by Amelia Jade
Straightening he turned, staring hotly at Morgan as the other dragon shifter began to clap slowly.
“Bravo! Bravo!” Morgan put two fingers in his teeth and whistled. “Great show, lads,” he shouted as Aric and Rokk landed on either side of him. “Wonderfully done.”
“Step away from her,” Rokk said hotly.
Pyne glanced at his twin.
“Oops. Sorry.” Rokk looked away.
“Take her!” Morgan shouted. “It doesn’t matter. She’s ruined. Her career will never be saved. What do I care? You played yourself, Pyne. All you had to do was turn over the money.”
He rolled his eyes. “You were never going to not find a way to screw her over too. I’m not stupid, Morgan. This plan of yours meant you would screw one of us over either way. You’re probably already planning a way to get back at me now, either to steal my money, or to disgrace me back home.”
Morgan tapped his wide chin. “You’re a smart one, Pyne. Much smarter than that idiot brother of yours.”
“It’s not going to work though.” Pyne gestured at Kim. “Come on over here.”
“You know,” Morgan mused as Kim came rushing over to him and hugged him. “You should probably be more grateful to me.”
Pyne’s jaw dropped open. “I’m sorry, how the fuck did you figure that? You just ruined her life, all the hard work she’s done. And we should be grateful to you for that?”
“Precisely.”
“I know you were crazy, Morgan, but this is a new level.”
“I’M NOT CRAZY!” he shouted, the air suddenly going cold. Silver filled the other shifter’s eyes, and the metal around them began to shed steam as it cooled.
“Uh, I don’t think you should have called him that,” Aric observed.
“Get her out of here,” Pyne ordered, kissing Kim on the head. “You need to go. Get safe while I deal with this asshole.”
“Are you nuts?” she cried. “How are you going to do that? Look at him! His eyes are glowing and he’s doing something to the metal. Let’s get out of here!”
Pyne stepped away from her and let energy flow down his arm, obscuring his flesh behind a blue field. “This is how.”
Kim’s eyes were wide now. “Okay, this is seriously fucked.”
“Say thank you!” Morgan thundered, his voice filling the small lower area of the terminal.
“For what?” Pyne retorted, moving Kim behind him until either Aric or Rokk picked her up and dragged her out of there.
“If it weren’t for me,” Morgan bragged, “you’d never have found your mate, now would you? That one spirit your dragon can’t live without. I made that happen.”
Kim gasped. “What is he talking about? Your mate? A dragon?”
Morgan faked looking shocked, covering his mouth with one hand. “Oh my goodness, that’s so cute. You haven’t told her yet, have you? Did I spoil the surprise? He hasn’t said that he loves you yet? I feel so sorry for ruining it! Here. Let me apologize!”
Twin streams of quicksilver shot from his palms directly at both him and Kim.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Pyne
“Get behind me,” he snapped, thrusting a palm out in front of him, manipulating the energy inside his body, forcing it into a crude angled rectangle in front of him.
Like a Roman legionary of old he crouched down behind the shield to talk to Kim swiftly. A shout from beside him changed his plans. Rokk had been splashed liberally with the metal, the skin on his arm shriveling up and dying as they watched.
“Watch where you’re deflecting that, you asshole!” Rokk shouted, moving out of the way.
“Sorry! Take Kim and get her out of here.” He pointed back up the stairs.
Rokk nodded, and flung up an energy shield of his own. Beyond him Aric readied a strike.
“No!” Pyne shouted, standing up, getting the other dragon’s attention. “He’s mine.”
Aric glanced at him, then at Morgan, then shrugged. “If you’re sure.”
Morgan howled with laughter, but Pyne tossed up his other hand, and then took a step forward into the stream of quicksilver that hadn’t stopped.
“Go with Rokk,” he said to Kim. “You’ll be safe that way, and I can do what I need to do with this asshole.”
“In your dreams!” Morgan screamed.
