Evangeline turned toward Nellie and gently wrapped her talons around Nellie’s middle. Adrenaline surged through her veins, leaving her cold as they lifted from the ground. Nellie frantically covered her hair while the air whipped around her. It didn’t get any better the further they got from the ground. She wanted to cover her eyes but didn’t dare take her hands away from her hair.
It would be a shame to meet Zander Masters for the first time while her hair was a complete rat’s nest.
From this height, Nellie could see the army placed around Gavin’s cabin. Gavin had shifted back and stood on the outside of the ring circling the house. Nellie knew his form anywhere. Tyler had promised a rebellion, but seeing Gavin face the sheer number of shifters Zander had brought made her uneasy. How many of them might defect? Would they defect at all?
They couldn’t rely on Tyler’s promise. Nellie knew that meant she would have to use her magic. Her grasp on it felt tenuous, but she chalked it up to a newborn fear of heights. Never again would she fly in a dragon’s arms. She grasped Evangeline’s talons when she rocked unsteadily.
Nellie let out a string of curses, but all were lost on the wind.
The ground approached them, sending Nellie’s heart racing. She tried to focus on Gavin. Neither he nor Evangeline would let her die. She repeated the words, though she couldn’t find it in herself to believe them in the moment.
She could only imagine Zander’s face as Nellie splatted on the ground in front of him.
Just as she realized how macabre her thought was, her feet touched the ground. Elation sparked from her toes to her chest. Evangeline released her, and Nellie stumbled forward. She managed to keep her feet beneath her and not drop to her knees, though every step was on shaky legs.
“Give yourself up,” Zander said to his son.
Nellie took in the man responsible for this war. He looked startingly similar to his son, except for the few inches difference in height and his cold, depthless eyes. Hatred uncoiled in her chest and turned her magic molten hot. She found her stride and marched up to Gavin to stand beside him.
Zander’s gaze flitted over her briefly. Nellie thought she would remain under his radar as his attention was focused on Gavin. Then Zander paused, and his eyes slowly slid back to her. A cruel smile twisted his lips, like he found a sick enjoyment in the unexpected.
“So, you’ve employed a witch to fight me off?” Zander took a lock of her hair between his fingers.
She jerked back, revolted.
Zander only laughed. “You know what we’ve done to witches for centuries, right? Are you really willing to sell your soul to this one just to free yourself from me? You’re trading one condemnation for another.”
Nellie started to speak up, but Gavin beat her to it.
“She already has my heart and soul, and I didn’t have to sell it to her just to be able to beat you. I can do that all on my own.”
She would have preened had the situation been any different. Instead, they stood before Gavin’s would-be murderer and fended off death threats aimed at her. It didn’t quite make for a romantic setting.
Zander’s brow fell flat. He glared at his son. Nellie wondered if their union intimidated Zander. She could see no other reason for his sudden silence. When Zander’s cold gaze fell on her again, she felt it like ice through her heart. That look promised everything evil and cruel. If this broke out into a fight, she knew he would go for her throat first.
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Gavin wanted to rip his father’s throat out. His whole body tensed, ready to strike. He couldn’t move until he knew his clanmates inside were safe. If any of them had Isabella at their mercy, Gavin would forfeit her life if he made one wrong move. He couldn’t risk such a thing.
Not even for his own mate’s safety. Gavin had to trust in Nellie and her magic because he couldn’t do this alone. No matter how he wished he could make this a one on one challenge between himself and his father, that would never happen. Zander brought his clan out to keep himself from being put in that situation.
Gavin, in turn, had to rely upon his own family. Not his blood relatives, but the shifters that had kept him from going over the edge, those that had given him a reason to keep going.
He looked to the cabin and hoped to catch a glimpse of Isabella and Bree through the giant windows. Nellie squeezed his hand and whispered:
“She’s alright.”
He wasn’t sure how Nellie knew, but he appreciated her answer. Gavin would not lose anyone today.
