by T. S. Joyce
Nuke had known Bron was tough. Broken a little, maybe. The scars on his body told a story Nuke didn’t know yet, but now? With a look over his shoulder at Krome, his King nodded once and told Nuke and the others, “Out of the trailer.”
Okay. They were good. They knew to do whatever needed to be done. This was a lesson Ren would spread to the masses. No one was going to come in and turn traitor without consequences.
All right. This Crew had his attention.
Nuke hopped out of the trailer behind Ren and made his way to his trailer. He grabbed his keys and his phone and then he jogged to his truck. Turning dragon would get him there faster, but he would destroy the entire earth from here to Manning’s territory, and it wouldn’t help Trina.
He yanked his door open and froze. Amos was sitting in the passenger’s seat, holding onto the oh-shit bar and looking out the window somberly.
“What are you doing?”
“I always thought I was meant for something big,” Amos said. “Lately things have become clearer.” He cast a slight smile to Nuke. “I’m supposed to be your bodyguard.”
“I don’t need a fucking bodyguard,” Nuke growled as he slid in behind the wheel.
“Oh, it ain’t for you,” Amos murmured as Nuke started the truck. “I’m going to save the rest of us from you.”
Us?
He twisted in his seat, and sure enough, Krome and Ren were in the back seat.
“I don’t need you getting involved,” Nuke barked.
“That isn’t how any of this works,” Krome said.
And with those words, another layer of stone shed from Nuke’s hardened heart. He’d come here with a purpose to protect Krome and his mission to give the Bane brothers a safe territory. He wasn’t supposed to make friends. He was here for a purpose, for a job so he could keep his monster steady. Nothing more, nothing less. But somewhere along the way, everything had gotten muddied, and the meaning of the Crew had changed.
Now it was bigger than he’d thought.
So okay.
Nuke hit the gas.
Hold on, Trina and Tory.
Me and the Crew are coming.
Chapter Fifteen
Trina’s skin crawled as she slid her key into Manning’s front door.
She hated this house and everyone in it.
From the number of cars out front, the entire Murder was here, including the new members. Terror should’ve seized her as she’d driven here, but it hadn’t. A gas station sandwich stop had been the only break she’d taken from the trip. Last meal was a turkey club on whole wheat. There had been no flavor, no satisfaction, just that numb feeling of creeping closer to the end.
She was okay with it.
Trina had always kept the picture in the visor of her car, but now it sat in her pocket, a reminder of what she needed to do and why. In the picture, she and Tory were wearing matching cotton shorts and pink t-shirts, hugging each other tightly with grins on their faces.
Tory had been the only good in her life before Nuke had come along. Nuke. Nuke, Nuke, Nuke.
She pushed the door open and made her way down the dark hallway to where she knew the Murder would be waiting. Everything was moving so slowly. She rounded the sprawling doorway and laid her eyes on the Murder, sitting around the huge meeting table, filling every bit of space in the room. There were more new members than when she’d left here. So many Crow Blooded. Manning stood at the head of them, his chin lifted high, his hands clasped behind his back, his black eyes boring into her.
She didn’t hesitate, just wove her way between the bodies as she walked to her chair beside him. “Where’s my sister?” she asked.
“She’s fine.”
“Great, I want to see her.”
Manning gave an empty laugh and locked his arms on his chair. “We’re waiting, my pet. Tell us what you found out.”
“When I see Tory is safe.”
“You’ve turned into such a whiny little bitch, haven’t you?” He nodded his chin at Ray, his third in the Murder.
Ray stood and disappeared into the hallway, and Trina stared at the woodgrain of the table as heavy silence descended onto the murder.
“Tommy said you and Nuke were close.”
He’d meant to shock her. That’s what Manning did, but Trina had turned off all her emotions. This was her death day. Who cared? She blinked slowly and lifted her gaze to Manning. “He’s more powerful than every Murder combined. You’ll all burn to ashes, and who will miss you?” She gritted out, “I’ll be cheering him on from Hell.”
The backhand came so fast, she didn’t have time to flinch away. She took the brunt of his knuckles right on her cheekbone, and it snapped her head back. The sting brought water to her eyes as she pressed her cold palm to it to ease the heat.
“You bastard!” Tory screamed. She scrambled against Ray’s grip on her arms, but they were tied behind her back and Ray was a mature male Crow Blooded.
Tory’s face was bruised. Gah, it looked like she’d been hurt. Rage swam in her eyes as she scrabbled toward Manning. Ray grabbed her hair and shoved her down on her knees.
“I love you forever and a day,” Trina said.
Tory’s attention dashed to Trina. Understanding flitted across her face. It’s what their Mom had said to them at night, before everything fell apart.
Trina nodded as someone grabbed her arms from behind. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Trina?” Tory asked, tears in her eyes and fear in her tone.
“Fly. Away,” she whispered.
Trina closed her eyes and let the animal take her skin. It was the first time she had ever trusted the creature to come when she called. The submissive parts of her human side had died, and all that remained was rage and acceptance.
