Stunned, I slapped my legs, cursing myself.
Unarmed!?
Since my fifth birthday, when Rust first slapped the daggers into my hands with an order to always keep them on me, I never went anywhere without them. Hell, when I showered, they were on the counter in the bathroom, within easy reach. Panic clawed at my throat at their absence, and I slapped at my empty thigh sheaths again.
If I lived through this, Rust was going to kick my ass.
The temperature plummeted.
My breath misted in the air as frost seeped beneath my skin and burrowed into the marrow of my bones. I tried to rub heat back into my arms, but stopped dead when I realized what I was doing. I kept my furry side on lockdown, but I was still a wolf and enjoyed many of the perks.
I didn’t get cold.
Yet my teeth chattered as I rotated slowly, muscles coiled and ready to either fight or flee the instant the threat materialized.
Something intangible shifted.
The guttural snort of a massive creature echoed through the blackness, reverberating off unseen surfaces. Terror flooded my veins, threatening to buckle my knees, but I still couldn’t pinpoint its direction so I could run the opposite way.
“Hello?” The tremor in my voice practically screamed “prey,” so I swallowed and tried to sound more like my father. “Who’s there?”
Another surge of hostility smashed into me. A lesser wolf would have bared her throat; however, I bowed to none but the alpha. Anger sparked inside me at the creature’s audacity, and I fanned the flames of my outrage, hoping it would override this crippling fear.
Gritting my teeth, I demanded, “Show yourself!”
I am Vengeance, come to claim what was taken from me.The deep voice rumbled through my mind like thunder boasting in the wake of a lightning bolt. It was impossible to determine the point of origin.Do you not recognize me, little thief?
The dragon. It had to be. Something of substantial sizescraped across the floor. Four booming footsteps resounded, followed by the sweep of an enormous… tail? I whirled around, searching, but the sound echoed from every direction at once. My heart thundered in my chest, making spots dance in my vision.
Breathe… in two, three, four. Hold two, three, four. Out two, three, four.
Steadying my voice, I asked, “How can I recognize you when you hide in shadows?”
I hide from no one. Least of all, you.
“Ah. That explains the deadly hedge and the magical ward shielding you from the outside world.” Angering the dragon wasn’t in my best interest, but I couldn’t do a damn thing to escape this situation until I saw exactly what I was up against.
Malice thickened in the air, making me want to tuck my tail when he asked,Are you so eager to face your death?
“Actually, I’d rather you find someone else to torment, but if you insist on sticking around, the least you could do is show me what you look like.”
The darkness peeled back like a curtain, revealing an enormous dragon coiled around me in a massive circle. Obsidian scales—darker than midnight and polished to an impossible shine—absorbed what little light existed in this surreal space. He was a living void carved into the shape of something ancient and terrifying. The effect made my eyes water when I tried to focus on where the dragon’s body ended and the shadows began. It was disorienting, like staring into an abyss that stared back.
Beneath the scales, muscles rippled, showing me just how jacked he was. Leathery black wings unfurled with the sound of canvas snapping in a storm. They extended out and upward, each stretching further than a city bus, blocking out whatever ceiling or sky existed above. A gale of air slammed against me, nearly whipping me clean off my feet. I staggered backward, instinctively throwing my arms up to shield my face from the buffeting wind, my hair lashing wildly around me.
His car-sized head whipped around, his snout coming withininches of my face. Frigid air puffed from lips that stretched into a savage grin, revealing an alarming number of flesh-ripping teeth and startling a puppy-like whimper out of me. Silver eyes with vertical pupils glowed like twin moons, fixing me with a predator’s focus.
They were my only potential targets.
I slapped at my thighs again, but my daggers hadn’t magically appeared. Realizing my pants didn’t even have sewn-in sheaths, I froze and glanced down at myself. Whose clothing was I wearing?
Recognize me now?
My head snapped back up in time to realize the dragon’s mouth didn’t move as he spoke. No wonder I hadn’t been able to pinpoint his location. He was communicating telepathically with me again. Even my pack couldn’t do that, and it irritated me to no end that this beast could.
“Stay the hell out of my mind.”
His eyes narrowed to slits.You are in no position to make demands.
