The strong tendons on either side of Sergei’s neck stood out sharply when he snarled, “You think you were merciful? That you werekindto let us just disappear?”
“When the alternative was banishing innocent children from the ’Riik in the middle of a war? Yeah, I think I was right.”
Sergei was silent for a beat. “Good gods, you really think that, don’t you? That you did us afavor.”
Tamping down his rising impatience, Taevas held his aim directly between the bases of Sergei’s shiny horns when he asked, “Seems you don’t agree with me. I’d love to hear why.”
“You took everything from me. Isn’t that enough?” A smile twisted Sergei’s bloody lips as he leaned forward, fearlessly putting him even closer to the business end of the rifle. “And now I’m going to take everything from you. Including that pretty nymph you’ve been nesting with.”
A flash of icy fury passed over every inch of Taevas’s body. Gripping the gun, he softly asked, “Is that so?”
“I thought I smelled something familiar on her, but I was distracted by everything else. How soft she is. How good she’ll look inmynest. How it’ll fuckingkillyou when she’s carryingmy?—”
“Finish that sentence and I’ll stop caring about the ethics of executing you right here, right now.” Taevas had to work hard to keep his breathing under control. Everything in him wanted to strike out and eliminate the threat. “I saw how your father treated hisChosens.You want Alashiya? You’ll have to kill me first.”
Sergei hadn’t exactly seemed calm and reasonable before, but something changed in his expression. It morphed into the kind of rage that men struggled to come back from.
Eyes wide and veins tracing paths across his temples, he hissed, “I amnotmy fucking father!”
Interesting.
Taevas took half a step back, his mind whirring. That didn’t sound like someone who’d come for revenge on Jaak’s behalf. Itsoundedan awful lot like someone who hated the old Isand almost as much as Taevas did.
Knowing it was probably only a matter of seconds before one or all of Sergei’s backup came running to the barn, Taevas tossed out, “You got a problem with Jaak? Weird that you’d throw everything away to get revenge on his behalf.”
“I’m not here forhim,”Sergei hissed. “I’m here for my mother.”
“What on Burden’s Earth did I do to?—”
A cacophony outside the barn cut him off. It was the roar of an engine tearing through foliage, the screech of tires, and a man’s furious shout. Before Taevas could even begin to wonder what had happened, Sergei lunged for the rifle.
They wrestled, stumbling and lurching toward the barn’s entrance. Aware that if either of them got a shot off at this close range there was a fifty-fifty chance he’d be hit, Taevas desperately tried to put some space between them.
They burst out the rotting door and into the yard. Sergei barreled down on him, using his weight to force Taevas off balance and release his grip on the rifle. The glare of headlights illuminated the yard, casting the two bloody dragons in a spotlight as they fought for control over the weapon.
There was no time to wonder who was behind the wheel or if that shape on the ground was Monty, crumpled and missing his hat. Taevas’s sole focus was on Sergei, until his opponent’s tail swiped around to hook on the base of one of his wings.
One hard jerk was all it took. Agony unlike anything he’d felt before brought Taevas to his knees. His grip on the gun spasmed as Sergei ripped it from his hands.
The whine of the rifle going off wasn’t as loud as a shotgun’s blast, but it was no less devastating in its impact. He didn’t feel the pain of the shot as he fell backward into the grass, however, hedidfeel something when he watched the SUV surge forward and slam full-force into Sergei.
Staring blankly at a dusty tire, Taevas could only listen to a door opening, the nearly silent tread of swift footsteps over grass, and the cocking of an old shotgun.
A high, trembling voice made him shudder with equal parts relief and fear. “If you killed my husband, I swear to every god listening that next time I find you, I’ll shoot something you’ll never be able to fix.”
The crack of the shotgun rang in his ears, blocking out everything else. His vision darkened, but he forced himself to hold on and ignore the pain starting to lick across every nerve like dragonfire until he felt the cool touch of his Chosen’s fingers on his cheek.
“Oh, gods, Taevas!” His name came out ragged but so, so sweet.
“Kill him?” he wheezed, trying to get his eyes to focus on her blurry outline.
Alashiya was close to him. So wonderfully close. Her hands were everywhere, probably looking for some way to help, but there was little to be done for a bolt shot.
“N-no,” she gasped, “I only got him a little. I?—”
Searching for her hand with fingers that were beginning to go numb, he slurred, “Left pocket. Sedatives.”
“Sedatives? Why do— For Sergei?”