Pain popped through her with every snapping bone and reshaping muscle. Her wings shot out of her shoulders and she pushed them against the hands that were holding her. She kicked and landed her hooves into someone’s chest. The snapping of their ribs reverberated through her, but there was no time to think about the deeds she was doing. Ray was dragging Tory toward the hallway.
The Murder was changing into their crows, but she was so fast, she could get to Tory at least. She pushed her body and slammed her hooves on the wood floors, bunched her muscles and jumped right over Tory, colliding with Ray. Tory screamed as she was jerked backward.
Claws sank into her haunches, but Ray was the threat to her sister, so Trina didn’t have time to stop what was happening behind her. She stomped Ray into nothing and turned to bite the bindings on Tory’s wrists. She’d been laying on her stomach but rushed to get up and in one smooth motion swung up onto Trina’s back.
Fuck, okay! They were escaping together then.
Pain, pain, pain. The crows were relentless, bleeding her, but Trina tucked her wings and bolted for the front door. It was still open. She tensed on the porch and the second she was clear of the railing, she leapt and spread her wings, beating them against the air currents and lifting them higher.
Tory was slowing her down, but her sister did good. She changed into her crow and flew as fast as she could next to Trina. They were out. They were out! Fly, Tory!
She could see her sister trying. She was flying as fast as she could. Go! God, please go.
They were doing this. They were escaping. They were doing it together. All they had to do was outfly the Murder. She could see the relief in Tory’s dark crow eyes. They’d done it.
Boom!
Feathers exploded against Trina’s face, and Tory dropped from the sky. No!
Manning stood on the ground behind them, a rifle in his hands.
No, no, no. Tory! Trina tucked her wings and dove for her sister. She was in a death spiral, not trying to stop herself. Tory, fly! The ground was coming up too fast.
Trina tucked her wings and legs close to her body and torpedoed straight down. Moments before Tory hit the ground, she spread her wings and cut in, cushioned Tory on her back. She couldn’t pull
up fast enough though, and she crashed hard. Tory lurched off her back and rolled in the dirt.
Everything hurt. She’d skinned her legs and she didn’t even want to look at what the crows had done to her back half. But nothing mattered except Tory, laying in the dirt. She was struggling to get up, but her wing wasn’t working.
It wasn’t fair. They’d almost gotten away, and now the sky was filling with crows above them. They almost made it out together. Together.
Trina limped to Tory and stood over her sister as she looked up into the sky. She hated them. Hated everything about them.
She screamed a war cry. Fucking bring it. She wouldn’t ever make it out, but she was going to take down as many crows as she could. These stupid numbers. Stupid new members, gifted to Manning by Trina’s own council Crow Blooded father. He’d helped to kill his own daughters. Would he even take responsibility, or would he just see their deaths as a casualty of war with Krome and his Crew?
She’d never asked to fight in this battle, but here she was—kicking, biting, trying to keep the crows off her struggling sister.
Nuke. Nuke had fought for his family too, and everything had gone wrong. What an awful fate that they shared.
War with the Crow Blooded was chaos. They were an ever-moving cloud that dodged out of the way of her teeth and hooves, and snuck in to bleed her. Razor claws cutting into her skin. She ran on instinct, just trying to protect Tory. She was hurting. Slowing.
Desperate to keep the crows from getting to Tory, she lowered down and tucked her wings around herself and Tory’s body, put her head down and took the razors.
Caw! A crow screamed in her ear and Trina eased her eye open. The crow sat right beside her in the chaos, her eyes questioning Trina. Her blue eyes.
Ren?
A crow crashed into the side of her face, and Trina staggered to the side, splayed her legs and lifted her wing enough to let Ren under. The cawing of the crows above her was deafening, and the cuts were less. Trina looked skyward, and crows were fighting crows. There was something more. A massive eagle dove into the ball of war and three crows went sprawling, black feathers raining down on her.
The Crew was here…
So that meant…Nuke.
He was walking across the clearing, his muscles popping, his veins like cords of rope in his arms. His eyes were full of fire and they were trained on Manning, who was on the ground, backing away.
As long as she lived, Trina would never forget what happened next.
The air rippled with heat and singed her skin as Manning bunched his muscles and leapt into the air, changing to his crow as he went. Nuke exploded, and in the aftermath of that bomb a horrific black-scaled dragon ripped out of him and pushed off the earth so hard with his spiked claws, he left craters. He scooped Manning into his mouth and beat his enormous wings. The ground shattered where he had pushed off, the cracks reaching outward like spider web threads, and the wind he created with that one beat of his wings flattened everything and everyone in the clearing.
The crows still fighting dropped from the sky, and the long spike on the tip of one of his wings lowered straight toward Trina. She ducked, waiting for the pain that didn’t come.
And when she opened her eyes again, the dragon was fully loose and spewing his first stream of fire into the woods.
Amos and Krome changed into their human forms on either side of her.
“And there’s Armageddon,” Amos murmured, his wide eyes tracking the monster in the sky.
He was right. Nuke was huge, and unstoppable, covered in black scales that faded to a gunmetal gray on his belly. Sharp spikes adorned his cheeks, his spine, his long tail, and the tips of his tattered black wings. He was scarred, and missing scales. A row of impossibly sharp teeth was only visible for a moment before another stream of fire lit up the woods.
