Page 67

SLADE

T he roar of my dragon was deafening inside my head. We were too close to our family to shift without risking injury, and I couldn’t step away from Emme as she was the most vulnerable and the one this bitch wanted. A bitch who was going to die.

The fact that she’d stolen my energy. MINE .

I’d been too distracted by my mate and Kellan at the time to properly inventory my power, and that had me ready to blast the entire street to cinders. It took every ounce of my strength, every scrap of control I’d built over the years, to keep a hold of my destructive fury.

My body shuddered when Emme pressed her hand against my spine, and I wished now wasn’t the time she chose to initiate touch.

Today… we were out of control. Today… was the root of all my fears.

My dragon could destroy everyone who stood here in seconds.

It had happened once before when I was fifteen, when Fletcher had taken his torture a little far. He’d cut me until there wasn’t any part of me which didn’t bleed, all in a bid to force my dragon out. He’d wanted me to kill for him, but I was no one’s fucking puppet.

I’d endured the torture, which went on for so long that I believe this was the first time I started to associate any touch with pain. Ironically, I now quite enjoyed pain when it was done right.

That day had a lasting effect on me, severing my bond to my dragon, who blamed me for holding him back. Not that I cared about killing Fletcher, but there were others being contained near me. Hunter for one, along with other prisoners chained against the walls of his torture cells.

By the time Fletcher was done, the rage of my beast had me confusing friend with foe, and even as we healed over and over, the canvas of my skin repairing for his butchery, I never broke.

Not until he brought an omega female to me.

She’d looked about twenty and was naked and blank faced.

Fletcher sent her in there to clean the blood from my skin, and then he’d told her to hug me.

That full-bodied touch, soft and gentle, had been the last crack in my control.

Somehow, he knew all along that an omega was the key to my destruction.

I’d shifted, and Fletcher got exactly what he wanted: the omega torn to pieces and the building torn down around my beast. I’d almost lost Hunter that day.

I definitely lost myself. I should have fucking killed Fletcher too, but when I’d finally shifted back, he’d offered me a deal.

If I forgave all his sins, there’d be no more pain and Hunter would go free.

I forgave nothing, but for Hunter, I kept the sick bastard alive.

As long as we were free from him, I didn’t care. I should have expected that he’d find other ways to fuck us over.

The rumble in my chest echoed around the street, drawing Hunter’s attention. Whatever he saw in my expression had his features tightening. He nudged Emme’s touch away as he leaned down to murmur to her, too low for me to hear over the roar of my beast.

“You have signed your death warrant, witch,” I informed her, the fires building in my chest.

She smiled broadly, and her tone was heavy with amusement as she said, “You always were my favorite, Slade. I fought Fletcher when he hurt you, and ensured he turned his attention to the other lizard. You should thank me.”

The knowledge that she’d been in my life manipulating behind the scenes had claws appearing at the end of my fingertips. Not to mention her casual reference to Talon and his suffering under Fletcher’s care .

“I will thank you by taking your life,” I promised.

She chuckled. “You’re never going to win if you can’t even figure out the most basics of information about who I am, and how I’ve been manipulating behind the scenes…”

I hadn’t kept up with Jewels’ life for many years, not since she initially passed all my surveillance tests.

When she started assisting us, and didn’t ask for more than her usual favor or cash, I accepted her role in our lives.

Another fucking mistake . Clearly, I’d missed a vital piece of information, and I wondered if she was somehow connected to the Termaine witches who were supposedly behind this…

As more of our friends and family started to break free from the spell, Kellan hurried over to stand with us. We’d had to fight harder to break the spell due to her use of our energy, hence why she’d been so fucking happy to steal from us.

Jewels needed to die, and I needed to figure out how to make it happen without Cora as a casualty. Not that I cared about her personally, but she meant a lot to Emme. I couldn’t be cavalier with her life when it would break my mate to lose her.

The crowds of shifters pressed in closer to us, and if I let my beast free, they’d be crushed or worse. I needed a distraction so I could back away.

