Page 31

Dominic

I left Rin in the capable hands of a Gifted doctor I could trust. As much as I could trust anyone outside of my close circle of friends.

After Aaron ensured all the captives had escaped and gotten medical care, he and Keiko would take turns staying with Rin.

Although I doubted she would leave his side.

I knew they would do whatever was necessary to keep him safe, just as I would.

Then, with fire and fury coursing through my veins, I headed to the Sato estate. My steps echoed down the long hallway, each tap a hangman’s drum beat as they counted down my grandfather’s last breaths.

If he thought he could stop me now, he was in for a rude fucking awakening.

A man in an all-too-familiar blue tracksuit stepped out of a room up ahead—Kenzo. His upper lip curled into a sneer when he saw me approach. “Well, if it isn’t the bastard. Come to lap at Ichiro’s?—”

I didn’t give him a chance to finish. My hand shot out and gripped his windpipe, my claws extending deep into his skin. With a fast wrench of my wrist, I tore out his throat.

His eyes opened wide as he grabbed at the wound and slumped to the ground. Within moments, a pool of blood had soaked into the bottom of the nearby curtains, and his eyes stared sightlessly at the ceiling. A wisp of smoke exited his open mouth and drifted away.

Fucking finally.

Once bonded with a dragon, our throats became our most vulnerable area, which was why we always went straight for it during a fight to the death. While I wished his dragon didn’t have to suffer the same fate, it was for the best. Osupipemi was one of the weakest among the fire dragon spirits.

The doors to the training room were closed, but that didn’t slow me down.

I shoved them open hard enough for them to bang against the walls and strode inside.

Normally, I would have taken more precautions and been wary of an ambush.

But today, my blood boiled for a fight, and I welcomed any such attempts.

Alas, only one man stood in this room. With his hands clasped casually behind him, he turned to face me. Ichiro, the man who had made my life a living hell simply for existing, stood waiting. His cold eyes locked onto mine with disdain I had known since I was born.

The weight of a thousand unspoken words hung heavy in the blood-tinged air, and charred walls served as memories of training battles going back decades. Nothing could compare to what was about to happen here today.

I’d spent nearly every day since my father’s death training in this room, honing my and Jou’s skills, pushing past our breaking points again and again under my grandfather’s command and my desire to be the best.

Now, he was about to find out just what kind of monster he created.

My voice, calm and low, cut through the silence, “Ichiro Sato, I challenge you to a Trial by Fire.”

The High Draconic Council had established the Trials as a last resort measure, a duel to the death, and weren’t to be invoked lightly. Every dragon element had a Trial, and some even set its own rules. As usual, the fire dragons followed a simple rule—there were none.

Should anyone question the legitimacy of a duel after the fact, the Council would call for a legal trial at the next Council meeting. It was a backward process perhaps, but Trials were few and rarely questioned.

“I always knew you’d end up here, challenging me,” he said. “You’re a Sato. It’s in your blood.”

His words were dramatic, referring to his own patricide. He was the only Sato who’d done such a thing.

I didn’t fault Ichiro necessarily. From the stories I’d heard, his father had been more vile than Ichiro. If anything was in our blood, it was the need to stop a tyrant or become one ourselves.

“Why did you do it?” I asked. “Why the pyrocrystals?”

“Why do you think? Power. Control. This world thrives on both, and I will never let anyone break apart or weaken my family again. We will be in control. We will have the power.” His lips curled into a sinister smile. “Well, I will.”

I clenched my fists and relished the sharp prick of my claws, still bloodied from Kenzo’s demise. My dragon prowled within me like a fiery pulse that quickened with my heartbeat. "This ends today, old man. No more games. No more torture. Your death ends it all."

“You’re not ready to face me, boy.”

In a blaze of crimson light, Ichiro’s body ignited as his dragon roared to life.

The formidable spirit of Pom? burst from his back in a torrent of flame.

An ancient serpent of fire, he coiled in the air, eyes glowing with a feral hunger.

His semi-translucent scales alternated between molten copper and deep ruby.

Every movement was graceful and lethal, a dance that promised nothing less than annihilation. The heat was intense, scorching even against my hardened skin. It felt as if the surrounding air vibrated with the dragon’s primordial wrath.

My dragon rose from the depths of my soul to challenge him. Tearing through the surface of my skin, Jou bellowed his defiance as flames burst from his hazy form. I could feel his power, a part of me yet distinctly separate. Ready to fight.

Ready to kill.

The two dragons circled each other in the air, and their battle cries echoed off the walls.

My eyes never left Ichiro’s. This wasn’t just a fight.

This was for my best friend, tortured at the hands of this monster.

For my mother, who had died bringing me into a world ruled by this corrupt tyrant.

For me, for all the years I had suffered under his shadow.

And for Bree, who had sacrificed her home and livelihood to save my life.

This was the final stand.

Ichiro moved first, a blur of motion as he closed the distance between us. His fist came at me with the force of a battering ram.

But I was ready. I dodged to the side, my body flowing with the enhanced agility of my dragon’s spirit. Ichiro’s fist grazed my shoulder. I felt the searing heat of his touch, but I didn’t let it slow me down.

I countered with a strike aimed at his midsection. He blocked with a forearm, his skin hardened like mine. Sparks flew as our claws met. The impact battered through my bones. I launched a barrage of punches and kicks, each one fueled by years of pent-up rage.

This man had stolen my childhood and beaten me senseless too many times to count. He turned me into a killer—a monster just like him.