He was becoming fully unhinged now. Pyne needed to stop this before it got any worse.
“Ready?” he asked, staring at his mate while he held the shield in place. “You need to go. Don’t look back, just run, got it?”
She nodded.
“Ready…” He flicked a hand out the side of his shield, and fired off a blast of pure energy at Morgan.
The blue-white energy bolt shot across the lower level of the concourse, forcing Morgan to break off his attack and pirouette away.
“Now!” Pyne shouted.
Kim ran for Rokk and Aric.
Pyne meanwhile charged right at Morgan, closing the distance before the other dragon could reset himself and resume the onslaught of quicksilver. He flung out constant bolts of lightning now, the strikes longer and more angular than the energy blobs, better for piercing the shifter’s tough skin and doing deeper damage.
Morgan avoided them all, but he couldn’t stop Pyne from closing, and the silver dragon shifter flung backward with a mighty crack as Pyne’s fist slammed into his jaw. He was on the other man before he finished bouncing, and they rolled around trying to get leverage on one another.
At first Pyne had the advantage, following up swiftly on the stunned Morgan. The other shifter was older though, wiser, and more powerful. He slithered out of a hold and jabbed Pyne in the armpit, deadening his left arm long enough to smash an elbow into his face.
Pyne flung himself backward and to his feet, blood soaking his face and shirt as it poured from his nose. “Asshole,” he muttered, dancing away just long enough to set it in place. The tears that came from resetting his own nose momentarily blurred his vision, but he’d seen Morgan coming at him anyway.
Instead of trying to get out of the way he snapped his leg up and pivoted, catching Morgan completely unsuspecting. He would always treasure the wide-open look of shock on that asshole’s face as he shot backward, his chest fracturing under the force of the blow.
“You’re mine now,” he growled, charging forward, only to fling himself to the side as a quintet of quicksilver darts came at him from three different sides. One brushed his left shoulder blade, and he grunted at the pain but kept going.
Reaching Morgan he grabbed him by the hair, whirled, and tossed him across the concourse into a waiting area. Chairs and tables bolted to the ground were ripped free under the impact, pieces going everywhere. Pyne sent a lightning bolt after him, but Morgan dodged.
Glass shattered and the wind began to howl as the entire window behind Morgan slowly disintegrated, letting the outside weather in. The loud rumble of thunder came a moment later.
“You’ve lost,” Morgan taunted. “Even if you bring me in, you’ve lost.”
“How can you be so sure?” he snarled.
“Because. This entire place is wired with cameras. You don’t think they’re going to see this?”
“We’ll bury it. We always do.”
Morgan shook his head. “Not this time. No, not this time.”
“What the hell do you mean?” They circled one another.
“I mean,” Morgan cackled gleefully, “I’m going to ruin you too. And do you know how?”
Incensed at his enemy’s words, Pyne picked up the desk used by gate agents and hurled it at Morgan. The other shifter saw it coming from a mile away and casually stepped to the side…
…Only to get hit in the chest by the lightning bolt Pyne sent to follow it up.
Morgan smashed into a column, chunks of tile and concrete exploding everywhere under the impact.
“You idiot,” he growled, picking himself up, a black mark on his upper
left chest where the bolt had hit home. Red flesh was visible through his maroon button-up shirt, looking angry and painful. Blood slowly soaked the shirt, turning it a darker shade. “You can’t stop this.”
“Watch me,” Pyne stated, walking forward.
“It’s over, Pyne. You’re going to be cast out for using your powers in public. They’ll never allow you back, not after this mess, don’t you see?”
Pyne reacted with shock, but he very, very carefully did not mention to Morgan that if he truly wanted that, then all he had to do was shift into his dragon. To combat him Pyne would be forced to follow suit, revealing their powers to the entire world. In a place like this, they couldn’t hope to keep it under wraps. Their secret would be out.
He had to stop him before that happened. Which meant that Kim wasn’t going to be able to take him home in anything other than a body bag. I’m sorry.
