Free Mating the Dragon (Dragon Ruins Book 6) by Rinelle Grey Page B

her life on the line for him. 
    He didn’t deserve her.



Chapter 9

    Chase gave a soft gasp of surprise next to Karla. “You weren’t kidding. They really are dragons,” he breathed.
    “Of course they’re dragons,” Gretchen snapped next to him. “Why else would we go to all this hassle?”
    Karla pulled to the left, parking the ute at an angle to the dragons staring at them in bemusement. “Now that you’ve seen them, do you think this is going to work?” she asked, trying to stop her voice shaking.
    “It better,” Chase said. “Or else we’re all in trouble.”
    He didn’t sound worried though. Karla could almost see the adrenalin flowing through him. He was ready to fight. 
    Karla though, stared at the scene in front of them, trying to take it all in. Taurian stood next to two other dragons, and Ultrima was in a similar group of three. Had they been about to fight? Had she arrived just in time? 
    The other two cars pulled in at an angle, keeping their cabs behind hers for cover. Hopefully they all remembered the plans they’d made before they left. 
    Chase gave her a grin and a thumbs up, grabbing his controller, which looked like a box covered in little red switches, and jumping out of the ute on the opposite side to the dragons. Gretchen followed him.
    Karla took a deep breath. Her turn.
    She pushed open the door on the dragon’s side, hoping that their shock of her fearlessness would be enough to buy her time. Or rather, buy the other’s time to get ready. 
    Her heart pounded. This was a crazy idea. She didn’t even have a weapon. And she was pretty sure that the gumboots Aunt Mary had insisted on buying wouldn’t do a thing. But she only needed a few moments. Once everyone was safe in the cages, she could retreat, hopefully under cover fire.
    Karla hoped the cages Chase had welded to the back of the other two utes would do their job. Everything she’d read said that they should dissipate any electrical charge safely away from the occupants inside. In theory anyway. She suspected they were going to find out for real how they worked soon. 
    Would it be enough? Did they have any hope of winning?
    Ultrima roared, the sound shaking the cars. Karla heard a few sharp breaths and curses, but no one backed down. 
    “You don’t scare us,” Lisa called out bravely, from the safety of the cage, surrounded by the farmers’ guns.
    Karla winced. Somehow, she was sure that Ultrima’s next move would be to unleash his lightning straight at her. 
    To her surprise, he didn’t. In fact, he did something surprising. 
    He transformed back into his human form. 
    Not that it was really that great a risk, since the other dragons next to him didn’t.
    He strode towards Karla and the others, unafraid.
    Karla could feel all eyes on her. The other humans waited for her orders. The other dragons wondering what she was going to do.
    Her heart thumped and her blood roared in her ears. She’d been prepared for a fight. Not for a discussion. What was Ultrima planning? Was it a threat?
    Should she take this chance to take him out? A couple of shots from the back of the ute and their fight could be over. 
    But she couldn’t ask that of anyone. Shooting an attacking dragon was one thing, a human who was just walking up to them was a completely different thing.
    She held up her hand to indicate to the others to hold their fire. Perhaps he wanted to surrender.
    Somehow, she didn’t think so.
    “I should have been prepared for the fact that you wouldn’t run.” Ultrima’s raised voice was amused. He didn’t even seem to care that he was completely naked. “Oh, wait a second, I was.”
    He waved his hand in the air, and for a moment, nothing happened.
    Then every hair on Karla’s head rose until she was sure they were all standing completely upright. Fear flooded her body, and instantly, she knew what was happening, even before the snow white dragon appeared out of thin air between her and the rest of the