by Katie Reus
It was a dragon. Not a shifter dragon but a full-blooded dragon—evident by the dull gray coloring and the slightly smaller size. Long ago, dragon shifters had been forced to eliminate them—or so he had thought. They caused far too much destruction to everyone and everything, uncaring and unfeeling about what they hurt. They were not mindless creatures, but they were predators. And anything was fair game to them. This dragon should not be here. Should not be alive at all.
Fuck.
“How far can you shoot your healer’s energy?” he snapped out as he started stripping off his clothes. Prima was doing the same. Around him, other supernaturals were starting to prepare for battle but he ignored them all. He would kill this beast.
“A few hundred yards, I guess.”
“Good. If it gets too close, shoot it. But I will take this out. Back me up,” he ordered Prima. He knew he wasn’t her general but he was going to take the lead on this. “This is my kill.” Some primal part of him needed to do this, needed to show Greer that he was a worthy mate. It was woven into his DNA.
To his surprise, Prima nodded as she tossed her clothes onto the ground next to his.
It looked as if humans were about to discover dragons really existed.
Reaper dove over the edge of the rooftop, already calling on the shift. Pain and pleasure punched through him simultaneously, immediately, as his wings and tail unfolded. His tail hit the side of a building but he ignored it as he pushed higher, higher into the sky. He also ignored the screams far below.
The only thing that mattered was killing this dragon before it hurt any humans.
Because he knew humans well enough, and they would lump dragons in with dragon shifters—and then all supernaturals together—unless they took care of this now. He might not have learned much in the last few days but humans were still the same. And he had to protect his own kind.
He had to protect Greer.
So many thoughts tumbled through his mind but as he focused on the beast shooting fire in wild arcs, everything narrowed down to this point.
Hunt and kill.
He released a stream of fire in an upward arc, screaming out a battle cry.
The gray-scaled beast changed course and flew straight at Reaper. It might be smaller than dragon shifters, but it made up for it in other ways—like a venom-filled, spiked tail.
Now that he had its attention, Reaper shot up into the air, wanting to have this battle as far away from humans as possible. Damage had been done but he could still save people.
Something he’d never cared about before. But Greer cared. And he found that he did too. He was vaguely aware of Prima—who had donned camouflage—close by, but she was keeping her distance.
He flapped his wings hard, shooting upward in a powerful, sweeping path.
The dragon followed, fire licking at Reaper’s tail.
Quickly, he twisted in midair and released a burning streak of fire. His attack rolled over the dragon’s gray scales, the beast shaking them off as he’d known it would.
But he would take this dragon down. He’d killed them before and he would again. Like dragon shifters, regular dragons were only fire-resistant. Not fireproof.
The dragon returned fire, blasting Reaper in the face.
He tossed it off, his scales rock-hard and damn near impenetrable as he spiraled in a sharp dive, straight at the beast. When he was a few dragon lengths away, he blasted the dragon back in the face. He needed it distracted and annoyed before he attacked with claws.
The beast roared, tossing his head back and forth in a pathetic attempt to avoid the fire. Which was what Reaper wanted. As he flew past it, Reaper twisted midair and reached out with his claws, slicing down the dragon’s wing.
A cry of agony filled the air as the beast started screaming and struggled to fly.
Reaper blasted him again with fire, red-hot orange flames engulfing it even though the beast didn’t burn. But he was breaking down its scales little by little. Weakening its armor.
The dragon screamed again as Reaper dove onto it, wrapping his jaws around the beast’s other wing. Tendons tore and bones broke.
The beast struggled against him, thrashing his last weapon—his venomous tail.
Reaper felt the sharp spikes of the dragon’s tail slam into his back. But it didn’t pierce his scales. If it had hit his underbelly in the right spot, it could have poisoned him.
But this dragon wasn’t thinking clearly now, not when it had been brutally attacked.
Reaper released another stream of fire over the broken, slashed wing as he held on to the dragon’s back with his talons. Using all his strength, he wrapped his jaws around the thrashing dragon’s neck.
A wild volcano of blood and fire erupted everywhere as he ripped the head free. Though his instinct was to simply toss the head and body away, he didn’t want to risk hurting anyone.
Holding on to the dead dragon, he flew downward, spotting Greer and the others still on the rooftop. He landed in the middle of the deserted street. He could see humans hiding in doorways and behind windows in bars but no one was left on the street. He let the body and head fall to the ground before burning them to ash.
As the gray dust scattered in the wind, he let his human form take over, his dragon half revved up from the fight. Ignoring the fearful faces he spotted inside the bars, he looked up at Greer, who was watching him intently.
“Are you okay?” she called out.
Something strange shifted in his chest. No female had ever asked that of him before. He nodded once. Right now he was in uncharted territory. He wasn’t sure what the hell they were supposed to do at this point. Humans here now knew about his kind. There was no hiding it, especially since he’d spotted more than one human filming him. Fools.
Another scream tore through the air, farther away in the city but the sound was over-pronounced, given how eerily quiet the street here had become.