Shuffling to his left, he dodged Morgan’s attacks, until quicksilver flooded the floor around him, forcing him to jump up onto the chairs and tables of the gate on the other side of the concourse.
He let go with several blasts from his palms, hitting everything around Morgan except for the shifter himself. Debris shot into the air, flying in all directions. Concrete dust and tile rained down and spit out shards that forced Morgan to defend himself, lest he lose sight of Pyne.
Which is when Pyne jumped down, sliding across the now-clear tiled floor on his knees. His arms flung back and his chest glowed blue. A second later a beam as thick as his leg shot out, hitting Morgan square and flinging him backward through a window and into the wing of one of the smaller propeller planes parked outside on the tarmac.
The metal crumpled under the blow, rocking the plane up and spinning it around slightly before Morgan dropped to the ground.
Pyne flung himself out the window, closing the distance before Morgan recovered. He hit him with a combination of fists, but before he could deliver the blow Morgan vomited quicksilver into his face before scuttling away.
Screaming in pain Pyne turned away, scraping the burning-cold metal from his skin and flinging it to the tarmac. The entire right side of his face was a mass of melted flesh and exposed bone. The pain was nearly unbearable, but he knew he had to finish it, and finish it now.
Reaching up, he grabbed the propeller from the plane and with a grunt ripped it right off. Spinning it around, he flung it at Morgan like an oversized ninja star.
The huge shifter saw it coming, but it was moving too fast and was too big for him to get out of the way completely. One blade sliced clean through his arm, dropping the severed limb to the pavement.
Morgan’s scream was so loud Pyne fell to one knee, his eardrums almost rupturing at the noise. He couldn’t concentrate enough to pull energy together to fire it off at his enemy.
The scream grew louder, and around him glass shattered. Pyne felt his good ear begin to bleed, and it dripped from his eyes and nose as well. The noise was literally killing him. He toppled over, groaning in pain. The noise went on and on, until it was no longer something natural.
Have to. Make it. Stop. Stop. Stop.
The crash of thunder right overhead dimly made its way through the onslaught of noise as Morgan cradled his severed arm. His eyes had gone so bright silver they verged on white. He was about to shift, Pyne could see it. He had to stop it.
He tried to use his own energy, but all of it was sucked from him fending off the sonic assault, or repairing his face.
The sky above him lit up.
Right. They didn’t call him Thor for fun.
Pyne stuck his hand up to the sky and called the storm to him, willing it into his body. Lightning flashed down from above, impacting his upraised palm and flowing into his body.
Another bolt struck him, and he got back to one knee, feeling his body come alive around him.
“COME TO ME!” he howled at the night sky, thrusting both arms and his face up to the heavens. “I COMMAND YOU!”
Rain washed across the tarmac and three bolts slashed down from the sky, driving deep into Pyne. Energy boiled from him as he got to his feet. His eyes glowed blue-white.
“You made a big mistake,” he growled, focusing his gaze on Morgan through the haze the noise and rain were creating of his vision.
Thunder crashed.
Lightning struck. Again. And again. And Again.
Pyne willed it into his system, into his very blood, letting it change him.
Across the tarmac Morgan’s eyes went wide at what he was seeing. Quicksilver flowed across his body, coating him in an impressive set of armor, even as he got to his feet. The silver dragon’s power flowed down his ruined arm, replacing the lack of limb with a wicked-looking axe.
“You fool,” Pyne whispered as lightning came so fast and furious it looked like one constant stream of energy.
His skin began to glow, and as he pushed the energy into his core, Pyne realized it was no longer skin. It was just energy.
With a mighty scream he launched himself at Morgan, no longer human. No longer dragon.
He was the lord of thunder reborn!
The being of pure energy batted aside Morgan’s feeble strike, and plunged a hand deep into his chest as if the quicksilver armor was nothing.
“I command you to die.” Pyne snarled his pronouncement and let go of the hold on the tremendous energy he’d harnessed.
