Page 130 of Red Fury

It’s a dragon. It’s him. It’s Fury. It has to be.

I whimper.

Kozlov lets go, and my hands go instinctively to my throat. Blood flows freely between my fingers as I tilt my head back to look up at the sky.

And there he is.

I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in my entire life.

Fury’s massive black form blots out the stars as he circles once before landing with ground-shaking force about twenty feet away. He drops something at his feet and immediately begins to shift.

Fury is devastating in his human form. He takes my breath. Naked and powerful, every muscle defined, his dark hair wild. His eyes lock onto mine for just a moment, and I see such protectiveness there that it makes my chest ache.

“Where’s your army?” Fury asks Kozlov, his voice deadly calm as he straightens to his full height. “You’re going to need an army if you hope to beat me.”

Kozlov wipes my blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. Then he reaches behind his back and pulls out a gun from his waistband. The metal gleams in the moonlight.

“I wasn’t expecting you, but the more the merrier,” he rasps.

I try to get up but fall back down. I feel useless; in fact, I’m not sure how I’m still conscious. I’m dizzy and feel sick, my head spinning from blood loss. All I can do is watch in horror as Kozlov points the gun directly at Fury’s chest.

“I think this will be enough,” Kozlov says with a smile that’s all fangs.

40

Fury

He’s on his own.

I’m at full strength.

The fucker is dead; he just doesn’t know it yet.

The dart shoots through the air, and I have to give it to Kozlov; the bastard is a hell of a shot. But he’s not dealing with some helpless human. I’m better prepared this time.

I move at the last second, feeling the familiar burn and stretch as my bones begin to elongate. My shift happens fast, rawanger fueling the transformation. The dart whistles past where my torso was a split second ago, embedding itself in the dirt behind me.

My dragon form erupts from my human body. Scales burst through my skin like black armor, my wingspan unfurling with a sound like thunder. I want this piece of shit to know exactly what he’s up against.

The second dart comes at me. I don’t bother moving out of the way. It hits exactly where I expect it to, square in the chest, but it bounces off my scales with a metallic ping. Kozlov’s eyes widen in shock, and I bare my teeth in what might be considered a smile if dragons could smile.

Still, I’m not stupid. Even in this form, I have vulnerabilities. My wings, for one; the membrane between the bone structure is thinner, more susceptible to penetration. My deep underbelly, where the scales are smaller and softer. A few other spots that I’m not about to advertise to this asshole.

I need to be very careful.

He can’t get me. I won’t let him. Not when Shadow is lying there bleeding, barely conscious from what he’s done to her.

Kozlov raises the gun again as I launch myself forward, my huge body covering the distance between us in seconds. He fires twice more, but I’m already moving, dodging left then right. My tail whips out, catching the weapon and sending it flying through the air in a perfect arc.

Fucker!

The gun lands somewhere in the darkness behind the son of a bitch.

Now it’s just him and me.

Kozlov doesn’t run. He should run, but instead he squares his shoulders and meets my charge head-on. We collide with bone-rattling force, and I’m surprised by his strength all over again.He’s faster than I expected, too, managing to dodge my claws and land a solid hit to my ribs.

Still not as strong as me, though. Not even close.