Daisy’s entire body felt like it was filled with cement, her limbs heavy and hard to move as she started to drift back into consciousness. It took a great deal of effort for her to raise her head, having been slumped in a chair. Daisy’s eyes opened, groaning as she struggled to steady her vision, still woozy from the chloroform. As the chloroform wore off, she became more aware of her aching body. Memories of the car crash and the dragons grabbing her started coming back in flashes. The sound of crunching metal, the fear that ran through her at the sight of Mylora, and the pain of glass digging into her flesh as the two men dragged her from the car made her wince in fear.

Her vision cleared the more she blinked. The floor was dirt with weeds sprouting up everywhere, ivy growing up the wooden beams and walls.

Where am I? Daisy wondered, panic tightening her chest.

It was clear she was in some type of old barn, but where was the barn? How long had she been out? Daisy’s eyes scanned around and noticed sunlight leaking through cracks in the slats of the roof. Then, her eyes fell on them; the two men who had dragged her from the car. They were by the only door, one sitting on an old bale of hay and the other propped against the wall.

Trying not to waste any time, Daisy moved her wrists and ankles, trying to pull herself from the fog of the chloroform, but she was tied down. Thick ropes strapped her to a rusty metal chair. As she tried to tug one of her wrists, the chair shifted a bit, causing the bolts holding the seat together to squeak.

“She’s awake,” one of them said.

The two men stood up straight and faced her.

“Leave me alone,” Daisy tried to call bravely, though her lip was already trembling.

“We aren’t going to hurt you unless we have to,” one with shoulder-length hair chuckled.

The phone in his pocket chimed and the man pulled it out just long enough to check the screen before putting it back in his pocket.

“Well, you have ten more minutes. Lucky you.”

Daisy didn’t understand what he was talking about, though her stomach churned and wondered what would happen in ten minutes.

Silence filled the room. The two men appeared to be bored with the entire situation, while Daisy felt like she was on the verge of sobbing. How had this all become her reality? How had she gotten herself into a situation where she was tied up in a barn, with two dragons ready to kill her at any given moment? She couldn’t help but blame herself. It had been completely idiotic for her to go out in the middle of the night on her own, especially with knowing the threat Mylora had presented Nyle. Mylora had said they had until morning, so she figured it was safe. Daisy had been foolish to think that Mylora had a sane, or honest, bone in her body.

She wondered if Nyle even knew she was missing. After all, she had left that note on her pillow. However, she had no idea how much time had passed since she’d been kidnapped. Nyle might have thought she was at her mother’s if it was still morning. If he was coming for her, would he get there in time?

Daisy had never walked so close with her own mortality. She’d been a cautious soul her entire life, always taking extra measures to avoid possible injury or emotional pain. Yet, she had gotten sucked into a whirlwind romance with Nyle and dropped her guard at the absolute worst time. It wasn’t like she regretted meeting Nyle. While everything she’d learned since meeting him was hard to process and completely overwhelming, the meeting wasn’t coincidental, and there had to be a reason they were meant to be together. The concept of them being soulmates was still strange to her, but the energy she felt from Nyle helped her cope with her doubts. It was something she felt physically, and to her, that was the most concrete proof she needed.

“So, is all this worth it?” an Elemental called over to her.

“What?” Daisy questioned, not understanding what he was referencing.

“Is having sex with a billionaire really worth getting caught up in all this drama? You should have backed out when Mylora gave you both an option.”

Her mouth fell agape. Did they really think Daisy was just sleeping with Nyle for his money? She couldn’t have cared less about his money, but before she got angry, she understood their perspective. They didn’t know what she was or what she knew. The Elementals likely assumed she was just a dumb human who was having a fling with Nyle. They didn’t know she was his soulmate, nor that she was also half dragon.

“It isn’t like that,” was all she said, looking to the side.

Chuckling erupted from them, souring Daisy’s face. “Oh, yeah? Then what is it like? Because you don’t really fit in with his family.”

Daisy was growing tired of their little digs at her.

Without thinking, Daisy blurted out, “Is money worth betraying your people by working for a crazy bitch?”

“What did you just say?” one hissed.

Both men rushed at her. One of the men tackled her to the ground, keeping her strapped into the chair. A strong hand grabbed hold of her jaw, squeezing it to the point where she thought he would break it.

“Are you trying to piss us off?” he growled in her face, his silver eyes looking almost like mirrors as he glared.

Her blue-gray eyes couldn’t have been wider, glossing over with a new wave of tears, terrified for her life.

“I-I-I’m sorry,” she stammered out in a voice softer than a whisper.

“What do you know? Huh? What kind of lies has Nylyrias been telling you?” the other barked, kicking the side of the chair to scare her.

That it did. Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes. Her eyes stayed on the ceiling, trying to hold herself together. Was she really going to die at the hand of dragons? Would that morning be the last time she ever saw her mother? Would she ever get to see Nyle again? The chair was kicked again, Daisy letting out a sob, her chest heaving as she began to hyperventilate from the anxiety.

