Page 203 - Fourth Wing

swaying in his right hand. A step later, he’s flanked by Oren and Tynan,

both their weapons drawn.
“Shit,” I mutter, my chest tightening. This is now officially going

horribly.

The golden dragon’s head snaps in their direction, a low growl rumbling
in its chest.

“We’ll make it painless,” Jack promises, like that makes the murder

acceptable.
“Scorch them,” I whisper-shout, my heart pounding as they draw closer.

But the dragon doesn’t, and somehow, I’m certain in the marrow of my

bones that it can’t. Other than its teeth, it’s defenseless against three trained
warriors.

It’s going to die just because it’s smaller, weaker than the other dragons…
just like me. My throat closes.

The dragon backs up, its growl growing louder as it bares its teeth.

Stomach pitching, I have that Parapet feeling again—whatever I do next
has overwhelming odds of ending my life.

And yet, I’m still going to do it because this is wrong.
“You can’t do this!” I take the first step into the shin-high grass and

Jack’s attention swings my way. My ankle has a heartbeat of its own, and

agony streaks up my spine, chattering my teeth as I force my weight onto
my ruined joint so they won’t see me limping. They can’t know I’m hurt, or

they’ll just attack faster.

One at a time, I stand a chance of holding them off long enough for the
dragon to escape, but together…

Don’t think about it.

“Oh, look!” Jack grins, pointing his sword my way. “We can take out
both the weakest links at the same time!” He looks at his friends and laughs,

pausing their advance.
Each step hurts worse than the last, but I make it to the center of the