Rock Bottom (Dragon Within #4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

powers worked better without those. I spun
toward Bret, wrapped a band of air around his waist, and lifted him off his
feet. He had time for one short shout before I flung him away from the cabin.
He hit the ground and rolled into the trunk of a nearby tree.
         A gunshot
rocked the silence. I tensed, expecting to feel some kind of terrible pain.
When nothing happened I slowly turned to see Rick pointing the gun straight up
into the air. He lowered the barrel at me.
         “That was
a warning shot. It’s the only one you’re going to get. The next bullet that
comes out of this gun is going in your leg.”
         I was scared.
I want you to understand that. And I’m not talking about horror movie or
nightmare scared, no I’m talking about the kind of scared that makes all your
guts go loose and your legs start to shaking. I’d only felt scared like that
once before in my life. When Alice had me pinned under a shield of air and I
knew I was going to die.
         “You
better put that bullet in my head instead, because you are not killing Zack.” I
really have no idea how I managed to stand there sounding so sure and firm when
it felt like all my insides were nothing but jelly.
         “Nothing
would make me happier than to do exactly that,” Rick said. “But I have my orders.
So don’t be stupid. Zack is going to die whether you come along easy or not.
We’ll call it justice. You killed my wife, I kill your boyfriend. It all evens
out.”
         “That was
self defense,” I said. “Alice attacked me. She was going to kill me. I had a
right to fight back. Zack is defenseless right now. Killing him would be
murder. There’s a big difference.”
         “Don’t
argue semantics with me,” Rick said. “I’m done talking. Are you going to come
along peacefully, or do I shoot you?”
         I crossed
my arms over my chest. “I’m not moving.” I could have hit him with a blast of
air, but I didn’t know if the gun might go off. Besides, I was hoping if I
didn’t make any aggressive moves the other dragons wouldn’t attack me.
         “Fine.
Have it your way.” He took aim at my left leg.
         A
fireball slammed into the ground between us, knocking everybody off their feet.
I thought it must be Derek and I couldn’t have been happier to see him. But
when I pushed myself up to my knees, it wasn’t my brother I was looking at.
         “All this
time and you’re still helpless as a newborn kitten,” Megara said in her faintly
lilting accent.
         I
struggled to my feet. “I am not helpless. I... I was outnumbered is all.”
         She
snorted, looking through the flames at our enemies. “Pitiful group that. They
didn’t even bother to send veteran trackers. And a human leading them? Tsk . You clearly aren’t doing much for our image girl.
We’re supposed to be fearsome monsters, or didn’t you know?”
         “I know.”
I dusted myself off. Beyond the fire, Rick and the others were also recovering.
“You aren’t going to kill them. Are you?”
         “Why
not?” she asked. “They’d as soon kill us.”
         “Killing
them proves their point,” I said. “Are we monsters?”
         Megara
laughed. “Oh, you’re such a young thing.” She leaned toward the flames. “Boo!”
Adding a little gust of wind to the word was all that was needed to get the
enemy running.
         Rick
paused to look back at me with such an expression of hatred on his face it made
me shiver, before he too was gone.
         “They’ll
tell Alastair where we are.” Megara turned around. “So, I guess we better leave
right now.” The air stirred around us. Last time we met, she whirled off on a
tornado, so I thought that   was probably
what she had in mind for us.
         “Wait a
minute.” I backed up. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I have– Oh! Zack.” I
spun around and raced back into the cabin.
         I
stumbled across the