TWENTY-EIGHT
Jae was about to bat Ker over the head with a skillet.
“Don’t blame me,” the younger one said. “I’ve been overly nice to Hannah while you two go off and bang each in another room. Even though I’m not in lust with Hannah, I sure hope she doesn’t belong to you after what you’ve done.”
“What do you mean, what I’ve done?” Jae spouted. “I’ve been crazy for Avery since the first time I saw her.”
“Doesn’t matter with us. You know that,” Ker added.
“And that’s why the first elder I come across, I’m having them remove my mark.”
“You mean, kill your dragon,” Ker finished.
“You don’t want Avery, so why do you care what I do?” Jae was baffled by Ker’s concern.
“Why do you think? You’re my brother. My dumbass brother, it appears. What do you think Tor is going to say when he finds out you want to do this?” Ker tossed out the veiled threat.
Jae rounded the center island’s counter in a breath. In Ker’s face, he said, “No one’s going to tell Tor. Besides, I’m second oldest and I damn well know how to run my own goddamned life. Got it?”
Ker lifted his chin and chest. “Run? More like ruin. I won’t stand by and let you destroy yourself over something that might be gone in a month.”
A growl came from Jae. “I will love Avery forever. She’s mine—”
A dual feminine scream erupted outside. The guys rushed to the door and saw a dark cloud descending toward them.
“What the fuck?” Ker said. Then Jae recognized what was happening.
“The Noir. The whole damn clan on our front step.”
Several yards away from the cabin’s front door, Sylvana and one of Sayeh’s men appeared, smug smiles on their faces. Jae opened the door and stepped out, stopping at the porch.
“Well,” Jae started, “what do we owe this non-pleasure to?”
“We are about to kill all of you,” Sylvana told him. “I’m going to have my revenge for Tor’s mate trying to burn me.”
“You deserved it. You tried to kill her first!” Jae growled. “Why not leave us in peace already?”
“No. I will have my revenge. And soon Sayeh will, too.” Sylvana smiled. “Sayeh said I could do with you as I wish.” She licked her lips and eyed both brothers from head to toe, stopping at their centers to linger longer. “It will be fun to tear you limb from limb. Or maybe make you my own sex slaves.”
“We’ll kill each other before that happens, Sylvana. Our mates are the only ones for us.”
“Speaking of mates,” she said, turning to the side and raising her hand. Jae saw two dragons lift the girls off the ground in their claws.
“No.” The brothers shifted into their dragons, ready to pounce on the two offenders. Before they could get to the women, a throng of smaller dragons pummeled them with fire and physical attacks.
The guys fought in a rampage of fury and vengeance, tearing wings, breaking bones, snapping heads. Left and right, more kept coming to replace those taken down. One thing about the Noir, they may be smaller in size and strength to the Drachen, but they made up for it in quantity. They simply overwhelmed the enemy’s ass.
And that strategy was beginning to work. Jae was losing blood through the cheap stabs and bites the smaller dragons took in their goal to take him down. He’d torched a couple pests on one side, and on the other three more dragged claws, tearing skin down his back.
The snow around him and his brother was quickly turning red. Large splotches dotted the area where Noir fell. But those became fewer and fewer. Jae fought for his life, not able to even look around for Avery or Hannah. He figured Sey’ had already killed them. The bastard had been after the brothers’ mates for such a long time. That was one way to limit their population growth.
Jae reached out to Ker through their telepathic link. “Brother?”
Ker was weak and straining against the mass influx. “I can’t hold out much longer. There’s too many.”
“Can you see the women?” Jae asked.
“I’m sure one of the Noir has taken them somewhere. Maybe even killed them,” Ker paused. “Should we run and live to fight another day?”
Surrender? Jae would die a million deaths before admitting surrender and leaving Avery out there. Alone. He’d fight them until he could no longer take another breath. For Avery, he’d give his life.
“Never!” rang in their minds. Each brother looked up to see Tor thrashing his way through the mass. Their hopes lifted and fighting picked up strength.
Jae glanced up and saw a bigger dragon diving toward Tor from behind. One of Sayeh’s soldiers. Bastard.
Tor, behind you! Jae warned too late. The Noir slammed into Tor’s blind spot. Jae tried to tear free of the mob attacking him to help Tor, but they were relentless. Jae had to save himself before he could help anyone else.
The battle raged on, Noir dying left and right, but hanging on long enough to wear down the Drachen. All brothers had changed colors to the strongest, but when Jae checked on his brothers next, the Noir that attacked Tor wasn’t around. Looked like big brother got rid of the big, bad asshole.
Now Tor was covered in smaller Noir, like ants clinging to their hill in a windstorm. Then two other dragons, both larger than Jae had seen in hundreds of years, relieved Tor of his burden.
“Prepare for a death wave,” Tor shouted in their minds. Jae hadn’t heard Tor’s last two words together since leaving their planet so long ago. The only ones able to carry out a death wave were elders. Tor must have found an elder in the UFO sighting location he went to see. That meant if he and Avery survived, he could have his mark removed and they could live and die together.
Another thought raced through his mind. If the women were still alive, unless they were protected by a superior force, the death wave would kill them. Before Jae could warn Tor about the women, the death wave began.