sky is clear — this shouldn’t be possible.

Suddenly, I’m looking straight into a vortex. Deep purples mix with streaks of blue. It’s strangely hypnotizing — and growing in size by the second.

I shake my head. Am I having a stroke? No, the whirlpool is still there, and my car is speeding right towards it.

A massive beast flies out from the magical vortex, heading right for me, unhinging its enormous jaws.

Time seems to slow right down to a crawl as I take in the impossible sight in front of me.

That. Is. A. Dragon.

Its gorgeous yellow eyes, the size of basketballs, are looking right at me, and there is fury and anger in them. Its jaw is spread open wide, curved teeth the size of swords heading right for me.

In the distance I can vaguely make out the dark shape of a man riding the dragon, but to be honest, the giant freaking teeth about to rip my car apart draws most of my attention.

I jerk my wheel to the side, and the next moment I’m flying through the air, upside down. The world is silent for a moment, and a single thought runs through my mind.

Is this the end?

Sound comes crashing back with a vengeance. Glass breaks and splinters, metal groans and collapses, and my face is thrust into my airbag. The sound of my car scraping across the road is one that’ll be etched into my mind forever.

A small trickle of blood runs down the side of my face. I blink a few times, and catch my breath.

I’m still alive.

But I’m upside down.

Still, could be worse.

That dragon could have swallowed me whole.

Did I see that right? I blink a few times and pinch myself, but no, I’m not dreaming. I am trapped in my own wreck, though.

Then a terrible smell reaches me. Smoke.

My damn car is on fire.

Survival instinct kicks in. I try to remove my seatbelt and crawl my way out, but the giant airbag is making it hard to move around — and I can’t open my car-door. I push with all my might, but it won’t budge.

I can now hear the crackling of the flames, and panic starts to set in.

I need to get out. Get out get out GET OUT.

My prayers are answered when my entire car is lifted up into the air and placed back on it’s now broken wheels.

My car-door is torn off its hinges. My heart skips a beat when I see what’s happening.

A seven foot tall, dark blue man, the most beautiful one I have ever seen, pulls me out of the wreckage and cradles me in his strong, powerful arms.

“My melethril,” he growls. His voice is deep, and awakens something fierce inside of me. “It is you!”

I stare up at him, dumbfounded. His hair is long and dark, and his radiant eyes are turquoise, and seem to glow with power. Two horns curl up out of his jet-black mane. His bulging muscles ripple with energy, and a strange feeling takes hold of me.

Try as I might, I can’t look away. His beautiful eyes suck me in, and the world around me disappears.

There’s only him, this tall, dark, mysterious, otherworldly stranger. My stomach flutters, my heart beats in my throat, and a warm feeling spreads to every last inch of my body.

I thought I knew what falling in love at first sight felt like — but oh boy, was I wrong.

He pushes my head against his broad, naked chest.

“Rest, melethril,” he whispers. “You are injured.”

His low voice is like the softest velvet, and it makes heat pool right down in my lap.

Then, the dream is broken in an ugly manner. A roar like a dozen angry lions reaches my ears, and the mysterious man ducks down.

A cone of blazing hot fire passes over our heads, blasting right into my wrecked car. The heat is so strong the metal melts right in front of my eyes.

I loved that car. It was a piece of junk, but it was my piece of junk! And now, it’s nothing more than a melted pile of rubble, like so much in my life has gone down in flames today.

My mystery man sprints away, placing me on the side of the road, underneath a tree.

“I’ll return,” he says. “Stay!”

In the blink of an eye he’s gone — and I rub the blood out of my eyes, because it seems like I’m seeing double.

Two dragons are fighting in the middle of the highway. One is a brilliant turquoise, its scales glittering in the sunlight, the other a fiery red.

A single man is riding the red dragon, though I can’t get a good look at him.

What the hell is going on?

The two dragons duel, breathing fire and snapping their jaws. If I still had my phone I’d take a picture, because no one is ever going to believe me, but unfortunately it’s still in my car… or what’s left of it.

The dragons flap their massive wings, the force so strong it causes entire cars to flip over. The asphalt has melted in places, the road strewn with wreckage.

Meanwhile, the massive, dark-purple vortex behind them is still swirling menacingly. Another two red dragons come flying out, and once again, they head right towards me like a pair of homing missiles.

I pull my knees up to my chest, hugging them tightly, as I blink rapidly. Perhaps if I blink fast enough, the two evil-looking dragons will disappear.

Nope.

One of the red, horned beasts lands right in front of me, kicking up dust, and a horrible looking man hops off.

Only now can I see the type of men riding the red dragons. They look like orcs from Lord of the Rings — but uglier, if such a thing is even possible. The man’s skin is a sickly, pockmarked green. His body is covered in raggedy hides, and he emits an odor like those rags have never been washed before.

“C’m here,” he says, uttering a throaty growl, as he grabs a fistful of my hair. “You’ll make a fine breeder.”

I kick and punch, but it’s of no use. This alien man is much too strong for me. He throws me in front of the dragon, which opens his big mouth. I can feel the heat coming from the dragon’s maw as I gaze down its dark throat.

This is it.

The dragon leans forward, snagging me between its pointy teeth… and then it kicks off into the air. If the beast would close its jaws I’d be snapped in half, but instead, it simply carries me in its mouth.

I’m afraid to move. If I slip out now, I’ll certainly fall to my death.

A load roar unlike anything I’ve ever heard, filled with heartache, is the last thing that reaches my ears before the dragon flies right into the swirling vortex.

The next thing I see is a bleak, desert landscape, stretching out as far as the eye can see. No roads, no houses, no signs of any kind of civilization.

I wrap my hands around the dragon’s fangs, my heart racing at a million miles per minute.

Where the hell am I?