Page 22 of Dragon’s Golden Mate (Shifter Nation: Enchanted Over Forty #2)

Kendrick watched the battle unfold before him.

The space in here was too tight for a big, heavy dragon to fight effectively.

He couldn’t maneuver the way he wanted, and too much flame would hollow the place out.

He fired a shot at Cassandra, creating a small fireball that he tried to slip past Iris’s shield.

Zoe smashed it with her ley line power, turning it to nothing more than a singed mark on the floor.

How could they fight their foes without harming them?

Kendrick grunted in frustration, but then he saw something that recharged him completely.

Maeve was taking on her wolf form. She’d stayed in her human as she’d cast her magic, but now he saw the grand, silvery beast that he’d already become so familiar with.

She wasn’t giving up on this fight, and neither could he.

Kendrick watched as she quickly changed her form, her long legs and sturdy paws, her thick tail, her heavy coat.

Most of all, he saw that resolute look in her eyes.

They’ve got us backed against this hole in the floor, she told him.

We need to surround them, he agreed. As long as we’re face-to-face, they’re anticipating all our moves and using Iris to block them. I’ll stay here.

I’m heading to the left, Maeve informed him. She charged off between a couple of rows of pews and angled around toward the side wall of the church.

She must’ve been communicating with the rest of her coven, because they began to do the same. Tina, now also in her wolf form, followed her mother. Kristy easily leaped over the pews to the right in her panther form. It took Amanda a little longer as a lumbering bear to join her.

The band member who’d become a bear charged at Amanda as she found a place over to the right.

He was bigger, his muscles broad and firm under his thick hide, and he sank his teeth into her shoulder.

Amanda, infuriated, tossed him aside. Blood dripped down her forearm as she pounced on top of him, sending a blast of energy through his body that sent him spinning down the aisle of the church.

Lucille’s feet left the ground as she became her inner owl. She was swift and silent, her wings beating as she found a position and then holding steady as she fired her glittering yellow magic from above. It rained down like sparks on Iris’s shield.

Get behind them if you can, Kendrick directed his clan. We need to attack them from all sides.

Protected by Kristy, Lilith managed to scramble back out of the position she’d fallen into when she’d hit Iris’s shield. A gash split the sparkling gold scales on her flank, but her wings were intact. She flew around behind Cassandra’s group.

Colette, still on the floor from when Tina had knocked her down, turned on her hip and launched a sling of energy toward Lilith. The gold dragon deflected it with her hand, but Colette was quick. She flung it back and then forward again, smashing it into Lilith’s chest.

Hang on! Ewan rocketed overhead. Nia clipped his wing with her blistering attack, making a neat round hole in the leathery skin.

It smoked, giving him the look of a fighter jet going down, but Ewan didn’t need to get far.

He dove to the floor between Lilith and Colette.

With one quick swing of his tail, he knocked the young witch backward once again.

Griffin and Beck, almost as big as Kendrick, spread out along the edge of the hole in the floor. The portal pulsed and thrummed behind them.

The coyote came bounding up the aisle, his teeth bared as he leaped at Beck.

The dragon fired a loose ball of flame that encompassed him, filling the air with the rank stench of singed fur.

The coyote stumbled back for a moment, but he was determined enough to jump back in.

He leaped onto Beck’s back, his teeth digging in where Beck couldn’t angle his head around to fire at him again.

Kendrick, following Ewan’s demonstration, snapped his tail in the air and sent the coyote flying.

Annoying little bastard, Beck grumbled.

Rainbows of magic vaulted into Cassandra’s group. Maeve’s gold, Tina’s purple, Kristy’s blue, and Lucille’s yellow. Arcs of fire joined them, and every now and then, the flash of stone indicated where the gargoyles had found their mark.

Gavin, the mountain lion, had made his way to the front of the fray and came right for Kendrick.

The big dragon filled his lungs, but he hesitated when he remembered that this wasn’t someone he could just turn into barbecue.

This was a real young man, one whom Nia cared about.

His heated breath filled his throat and mouth, but he didn’t release it.

That slight pause was enough to give Gavin the advantage.

