Two shadowy figures towered over me. I couldn’t focus. They leaned down, and the last things I saw were Tom and Rick’s faces.
Dragons Unbound
Angus
Ifelt Embry dose off. He must be taking a nap. I smiled, thinking of my little mate. He truly was a treasure. I longed to be back with him. I wished to hold him once again. My dragon agreed with me. He wanted to be back with our mate, too.
Damn it! It made little sense. There was absolutely no trace of Aaran anywhere. I wondered what could hold a dragon for so long, and that caused a shudder to flow through me. I didn’t want to find out. I wanted my brother back safe.
Roarke, Addison, and Basil had gone to search for Aaran in another area. Carson and I had been following false leads for days.
“Angus!” Carson said from up ahead.
I hurried to see what had caught his attention.
“What is it?” I asked.
He shook his head and appeared to be thinking. “Something moved through here, but it looks wrong. The trail shows it went left, but it seems—manufactured.” He looked up at me with a puzzled expression before continuing. “My mind is telling me to go left and follow the trail, but my gut is telling me to go right.”
Our leads always turned out to be something else. I nodded at Carson. “We’ve been following every track and coming up empty. If you feel that someone manufactured this, let’s go with your gut. I trust you,” I said.
He nodded his agreement, and we headed down the right-hand path. Carson and I walked in silence. We’d run out of things to say, and now all that mattered was finding Aaran and the two gargoyles who were with him.
A noise echoed in the distance, and we froze. It sounded like metal clanging. Carson didn’t speak; he merely tilted his head up. I nodded. We veered off the cleared path and headed around to investigate the sounds. As we approached where I thought was where the sound had come from, I saw a small clearing. We made it to the edge.
I froze at the sight.
Aaran was bound and beaten. He was covered in welts and wrapped in chains. These chains had to carry magic. Regular chains couldn’t hold a dragon.
I was about to rush in when Carson grabbed my arm. I looked at him with fire in my eyes. My brother was here.
Carson mimed a stop and mouthed the wordwait. Another sound came from the clearing, and I saw Bazer enter. How was he not stone? Only unmated or elder gargoyles could stand the daylight.
He kicked my brother. “Wake up, dragon! Harper will be here soon. We’re moving from this mountain.”
Aaran groaned and gazed up. He looked thin and strengthless. Blood dripped from an open cut over his eye. I could hold back no more. My dragon took over. I shifted and roared. Bazer turned, his eyes huge. I launched toward him. I would kill him for his actions toward my brother.
As I was about to reach him, a lightning bolt shot through the air in front of me. I snarled, whipping my tail. I caught Bazer, and he went flying. Turning, I faced the beautiful, black-haired woman from the airstrip. Harper.
“Good, another dragon! I will combine your blood with that one’s, and I’ll become even stronger,” she said as she raised her hands. But before she could summon a bolt, a blast of fire streamed down from the sky.
She screamed and flew back. I looked up to see Roarke diving toward the action. A red glow surrounded him. The king’s blood clearly flowed through his body. I pulled my face back and let loose a stream of ice. Her eyes widened, and she raised her hands, blocking the attack with something like a magical shield.
“No! You dragons will die! I will take my place as the supreme power!” she shrieked. Raising her hands, she launched a volley of lightning strikes toward Roarke. They landed on his shield and bounced back.
A movement to the right caught my eye. Addison was at Aaran’s side. He touched the shackles holding Aaran, but Aaran stopped him.
“Don’t touch the chains! You’re a dragon. We can’t break these, and they’ll drain your strength,” Aaran said weakly.
Carson was at their sides in a flash. “Maybe they don’t affect vampires,” he said.
He bent down and snapped the chains. They fell from Aaran’s body. Immediately, Aaran shifted into his dragon and loosed a gigantic roar. He launched toward the sky, then turned toward Harper and fired a massive blast of fire at her. Harper’s eyes widened. She raised her hands and disappeared.
Aaran roared in frustration but turned to his next target. Bazer was attempting to escape, but Basil had already engaged him. Aaran dove, opening his mouth.
“Basil! Get out of the way!” I yelled.
Basil jumped back and sped to Addison and Carson’s side as Aaran closed his enormous jaws around Bazer, killing him. Aaran stood on his hind legs and let loose another roar. My brother was furious and wanted blood for what had been done to him. Bazer’s death was not enough.
