by Siren Allen
Plus, Winter assured her that this dagger could kill anything. However, it could only be used once. It melted once it came in contact with blood. She’d only have one chance to hurt the dragon.
If she didn’t get it right on that one try, well, she didn’t want to think about what would happen. The way his rage had contorted his features as she slammed the bedroom door was motivation enough for her to get it right on the first try.
She flinched again when she heard him slam into the door. His growls were so loud, they were causing the windows in the cabin to shake. Maybe confronting him wasn’t the answer.
Maybe she needed to lure him out the house and then her wards would prevent him from entering again. Wait! Her wards! Sin groaned. She hadn’t recharged them. No renewing spell paired with blood, sweat, and tears, meant weak wards.
And that meant creatures could get in. It was day time. During the day, the Shredders lurked about, looking for food. They always ventured close to her cottage. They could smell her, even with the wards in place.
Shit. Sin rushed to the front of her cabin. A yelp escaped her when she heard the dragon slam into the bedroom door again. There was no time to worry about him. When she reached her front door, she gripped her door handle.
Fuck! She was naked. Damn it. She stared around the room. Her clothes were in the bedroom. Her red scarf and her jacket...Shit. They’d burned up when she’d tried to use her fire on her dragon.
Fuck my life! Tears welled in her eyes. She blinked them back. This was no time to be a weak witch. This was no time to cry over the sentimental value that scarf held. Now, was the time to survive so she could one day return to the person who gave her that scarf.
Sin pulled the closet door to her right open and searched for the pullover suit she kept stashed in there for emergencies. Found it. It was a hideous bright pink ensemble that fit her too tightly.
It looked like something a person would go Scooba diving in. Rhen had gotten it for her. Go figure. She kept it around because no matter how hideous it was, it was clothing and it covered her up.
Here, it was worth its weight in gold. Getting it on was a challenge. After shoving her feet into the leg parts and finally getting it over her thighs, she struggled to get the material over her waist.
That required a little jumping up and down and wiggling. Finally, it made it over her curves. She said a spell to zip it up. She didn’t have time for that headache. She could’ve sworn she’d had an extra pair of boots in the closet.
She briefly searched for them but didn’t find them. Forget it. She needed to reactivate the wards. Dressed but barefoot, she raced to the front door again only to pause again. She couldn’t take the dagger outside with her. She needed to cut herself and drip three drops of blood onto each ward to activate them.
If her blood got on the dagger it would melt. Not wanting that to happen, she returned to her closet and hid the dagger there. The sound of something cracking reached her ears. She peeped down the hall.
There was a crack in the bedroom door. He’d be free soon. She glanced at the front door then back at the bedroom door. Wards first. She rushed to the front door, unlocked it then pulled it open. Her eyes widened in shock and fear.
A huge shredder wrapped its claws around her throat.
Chapter Twelve
SHE COULDN’T BREATHE.
Dread stabbed her in the heart as she stared into the red eyes of her attacker. Snarling, the creature lifted her from her feet and held her up in the air, bringing her eye level with it. She saw death in its gaze.
Blood dripped down her neck from the puncture wounds in her throat where the shredder had a tight grip on her. Its poisonous claws dug deep into her flesh. Her vision blurred. Its tongue flicked against her skin, licking away the blood.
Its entire body shook and it emitted a high-pitched sound meant to alert others of its kind. It was letting them know it had found food. Fuck that. She wouldn’t be its meal. Not today.
The creature’s venom was causing her body to go numb. Sin called on her fire. It didn’t come right away. The venom was numbing not only her body but her magic too. She had to work quickly if she wanted her fire to burn away the poison.
With her eyes drifting shut, she fought to remain conscious. Sin begged her fire to erupt. A spark ignited inside of her. Yet, that was it. No fire. To make matters worse, she could no longer feel her legs.
The fire in her wasn’t working. Sin stared to the corner of the room. Her Christmas tree. She could absorb that fire and its magic to burn away the venom flowing through her veins.
She struggled to raise her hand just as the screech of other shredders filled the air. They like to eat in packs. A pack was coming for her. Sin called to the flames burning brightly in the corner of the room.
The tree-shaped blaze flickered but didn’t obey her order. Her hand dropped to her side. She tried raising it again. Fuck. Her entire body was numb now. The screeches were closer.
The scent of rotting flesh filled her nostrils. Shredders smelled viler and looked even worse. Its long boney fingers tightened their grip around her throat. Sin gasped for air. There was none.
Her chest burned. The creature peered into her face. Though her vision was fading in and out, she could make out its dagger-sharp teeth and red eyes. There was no way she could hold on for much longer.
This wasn’t the way she’d thought she would die. For two years, she held on to the hope that one day she would return home to her family. Even when times had gotten hard and it seemed like she wouldn’t survive another day, she found the strength to persevere.
She learned to survive on this plane. She fought to survive on this plane. She learned to make deals and forge bonds that would benefit her. Though she’d yet to kill, she learned how to fight ruthlessly and protect herself.
