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For one moment, as Roman stood there, panting among the carnage—eyes a glittering onyx, shadows undulating at his back like the dark wings of an avenging angel—Shay realized just how truly dangerous he was.

Seven. Roman had killedsevenmen.

But their fight was far from over—and Roman was not the only Shadowmaster here tonight. Donovan’s men could control shadows too, and there were more coming.

They pushed into the room, shouting commands and threats, and soon it was Roman, exhausted from his output of magic,who was lifted into the air and slammed against the wall between the beds so hard it cracked up to the ceiling. The lamp on the nightstand fell, bulb shattering.

Paxton’s scream was drowned out as the air fractured with more fired shots.

Shay shoved Paxton behind her.“Get down and stay behind me!”She used the bed as a shield and shot overtop of it. Downed several men. Roman fought to break free of the shadows pulling his limbs taut as his father’s cronies pushed farther into the room. Sayagul swooped at them with knife-sharp talons and piercing shrieks, the dragon fiercely protecting her boy with her life.

More shots were fired, bullets peppering the mattress.

One hit Shay’s gun. The impact bit into her bones, and she cried out in alarm. Took cover.

Shit, her fingers were bleeding.

“SHAY!”Roman bellowed. The sheer panic in his voice had her head snapping up?—

Sure enough, two men had gotten a hold of Paxton and were dragging him across the room. Sayagul was in distress, the dragon flying after them on frantic wings.

‘Paxton!’Sayagul cried.‘No! Roman, help! Help! They’re taking Paxton!’

Shay was up and moving before she could think, narrowly escaping the reach of the men in the room. The noise of the bullets had rendered her half-deaf and turned her brain to jelly, but the adrenaline coursing through her veins was stronger than the shock. It pushed her to move faster, react quicker. It was all she needed.

Gun in one hand, lightning twining around the fingers of the other, she downed every fool who dared to lunge at her. The lightning spread—until she was armored from head to toe with forks of untouchable bluish-white lightning. Every bullet shefired hit their mark with squirts of blood and shouts of pain. Bodies dropped like flies.

She was lightning incarnate. A storm in the flesh.

The moment her bare feet hit the pavement in a mad dash for Paxton, thunder growled a warning. Angry clouds converged, their rain-bloated bellies darkening the street.

Her blood burned hot with lightning, her pulse skittering so quickly she swore her heart might explode. But she kept firing, trigger snapping under her finger.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

There were three cars waiting nearby. Paxton was being dragged toward the open back door of the second sedan, the kid kicking and screaming and fighting to break free—to get to her. Back to Roman.

The sky above the motel shattered.

Lightning speared the first car with a deafeningCRASH. People screamed.

White light engulfed the property, blinding her. Shay hissed and threw up a hand to shield her burning eyes. She stumbled, fighting to stay upright. To see?—

“No,” she breathed. Where was Paxton?Where was he?She couldn’tsee— “No, no, no, no, no,no.”

Too slowly, the light faded. Her eyes adjusted. The ringing in her ears was so sharp, she couldn’t hear a thing. She whirled, searching?—

There was Paxton. Being hauled to his feet by the rough hands of Shadowmasters who had survived the lightning strike.

Shay pushed her shellshocked body into a sprint. The reek of burnt hair and blackened flesh scorched her nostrils as she closed the distance to Paxton with four powerful strides.

A dark shape lunged at her left. Bruising hands grabbed her by the shirt, yanking her back against a torso clad in a bullet-proof vest. She reached behind her, slapping her charged palm against the bastard’s face.

Forks of lightning flowed from her fingertips and into his cheek, his eye. Screaming, he let go and collapsed, limbs twitching. Shay was already moving, bolting to Pax, her feet ripping open on stones and glass. She lifted her gun. Pulled the trigger?—

A hollowclick.She was out of bullets.

She skidded to a stop, feet burning across the pavement, and ducked as the Shadowmaster dragging Paxton lashed out?—