Eager to please my grandfather while growing up, I’d committed crimes too heinous to speak. Atrocities against Gifted and non-Gifted alike. I’d sold my soul to the Devil long ago for a chance to take Ichiro down, and now I would collect what was mine.

Only one of us would walk out of here alive, or neither of us. If I were bound for Hell today, I'd make sure he was at my side.

Ichiro’s experience showed in every fluid move as he matched me blow for blow.

He was a master of martial arts. His style a brutal, efficient blend of strikes designed to cripple and kill.

But I was younger, faster, and driven by something more than skill.

I was driven by the need to protect those I loved.

Above us, the dragons clashed, their fiery bodies colliding in a spectacular display of power.

Each time they struck, the air crackled with energy and a burst of flames, and the floor beneath us trembled.

Jou’s thoughts mirrored my own, his eagerness to tear Ichiro’s dragon apart as fierce as my desire to end the man before me.

Ichiro feinted left and spun low. His leg swept towards mine.

I jumped, but he expected it. Pain exploded in my side as his fist connected with my ribs. I staggered back, gasping for breath.

He was on me in an instant, his fist connecting with my chest.

The force of the blow sent me crashing against a wall, and the impact knocked the wind out of me. I staggered sideways, vision swimming. I heard my dragon roar in pain as Pom? clamped his jaws around Jou’s neck, the flames intensifying.

I struggled to my feet. Blood dripped from various wounds. Every breath was a sharp, agonizing reminder of my limits.

But I wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t. Not until Ichiro was on the ground, beaten and broken. As lifeless as Kenzo.

I ignored the pain and surged forward, channeling every ounce of my strength into a single, devastating punch aimed at his head.

Ichiro caught my wrist. His grip was like iron. As his eyes burned into mine, I saw the anger and resentment that had been brewing in him for years, chipping away at his soul.

"You’re weak, Dominic," he hissed, twisting my arm with a force that made my bones creak in protest. "You’ll always be weaker than me, thanks to your father. You can thank him when you join him in Hell."

I wrenched my arm free and threw a wild, desperate punch. It connected with his jaw, and he stepped back.

He recovered quickly, his eyes narrowing as he wiped the blood from his mouth. "Pathetic," he spat, then he was on me again, faster and more vicious than before. He slammed me into the ground and pinned me. His claws dug into my throat, cutting off my air.

“Rin was most helpful confirming my suspicions about you.” Ichiro grinned as my expression betrayed my disbelief.

There was no way Rin would have talked. “Oh, he tried to resist, which was quite enjoyable to witness and made for a remarkable photograph. But I learned long ago to keep a witch capable of mind control close and paid well.”

His dragon loomed above us, his jaws wide and ready to strike. Jou was trapped in his hold like I was. His flames flickered weakly as he struggled in vain against the crushing force of Ichiro’s will.

My grandfather leaned in close, his breath hot against my face. "This is where it ends, Dominic. You die here beneath my hands, just like your father did."

Just like my father…?

His words sent a jolt of shock through me.

My father had died in a robbery gone wrong.

That was what Ichiro had told me when I was just a kid and attending the funeral.

I’d never questioned it. I’d never had a reason to.

A man rotted in prison for the crime, having pled guilty.

My father had just been unlucky that day.

That’s what I’d believed for over twenty years.

Only now, once Ichiro had the upper hand, now he came clean?

The fucking coward.

Ichiro grinned as he saw the understanding on my face. "That’s right, boy. Your father’s death was no accident. I only wish I’d killed him before he ruined my Fumiko with his weak seed."

“Why?” I choked out.

“As much as it pains me to say, Fumiko—” his breath caught on her name and he cleared his throat. “Fumiko’s blood— my blood runs through you. But your father was turning you against me. I couldn’t let him take what was mine.”

Something inside me…

Snapped. Broke. Ripped apart.

Ichiro tightened his grip on my throat, preparing to rip it out as I had done to Kenzo.

His dragon reared back to deliver the final blow to Jou.

Molten lava enveloped my insides before blasting outward. Steam rose from my skin, and Ichiro snarled in surprised pain. His grip loosened. It wasn’t much, but it was enough.

I twisted in my grandfather’s grip and used the momentum to break free. I drove my elbow into his face, the crack audible. He staggered back, blood spurting from his broken nose. I leaped to my feet and pressed the attack.

Writhing and thrashing, my dragon responded in kind. Flames erupted from his mouth as he broke free from Pom?’s grasp.

I tackled Ichiro against the wall and pinned him there with my claws at his throat. The tables had turned. Checkmate.

"Do it." Ichiro glared at me, defiant to the end. Blood flowed from his nose and dripped off his chin. "Finish it."

I hesitated. Crimson drops seeped between my claws from the deep gouges in his throat.

I wanted to kill him. I needed to end his reign of terror and take control of the empire he had built on the backs of innocents. But as I stared into his eyes, emptiness stared back. The hollow shell of a man who had lost everything—his daughter, his humanity, his soul.

He wanted this, longed to die. He had nothing left to live for.

Dozens of dragons and their hosts had suffered because of his drug. Because of his greed. My closest friend had been tortured, his dragon gone forever.

No one should have to suffer from Ichiro’s selfish, inhumane desires ever again. He deserved to die. I gripped his throat tighter, ready to end him once and for all.

But then I heard her voice, a shout that cut through the chaos, filled with desperation and fear.

" Stop! "