Greer turned away from him, and though three stories separated them he heard her gasp of surprise.
And just like that, Prima—still naked—jumped over the ledge and shifted once more.
Shit. The threat wasn’t over. Reaper called on his own shift again. Rising into the air, he spotted five more beasts coming their way.
It seemed the threat was just beginning—and he would do whatever it took to keep Greer safe.
Chapter 17
Greer couldn’t stand by and do nothing as these beasts descended on the city. This was absolute terror and destruction.
Dragons were supposed to be extinct. Long killed and forgotten about just as dragon shifters had been forgotten about by humans.
Had someone released them intentionally?
Reaper had killed one in a savage, incredible display for all the city to see. But he couldn’t fight off five dragons by himself. Following Prima’s lead, she ignored everyone around her even as she saw King and his wolves mobilizing for battle, the same as Justus, Cynara and the others were doing. Everyone would fight.
She might be a healer but she would defend her friends and the city as well. She would not let Reaper and the others do this alone.
Not bothering to take off her clothes, she called on her dragon and jumped off the ledge, her wings unfurling in a wild swoop as her skin was replaced with dragon scales. Her wingspan was too large to fit between the buildings comfortably so she shot upward and veered east, aiming toward the impending threat.
Where the male she’d come to care about was already battling with two dragons while Prima was flying straight at another.
As she flew, she called on her healer’s energy, something she’d never done before in dragon form. Healing was sacred, part of her. She’d only ever used it to help.
She would be helping now as well but in a different way.
Out of the corner of her eye something bright blue and glowing flew past her. She wasn’t sure what the hell it was…other than a female with wings of blue fire. Holy flying cats.
As the female flew at o
ne dragon, Greer picked the closest to her and called on her energy, digging deep for her power.
Green fire shot out of her mouth, a wild, burning streak across the night sky. It slammed into the dragon’s face and, to her surprise, the beast shifted off course and started falling as if it were a puppet with its strings cut.
Oh God, the humans.
She dove after it as it slammed into the cobblestone streets below. Before she could land, King and his wolves were there.
Unfortunately she had just stunned the dragon because it shook its head and blasted out fire at the Alpha wolf.
To her surprise, King strode right through the flames and pulled out a huge fucking sword, slamming it straight into the face of the dragon.
Since King was clearly okay, she shot back into the sky and headed toward Reaper, who had killed one of the beasts but was now battling two more. And another dragon shifter was headed his way. When the shifter released fire at Reaper, rage filled Greer.
She didn’t care who this dragon was. The only thing she knew was that he intended to harm
Reaper. For all she knew he had released these dragons.
It didn’t matter now.
Helping Reaper was the only thing she cared about. Her beast took over, laser focused as she arrowed straight at the other dragon.
The beast hadn’t noticed her yet so she called on her healer’s fire again, the bright green flames lighting up the sky and slamming into the body of the unknown male.
The dragon shifter screamed, turning toward her, its huge body whipping around and hurtling straight for her.
She had never been in battle, not truly. But she could do this.
She pulled her wings in tight and spiraled, diving underneath the dragon as it shot at her. She looped back up, flapping her wings quick and fast as she attacked him from behind, slamming another blast of healer’s fire at him.
The dragon returned fire, its reddish-orange flames hitting her in the face. She squeezed her eyes shut, felt the heat, but her scales protected her.
Before she could recover, Reaper blasted the brightest blue fire she had ever seen at the dragon’s face, down its body, slicing it in half as if he’d physically cleaved it with an ax.
If she hadn’t seen it with her eyes, she wasn’t sure she would have believed it.
She’d heard of fire like this before but…it only appeared when a male was defending his mate. And they were not mates.
Chapter 18
Justus raced from the bar with Cynara and at least fifty other supernaturals, but only Cynara remained by his side as they sprinted down a side street—heading straight for the giant dragons battling in the air. Right now they had to protect the city from fallout.
As they reached Jackson Square in the heart of the French Quarter, screams and fire hurtled through the air above them. He withdrew his sword, ready to take flight now. As an old vampire, he could levitate for short periods of time. Not truly fly, like dragons, but he could get some serious air time.
Two more dragons appeared in the air.
They were everywhere now, clashing in complete savagery. Cars and buildings were on fire, smoke billowing wildly. People randomly screamed in terror, their fear a palpable thing filling the air.
Next to him, Cynara drew a flaming, bright purple sword—the same color as her shocking hair—from thin air, and held it like she knew how to use it.
He blinked once at her.
“You don’t know everything about me,” she said as she looked up at the sky again. “This is so bad.”
When one of the dragons swooped low, Justus used his gift of flight and jumped into the air, sword at the ready. He sliced where the dragon’s wing met its body, severing the wing. Then he rolled midair to avoid a burst of flames.
The dragon faltered and started falling, unable to fly with one wing so badly damaged.
Below, he saw Cynara rushing at it, her flaming sword held securely in her hands, looking like a warrior goddess. Her short plaid skirt and combat boots should have looked ridiculous but everything about her was fierce as she jumped straight at the dragon’s face.
