Page 47 of January Bell

“Hold on tight,” I tell her, roaring the words to make sure that she’s heard. “I’m going to have to roll.”

It’s not the way that I’d like to land, but it’s an emergency way to break our fall, one that all draegons are taught as younglings. One that I’d hoped I’d never use again, especially not with a female—my female—holding on to me like I’m her whole world.

She is already mine.

“Tuck your head in tight,” I scream at her.

She does what I say without complaints or asking for clarification, and her sweet trust in me has been hard won, something that I will absolutely guard with my life.

At this point, I’m not sure that we need to seal the bond for me to know that she’s the only one that will ever have my heart.

“It’s going to hurt,” I tell her.

“I’m fucking tough!” she screams at me, and I can’t help but laugh in spite of my fear for her and for what’s to come.

I haven’t been able to get a good look at whatever horrible new challenge Ken has designed for us but based on the heat and the way the station opened up beneath our feet, I do not have a good feeling about it.

“Right now!” I yell, and I’m not sure if it’s for her sake or mine as I tuck my feet and prepare to take as much energy and force from our fall into a headfirst roll.

My ankle screams as I make contact with the ground, still too fast due to my injured wing, and I bounce up, tucking into a roll pulling Lily with me, my wings arched over her body protectively.

The injured segment doesn’t fold properly, and pain shoots through my entire body as the outermost bone pops from the impact. Now it’s completely useless.

I grit my teeth to keep from making any noise, from worrying Lily even more.

We roll once, but I can no longer hold my wing in as tightly as I need to, and I grunt as momentum pushes us sideways until we finally come to a stop.

Rocks have embedded themselves in my injured wing, and I can hardly manage to tuck it in where it should be, much less hold it upright.

My wing is broken now. Not just torn, the exterior structure of the bone having taken too much damage to sustain any type of flight now.

Lily’s breathing hard, her chest rising and falling too fast, and the sweet deliciousness of her heat has been overridden by the scent of bitter fear. Fear I feel as well, fear that grows as I cast my gaze around the cavern.

Magma flows all around us. Impossibly hot. A certain death sentence.

As I stare, rocky protrusions begin to form and change across the magma. Impossible.

Another couple huddles near us. The red-skinned Draegon has his arms protectively around an incredibly petite and plump auburn-haired female who looks utterly terrified, shaking in his arms.

While Lily has been scared, she has never looked as scared as the red draegon’s tiny creature. She is not made of the same stuff as my Lily, and I’m twice as grateful for the fact that the human who chose me is.

I cannot think of a better mate than the one I already have, the one who’s clinging to me like I am the only source of her hope and happiness. Or maybe that’s my imagination, because that is exactly what I want to be for her.

Well, perhaps not her only source, but the main one.

With a grunt, I sit upright, and the red draegon’s eyes follow the contour of my broken wing, a look of utter horror filling his face as he takes in the damage. Damage I don’t even trust myself to look at right now without further worrying my human.

I simply raise my chin until he meets my eyes again. He drops his nearly immediately, a lower-ranking member of our species. Although I do not know his name, he does appear to be a good male, and I’m grateful that he’s found a way to protect Lily’s friend.

“Are we safe now?” Lily asks. “Please tell me all that heat I feel from all around us is because Ken is cooking us a giant barbeque.”

“I still do not understand what a barr-be-cute is or why you are so obsessed with it. But no,” I say slowly, “it is not from a meal.”

I swallow hard as Lily finally lifts her chin from where she’s been curled up on my chest and neck, taking in the situation all around us as we get our bearings.

The ground shakes again, and she clings to me for comfort, her legs squeezing my chest tight.

Stone benches begin to rise all around the cavern, and, to my horror, the seats almost immediately become filled with all manner of creatures. There are replicas of Ken’s holograms all around, I assume filling the empty seats.

But there are Roth.

“Oh my god, that’s Billy,” Lily says, pointing at the stands. “She’s one of the original producers. Don’t you remember her? And look, Arrow.”

The Roth sitting next to Billy barely moves as Lily points them out. In fact, he looks like he’s about ready to implode in a way only a Roth alien can.

Billy looks fragile and tired, deep circles under her eyes.

“Holy shit, what has Ken been doing to them? This is not OK,” Lily says.

I see the moment the realization that I’ve already had hits her.

“We’re going to have to compete here, aren’t we? This is like a gladiator arena or something. Holy shit, we’re so cucked,” Lily says. “How’s your wing? You shouldn’t have put it out like that.”

She’s blabbering on and on, and all I can think is that I’ve failed. That we’ve made it this far, and now, for this challenge, where it looks like it will matter most, I no longer have my wings to help me.

Despair fills me. I have failed Lily.