All of that hard work, all of that planning and struggling, only to die like this. Only to die because she’d been passed out and hadn’t had a chance to reactivate her wards. Which was something she’d done religiously since being here.
She was going to die today, all because she’d brought home a dragon. A motherfucking dragon. Anger fueled her magic. She felt another spark inside her. But it was too late. The venom had spread. Darkness had come.
Sinclair Rose was dying.
***
SHE’D LIED TO HIM.
Kaede took three steps back, lowered his shoulders and then rushed the bedroom door again. It shook but didn’t budge. Fucking magic.
She lied to us, his beast roared.
Fucking witch! Not only had she lied, she’d done it with a straight face. A beautiful face. An innocent face. A face that made him believe she was telling the truth. This was the second time he’d been fooled by her.
The first had been when he underestimated her and botched his plan to capture her. The second had been when he’d let his guard down around her, physically and mentally. She’d even seemed okay with the fact that she was his mate.
Kaede rush the door again. This time, he heard a cracking sound. Progress. Her magic was no match for him and his beast. Kaede rushed the door again. Damn her. She even moaned when he kissed her in her sweetest place.
She said she wanted to put her hands on us.
And like a fool in love, he believed her. Kaede rushed the door again. Finally, it splintered. Pieces of wood dropped to the floor. Her magic was still holding it upright. A few more hits and he’d send it crashing to the fucking floor.
Fuck love. He wasn’t in love with her. It was the mating pull. He’d be better off calling himself a fool in lust. There was no way he could be in love with a witch he’d just met.
No way he could be in love with a witch who’d tried to torture him and set him on fire. Twice. He would teach her to play around with him.
We cannot harm our mate.
“I would never harm her.”
What do you plan to do?
“Teach her a lesson.”
How? Do not hurt her.
“She hurt us.”
But she...
“Silence. Do not defend her.”
I will always defend our mate.
“Mate. I think we got it wrong. She’s not ours.”
When she touches us, when we’re touching her, we can speak.
“She’s not ours. Our fire is just drawn to her fire. We’re the only dragon we’ve encountered on this plane. Our fire seeks a kindred spirit. She’s the closest. Simple as that.”
You don’t believe that lie.
Whether he believed it or not didn’t matter. She didn’t believe they were mates. That statement had left her mouth so easily and with no remorse. As she uttered those words, he’d felt something inside him break.
I felt it too.
“I’ve been here this long and I haven’t fallen apart. I’ve never let my guard down. I’ve never felt broken. Yet this witch enters my life and all those things happen. Never again. I won’t allow that shit to ever...”
Kaede stilled. His dragon’s roar rumbled through his chest. That smell! Shredders. Fuck. Kaede took five steps back and rushed the door. It cracked but didn’t bow under his strength. Fuck!
Hurry.
Smoke billowed from his nose as he rammed the door again. Fuck! He kicked the door as hard as he could. More cracking sound.
It should’ve fallen by now. Her magic is holding it up.
“Dragon, rise up.”
Her home is too small to shift in.
“Just your fire. Give it to me. All of it.”
We will burn this house down.
The sound of screeching reached his ears.
“Fuck this house,” he yelled. “Fire up.”
He could smell blood. Not the rotting odor that came from shredders. He smelled his mate’s blood. Flames licked at his skin as his dragon obeyed him.
“More,” Kaede shouted.
Fire erupted from inside him setting his entire body ablaze. He took seven steps back then lowered his shoulder. He sent up a silent prayer. Please God, don’t let me be too late. Roaring loudly, he raced toward the bedroom door.
Before he reached it, he opened his mouth. Flames spewed forth, lighting up the door. He prayed his fire was strong enough to weaken her magic.
It will be. I will make it so.
Trusting his dragon, Kaede slammed into the door. It bowed under his strength and then went crashing to the ground. Standing on top of the toppled door, Kaede stared down the hall to the front door.
What he saw nearly stopped his breath. A shredder was holding his mate’s limp body in the air. Behind it, more shredders were approaching the house. In his line of vision, he counted four. They usually roamed in packs of ten or more.
Kill them all.
“With pleasure.”
The shredder holding his mate let out an ear-piercing shriek when he spotted Kaede. Too late, Kaede was already rushing toward him. Kaede flexed his fingers, releasing his claws. The creature started to retreat.
Not today. When Kaede reached the creature, he wrapped one arm around his mate’s body and with his other hand, he sank his claws deep into the shredder’s side. His claws tore through rotting flesh and muscle.
He grabbed as much as he could then pulled his hand back, taking with him a handful of the shredder. This time the screech the creature let out wasn’t as loud. It was a deep guttural sound. One that denoted pain.
That’s the sound we like to hear.
“Indeed.”
Hurting, the creature retracted his claws from his mate’s neck. Kaede already had his arm around her waist and easily caught her when the shredder released her. Absorbing his fire back into his body, Kaede backtracked into the house and slammed the front door.
Locking it, he retreated to the back hallway with his mate’s unconscious body in his arms. He stumped out flames as he went. Fuck. He’d lit up in her house and left flaming footprints from the bedroom to the front door.