The roar that belched forth from the monster shook the ground and hurt Trina’s ears.
“He just ate one of the crows,” Amos said. “Like…he ate him.”
“We should go,” Krome murmured. “We should go right now.”
Yep. Trina stood up as best as she could and let Ren and Tory out from the canopy of her wings. Ren changed quick and picked up Tory, tucked her wings gently and cradled her against her chest. “The car,” she said in a panicked voice.
She had to cover them.
Trina couldn’t change back. She had to make sure they got away.
“Are you coming?” Ren yelled behind her as she bolted toward the woods behind Amos and Krome.
“She can’t,” Amos yelled. “She has to stop the dragon.”
And she would. People were going to see him. People were going to know he existed, and she needed Nuke to tuck away the monster.
The pain in her body was relentless, but she stretched her wings and tested them out. One beat of them, and her hooves lifted off the ground. She was unsteady, but she could still fly. Trina touched the cracked dirt and used it as a springboard to become airborne again, wincing as her battered wings stretched cuts she couldn’t heal fast enough. A glance below her, and a few of her feathers were floating back down towards the clearing. Crows were scattering, not so worried about her when there was a dragon heading directly for the clearing and Manning’s house.
He burned it. God, he burned it, and the heat from that river of fire blistered her skin. Below her, she could see the car on the dirt road on the edge of Manning’s territory speeding toward the main road out of here. Good. Get Tory out of here. Please, let her wing heal.
The dragon was firing short bursts now, chasing crows and scorching them out of existence one-by-one. They were so small compared to him. His vision was very good, his hunting instincts unmatchable, and his aim with fire was like nothing she’d ever witnessed.
The woods were burning, and Nuke…her Nuke…had really come for her.
She pushed her wings and chased the dragon, who was pulling a wide circle, posting lines of fire as he went. He dove down and rolled in the ashes, coating his scales before he aimed for the sky again, trailing the smoke and remnants of the earth he’d scorched.
He was lethal, but there was a beauty about him as he reveled in the ash he was creating. He was destruction, and she’d never been more awed by a being in her entire existence.
There was a clicking sound in his throat before each flame he released, like a firestarter. The crows were gone, Manning’s house was in flames, and the woods were smoking from the dragon’s fire, but still, he searched. For what?
It wasn’t until he aimed in the direction his truck was traveling that she realized what he was doing. He wasn’t going to let anything out alive.
Did the monster remember every person who had been in the clearing?
He beat his wings and headed straight in the direction of the truck, and she took off. Beat her wings against the wind and used her speed to start catching up. He ticked his head toward her and roared, but the firestarter didn’t click. It was just a warning, perhaps.
She pushed harder, because he was following the road now. There were other cars beneath them, driving away in panic, and some were pulled over.
But the dragon was following the truck. Nuke’s truck.
A couple of clicks filled his throat. Shit.
Trina flew faster, pulled up beside his face and looked into his black, glossy eye with the silver pupil. No, Nuke. They’re yours to protect. Not to hurt.
They had to be going ninety below them, trying to get out of the line of Nuke’s sight.
He trained his eyes on the truck again and opened his mouth, clicking his firestarter. This is where it ended.
Just get Tory out of here.
Trina dove for the truck and spread her wings out, covering the dragon’s view of it just as the first trail of lava spewed out of him. The heat made her gasp, and she prepared for death, prepared for agony, but the blistering heat lifted.
Behind her, piles of lava were burning through the road, and above her, the dragon had pulled up, aiming
for the clouds.
So did she.
He did a wide loop and landed in the middle of the burning clearing. She landed right in front of his face. Don’t hurt me. I’m yours to protect.
And there was this moment where she looked right into the eyes of the scarred dark dragon, and she wasn’t afraid. He was hers, token or not.
She tucked her wings and swished her tail. Come back.
And he did. After a couple more moments, he disappeared into a thick veil of black smoke.
She’d never liked touch in this form, but when Nuke walked out of that smoke, his eyes trained on her, she wanted nothing else.
His skin was covered in ash and soot, and hers would take a few more days to heal from what the war had done, but they were here. They were okay.
He hesitated in front of her, then placed his hand on her neck and in a deep, rumbling voice, he said, “You never had to apologize for what happened in the first place, but if you still need to hear it…you’re forgiven.”
She was already crying when she changed back. He caught her hug and wrapped his arms tightly around her, putting back together all the pieces she’d thought had shattered. She hadn’t shattered. Not really. She’d just had to break to evolve into something stronger.
Manning was gone.
The Murder was gone.
Her father would never make another decision for her, because she was strong enough to move on and make her new life now—with Nuke.
“I’m sorry I didn’t ask why,” he said thickly.
Trina buried her face against his sooty neck and made tracks in the ashes with her tears.
She was free to be happy again.
“Forgiven,” she whispered.
Epilogue
“Did you talk to Tory today?” Nuke asked as he dragged his fingertip down her jawline.
This was her favorite part of the evening, when they laid in their new bed and talked about the goings-on in the trailer park, and in their lives.