Trouble with Gargoyles: an Urban Fantasy (Moonlight Dragon Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

again.
    Dying by electrocution sounded like one of the worst ways to go. But how could I avoid that fate while still keeping the walls from crushing us? What more could I be doing?
    The answer was painful for being so obvious. This curse was keyed to me. It only ever occurred when I was in the shop. My friends were merely unlucky collateral damage from something that was meant to hurt me. Therefore it was on me to protect them, to stop this. I needed to give my dragon full power.
    Except I was terrified.
    I typically thought of myself as reasonably brave, or at least stubborn, which could pass for brave. But in that moment I understood the truth: I wasn't brave; I was lucky. Lucky that both times I'd succumbed to the lure of my ancestry there had been someone present to pull me out of the dragon madness: Liliana the first time and Vale the second. On my own, I'd failed to save myself twice.
    Vale was here and I didn't doubt that he'd be ready to help me again, but what if this time he couldn't? What if each time I became the dragon I slid further beyond reach of saving?
    "Anne!" Melanie called out. She didn't say anything more. She wouldn't pressure me, but I understood her plea: You can save us…so save us!
    She thought this was so easy, that the only reason I hesitated was because I feared drawing the attention of the Oddsmakers. But they didn't scare me the way they should; not when I feared myself even more. Melanie didn't know that, though. She saw me as fearless and badass. That carried responsibility. I shot to my feet, telling myself I was doing what Melanie needed me to do and to be.
    But once fully straightened, I did nothing except close my eyes.
    The buzzing above my head was maddening. The electricity must be less than six inches from the top of my skull. If I became the dragon, might I survive this? It was a moot question. I was more terrified of giving in to the dragon than of being electrocuted.
    Crack!
    The lights blinked on again.
    I snapped my eyes open and practically gave myself whiplash as I threw my head back to look up at the ceiling. Deadly electricity no longer twined above our heads. The shop walls were back in place where they should be, with the junk that had fallen off their shelves still scattered across the floor. Lucky, coiled protectively around my friends and me, was now braced against nothing but air.
    "What the hell was that?" Vale demanded angrily, surging to his feet. He grabbed me by the upper arms. "Were you going to sacrifice yourself for us, Moody?"
    It would have been so easy to say yes, to pretend that I had been on the verge of being the heroine my friends apparently thought I could be. I looked into Vale's wide eyes and opened my mouth to tell him the truth.
    I surged forward and kissed him. His hands on my arms loosened and I took advantage of his shock to grab him by the sides of the face and deepen the kiss. He yielded to me in surprise, giving me the chance to be aggressive and bold. Strong.
    That's right, folks. Big, bad Anne Moody is back in the house. With the power to kiss the hell out of a guy, but forget about saving your life when the chips are down.
    Yeah, such a heroine.
    I broke the kiss as suddenly as I'd begun it, leaving Vale breathless, his pupils blown. Melanie was staring at us, her earlier fear replaced by girlish amusement.
    Vale touched his lips, still looking slightly stunned. Then, conscious of Melanie watching, he lowered his hand. "Tell me what the hell just happened," he said roughly.
    I shrugged, the picture of cool nonchalance. "I kissed you and you nearly swooned. Seems pretty clear to me."
    His glare was worth it. Totally.
    But I'd cheated, and no one knew that better than I.
     
    ~~~~~
     
    "Why didn't you tell us, Anne!" Melanie looked ready to stamp her feet. "All this time! I can't believe it!"
    I nodded like the bad girl I was. "I honestly thought that that one time with the wasps was Dearborn trying to agitate me," I told them. "But then when