Free Magical Lover by Karilyn Bentley Page B

cheek. The pain ricocheted through her already aching head.
    “You’ll learn not to look at me that way. Fast or slow, you’ll learn.” He dropped his grip, allowing her head to bang against the man’s back.
    Keara ran her tongue around the inside of her mouth, feeling the cuts, trying to swallow the blood before she gagged. Her cheeks on fire, tears of pain and frustration ran from the corners of her eyes. The man walked through the opening in the wall and the door slammed shut behind them with a bang, plunging them into darkness.
    Bile rose in her throat the deeper they walked through the stone tunnel. Cold fear shot through her veins when she saw the barred cells of the dungeon, chains dripping from the walls, the rank smell of damp thick in the air.
    Oh, please Goddess, don’t let them keep me here!
    Keara raised her head, blinking away the tears. She would not cry. She would not give Simon the satisfaction of seeing her upset. Torchlight flickered against the damp stones. From one of the cells came shuffling noises, like that made by a large beast. A huge shadow appeared in the cell from which the noises came and the shuffling sound grew louder. Her heart stepped up its rhythm, a frantic thudding in her chest, echoing in her ears. Would they feed her to the beast? It took all her willpower to turn her head to the side, to stare at the beast as it came toward them.
    The man carrying her gasped, almost dropping her as he took a step to the side. But Keara couldn’t look away. Her gaze remained transfixed by the monster. Blood red scales glinted in the torchlight. A long snout culminating in sharp teeth and large nostrils butted against thick prison bars.
    Glowing green eyes blinked at her, widened, then narrowed. It let out a roar that shook the dungeon, causing little rivulets of dirt to drop on their heads. Claws tried to grasp the bars as the thing roared again. Steam started coming from its nostrils and a small amount out its ears. Opening its mouth, gracing them with a view of sharp teeth, it let out a plume of fire, narrowly missing them.
    Heat blasted against Keara as the man holding her dropped her in a panic. She landed with a thud against the dirt floor, stunned, the breath locked in her lungs. The creature bellowed its rage, letting loose another plume of fire, which raced in the air above her body, hitting full force the man who dropped her. A scream of pain lasted seconds before ending abruptly.
    Keara smelled the nauseating stench of burned flesh and concentrated on not gagging. Opening her eyes, she stared in horror at the monster. It stared back, making little whimper noises, steam still pouring from its nose and ears.
    Free me and I’ll help you. The words in her head startled Keara. Had she hit her head hard enough to hear voices?
    “I see you’ve met my father’s pet.” Lord Simon stood beside her, causing her to twitch in surprise. She missed hearing his footsteps in all the commotion. The creature started making snuffling noises, heralding another fireball. Lord Simon yanked Keara to her feet, holding her against him as a shield, dragging her body backward. A roar bellowed from the cell as the monster threw itself against the bars.
    “Father claimed it was a man when he captured it, a powerful man. Not like you could believe a thing my dear father said. He captured the ‘man’ here right before he lost his mind.”
    Keara remembered her grandmother treating Lord Simon’s father for dementia. The old woman had been puzzled, saying no good reason existed for a man his age to lose his mind.
    “Now our little ‘man’ sits around, eating cattle and billowing smoke. He must really hate you though because he’s never made a crispy critter out of one of the men before. I’ll keep that in mind, in case you fall out of favor with the hooded man.”
    The creature roared again. Free me, girl, and I’ll set you free.
    How? How do I do that when I can’t get free? Great, just great. I’m