Page 127 of Red Fury

He’s definitely reminiscing.

“MyMamushka,” he continues, using what I think is the Russian word for mother, “used to insist we all sit at the table for meals. No matter how tired we were, no matter how late it was, we had to eat together as a family.” His eyes grow watery. Is he feeling sad?

Then he smiles, and perhaps I see the male he was before he turned into this creature. His fangs are fully extended, reminding me that that male no longer exists.

My hands feel sweaty. My mouth dry.

“Oh,” I manage to say, my voice a whisper. “You lived here? With your family?”

Kozlov nods, still looking around the empty room like he can see ghosts from his past.

“Me, my two brothers, and our sister. My parents worked on the ranch.” He turns to look at me. “My father was a ranchhand. Worked his way up to manager over the years. My mother worked in the main house as a housekeeper and cook.”

He starts walking toward me, and I instinctively take a step back. But there’s nowhere to go. I’m trapped between him and the wall.

“I didn’t think so at the time,” he continues. “But we had a good life here, once upon a time. A great life. Simple and easy.”

He’s close enough now that I can smell his expensive cologne mixed with sweat.

“We had a great life up until things went belly up,” he says, his voice dropping low.

He keeps walking toward me, sniffing and snuffling like an animal.

“Before my mother and father were murdered and my brothers and I were turned into this.” He’s breathing hard, like he’s angry. When he looks at me, his eyes are blood red. “Before we were turned into monsters. I’m a monster…but you know that already.”

He cocks his head, his eyes narrowing on my throat. At the pulse there.

Fury

I can’t stop pacing. Back and forth across the small clearing, my bare feet silent on the forest floor. The bag I took from Webb sits at my feet, containing the clothes I stripped out of the moment I got his first text twenty minutes ago to say that the aircraft had landed in Wyoming.

That was twenty long minutes ago.

My skin feels like it’s on fire, every nerve ending crackling with barely contained energy. My dragon is right there, scales threatening to break through my flesh. The beast is restless, agitated, ready to tear free and take to the skies. All he knows is that our female is in danger, and we’re standing here doing nothing about it. Thing is, we need a destination. Wyoming is huge. I need more information. It won’t take me long to get there. I just need to hold it together for a little longer.

Waiting…waiting…waiting…

I’m so sick of waiting.

My phone buzzes against the ground where I dropped it next to my bag. It’s Webb.

Vehicle headed to Clearwater. Still moving.

Clearwater, Wyoming? I do a quick Google search and scroll briefly.

What the hell is Kozlov doing taking her there? It’s in the middle of nowhere. My mind races through possibilities, none of them good.

I push out a heavy breath, feeling the tension coil tighter with each passing second.

Ten more minutes crawl by like hours. Another second, she could be hurt, or worse. The images that flash through my mind make my vision blur red.

My phone buzzes again when Webb sends me the final coordinates.

Finally.

Thank fuck!

I snatch up my phone and plug them into the map. The location marker appears, and I zoom in to get my bearings.Clearwater, Wyoming. Middle of fucking nowhere, just like I thought. Surrounded by nothing but open plains and scattered ranches.