And I was the junior executive who had made it all happen. A few had sustained minor injuries, and one had been wounded so severely that it had to be put down, but all in all, everything had gone according to plan.

The vessels had hit hard and fast, and were able to destroy all targets without alerting a single outside source. None of the humans living in that place had survived or escaped. The vessels had performed flawlessly in a single night, they had swept through a town, eliminated every target and returned to the rendezvous point exactly as planned. I had nothing to be anxious about, I told myself for about the hundredth time. I wondered if it was possible to die from nerves. I knelt in the cold salt, holding the body of the human I loved, as the sun climbed slowly overhead and painted everything to the horizon in blood. Then his eyes shut completely, his head fell to the side and he went limp in my arms. “I love you,” I whispered, knowing it was too late. I swallowed the sob and lowered my head, brushing my lips across his. His eyes opened, steady and clear, gazing up at me, though it was clear he was fighting to keep them open. You can’t die on me now.” My voice broke, and I blinked hard to clear my vision, not caring about the tears streaming down my face and that dragons weren’t supposed to be able to cry. “No,” I growled, squeezing his hand, willing him to stay. Garret gave me that gentle smile.and his eyes started to flicker shut. “You’re going to be fine,” I said again, gripping his hand. Riley grabbed something from Tristan and held it to Garret’s side, trying to stop the bleeding. “You’re going to be okay,” I choked out, feeling my eyes start to burn. “Hang in there,” I whispered, as Riley snarled something at the other soldiers, something about ambulances and first-aid kits. “Garret.” I pressed a palm to his face, and those glassy, metallic eyes flickered to me.

Tristan appeared somewhere behind me, looming over my shoulders, but I couldn’t take my eyes from the soldier bleeding out in my lap. “Riley!” I howled, and the rogue dragon dropped to the other side of Garret, snarling a curse.

Numbly, I lowered him to the ground, cradling his head and shoulders, as blood continued to pool from his side and drip to the salt. Garret shuddered, and collapsed in my arms.

Soldier julie kagawa