Free Ruby Dragon (Awakened Dragons Book 3) by Terry Bolryder Page B

as the men ran toward them, almost in seemingly slow motion.
    “Wait!” he heard Faye yell and yank on the doorknob as he held the door shut. “Wait, what are you doing?”
    He put his hand over the doorknob and focused, hoping to access just a small part of his dragon powers, as he’d been able to do so far. The doorknob glowed. “Move your hand, Faye. Please.” His voice was authoritative, and he felt her release it. Then he focused on the knob.
    One of the men strode up, getting in his space, and he threw out his free hand in a loose punch, catching him in the face and sending him reeling backward.
    The knob grew white hot and began to melt, and he focused on making the hot metal into a bar that filled the lock area.
    Try to get through that, fuckers.
    Then he whirled to face them. The man he’d hit was rubbing his eye, and the others were standing back. One of them, a tall one who looked like their leader, pulled off his mask.
    A beautiful man with blond hair and striking green eyes stared out at him, a calm smirk on his face. “How do you like the new wyverns, Ruby?”
    Red raised an eyebrow. “Punchable. I like them.” He frowned. “I heard you were working for the asshole side, but I didn’t want to believe it.” He folded his arms and looked at his old friend. “I guess you weren’t the same after Opal. You gonna let one woman fuck you up like that?”
    Aegis’s lip curled. “You have a woman now. You tell me.”
    That struck center. If something went wrong with Faye, he didn’t know what he’d do. Still… “I wouldn’t become evil.”
    “Evil is a matter of opinion,” Aegis said. “Anyway, we’re just here to see if you’ll consider joining our side. With your particular powers, we could use you.”
    “You haven’t been very successful recruiting any of the rest of us. What makes you think you’d get me?”
    Aegis was quiet. Thoughtful. “You know me,” he said. “And Zach threw you out, so I assumed you weren’t influenced by him.” He glared at the collar on Red’s neck. “You seriously like being chained like that? Being turned into a slave for humans?”
    “You like making genetic rejects for the purpose of being punched by other dragons?” Red asked sarcastically.
    Aegis drew himself to his full, towering height, looking haughty. “I guess we’ll see how punchable they are. I was just going to ask you politely to consider talking to us. But I guess you can be the test of how the new wyverns do against a collared dragon.” There was a sneer in Aegis’s voice but almost a hint of remorse in his eyes.
    Did his friend regret what he had become?
    “Aegis,” he said, “it’s not too late. Work things out with Zach. Come back.”
    Aegis let out a bitter laugh. “You have to be joking if you think I’m teaming up with that lot.” He bit his lower lip. “You know he was awake first, and he just left us there, on ice? Could have freed us, but no, just took the collar and let himself live, knowing at some point, we’d be woken and turned into slaves, too.”
    Red exhaled slowly. “I’m no one’s slave,” he said. “I trust the oracle. My life has been good since I’ve been awakened. How has yours been, with all the freedom in the world?”
    Aegis went quiet at that, his green eyes cautious. “Anyway, it’s been nice seeing you, Ruby. It really has. But since this isn’t going to work out, I have other places to be.” He looked at the other guys. “Be careful with them. They’re expensive.”
    And then he walked to the window at the end of the hall, opened it, and hopped out.
    The next moment, Red saw a faint shadow taking off into the sky, flying into the distance.
    He turned to the men, who were still masked. They rushed him as one, and he caught two with his fists and pushed the third back with his foot. All three slammed into the wall. The last two rushed him, and he head-butted one, crushing his nose with a satisfying smack, and sank his fist hard into the