Every pore on Morgan’s body opened wide as energy strained to get free. The shifter fell back, his mouth open in a silent scream as pure blue-white energy shot straight up and out of him into the sky.
Thunder exploded above so loud that windows shattered on planes, the airport, and everywhere within several hundred yards from their location. The sky lit up like the Fourth of July fireworks for several seconds before it faded into a constant stream of flashes.
Pyne stumbled back, pulling his arm from Morgan’s chest just as he became flesh and bone once more. His legs failed him and he collapsed to the ground, straining to breathe as his world spun.
Morgan fell over, quite dead, his entire body going limp. Steam flashed up as rain struck his super-heated skin, cooling it rapidly as it fell.
Pyne felt like sleeping, but he couldn’t. Struggling to his feet, he turned to look back at the terminal.
Standing on the second floor, hands over her mouth and horror written on her face was Kim, sandwiched between Aric and Rokk.
She was scared of him. Terrified. He’d lost his mate now that she’d seen the real him.
“Kim!” he gasped, and reached for her before the world went black.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kim
Shaking off Aric’s hold on her shoulder, she dashed back down the concourse, nearly tripping as her feet couldn’t quite keep up with her brain. The bottom of the stairs was simply gone, but she vaulted the last few feet to the ground. Her personal safety didn’t matter right now. All that mattered was Pyne.
The wind was blowing the rain into the airport through the broken windows, soaking her before she got within ten feet of one. By the time she actually made her way out onto the tarmac in the darkness—their fight had blown out every light in a large radius—water flowed down her like a river.
“PYNE!” she shouted, dropping to her knees at his side, not noticing the scrapes the rough surface opened beneath her pants as it tore them up. “Pyne, wake up! Please. Wake up. Use your super healing!”
She rolled him over, tearing up at the sight of his face, the right side of it a mass of ugly welts, gashes, and charred skin. The entire fight between them had been so brutal, she hated to see a man she cared for suffer this way.
No, not care for. That was wrong. Well not wrong, but inaccurate. It didn’t describe how she truly felt about him. It was lacking. There was another, better word, one that she’d been afraid to say before for fear of losing him. Now though, she might have lost him before she could say it.
“A man I love,” she whi
spered, bending over him. “Pyne, can you hear that? I love you. Please, come back to me.”
The wind lashed at her face, and two figures loomed up near her. Aric hung back, while Rokk stepped closer to check on his twin, gently prying her from his body. He examined Pyne, then rolled his eyes. “What a drama queen.”
“What?” Kim looked at him, then at Aric. “What is he talking about? What does that mean?”
“If I had to hazard a guess,” Aric said, grabbing Morgan’s severed arm with a grotesque ease toward doing such a thing that Kim nearly vomited, “I’d say he means that Pyne is going to be just fine, and is actually taking a nap, not being hurt.”
Rokk was already on his feet. “Somebody played a little too hard today,” he muttered. “Needed his mid-evening nappy I guess.” With a snort he went over to Aric and helped him recover the body.
Other figures were emerging onto the tarmac now, mostly soldiers from the base. Her eyes went up to the concourse where she’d watched the fight take place. The soldiers had thankfully removed all the innocent bystanders from out of viewing range, so all they had to worry about were security cameras, which she assumed someone else was probably already taking care of.
Pyne stirred in her arms, groaning loudly.
“See,” Rokk said. “Told you. He needed a nappy-poo.” With a grunt he hoisted Morgan’s body over his shoulder and the two of them headed off, just as a truck painted green, gray, and black pulled up in front of them. They tossed the body into a black bag and hopped in.
“I could get used to waking up to this sight.”
Her attention snapped back to Pyne. “You’re awake!”
“No thanks to my brother. Asshole. Ugh.” He held a hand to his face, forgetting that half of it was ruined. He yanked his hand back immediately. “Ouch. Idiot.”
“Your face,” she whispered.