He didn’t have time to put them all out. And her bedroom door, that was on fire, was already filling the house with smoke. The sound of the pack of shredders were closer. The locked door wouldn’t keep them out.
Kaede couldn’t put his mate in the bedroom with the broken door and the smoke. He decided on the second room. He carried her there and laid her down on a cot. There were five puncture wounds in her neck.
They’re deep.
“I know.”
We haven’t claimed her yet. Our fire won’t heal her.
“I know. Fuck!” Snatching a portion of the sheet from the cot, he ripped it to shreds and wrapped a piece around his mate’s neck to stop the bleeding. She was so still. Too still.
She’s still breathing, right?
“Yes,” Kaede answered as he tied the ends of the fabric into a knot.
She’s immortal, right? Only immortals can be banished here. A little blood loss won’t kill her.
Kaede didn’t have time to respond. The front door crashed in. The shredders were in the house that was quickly filling with smoke. He had to finish off the pack and get his mate out of there as fast as possible.
With one last glance at his mate, he left the room, locking the door before he exited and closed it behind him. He broke the doorknob. Not that it would help. Maybe it would buy him a few seconds. That was it.
Fire. The shredders hated fire. He placed his palm against the door and lit it up. Even if his fire burned down the entire house, his mate would survive. But could she survive the smoke?
She should. Just like we can.
“She’s not a dragon though.”
There was no time to debate with his dragon. A shredder stepped into the hallway, sidestepping the flaming door. It wasn’t the one he’d wounded. This one was taller, larger. Its shoulders were bent to keep its head from hitting the ceiling.
The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Indeed. The shredder strained its neck and let out a shrieking call, letting his pack know it had found food.
“Flame up,” Kaede ordered his dragon.
His beast eagerly obeyed. Two more shredders stepped into the hallway.
Kill them all.
“With pleasure.”
Roaring, Kaede lunged forward, releasing his claws as he raced toward the beasts waiting at the end of the hall. They all let out an ear-splitting call that could wake the dead. He stopped one from finishing his call by swiping his claws across the creature’s throat.
His hand came away covered in blood and flesh. The creature stumbled backward, bumping into the other two standing behind him as he clutched his throat. Together, the trio tumbled backward onto the flaming door.
Their guttural howls of pain were music to his ears. The smell of their burning flesh fueled him. He rounded the corner and stepped into the front hall to find two more waiting for him at the front door.
They bared their dagger-like teeth at him and hissed. He’d been around enough of them to know that meant they were pissed off. Probably because he’d just scorched three of their comrades.
Fuck with my mate and you get burned, Kaede thought. Flexing his claws, he strode in their direction. Shredders usually roamed in packs of ten. Three down. Seven more to go. The two standing near the front door would be the next to go.
Though shredders typically avoided fire, they would never pass up the opportunity to have fresh meat. They were too stupid to realize that this ‘fresh meat’ was going to kill them. The never-ending hunger that plagued them prevented them from passing up a meal.
He’d once seen a pack of them devour a poisonous anaconda. Everyone in the Frostlands knew those snakes were poisonous. That pack of shredders died seconds after attacking and ingesting the snake.
Stupid sons of bitches.
Though he was a walking blaze, the idiots refused to run. They refused to leave this house. They’d smelled his mate’s blood. They would fight to the death to have her. What the bastards didn’t realize was that this particular witch belonged to him.
And
he’d fight to the death to protect her.
With her lying ass.
Chapter Thirteen
THE CREATURES WEREN’T as dumb as he’d thought.
They were still stupid as fuck. They were also relentless once they had their eyes on their prey. They hissed louder as he neared them. Their gazes displayed their wariness to being near his flames.
The drool dripping from the corner of their mouths displayed the hunger they wouldn’t be able to ignore. For most creatures, hunger trumped fear every time. The largest one opened his mouth and spat in Kaede’s direction.
Kaede stepped to the side, dodging the poisonous stream of saliva. Both creatures opened their mouths. So, this was their tactic – use their poisonous venom to extinguish his flames.
Their saliva won’t be able to stop us from flaming back up.
Indeed. Kaede ducked and dodge their spit attacks. They kept them coming. Fuck, he was too slow. One wad of saliva landed on his shoulder and dripped down his chest. His flesh sizzled as the venom burned every inch of skin it touched.
The temperature of his body rose to fight off the venom. Fire no longer burned on the parts of him affected by the venom and wouldn’t burn again until his heat fought off the poison on his skin.
Already, he could feel the skin healing as he rushed forward, leaning left and then right to avoid the venom spraying his way. Claws ready, he swiped at their mouths when he reached them.
His claws ripped through skin and clinked against their sharp teeth. He twisted his body left to avoid their hands. He swiped again, this time downward, ripping their lips from their face.
None of that would stop the spray of venom. Yet, it would cause them enough pain for them to think twice about spitting again. They grabbed at him. He moved to the left and punched the larger one in the jaw repeatedly until the creature dropped to its knees.
“Fuck.”
The other shredder landed another wad of venom on Kaede’s stomach, just as the venom on his chest had finished healing. He squared up with the second shredder. He could hear the others in the kitchen.