Page 12 of Red Dragon’s Heart

Then a huge purple claw reached from inside the warehouse and grabbed them both.

Fucking dragon. He’d broken the collar and Changed.

The blue light of a binding spell enveloped them. Zakerek felt Madeleine go rigid, the spell taking away her ability to move.

Too bad for her purple friend, the spell was calibrated for humans, and had no effect on Zakerek at all—except pissing him off.

Unfortunately, it pissed off the beast inside him as well. It gave a howl, trying to rip out of his skin. At the same time, he called on his own magical defenses, sending a powerful shock spell straight through the purple dragon’s talon. It gave an angry bellow and dropped them. Madeleine tumbled out of his arms.

A second later, a stream of acid shot by Zakerek’s face and hissed into the ground, making the concrete smoke.

The purple dragon was an acid-spitter. Could this day get any worse?

Zakerek tried to Change and throw a protection spell around Madeleine at the same time, to protect her from the acid. But the beast raging inside him fought the Change, and the magic.

The purple dragon snatched up Madeleine in its claw and busted out through the remains of the wall, ready to carry her off.

The threat to his prey galvanized Zakerek’s dragon. It erupted out of his skin with a roar, red as flame and pissed as fuck.

He slashed his talons at the purple dragon’s leg, slicing it open. It howled in pain and dropped Maddie on the pavement.

The beast inside him rose up again, trying to banish his dragon and take his body. Zakerek couldn’t let that happen—the purple dragon would kill him, or the monster would kill Madeleine. Or both.

He shoved the beast down with all his willpower and lunged at the purple dragon, snapping at its neck with his powerful jaws. It spit at him again, and he barely ducked out of the way. He didn’t know if the acid would penetrate his scales, and he didn’t want to find out.

The dragon hurled itself forward, slamming into him, trying to pin him to the ground and tear his throat out.

Zakerek went with the momentum, rolling over and heaving the other dragon into the parking area. It slammed into one of the SUVs the shifters had brought, caving in the whole side.

The monster tried to take over Zakerek again. As always, it was enraged by being around other shifters—especially another dragon. He wasn’t going to be able to hold it back much longer.

And if it took him now, everything he’d been through would be for nothing.

Drawing on all his magic, he did a spell of Command, trying to force the purple dragon back to its human form. It was a long shot—and would deplete his magic—but he didn’t have the time or the concentration to try anything better.

The power rolled across the parking lot. The dragon wavered, shimmered, and turned human. Zakerek threw a spell net over him, one designed especially for dragons. It still wouldn’t take long for him to break it, but with any luck it would last until they got out of sight.

He picked up Madeleine in his talons, spread his wings, and took off into the darkness.

Zakerek flew high into the cloud cover, the city lights disappearing beneath him. It was cold up there—he could feel Madeleine shivering beneath him.

She was trying to fight him—the other dragon’s binding spell hadn’t completely worked, probably because he’d partially blocked it with his body and his innate magic.

But he wished she’d stop wiggling. What the hell did she think she was going to do? Escape? All that would happen if she got away was she’d go splat on the ground below.

Bound or not, there was no way she was ever getting away from him. Not until she’d given him every single damn thing he needed.

A wave of possessiveness surged through his dragon. She was his captive; she belonged to him now, body and soul. A murderer who’d spent her entire working life thinking up ways to torture shifters, who betrayed her friends and employers for money. She deserved no pity.

And she would pay for everything she’d done.

Suddenly, the monster inside him tore its way to the surface. His body rippled and shimmered, and he felt himself lurching as his wings nearly disappeared.

Not now, you fucking idiot beast.

If it took him over now, they’d tumble from the sky, onto a pavement or a rooftop. He’d survive the fall, whatever form he was in, though it would hurt like fuck.

But Madeleine wouldn’t.