Jewels watched me carefully, and her hand tightened on Cora’s throat as I moved. “Don’t do it, dragon. Just give me what I want.”

“Talon is in our containment room,” I informed her. “I’m happy to go and get him.”

And return in my beast form, which you fear, don’t you, witch.

She shook her head. “Call him, omega!” she shouted. “Call your mate, or everyone here will die. Starting with your best friend.”

Emme’s low sob was audible, but then cut off immediately. Our mate was strong. She would be figuring out how to get over there without Hunter stopping her.

Jewels stepped forward, and Cora moaned, her eyes closed though her heart beat strongly. “It’s simple,” the witch said. “Give Fletcher what he wants, and he’ll reward you.”

“You’re not leaving here,” I promised, and she threw her head back to cackle, giving me a few seconds to step away.

Hunter sensed what I needed, and kept shuffling Emme back. Kellan and Finley were now keeping her caged in too. I locked eyes with Kassidy, who stood near a group of family members, and I jerked my head to tell her to get them back.

She did exactly as I asked, having grown up with me as well.

Everything was falling into place, and as I finally found myself in clear grounds, my dragon roared as shadows danced on the edge of my consciousness. The shift was fast, and in my beast form I headed right for the witch, who shook Cora in front of her, but my dragon didn’t care.

“No,” Emme screamed from behind us, but she was still caged in by Hunter, Finley, and Kellan, and couldn’t move. If anything happened to Cora today, Emme would never forgive our actions here, but as long as my mate lived, I’d accept her rage with pleasure.

Cora was a friend and ally, but I’d kill everyone here to save Emme.

My own pack included.

Flames burst from my parted jaws, and Jewels threw up a strong shield to prevent them from touching her. She’d thought Cora would work as a hostage, and if it was only Emme she faced, she’d have won immediately. But my dragon’s priority was to kill the witch, no matter who stood in the way.

Jewels dropped her shield and threw a vial of magic at me. I swung my tail out at the same time, sending the witch and her hostage flying. The vial hit my chest, burning against my scales, but the pain barely registered.

Cora flew off into the sidewalk, hitting it hard, and Jewels landed much closer to me.

Unlucky break, witch.

I slammed my front claws and weight on her, and she managed to get another shield up in time to prevent me crushing her. It was a battle of strength then, and Jewel’s expression turned ashen as magic poured from her raised hands in a bid to counter my weight.

My essence was in that magic, and I was going to take great pleasure in flattening this fucking thief.

A roar echoed in the distance, and deep in my chest, where I’d recognized Talon from the first moment we battled in the sky, I felt my twin’s approach. Emme must have called him after all.

Now we might have another enemy in our midst.

I had no idea which side he’d take today, and if I had to battle him and the witch, the odds dipped out of my favor. When Talon landed with a thump beside us, my dragon roared at his brother, and that hollow of fire in my gut expanded.

What’s Alpha’s witch doing here? Talon growled.

Now, if I’d been in my humanoid form, I’d have jumped a damn foot in the air at a random voice in my head, but my dragon reacted as if he’d been expecting it.

There was this immediate connection between our beasts, as if their ancient souls recognized one another, and knew they’d been separated far too long. The only other time we’d met in our beast forms was during our first battle, and we’d bonded a lot since then.

Talon had never shied away from probing at my dragon, at my essence, connecting with the parts of me I both feared and admired. He’d created tethers, and they were all coming to fruition today.

Brother , my dragon replied. Do you know this heinous creature? The one who must be squished. She threatened our mate.

Talon roared, and I felt hope that I’d found the key to ensuring his loyalty. Well, let’s ensure that doesn’t happen again , he said.

This time, when his dragon’s power probed at my center, I opened myself to the bonding, and the surge of energy between us swelled out of control.

There was no way to stop the wave of darkness, and with the witch slipping out from under my grip, I fell into the abyss of what Talon had just awoken between us.

Until I was no more.