If I could wail at the thought, I would. I don’t have a clue what happens when a demon dies, or any species for that matter.When your life is nearly eternal, what’s the point in worrying about what might come next? But right now, I hope it’s blissful, painlessnothing.
He stops shaking my cage, and then I hear the grinding scrape of a key in a lock. The parts of my body that aren’t consumed by searing pain tighten instinctually, but nothing happens. Not to me, anyway.
Mac roars and growls, and I can hear him fighting and thrashing. The smell of smoke fills the air briefly, and Maggard yelps.
“Fucking lizard,” he hisses. “No worries. I’ve heard it’s possible to remove a dragon’s fire gland. What do you think? Should we give it a try?” Maggard cackles. “I’ll admit, I’m no surgeon, but I figure with your healing ability, I can go ahead and slice you open, poke around a bit, and you’ll be no worse for wear. The only thing is, I don’t have anything to numb the pain. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Fuck you,” Mac answers in a deep voice that could only come from his dragon.
“Sorry, but I don’t stick my dick in any of the abominations that evolved on earth. I’m a purist that way, I suppose.” The clank of the cage door closing echoes through the space. “Sit tight, dragon, I’m going to find you a fireproof muzzle, and then we’ll have some fun.”
Maggard’s heavy footsteps fade into the distance, and a door bangs closed. Mac lets out a sigh of relief and then a whimper.
“I really, really wish my brothers were here,” he whispers. “You have to hang on a little longer, Xazedose, please. Promise… promise me you won’t die before Valentino and the rest of my brothers get to us.”
A different kind of warmth sizzles through my veins—not pain this time, but the distinct feeling of word magic. I run my tongue over my parched lips, and even that is too mucheffort, but I force myself through the pain anyway, through the impossible exhaustion that’s dragging me deeper and deeper into darkness.
“Promise,” I rasp, barely more than a whisper, but it’s enough.
As soon as the word is past my lips though, I regret it. I don’t want to die, but I don’t want to hang on any longer like this either. I pluck at the incomplete mating bond again, holding on to it as tightly as I can manage in my weakened state.
Hurry, Tino. Please, please hurry.
And then I sink into another blissful period of unconsciousness.
VALENTINO
Dahlia wasn’t jokingwhen she said getting down here would be hard. It felt like every bone breaking and the blood was drying in my veins, but we’re here now. It was uncomfortable enough when Xaze brought me, but it’s like the realm itself tried its hardest to resist the intrusion of unwelcome, unaccompanied visitors.
I flap my wings hard, ignoring the exhausted protest of my muscles as I soar through the dense, humid, orange-lit sky of the demon realm. The connection between Xaze and me is fading with every passing second, which means I don’t have time to rest, I don’t have time to even pause for a prolonged breath. I need to get to him.
The cities below us give way to dark forests filled with bare black trees and teeming with beasts I’ve never seen before. The farther we get away from the entry point of the realm, the more alien things become. It gets hotter and the air around us getsheavier, but that only spurs me on. Deep in my chest, I can feel the distance between Xaze and me shrinking.
The trees break and a stone shack comes into view. The exhaustion that was working its way deep into my bones falls away, and I let out a triumphant burst of fire. My mate is inside, I can feel it.
I swoop down into the clearing, the flap of my brothers’ wings and the thud of each of their landings let me know they’re right behind me. I half shift, needing my human arms to pick up my mate the second I see him. I glance over my shoulder to see the towering forms of each of my brothers, baring their teeth and huffing out smoke, each and every one of them itching to tear pieces of flesh off the demon who dared to fuck with the Drakes. Draydon has already climbed down from Arson’s back and shifted into his menacing wolf form, massive and terrifying, with his nearly foot-long canine teeth bared as he salivates for demon blood.
I exchange a quick look with each of them. We didn’t bother to come up with any more of a plan than ‘find them,’ but right now I’m happy to simply kick down the door and take on whatever is waiting for us on the other side.
A shrieking bellow cuts through the eerie silence around us, and Lord’s eyes flare with rage. My pulse spikes, and Nico lets out a river of flames. That’s Mac’s scream. Kicking down the door it is. I rush forward and plow my weight into it. The wood splinters and cracks easily, the entire thing swinging open on its hinges. There’s a beat of silence as my chest heaves and the occupants of the house become aware of our presence.
Maggard isn’t alone here. There are two other demons lounging around looking bored. They jump to their feet as soon as they realize they’ve been found. The larger of the two rushes at me with a pair of silver daggers, one in each hand. Draydon jumps between us and catches the demon around the throat,hauling it to the ground. Arson rushes to help his mate, and I turn my attention elsewhere.
This cottage in the woods looks like something straight out of a dark German fairytale, right down to the lit fireplace in the far corner. My eyes land on Maggard, looming over Mac, who’s strapped to a table with a Hannibal Lecter style mask over his mouth. My little brother thrashes against the tight bindings holding him in place, his eyes full of pleading when they meet mine.
A slow, menacing smile spreads over Maggard’s face as he steps around the table to face me, wielding the dagger Mac stole from him.
“It must be my lucky day, getting to wipe out the entire Drake clan all at once.” He advances on me, but I don’t have time for his attempts at intimidation. He fucked with the wrong family, and he’s about to find out what the consequences are.
I don’t know how effective my fire would be against a demon, and I don’t have the patience to find out. With an inhuman roar, I launch myself at Maggard, claws extended and teeth snapping.
No matter how powerful a creature is, nothing can survive being shredded into bite-sized pieces. His yellow eyes go wide and he falls back with a howl, slashing at my scales. I have no idea whether the dagger pierces my natural armor. I don’t feel any pain. I can’t feel anything except for blind rage.
“You can’t hurt me with your little butter knife. I’m not a demon,” I taunt. “And for the record, there are a hell of a lot more Drakes than us. But lucky for you, you won’t survive to find out exactly how many.”
Maggard thrashes and snaps, his tail wrapping around my forearm in an attempt to stop me, but nothing can slow me down. He took my mate, he hurt my brother, and I am done with his bullshit. I slice through his flesh with the first swipe, relishing the hot feeling of his blood spilling out. I can vaguelyhear the sounds of battle being waged around me as my brothers take on the henchmen.
Maggard doesn’t want to go down easily, but that’s fine by me. I need to work out all this rage somehow. His teeth find brief purchase on my scales, tearing a chunk of my forearm out and then spitting it back into my face with a manic crackle. When that doesn’t make me slow down in tearing increasingly larger strips of his flesh from his bones, he wails and drives the dagger into the space between two of my ribs.