“Get off my territory and never return,” Gavin said flatly to his father.
Zander laughed in his face. Gavin swallowed his rage and kept his chin high. As badly as he would like to have punched that cheer off his father’s face, Gavin knew he had to wait.
Behind him, Evangeline and Daphne shuffled their feet. Their tails whispered against the gravel. Two more dragons landed on either side of them. Casey and Ford had returned. The color bled from his father’s face at the sight of Ford, their clan’s newest dragon.
Zander quickly gathered himself. “You keep so many liabilities within your ranks. A witch and a kingkiller? If you truly wanted to die, you could have given in ages ago, son. Perhaps you know, deep down, that you aren’t fit to live. That’s okay. I’ve known since the moment you were born that you were a broken creature. Let me put an end to your suffering and take care of your clan for you.”
Gavin’s lip curled.
Though his hands tightened into fists at his sides, Gavin kept his cool. He scanned the army Zander had brought for Tyler, but the shifter was nowhere to be found. Zander spun on his heel. The sight of Zander’s back sent Gavin’s beast into a rage. The man might be able to pretend that he didn’t see his own son as a threat, but Gavin knew that wasn’t the truth.
“I have purged my clan of those who would stand against me. If you’re stalling for time so your allies can help you out, I’m afraid you’ll be waiting forever.” Zander gestured overhead with his one remaining hand. “Let’s get this over with.”
His soldiers rushed toward the cabin. Dillon and Erik shifted to stop them. Gavin knew things were serious when Erik unleashed his toxic-green dragon. He lashed out at the invading shifters and caught a few, but some slipped past him. The same happened on Dillon’s end.
Gavin’s heart stopped as the soldiers reached the house and inhaled. He knew what would happen next.
“No!” he roared, but it did nothing to stop them from breathing fire.
Flames licked up the side of the house. Red rage washed over Gavin’s vision. His beast gnashed its teeth and begged to be unleashed. Nellie made a small sound in her throat. Gavin heard her swallow. Across the way, the flames receded.
“I won’t be able to hold them off forever,” she whispered.
Gavin couldn’t rely on Tyler. He must have gotten caught. Their plan to weaken Zander’s forces had fallen through. Gavin had to forge his own path. He didn’t know if he could stop Zander’s entire army, but he trusted his clan to hold them off until he’d beaten his father.
Zander had to fall. The man had been drunk on power for far too long. His heart and mind had become addled. Gavin thanked his father for showing him everything he could not become.
While Zander’s back was to him, Gavin leapt. Zander spun out of his reach at the last second. His smaller frame jumped from the ground. As he twisted, his beast burst forth from his body. The patinaed silver dragon surged into the sky. How Gavin had ever mistaken the shifter from earlier as his own father, Gavin would never know.
The difference was unmistakable now. Zander’s horns shot back from his brow, rigid and straight. His wings had flecks of black, like char. Gavin’s beast unfurled and shot after Zander. He listened for the sound of Zander’s army moving below, but the sound never came. Everything remained still and silent beneath him.
Perhaps Zander had been wrong after all. Maybe he hadn’t ousted the defectors. Gavin didn’t have time to worry. He left the fight below to his clan and
focused his sights on his father.
* * *
Nellie tensed. Her knees threatened to smack each other with how she’d started trembling. She had to have faith in Gavin. If she worried about him, she wouldn’t be able to protect herself. Still, she couldn’t pull her gaze away from him.
She’d only just found him. She wasn’t ready to lose him. All the time she’d spent running away from Gavin had been time wasted. If Zander took him away from her too soon…Searing heat flowed through her magic. A primal scream filled her throat.
She didn’t have time to let it loose. People on the ground moved. She prepared herself to staunch more fires, but the soldiers didn’t have a chance to breathe. Half of their regiment turned on them. Unfamiliar shifters pounced on their allies and pinned them to the ground. It carved an opening for the others in Gavin’s clan to strike.
