Page 128 of Red Fury

Actually, this works in my favor. The more remote, the better. Less chance of some human looking up at the wrong moment and seeing a huge-ass black dragon streaking across the sky.

I text Webb back.

Got it. Thank you. Let me know if there’s any more movement.

Will do. Be careful, bro. Please try not to kill Kozlov. We need him.

He tells me. Then I tuck the phone into my bag and zip it shut. My dragon roars his approval, knowing what comes next.

I close my eyes and reach for him. As expected, the shift comes quick and easy, my body welcoming the change, embracing the power that flows through me.

Black scales emerge across my skin. My spine extends into a massive tail, and wings unfurl from my back.

The transformation completes, and I am in my dragon form. Powerful and deadly.

I carefully grab the bag in my jaws, mindful not to crush it with my razor-sharp teeth. Everything I need is in there – my phone and clothes for when I shift back.

With a powerful thrust of my wings, I launch myself skyward, shooting up as fast as my massive form will carry me. The ground falls away beneath me in seconds, the trees becoming tiny specks as I climb higher and higher into the darkness.

Up here, I’m invisible. Just another shadow against the black sky.

Once I reach a safe altitude, I level out and pour on even more speed, my wings beating hard as I race toward Wyoming. The wind tears at my scales. I should be reveling in the freedom, but I barely feel it. All my focus is on the coordinates burned into my memory, on the growing distance between us shrinking with every mile.

Hold on, Shadow. Please hold on for me.

The plea echoes in my mind, a prayer to whatever gods might be listening. I won’t lose her. Not when I just found her.

Please.

My dragon and I are in perfect harmony, both of us driven by the same primal need: to reach our female, to protect her, to destroy anyone who dares to hurt her.

Mine!

Kozlov has no idea what’s coming for him.

But he’s about to find out.

39

Shadow

Kozlov’s eyes are completely red now, focused fully on my throat. His nostrils flare as he takes in a deep breath, and that distant look I’ve seen before settles over his features. The same expression he had on the plane before he attacked me.

He’s not seeing me as a person anymore. He’s seeing prey. He’s seeing a meal.

He takes another small step toward me, closing the already minimal space between us. My back is already against the wall, and there’s nowhere left to go.

I need to get us outside and away from this enclosed space. Outside, where he won’t scent me as acutely. I need to buy myself time. Maybe the drug will wear off enough for me to be able to fight him off.

Maybe Fury will come for me.

No! I can’t think like that. Fury isn’t coming. By now, he will have landed on Mistveil, none the wiser about my plight. He has no idea where I am or what’s happened to me. He probably thinks I made it safely back to Draig.

I’m on my own.

“Please,” I say, forcing my voice to stay calm despite my growing fear. “Can we go outside? I’d like to look at the stars.” I swallow hard, scrambling for something that might sound normal, appealing to whatever humanity might be left in him. “I’d like you to tell me more about your family.”

For a moment, it seems like Kozlov isn’t going to answer me. He looks intent on ripping my throat out right here in this abandoned cottage. My eyes are drawn to the scars on his throat. I wonder if they’re from the night he was turned.