He nearly lost his immortality as the dragon released flames but… The fire rolled off her because she was half demon. She let out a battle cry as she sliced down its face, drawing blood and cleaving through its scales in a sharp, clean sweep.
From above, he dove onto the beast’s back, slamming his sword into its spine and carving upward. He wasn’t sure if dragons were like dragon shifters in that you had to take off the head or cut out the heart. So he was just going to slice this thing to ribbons.
Its tail thrashed wildly so he dove to the side to avoid the ball of spikes at the end.
Cynara did the same, but a spike caught her shoulder. She screamed as she flew back, slamming into the concrete.
“Cynara!” Her name tore from his lips. He needed to get to her—but had to kill this thing first. In a quick, practiced move, he raised his sword and sliced the dragon’s head clean off. Then he jumped down onto the street, but not before he ducked to narrowly avoid a dragon head that slammed into the ground.
Cynara lay flat on her back against the cobblestones, her sword gone, but she was awake. “Cynara.” He knelt beside her as she struggled to sit up.
“Poison,” she rasped out. “Think… Poisoned.”
“Son of a bitch,” he ground out, helping her to her feet as he looked around. He wanted to scoop her up in his arms, but he needed a free hand in case someone tried to attack.
Blood and death were everywhere—wolves, dragon shifters, vampires and other supernaturals battling the gray beasts in the sky. At least it appeared their side was winning.
When he saw a dragon shifter swoop down through the air, his eyes widened. It was going to attack King, who was currently slicing the head off another fallen dragon.
“King!” he shouted.
The male turned at the oncoming attack and lifted his sword, more than capable as he defended himself.
“Come on.” Justus lifted Cynara up into his arms and raced toward the entrance of the Catholic church. He needed to get her to relative safety.
“Will you burst into flames if you step inside the church?” he asked in all seriousness.
“Oh my God, no.” Despite everything, she actually laughed before wincing in pain. “I’m…okay. Just…need to stand still.” Her face was pale and he could see dark streaks along her shoulder where her top had been ripped open from one of the spikes.
He set her on her feet, still outside the church, but under the covering. She grasped onto one of the huge columns. Shit. “Cynara—”
“Go. Help them. Those are our friends out there. I’ll be okay. I swear.” Her fingers dug into the column, the strength of her grip causing the plaster to crumble. Her pupils were dilated but she wasn’t bleeding from her shoulder wound.
Random sirens wailed in the distance, adding to the insane melee. For the first time in his life he was torn. Stay or go. He needed to keep her safe. And the only way to keep her truly safe was to end this battle. “I’ll come back for you.”
She waved her hand and pulled one of those wild, flaming swords out of midair again. “I can take care of myself if anything happens.” Her skin was pale, but her words were strong.
He nodded once and crushed his mouth to hers for a millisecond before turning and racing back into the fray. After this he was claiming her forever. Fuck everything else. He’d quit as Alpha of his coven and that was that. Cynara was his and he’d protect her with his life.
A dragon dove at King who easily rolled to the side.
Justus levitated into the air and pulled his sword back, ready to hurl it at the beast when a flaming blue something flew through the air and landed on the dragon’s back. The female looked like an angel but he knew that couldn’t be right. She plunged her hands into the beast, grabbed the dragon’s spine, and ripped it out.
All right, then.
Two more dragons appeared in the air r
ight as a group of young human males ran into the streets, actually filming everything with their cell phones.
They were going to get themselves killed.
One of the dragons spotted them. Sensing easy prey, it broke away from the others, diving straight for the stupid humans. Oblivious, the humans didn’t seem to notice the giant scaled beast heading right for them.
“Mars save me from stupidity,” he muttered, levitating once again into the air. He didn’t have time for this shit—his mate had been poisoned. Every second he was away from her was its own wretched eternity. He wanted to leave these fools to their fate, but he simply couldn’t do it. Couldn’t let them just die.
Thankfully the dragon was so focused on the trio of human males that he didn’t notice Justus until the last second. By then it was too late. Flying low, Justus slashed his sword against the underbelly of the beast, driving it straight up where he hoped the heart was.
The dragon screamed in agony, fire arcing wildly against the dark sky.
Justus drew his sword back as he fell back to earth, his boots slamming into the concrete.
He ran at the dragon to finish it off, but one of King’s wolves was on it, claws out at the ready, taking its wings off in seconds. The dragon continued to spew fire so Justus raced at the humans, grabbing them up in a tackle with his supernatural strength, and dumped them on the steps of the church.
“Watch these morons,” he growled to Cynara who was still holding on to the column.
Cynara nodded, her sword clutched tightly in one hand. She looked paler but she was still standing. He wanted to get her out of here, find out what was wrong and help her. They needed…a healer. They needed Greer!
But then Cynara’s eyes rolled back in her head and she fell, her purple sword disappearing. He dove and caught her in his arms—and lost all sense of sanity when he realized he couldn’t hear her heartbeat.