“Like burning my place, my truck, isn’t rough?” I snarled. I gestured toward my face. “This isn’t?”
“Nope.” He smiled. “Rough is taking your girl.”
I gaped, astounded, unable to comprehend what he’s talking about. “My girl? I don’t –”
Lindsey!
“You know,” he drawled. “The hottie with the black hair and nice tits. She’s in my custody, bro, and will remain in my custody until I get my shit.” He examined his nails. “Of course, I can’t promise she’ll come back – intact.”
I lunged for him.
I leaped over my desk in a single bound, seeing the panic cross his face in a brief flash.
Austin, the prick, saw me coming and jacked through the door faster than a hare dodging a cheetah. I missed his throat bya fraction of a second, charged down the steel steps in his wake, and shifted.
I hadn’t planned to shift. It came from my rage, my need to rend and slay, to kill my enemy and burn him to ashes.
My wings shutting out the moonlight, the starlight, the streetlights, I soared low over the graveled parking lot, empty of all cars. Austin shot a glance over his shoulder as he ran for the street.
“Fuck,” he screamed, catching sight of me, my jaws wide, ready to snap him up and spit him into a bloody mess on the asphalt street.
“I’ve got you,” I bellowed, reaching for him. “You’re so fucking dead.”
Austin shifted.
He leaped skyward, his broad wings catching the light breeze. Instantly, he snapped right, and in banking in such a tight turn he caught me off guard. Even as I chomped at his spade tail, he whipped it from my reach and beat his wings hard, gaining altitude.
I chased him, not surprised he was of my kind. “Fucker,” I roared, my flames teasing his ass. “I’ll fucking kill you.”
His bellowed laughter coasted back to me on the wind created by his wings. “Kill me and you’ll never find her, asshole. Greg will make her suffer. She’ll die screaming your name.”
“So will you,” I growled, working my wings, gaining on him, all but tasting his blood in my mouth. “You’ll die screaming, my claws ripping your guts to shreds.”
“Tell me where my dope is, and she’ll be free tonight. Unharmed.”
Austin dipped his left wing and dove, once again leaving me behind and working to catch up. Flattening my wings against my shoulders and back, I also dove, falling faster than he.Whether he expected such a move on my part or not, Austin spread his wings and soared.
I hit him like a four-ton boulder striking the road.
I sank my claws into his shoulders, bit deep into his neck. My long, jagged teeth ripped through his tough scales, seeking his jugular, seeking his life. Austin screamed like a little girl at finding a black hairy spider in her bathtub, twisting in my grip.
“Kill me and she dies,” he yelled, bucking like a rodeo bronc. “I swear it, Brody. If I don’t call, he’ll fuck her. He’ll rape her to death. He’ll shove a knife up her twat.”
I hesitated. I didn’t sink my teeth in deeper. Nor did I scratch my rear claws into his hips, tearing his scales into so much shredded paper. He felt my hesitation. He ceased his struggles.
“I mean it,” he snarled, turning his head on his long neck to meet my gaze. “I don’t check in, she’s dogmeat. Let me go. Bring me my shit and we’re good. You have her back unharmed.”
I spat his blood from my mouth. “I didn’t take it,” I howled. “You stupid mother fucker. Find the shit who did and let Lindsey go.”
Austin ripped his body from my grip. He soared, his wings level, his brilliant eyes fastened on mine. “I want to believe you,” he said. “I know what I saw. You on camera.”
“My jacket was stolen, you jackass,” I yelled, soaring beside him. “I lost it years ago. Right from my locker. If I’d taken your dope, I’d give it back to save Lindsey.I don’t fucking have it.”
“Thenyoufind who did,” Austin growled. “I’ll keep Lindsey safe for two days. You find the thief, she goes free.”
He started to bank away toward the city. “You don’t, she’s one messed up chick.”
***
