Read Dragon Rising for Free Online

him. Except he heard a roar and a whump . The pain and light diminished, clearing his vision. A gorgeous deep yellow Dragon fended off the wraiths, keeping them from attacking as he transformed. Her scales shimmered as she twisted around and swiped a wraith with her tail. It was whiplike, with spikes at the tip that lacerated the black form. It screamed, a sound like nails on a chalkboard, and rolled away.
    The other wraith leaped, its long arms ready to grab him. He threw Light at it, burning a hole through its stomach. Light didn’t work on wraiths as it did on other beings. If he punched enough holes into its shadow form, though, he could weaken it.
    “Get back-to-back with me,” he said, moving closer to the Dragon.
    Lyra backed up until he felt her cool scales brush his arm. They each had a wraith to deal with. She snatched at it, fast and smooth.
    He reached over his shoulder to his wings, which weren’t feathery in texture but made of a dense, electric energy. Like brushing your fingers along the tentacles of a sea anemone. Wrenching a feather out felt like removing a fingernail, but he only grunted at the sharp pain. The feather solidified into a dhagger, a weapon the ancient angels used. The wraith eyed the dhagger, silver in the fluorescent lights. Archer distracted it with a shot of Light, then lunged at it with the dhagger.
    The wraith zigzagged out of reach. Archer kept checking on Lyra. She was a capable fighter, but she wasn’t used to fighting wraiths.
    “Keep whacking it with your tail. What is that thing loaded with?”
    “It’s got a sting like a yellow jacket times a hundred.”
    She whipped it out again, and the wraith jumped it and flew to the base of her tail. It clamped on and bit into her scales. She shook, but it clung like a burr. He was so busy watching her that his adversary inched closer without him knowing. It swiped at him with claws, cutting into his shin. He swung at it with his dhagger, slicing its arm off. The arm disintegrated as the wraith uttered a guttural cry.
    Lyra’s scream jerked his head around. The wraith had pulled out one of her scales and was slicing at her throat with it in wild arcs. Archer grabbed its hand, twisting it. With a screech, it kicked at Archer’s arm, pulling free to take a swipe at her throat again. The edge of the scale was sharp enough to slice into her shoulder. Blood spurted out in an arc of spray. Archer latched on to the wraith with one arm. It thrashed and scratched him, but he plunged the dhagger into its chest.
    Its whole body lit up, and then it disintegrated like the other wraith’s arm. He turned to find that wraith snatching up the scale. Before Archer could grab it back, the thing cut his side. It met the same death with his dhagger. He did a quick scan of the garage to make sure there weren’t any others. Just the two. Whoever sent them hadn’t counted on Lyra being with him. Two on one was a lot harder.
    Lyra.
    He turned to find her lying on the concrete floor in human form, naked and curled in a fetal position. Her clothes were in tatters nearby, her purse lying next to them.
    The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. He scooped her up, snagged her purse, and stepped into the car. Blood gushed out of her shoulder wound, a long, deep slice. Her eyes were hazy with pain.
    “Let me get you upstairs. I can heal you.”
    She blinked at him, amber flames flickering unsteadily in her blue eyes. Her pain and fear overwhelmed him. He focused on the feel of her skin beneath his hands, then realized that skin was her ass, soft, round…
    Hell.
    He could see the reflection of that fine ass in the brass walls of the elevator, his hand splayed across it, his other arm around her back. She had to be naked. Because this wasn’t hard enough. He tried to force cool energy through his being to compensate for her heat where their skin touched.
    “Hurts…,” she uttered in a strained voice.
    “I know, I know,” he soothed, because I can feel