Eoghan itched for the fight. He paced in front of the waiting cars. Each step through the high beams cut his silhouette against the shipping containers in the background. His shadow looming over the open space fit his mood.

Mariko didn’t get a jump on them like the last time. But the waiting let his mind wander away from the conflict at hand and back to the woman chained up in his bed.

The last year was one long frustration and it didn’t end when Annika walked back into his life.

He hadn’t had a chance to use the cuffs before she disappeared. He wanted to see her spread out for him. He wanted to feel her hips bucking against him as he held her down and forced pleasure out of her with his mouth and hands. Then, and only after she begged so sweetly, would he give them both what they wanted.

Fooking hell. He shook his head and tried to clear away the image of Annika tied up in his bed. He needed to focus. And not on the things he wanted to do to her.

She wasn’t the woman he thought she was. She wasn’t the woman he fell for. She had a body made for loving and a mind made for deceit.

The desire that roared to life faded fast.

She thought she could leave him? Not a fooking chance. He was the one who would decide when it was done. She was in his city and under his rule.

Fuck.

It felt good to lock her up. The betrayal was minor compared to the lies she told him. She needed to hurt for what she did.

Even if he wanted to cast her aside, he didn’t think he could do it. Her head was just coming back together. She was still sick. She needed help until she was whole again.

And he wanted to punch something at the thought of anyone getting near enough to care for her.

He clenched and unclenched his fists. Soon. He’d have an excuse to fight soon enough.

On the one hand, she lied to him. Pure and simple. She was on a mission for her precious Dragon Court and she had plans to kill him if his intentions didn’t match the ones of her masters. She made no attempts to come clean until she was caught.

But on the other side of it all, she was his mate. A fact unexpectedly sprung on them both. It’d certainly been a shock to go into Heat and feel a connection to the Wyrd for the first time. He imagined she must have felt the same.

He couldn’t read her mind. Maybe she planned to square shite away with the Dragon Court. That entire time between their mating and her disappearance was a blur of discarded clothes and tangled limbs.

Eoghan growled and banished away the montage that popped into his head. A long, loud conversation was in their future. Ann could sit and stew while he put his territory to rights and figured out what to do with her after.

Simple, no?

The crew he brought with him perked up, one by one. He cocked his head and listened. Footsteps approached from the backside of the complex.

His fists clenched at his side as soon as Mariko appeared. Fury washed over him at the sight of her.

She knew the meeting would end in violence. The handle of her katana pushed over her shoulder. Her hair was tied in a knot on the top of her head. Even her clothes were prepared for the coming fight: soft and loose, ready for a quick shift should she need it.

Their fight wasn’t just over territory. He deluded himself into thinking so. The pictures of his sisters and the danger they represented, that was only a part of it.

Mariko had entered his home. She had attacked his mate, tried to steal her away from him. The side of him that enjoyed locking the cuffs around Annika’s wrists and laughing at her struggle to get free looked forward to snuffing Mariko from the world.

“Don Gilchrist,” Mariko greeted. She bowed her head in respect. It echoed their previous meeting.

He wouldn’t have that defeat repeated.

“Ya just don’t know when tae stop, do ya?” He stepped forward, meeting her halfway between their fighting forces. He ticked off his fingers. “Ya killed my capo. Ya stole my wytch. Ya entered my lair and tried tae steal my mate. Ya turned guns on me. Ya threatened my sisters. Tell me, Mariko, have ya seen someone about yer death wish? I couldn’t live with killing ya if yer just crazed.”

A few of his men sniggered. Mariko’s forces tensed at the insults. Mariko herself paid him no mind.

“We live in a dangerous world. We are dangerous people,” she said. “You put these people in danger by attempting to straddle our world and theirs. Do we blame the shark for hunting? You’ve chummed the waters; don’t be surprised when someone gets eaten.”

He’d gone to the Shadow Mob to protect his family. They needed money and not the kind that came with strings attached. He learned quickly that the best way to protect them was to be the one in charge. He rose through the ranks, scraped and saved to provide for them. He wouldn’t let Mariko play with his mind and push the burden on him. They were close to him but she was the one who threatened them.

“I supposed we can arrange a water burial. There won’t be much more than bits left of ya, anyway.”

“I’ll extend you the same terms as before. Leave. Flee the territory with your sisters, their children, and your mate.” She raised her voice for to be heard clearly by those behind him. “Any who wish to stay will have roles under the new regime, should they prove willing to transfer their loyalties.”

