Page 31
T he car jerks to a stop, tires grinding against gravel as we pull into a cracked and overgrown parking lot at the edge of what looks like a long-abandoned industrial park.
Weeds shoot through the asphalt.
A broken streetlamp leans precariously overhead.
There's no one here.
No one to see. No one to help.
Michael kills the engine and turns to look at me in the rearview mirror, his eyes cold, soulless.
I can’t believe I ever thought this man harmless. Or attractive.
It seems so wrong now that I’ve met Zeke. Now that I know what a real man is—even if he can turn into a Dragon.
Zeke is so much more than that. He’s my whole heart. He is the first and only man to really show me what love is.
God, I really don’t want this to be the end.
If I have any regrets at all, it’s on the time I wasted before seizing the day and telling him how much I love him.
I’m sorry we didn’t have more time, Zeke.
I want to rage at the whole world for the unfairness of it all. But I won’t do that in front of this asshole.
He doesn’t get to see me scared. He doesn’t get to make me cry.
Not anymore.
Not ever again.
“Well,” Michael says smoothly, like this is just another business transaction. “Looks like we’re finally gonna have that heart-to-heart, Case.”
My heart pounds against my ribs like a trapped bird. My wrists burn from the duct tape.
My head aches from all the knocks I took, and I taste blood.
But I keep my chin up.
Michael slides out of the car and comes around to the back, opening the rear door with a creak.
The rain is still falling. Fat drops smack the roof in uneven intervals.
Somewhere in the distance, thunder grumbles.
“I have to say, sweetheart,” he says as he yanks me out of the car and props me against the hood like a broken doll, “I’m a little disappointed. I gave you everything. Wined and dined you. Hell, I was even willing to marry you before I fucked you. But you went and messed it all up.”
He crouches beside me, tugging the duct tape from my ankles with sharp jerks.
“You repay me by running to the feds like a disloyal little bitch.”
I don’t answer. I can’t— not with the duct tape still over my mouth —but even if I could, I wouldn’t.
He smiles, cruel and oily.
“Got nothing to say? Oh, right. Let’s fix that.”
With a flourish, he rips the tape from my mouth. I gasp, the sting immediate and sharp.
“They tried tailing me, you know. But I got away from them. Snuck out behind their backs,” he says conversationally, stepping back.
“They think they’re smart, the Feds. Had me tailed in Philly. Switched cars in a parking garage, drove out the side exit. Been trailing you for days, Case. Would’ve grabbed you sooner, but your cowboy’s got a damn fortress out there.”
His jaw ticks.
“Should’ve killed you back at the warehouse after you patched up old Tony. But nah, this is better. I want you to feel it. I want you to know exactly who you fucked with.”
His fingers twitch toward his coat pocket, and I know what’s coming.
A knife. Or maybe a gun. Something final.
Something moves behind him and I—I laugh. It’s a sharp, surprised bark of laughter.
But I don’t even try to stop it or the next one.
It bubbles out of me, wild and unexpected.
Michael’s eyes narrow. “What the fuck’s funny?”
I glance past his shoulder. And there— there —is the reason I’m fucking overjoyed.
The sky above us cracks open with lightning, revealing the monstrous silhouette of a winged beast descending through the storm.
He’s beautiful. Terrifying.
Zeke .
His massive Dragon form lands with a thunderous boom, wings spread wide like an avenging god.
Raindrops hiss and sizzle against his glowing lavender-gold scales.
Power rolls off him in waves— ancient, wild, and otherworldly.
His eyes burn with that deep violet hue I know so well, locked on me.
And on Michael.
My heart floods with a single, overwhelming truth.
I’m not alone.
Michael turns slowly, confusion furrowing his brow.
“What? I don’t see nothing!”
I meet his gaze, defiant and unflinching.
“I’m laughing,” I say, my voice hoarse but steady, “because you’re about to die, and you don’t even know it.”