As she began to lose hope entirely for a safe escape, something shifted in the air. She felt a very familiar, overwhelming feeling come over her. Daisy spotted a fleck of gold in a crack in the roof. Focusing her vision, she realized it was an eye. Her heartrate sped up. She would be able to spot that shade of honey-gold anywhere. Shock and relief crashed over her. The men noticed her staring up and followed her line of sight. Before their heads could turn all the way up, the roof came caving in. Slabs of wood and shingles came hurling toward the floor, though thankfully only a couple of pieces of rubble fell on Daisy. Nyle was the first one to land on the floor, his cream form towering over the Elementals in their human form. Three other dragons joined him—two were burgundy and the other a cloudy gray. Nyle’s massive, strong form took stance, letting out a loud roar as fire shot from his mouth like a flamethrower in the direction of the men—but not close enough to actually burn them. The men were standing too close to Daisy for that.

She watched from the floor as the two raven-haired men began cracking and expanding, doubling in size and their clothes tearing to shreds since it couldn’t hold their enormous forms. In just a matter of seconds, their olive complexions turned Aegean blue, and their navy tribal markings dominated their bodies. The Elementals stayed close to Daisy, circling her so that the Royals couldn’t get close. The four opponents weren’t backing down, and Nyle and his men inched closer to them.

An Elemental roared at the other dragons, as a powerful gust of wind escaped his open mouth, which pushed Nyle back. He wasn’t standing down and quickly found his footing and stalked toward them again. In unison, the four Royals split into two groups, each set narrowing in on one blue dragon. Then, Nyle launched himself first, tackling one dragon away from her. Snarls and roars erupted from Nyle as he and the gray dragon took on the Elemental. Their strong claws and powerful jaws went head-to-head with one another, biting and scratching at their opponents. Big flames and blasts of water counteracted as the dragons fought vigorously. While Daisy knew Nyle was fighting for her, she also wondered if maybe some of the volatility of the other’s fighting came from the feud between the clans of dragons.

Nyle managed to leap on top of the one he was against, his claws anchoring into his flesh. The blue dragon was quick to shoot a pressurized stream of water into Nyle’s mouth when he opened it to attack. Nyle, in his cream-colored dragon form, choked and was knocked back by the force of the water. Immediately, the Elemental took to the air to escape, but as he reached the ceiling, a large fireball erupted from the gray dragon. It hit the Elemental, but he kept flying. Nyle and the gray one quickly flew from the barn to go after him.

The flames had also clipped the roof, and fire spread across the ceiling. It quickly burned away the aged, dried wood. Daisy panicked. It was no coincidence that they picked that location. Mylora probably planned this, knowing that if Nyle found her, there would be a fight. And that place was going to burn like a tinderbox.

“Nyle!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping to catch his attention before he was too far away.

Her efforts came too late. The two other Royals were extremely generous with their fire-bending abilities to incapacitate one Elemental. The hay and dried wood of the barn was aflame in a matter of minutes. The two burgundy dragons flew through the hole in the roof as well, leaving Daisy in the barn.

Daisy let out a shrill scream and used all of her might to break free from the chair. The tall beams that extended to the roof began to crack and give way as the flames burned away their structural integrity. Feeling helpless, Daisy closed her eyes tightly, trying to shut out the horror of what was unfolding before her very eyes. Mylora was going to get the last laugh, after all.

There was a gust of wind, but Daisy kept her eyes closed, fearing it would be one of the Elementals, but then she felt hands on her wrists. Her eyes opened to see Nyle, in human form and naked, rapidly untying her restraints. In the few moments it took him to free her, Daisy’s eyes looked around to see that the entire barn was on fire, dark smoke filling the room and blacking out the hole in the roof. As soon as the last rope was undone, Nyle had Daisy in his arms. She clung to him for dear life, tears liberally falling from her eyes. He swung her onto his back in one fluid motion. Under her hold, she could feel his bones rearranging and his muscles stretching as he shifted back into a dragon. His pale skin turned cream as it hardened into reptilian scales. It was rather terrifying to witness. It looked physically impossible for someone to endure such a change, but there wasn’t much time for her to linger on it. Wings shot out of his back, and he launched them straight up and into the thick black smoke. Daisy held onto his long neck with a death grip, and her thighs clutched his back.

They soared above the smoke as Daisy’s entire body vibrated with utter terror. Nyle wouldn’t drop her, but she had never been up so high before, other than being in an airplane. It took her a long time to look anywhere but at his scales, frozen from the fear. Eventually, she conjured up the nerve to look down. They were high above the tree tops, his large form moving through the air with grace. People would have looked like ants from where they were. It made her sick to her stomach to be up so high, though she was unsure if it was because of her nerves or altitude sickness. Suddenly she was coughing, unable to catch her breath fully. Daisy hadn’t realized just how much smoke she had inhaled until that moment, and her chest ached from it. The thought made her eyes drift back to the barn, watching from high above as the barn caved in, smoke filling the sky as it burned to the ground. If Nyle had been just a minute late, she would have died. Daisy’s hold tightened on him even more.