The mountain lion easily dodged Kendrick’s first fiery assault and then slid in under the dragon’s great head.

His long, thick fangs sank into the softer flesh there, going straight for the veins.

Kendrick reeled backward. His back feet slipped just over the edge of the floor as he smacked the big cat aside.

The tiny, cat-like gargoyle, a miniature statue of the mountain lion, went for Gavin while he was down.

Through all of this, Kendrick could feel the grief that had overtaken Maeve’s body.

Pain radiated through her as she fought those she loved.

Even the bandmates, though they weren’t part of her coven, were young and innocent people who’d been caught in Cassandra’s trap.

It wasn’t the physical blows that were wearing Maeve down.

It was the terrible notion of doing something she’d regret for the rest of her life.

They’re not shifting, Maeve’s voice echoed in his head as she and Tina fought off Zoe’s attacks and tried to get closer to Iris.

What do you mean? Kendrick lurched forward and grabbed for Iris’s feet, hoping to distract her long enough to bring the shield down.

Iris brought her hands down, ruining Kendrick’s attack.

They’re witches, but they’re also shifters. They could be using both powers at the same time, like the rest of us are, but they’re not in charge of themselves. Cassandra is a banshee, so she must not know how it all works.

We’ve got to get to Cassandra. She’s the heart of all this.

If we can break her control over them, then the fight will be over.

Kendrick made another attempt at Iris when she turned to shield Cassandra from Amanda’s waves of energy.

He felt useless in this small space, like an observer as the rest of his clan fought on his behalf.

There had to be something more effective that he could do.

Lucille swept in over the top of the group again. This time, instead of an energy sphere, she dropped a blob of nebulous goo. It landed on Cassandra’s head and dripped down, covering her mouth and nose.

That’ll finally shut her up! Maeve enthused.

The banshee shook her head and sputtered.

She swiped the slime from her face, flinging it off her fingertips to splatter it against the floor and pews.

It kept her from giving specific commands, but the young witches and shifters still had general orders.

Iris continued with her shield. Brilliant white light from Nia, Zoe, and Colette still launched through the room.

A piece of the floor fell away under the weight of Kendrick’s back foot. The portal throbbed and pulsed just behind him, a heat radiating outward from it. Suddenly, he knew exactly what he had to do.

“Hold her back!” he called out. “I’m going to destroy the portal!” Kendrick turned and flew into the open basement.

“Like hell you are!” Cassandra took the bait. She jumped down after him. Her hair flew, and her eyes sparked.

Kendrick dove for her. His hands nearly closed in on her legs.

She aimed a blasting scream at the ground, which sent her hurtling backward. Cassandra landed on her feet in the corner, bracing herself against the wall.

He moved to his right, along the wall furthest from the portal, trying to position Cassandra between himself and the swirling vortex. She took the bait, and they circled each other like a couple of boxers.

They fought in the small space, with Kendrick lunging and striking and Cassandra using her sonic waves against him.

Overhead, the fight among the rest of them continued.

Fire and energy flew, and heavy thuds hit the floor.

He’d gotten her down there, as he’d intended.

His plan had been to push her into the portal, to let that power she was so obsessed with consume her, but she was far more nimble than he’d imagined.

Cassandra’s words from earlier echoed in his mind.

A place where no mortal could live. The portal was dangerous enough that it’d been kept hidden under this church and protected by sacred guardians for a long time, probably even longer than the church had been there.

Cassandra had used its power, but she didn’t understand it.

Only the gargoyles knew something about it, and what they’d shown Kendrick and Maeve in their mental images had been devastating.

Flesh burned from bone, a shearing wind so powerful that a body couldn’t remain in it without being destroyed.

“What do you think you can even do, dragon?” she snapped. The current from the portal lifted her hair, making it move as though it were alive. “Blow flame at it? This portal is stronger than either one of us.”

“I’m counting on that.” With every bit of strength and speed he had, Kendrick shot forward. He wrapped his arms tightly around Cassandra and beat his wings, speeding straight into the portal.

I’m sorry, Maeve, but this is worth it if it means you get to live.

