Free Dragons Prefer Blondes by Candace Havens Page A

in the darkness, I cleared my mind and took the shot. The arrow sailed through the air in a millisecond and went right through his eye and into his brain before he knew what hit him. He fell back, taking the woman with him.
    The gryphon’s wings appeared out of nowhere as he launched himself at me. Before I could even react, talons dug deep into my chest and knocked the breath out of me. All gryphons had poisoned claws, and I could feel the paralyzing fluid coursing through my blood.
    Ouch. I had to move fast if I wanted any chance of living.
    Luckily he wasn’t as big as his Kevan friend, and I shoved my feet into his groin area. At least that part of him was human enough. It did the trick, and he howled as he fell to the side.
    I didn’t have enough breath to get up, but I rolled over, grabbed my knife from my waist, and jabbed it through his eye.
    The gryphon died instantly, but I was stuck gazing up into the snowflakes falling from the dark clouds above. I hated these kinds of surreal moments. I tried to move my ear to my shoulder so I could press the comm to call Jake, but the poison moved too fast.
    “Oh my God. You saved us.” The blonde who’d been picked up by the Kevan knelt beside me. Taking off her coat, she shoved it against my chest. Her face was white with shock, and I was impressed she could speak at all. “I’m a nursing student, but I’m a first year, and I don’t know what the hell to do. I’m trying to stop the bleeding. Can you move? Wait, don’t move. Your neck or spine—”
    “No.” My vocal cords still worked, but just barely. I heard a strange noise and moved my eyes to the left. The gargoyles. I was in front of the old pub. How had that happened? It was as if the entire building had moved itself a half block down. “Bang on the door there. There’s a man who can help me.” The words sounded hoarse even to me.
    Before she could move, the door opened and Mr. McMurphy shuffled over. “Lass, help me bring her inside. I know what to do.”
    The nurse shook her head. “She needs to go to the hospital right away. She’s paralyzed. Probably some kind of neck or spine injury.” She bit her lip when she realized she might have said too much. “Sorry. They drugged us, and I’m not thinking clearly. I’m sure you’ll be fine, but we shouldn’t move you until—”
    “Do what he says, please. He knows how to deal with this.” I cut my eyes to the right.
    After taking a quick glance at the gryphon’s claws sticking up in the air, she motioned to her friends. “Come help me.” Between the four of them they managed to get me inside, but not without bumping my head on the table where they put me down.
    “Shannon, watch it. Jeez,” the nurse chastised.
    “I lost my grip. She’s so cold,” the other girl grunted out.
    That was my body’s natural way of dealing with deep wounds. As my internal temperature dropped, the blood flow slowed.
    Mr. McMurphy was behind the bar mixing liquids from various bottles there. Didn’t look like he was making a martini; more like a potion.
    “Listen.” My voice was no more than a whisper, and the nurse leaned down so she could hear me. “You guys need to get to the hospital. I don’t know what kind of drug they gave you, but the longer it’s in your system, the worse it’s going to be.”
    She shook her head. “We aren’t leaving you here.”
    “I’ll be okay.” It took a big effort to swallow. I closed my eyes. “Do this all the time. Please go.”
    “Ah, lass, sounds like they pulled a fast one on you.” Mr. McMurphy stood beside me. He sprinkled a powdery substance on the open wounds, and the blood stopped pouring from my chest.
    Putting his frail hand under my neck, he lifted my head up and held a shot glass filled with amber liquid to my mouth. “Drink up, love. You’ll be surprised how fast this will work.”
    “Look, mister. The last thing she needs right now is alcohol.” The nurse shook her finger at him.
    Mr. McMurphy