A Romantic Flesh Wound
TED
Itold Goldie to go inside, but of course she didn’t listen to me.
The man in the snakeskin boots takes a step in her direction, and it’s enough to make me want to explode into my bear form. “Hey there sweetheart, you know where I can find Eli? Six foot four, shaved head, matching scowl as this big guy right here?” He gestures to me. “The kid wouldn’t be bothering you now, would he? Hanging out in that big house of yours.” His beady, hateful eyes scan the shuttered windows.
Something buzzes in the air, and the expression on his thin face intensifies, a hungry gleam sparking in his dark eyes. “I think I better come in and take a look, don’t you sugartits?”
Goldie rears back, her face taking on a look of disgust. “Hard pass.”
“Go inside,” I order again, the words grinding out like gravel between my teeth.
The leader raises his hand without turning to look at me. “No, no, I think I want to talk to doll face here. Get to know her better.”
I take one step toward him, when both of his thugs reach into their pants and pull-out guns. They don’t point the Glocks at me but having them out in the open is a clear message for me to stay back.
At least their firearms are meant for me and not her.
The air stills around us, and I catch the whites of Goldie’s wide eyes even from a distance. I can smell, no,tasteher fear. It adds a heavy tang to her sweetness, mixing with the metallic of their guns. The fury and fear churning at the pit of my stomach boils upward, swelling and filling my limbs.
The leader closes the distance between him and Goldie. “Hey baby, there is something about you isn’t there, sugartits?”
“She’s magic, boss,” the dracanoid grunts.
Wait. What?
Goldie’s eyes fly wide. The tang of her fear intensifies.
“Oh yeah? What kind? He asks his goon without taking his eyes off Goldie.
The dracanoid closes his eyes, inhales deeply, nostrils flaring dramatically wide. “It’s weird boss, unlike anything I’ve smelled before. But I’m picking upsiren.”
The anger, fear, and fury inside me freeze at what the Orc says. Goldie looks as though someone dumped a bucket of ice-cold water on her.
Faefucks. Is she a mage? How did I not know that?
Because mages don’t typically live in human cities like Boston. Because mages stink to high heaven as does all of their magic, but she smells. . . gods. . . she smells unlike any sweet thing I’ve ever known.
But those men at the bar. . . that strange stinging buzz in the air I felt before they all went nuts, fighting over her. It adds up too easily.
No, not easily, but enough that I can’t deny what the dracanoid says.
The boss’s brows shoot up as a far too pleased smile curls his lips. “Oh I think Eddie needs a girl like you.”
“Who’s Eddie?” Goldie asks, sounding ballsy but I can tell she is terrified.
His smile turns into a sickening slick curve of bad intent. “I’m Eddie, full name Eddie “Blackjack” McGinty, and why don’t we step inside the house so we can get to know each other better?”
Oh hell no.
The rumble that starts in my chest, explodes into a roar as my bones break and creak, resetting into a different form as thick fur sprouts through my skin. Thick claws curl out of my fingertips. My clothes rip loudly as my muscles bulge and swell, bringing me to my full size.
Usually, I keep most of my human brain, but right now it’s a whisper as my animal side takes over. And these fuckers are invading my territory. No one touches my mate.
I surge forward and strike the human thug down. The targeted attack gives the dracanoid time to fire a shot.
There’s a crack in the air as a searing heat pierces through my right side. An angry roar explodes out of me as I leap onto the scaly skinned man. The dracanoid may possess dragon blood, but his strength is that of a human’s.
