Bound to the Dragon King by Caroline Hale

hands gripping my own tightly, ready for the magic that I’m about to cast.
    I eagerly cast the spell to focus our energy and reveal the inner workings of the curse and suddenly I can see it shifting against his skin. Glowing words of a strange language wrap around his body. I watch as they fade slightly and then become stronger. His power must be able to circumvent this somehow, but where? Where is the weak point? I prod the magic with my own, trying to shift it when I notice a glowing script not attached to the chains of words that’s glowing red like the tattoo. I push at it even harder and find that instead of pushing back my magic is being sucked into it. I feed it, hoping that if enough flows through, perhaps it will break the spell.
    I can’t tell if it’s working or not so I try to stop feeding my magic to it and maybe try somewhere else but I can’t. It’s drawing my energy in faster and faster and I can’t stop it! I take in a deep breath to try and steady myself, but I can’t. I pull my hands from Asher’s to break our connection and instead of yanking them away, I pull them free easily as if he’s not holding onto me at all. I fill with dread as I realize that I’m fading away, just like I used to when… Oh no! This can’t be a dream. It has to be real. A scream rips from my throat, startling everyone out of their focused trance.
    “Ash…” A sob escapes my throat and I try to grab his hand. The women break into nervous whispers.
    “Lindy, what’s going on? Wha…” He stops abruptly as he realizes that he can’t get a hold of me. “No! No! Lindy stop,” he shouts.
    Panic contorts his gorgeous face like it used to when I left him like this. His eyes pull away from mine, darting around rapidly as he tries to find me. “I don’t know what’s happening,” I cry out, but I can tell from the perplexed look on his face that he can’t hear me.
    Ruby and Cera grab a hold of each other. I can tell that they’re trying to do magic, trying to bring me back to them but there’s no spell to stop this. I wonder where I’ll wake up. Back in bed with an alarm blaring? Another day in the library? This has to be real. I can’t have dreamed this!
    Tears spill from my eyes. “Ash! I love you,” I scream, hoping desperately that he can at least hear that, but his face hardens, letting an agonized howl.
    The scene in front of me fades and I’m left standing in complete darkness. Did I die? I don’t think I did because I have a feeling that dead people don’t question their existence. I shift my foot forward unsteadily.
    “At least the floor feels real,” I say aloud and my voice echoes oddly. Am I in a cave? “Hello?” I say more loudly, listening to the “hello, hello, hello” that echoes back. Hmmm, that’s strange.
    A blinding flare sparks to life in front of me, sending me stumbling backwards onto my butt painfully. I’m definitely in a cave, but where? And why would the spell have taken me here? I move to stand up, but stop in my tracks as I hear footsteps approaching.
    “Well, look who got caught in our little trap? Less like a library mouse after all,” a dark shadowy figure says with a familiar voice that sends chills through me.
    “Who are you?” I ask, hoping that my shaking voice is not too noticeable.
    “You would forget me so fast?” the voice says moving closer. The shadows lessen as he steps into the light and I can see who it belongs to. My stomach heaves as he smiles and reveals his sharp pointed teeth. It’s the seeker from the library, the one who inspected me so cruelly. He laughs and I can smell his rancid breath. “I see you do remember me. I have that effect on people,” he says reaching out a pale hand to help me to my feet. I scoot away from him and his red eyes flash with anger. “You on the other hand were entirely forgettable Melinda Merrick, until now. So, how did a witch with no powers get caught in our little trap?”
    Shit. This isn’t good. I don’t