Zander’s shifters tried to shift, but her allies were already ahead of them. They used their tails and talons to catch the others mid-shift. The impacts sent them reeling. No soldier could find the time to shift in this onslaught.
Nellie dragged in a breath. Her clan could win this after all. Knowing that, she turned her attention toward the sky. Gavin wrestled with his father. They crashed together, plummeted, and flew apart only to do it all over again. Her heart wrenched when droplets of blood rained onto the ground below.
How could she know which dragon bled? She didn’t dare try to use their mate bond to check on him. Her magic wasn’t at all like she was used to. It pulsed just beneath her skin like an electrical fire, begging to be let loose.
A dragon roared. Nellie lowered her gaze just in time to find a silver dragon barreling in her direction. The witch-hating shifter had found her again. Nellie yelped and jumped out of the way, but the dragon easily pivoted in her direction.
Two dragons, one pink and the other yellow, collided into the silver beast. Evangeline and Daphne tussled with the monster. Nellie knew he wouldn’t submit, though. His hatred would fuel his determination until he drew his last breath.
Nellie didn’t want to take his life, but she was tired of being afraid. She reached out with her molten magic and let it reach him. He howled and bucked. Nellie knew what she was doing was wrong. This was the reason why men like him hated her, but he’d let himself become a monster. He had no one to thank but himself.
His beast tried to fight her. She felt it squirming under her power. It tried to bite at her, but it got nothing but air because she had backed away. Vomit rocketed up her throat. Revolted at herself, she knew she couldn’t afford to stop, either.
She peeled the man’s beast away. His form shrank back down to a human shape. The dragon remained in her clutches. It had been reduced to nothing more than a magical potential. If she wanted to, she could swallow it. The thought disgusted her. She let it go immediately.
On his hands and knees, the man glared at her. She imagined she could feel every ounce of his hatred needling her soul. Hot tears brimmed her eyes. She couldn’t leave him this way. It wasn’t fair. Though he didn’t know how to show her mercy, she wouldn’t turn that same conduct on him. She grasped the fading magic that had been his dragon and shoved it back into him.
Her arms burned and her outstretched hands shook, but she felt the magic reconnect. She wiped at her nose with the back of her hand. It came away red from her nosebleed. Nellie had pushed herself too hard. Any moment, the shifter would leap back to his feet and chase after her again.
She staggered back. The witch-hater rose onto shaky feet and lurched in her direction. A man leapt out of the chaos and socked the witch-hater in the jaw. Eyes rolling back, witch-hater collapsed. Tyler turned toward her.
“Zander’s a damn fool that can’t tell a rebel from a grumpy asshole,” Tyler quickly explained. He gestured toward the sky, where Gavin duked it out with his father. “Don’t worry about us down here. My dragons have it handled.”
Nellie covered her bleeding nose with her hand, as if she could hide what she’d done, and nodded. If Tyler had realized what she could do, he didn’t mention it. He twisted to punch another of Zander’s followers before unleashing a massive gray dragon.
Gavin.
Warmth gathered under her nose. She deserved it. Nellie had never imagined herself capable of anything like that before. Now, Evangeline and Daphne would know that she could easily hurt them. She could take away everything that made them who they were.
Nellie hated the revulsion churning in her gut. Would Gavin still love her once he learned of what she’d done, what she was capable of? Her own love for him knew no bounds. Would he extend the same feelings?
She didn’t know who among the dragons could love her now that they knew. She hadn’t given much thought to her actions while tearing the man’s beast away from him. Her only concern had been for her own safety.
With her breath shuddering, Nellie knew she needed to show the clan that this magic could be used for good. She found Gavin and Zander fighting above. A massive blue dragon broke away from the fight on the ground and sped to help Gavin. The way Daphne watched, she thought it had to be either Casey or Ford.
Nellie had heard the story of how Ford bit off Zander’s hand. The way Zander recoiled at the sight of the blue dragon told Nellie that the beast was Ford. Both Gavin and Ford tried to grasp ahold of Zander, but he shot out from between them. They didn’t bite or claw at Zander.
