Talon snorted, white-haired and brimming with barely contained fury. “You’re making bets you wouldn’t be around to honor. Ask someone from your own clan. Don’t involve ours.”
“I chose Erik,” Vector continued, ignoring him, “because he won’t hesitate.” His voice dropped to something lethal, quiet. “If Ryker finds out, he’ll interfere. If I wait any longer, it won’t be me making the choice. No one will be safe from my dragon.”
A pause.
A flicker of something unreadable passed through Erik’s expression.
Then, a slow shake of his head. “No.”
Vector had expected that.
“I won’t fight you,” Erik went on. “If you want to die, ask someone else or call the executioner.”
Vector inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly.
“All right,” he murmured.
He reached for the magical chain he wore; the only thing keeping him from losing complete control, from allowing the dragon to reign free.
“Vector—”
The golden metal slipped through his fingers.
Magic detonated.
A shockwave ripped through the air, twisting the light, sending cracks spidering through the courtyard stone.
Heat swallowed Vector whole as his body warped, expanded, shifted?—
And then came the roar. His own. His dragon’s.
Fire erupted from the red dragon’s throat. His roar shook the heavens. He was beyond rage, beyond fear. He’d been in pain for centuries. Ignored. Controlled. Leashed like a dog by the unbreakable will of the man who imprisoned him. Dragon hated Vector. Hated them all.
Kill them all.Dragon snarled the telepathic threat, knew the others would hear him. Relished the coming fight. Flesh under his claws. Teeth crunching dragon bones. He was free.
Once he finished here, he would fly to the nearest human village. Burn them all.
Deep within the dragon’s body, Vector stopped fighting. He’d fought to control Dragon for too long, the barriers in his mind and heart impenetrable. Unbreakable. But once unleashed, the dragon would feel nothing but fury. Pain. Vector had tried to warn them. Now Erik and his guardians had no choice but to fight. Not if they wanted to survive.
There were at least twelve guardians at this estate, plus King Erik. Here, Vector could let go. Stop fighting. Here, no one trusted him or depended on him for protection. Here, he would be seen as a threat. Eliminated, not trusted. Here, he could be free.
The instant he changed to dragon form, Talon moved. Shifted.
A swirl of obsidian-black smoke, and then a dark blue dragon exploded at Vector from the haze. Massive wings launched Talon into the sky, his dark scales reflecting the shimmering Northern Lights.
Talon struck first.
Vector wrenched control from his dragon at the last moment, allowed Talon’s claws to sink deep into the muscle on the dragon’s back.
Talon’s claws tore through scale and wing. Through tendon and bone. Sank deeper. Twisted.
Vector didn’t move. Didn’t fight back.
Kael dove next, silver wings carving through the sky. His fangs locked onto Vector’s shoulder, the powerful silver dragon thrashed and twisted his neck, ripping and tearing the red dragon’s flesh from his bones.
The pain was a gift. A promise.
Dragon screamed with rage. Vector ignored him, sent a telepathic message to the attackers. He was in pain, but his wounds were not mortal. Not yet. And his dragon was furious, beyond reason, knew he was in a battle for survival. Dragonfire exploded from his body like the shockwave of a human bomb. Talon and Kael’s dragons flew backward, tumbling through the air until they righted themselves with powerful beats of their wings.