Deep horror reached his mind from hers. Kendrick, no!

More words tried to come through after that, but Kendrick couldn’t hear them anymore.

He was surrounded by the rushing light and speeding wind of the vortex.

Though he beat his wings, the wind pushed back on him hard.

He couldn’t tell how far he’d gone into the portal, nor how much further he’d have left to go.

What awaited him on the other side? Certain death, of that he had no doubt.

But he’d be leaving behind a world that was safe from Cassandra, where supernaturals like himself and the rest of those he loved couldn’t be used for her gain.

Kendrick’s scales lifted and peeled back. His wings could no longer beat as their leathery skin grew tattered and torn, leaving only the long fingers of the bones in between. The portal was tearing his body apart, but it was also ripping his soul away from his physical self.

He held on tight to Cassandra, who raged and thrashed.

She beat him with her fists. She opened her mouth to scream, but he couldn’t hear any of it above the roar of the wind.

Her hair shriveled, and her eyes sank into her head.

Her flesh shredded, and bits of it went flying somewhere behind them.

Her face contorted with pain, and then her head lolled on her shoulders.

The only movements left in her body were those made by the wind.

Something hard clamped around his back left foot. It was cold and grinding, not at all like the searing air that existed there in the portal. Kendrick didn’t have the energy to fight it off, but what was the point? He knew he was going to die anyway.

Another vice closed around his back right foot. It smashed down hard, as if the pain of the portal wasn’t enough punishment for him. Kendrick could barely keep his eyes open, but he was determined to. He had to see what happened. He’d lived too long to just close his eyes and ignore his own death.

Now, something fastened down hard on the very tip of his tail and yanked backward. Whatever had a hold of him was pulling against the strength of the portal.

Scenes from his life flickered in and out of his mind as he fought against losing consciousness.

He remembered his time as a youth in Scotland, when the clan was still large enough to have its own territory and not be bothered by the surrounding humans.

There were his travels throughout Europe, exploring the art and architecture that’d been left behind by generations of geniuses.

Even as two powerful forces threatened to split his body in two, he knew how it felt to sail on a ship in the open sea, to dip down below it and explore the wonder of a whole new world, to fly so high on his own wings that he could see the curvature of the Earth.

He saw the faces of all those he’d loved. Friends, lovers, mates, family.

Maeve. Dear, wonderful Maeve. He let the other images pass, observing them for what they were, but he held Maeve in his mind.

They’d had so little time together. He’d gotten to know her, yes, but he’d wasted time worrying.

He’d spent hundreds of years of his life truly living, but in those few days with Maeve, he’d allowed himself to stop.

What was the point in any of it if you weren’t enjoying it?

He could repair old buildings and preserve them against years of damage, but there were some mistakes he couldn’t fix.

Kendrick! Oh, Goddess! Kendrick!

Her voice rushed to his mind, and he realized that he was no longer flying further into the portal.

Whatever had a hold of him was dragging him backward.

The strength of the vortex was trying to hold onto him, but something else wanted him more.

He watched with a churning stomach as Cassandra’s inert body shivered and shook in his grip.

Her skin crusted over and desiccated. The puckering around her gaping mouth and the holes where her eyes had been made her look like precisely the kind of haunted creature banshees had always been depicted as.

Then her body burst into a fine powder, blowing away in the portal like a mist.

He felt a final heave on the back of his body, and Kendrick fell to the floor in front of the portal. Blood dripped onto the floor around him, and he could feel the places where he no longer had scales. His wings and hands stung, and his eyes were so dry he could barely open them.

Whatever had a hold of his legs and tail had let go. Movement and the quiet grinding noises that accompanied it were all around him, and then the heat and light of the portal were gone.

A heavy thud vibrated the floor. “Kendrick!” Beck’s voice. “Are you alive? Please be alive.”

Pain throbbed throughout his body. He barely had enough energy to breathe, much less speak, but he needed to make sense of the world. “I’m not supposed to be.”

Beck laughed, and then there were more of those little grinding noises. “The gargoyles had other plans. They saved your ass.”