She realized they weren’t trying to kill him. They wanted only to apprehend Zander. Her heart ached for her mate. Gavin thought of himself as a monster, but he’d only ever been a good man. She wished she’d given herself more time with him. Because of her own prejudice, she’d wasted weeks of happiness. Once this was over, she would have to face Gavin all over again and know that she was the real monster.
Shaking herself, she tried to focus on one task at a time. There was no room for doubt when there was a fight to end.
But when she looked up again, the burnished silver dragon headed her way. It was the same sight she’d seen several times over now. She should have been used to it, but the sight of Zander plummeting toward her turned off all rational thought. Frozen, Nellie could do nothing.
A dragon behind her let out a howl. Gavin’s flames lit up the sky.
Nellie wondered, for a brief moment, if anyone could see this nightmare from the town below. The concern was stricken from her as talons closed around her middle. She wanted to scream, but her breath left her while Zander ascended. She reached for Gavin, but her short arms could not close the distance between her and her mate.
Gavin’s scaled brow folded together, and his eyes flashed with fury, a sight that filled her with hope for the briefest moment. His roar boomed like thunder across the sky. Zander’s wings furiously beat the air. The distance between her and Gavin grew unbearably great.
She lowered her shaking hands to Zander’s talons, but the sight of the ground below made her pause. Her stomach flipped and nearly spilled its contents. She could not do what she did with the witch-hating shifter. If she tore Zander’s dragon away from him, they would both fall to the ground.
Her pulse raced. If Gavin hated her for what she could do to dragons, then why not sacrifice herself? The thought sent a wave of despair over her. Sight of the future she now wanted went dark, as if a hundred beckoning lights had been snuffed out.
No! she wanted to scream. The wind wouldn’t let her speak, let alone shout. With no other option left at her disposal, Nellie placed her hands upon Zander’s talons. She poured her magic into him and began the process of removing his dragon.
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Gavin’s heart threatened to stop. The world slowed. His gaze connected with Nellie’s. In her eyes, he saw pain and horror. This would not be the end of her days. Gavin refused to let that happen. He’d promised her that he would protect her. He did not break promises.
But his clan still waged a war on the ground below. Gavin paused, torn between two duties. He couldn’t turn his back on his entire family.
�
�Don’t worry about us!” Bree called from down below. “We have shifters helping down here. Go get your witch!”
Tyler’s supporters had come through. Half of Zander’s clan had turned on him and fought alongside Gavin’s family. Pride swelled in Gavin’s chest. The future could be bright, so long as he kept his promise to Nellie.
Wind sluiced off his body. The world blurred below. Gavin cared only for the silver dragon ahead of him. He was going to dig his claws beneath those darkened scales and rip them from his father’s body to reveal the weak flesh beneath.
Zander shuddered. His form flickered. Gavin blinked, startled. The taste of Nellie’s magic filled the air. It crept into his lungs and left him with an acrid taste in his mouth. He imagined he could hear her voice through their bond.
I’m sorry, she might have said.
Gavin couldn’t process what he saw. He ignored his father’s glitching appearance so he could focus on rescuing Nellie. But the beast in Gavin knew to pay attention. It could feel the change in her magic, how it ripped, how it tore. Gavin’s dragon knew what was happening and he couldn’t let her finish.
Gavin roared once he figured out what Nellie was up to. Her magic had begun separating Zander from his beast, causing it to fade from existence. Gavin couldn’t warn her with his lizard tongue that she would plummet to the ground if she went through with this. His only option was to stop Zander and pry her from the old man’s grasp before her spell ran its course.
While Nellie’s magic distracted Zander, Gavin closed the distance. He didn’t slow before barreling into Zander’s side. Talons caught and dragged along Zander’s wings, tearing them to shreds. With no way to catch the wind, Zander began to fall.
Rogue Dragons Series: Box Set Books 1-5 Page 67