Snarls and growls were the only response. They were loyal to him. They knew any who were found wanting by the Yakuza would take a permanent soak in the river and they would all be found flawed.

“There’s yer answer. Doesn’t look like this will go well for ya.” Eoghan shrugged and picked a bit of dirt out from under his nails. His connection to the Wyrd was a short reach away.

“I’ll make yer men a deal. They leave, now. Keep DC. I already know the size of my cock, I don’t need a new city tae prove it’s the biggest around.” The men at his back laughed and quieted when he pointed to Mariko. “Ya stay and get tae enjoy our hospitality for as long as ya live.”

“I’m afraid you forced us to seek allies elsewhere.” Mariko brought her fingers to her lips and pierced the night with a whistle.

He was the first to look to the sky at the familiar whooshing of wings. Two dragons landed on the stacks of containers on either side of Mariko. She looked like a pleased cat licking cream off her paws.

He glanced over his shoulder. The men he brought with him were more than ready for the fight. And past them, in the distance, the lights of his city glowed against the night sky.

He wouldn’t be having that conversation with Annika after all.

There was only one thing to do when backed into a corner and facing sure death. He bared his teeth and laughed.

* * *

Annika decided she would kill Eoghan. No, killing was too good for King Bastart. He needed to be flayed. Doused with salt. Left to bake in the sun.

She bent painfully and tugged a bobby pin from her hair. Eoghan might think there was magic in a woman’s fingers, but she knew it was the power of experience and hair accessories.

She cursed when the first pin dropped to the bed. She dug another out from her locks, ignoring the strands she ripped out in the process. It kept her anger simmering.

His head would look so good poking out of stocks. She’d make the contraption with her own hands and set him on a pedestal in her room. Maybe make the stocks her pedestal. She’d kick her feet up on his head until she grew bored and then flay him.

She poked the pin into the keyhole on the first cuff. They were meant for sexy play, not keeping someone in restraints for long. The right amount of poking would pop them open…

“Yes,” she cheered when the metal ratcheted apart.

The second cuff was easy to press and release. Annika rolled out of bed and nearly stumbled when her feet hit the ground.

There was a spark of something at the edge of her vision. She turned toward it and it continued to glow brighter. She reached for it, embraced it, welcomed it inside her.

The Wyrd filled her from her head to her toes. With it came all the memories she’d lost. Her childhood snapped into place and she put faces to the brothers she couldn’t picture. Her reasons for fighting for the Dragon Court. She knew she needed to continue the war to keep the balance between the powyrful races intact. Her training with Jaya and talent for finding secrets. Eoghan.

Every second with Eoghan rushed by like a freight train and she nearly collapsed. He’d been so good to her and so deliciously bad. He made dark desires enter her head right beside the need to be near him for the rest of her life. She loved his fierce protection and craved the utter devotion that he sometimes let enter his eyes.

He had to come back with her. He was needed in some way she still couldn’t see but his importance went beyond just as her mate. He was a Lost Prince and he needed to return home.

And he was a damn idiot if he thought he could fight Mariko without her. She wanted her pound of flesh just as much as he did.

She rushed down the stairs and onto the terrace, plunging herself further into the welling powyr inside her. Her body knew what to do. She didn’t think about it and just let it happen. Her shape shimmered and expanded with the change of her limbs. Her clothes tore away from her body. Her wings pumped and lifted her off the terrace and high into the sky.

It felt like ages since she hovered in the same spot and watched Eoghan take his first flight. They flew a path similar to the one they’d taken in the seaplane and dove into the cold bay before returning to the warmth of his bed.

All that happiness ended with Lenore. Annika growled with the memory. The woman tossed her hair and touched Eoghan too much. She was the sweetest sugar around any of the men in Eoghan’s family and completely sour to all the women. She slipped into the bar one night while Annika closed up. She refused to leave until Annika had a drink with her.

White-hot rage rolled through her and Annika roared into the night. Lenore stole a year of her life that she’d never have back. Annika was forced to beg for food and sleep on the streets before she found her way to the shelter in DC. A year with Eoghan, lost. She hoped Lenore would show her face again, only so she could grind the smirk off her lips.

The air flowed over her wings. She would have whooped for joy if her throat could make the noise. Instead, something between a growl and a roar vibrated out of her.

She flew straight across the river and toward the lights of the port. She couldn’t pick out which warehouse belonged to Eoghan but the loud music and clumps of people gathered outside were all the hints she needed.

Her claws scraped on the roof of the warehouse as she sank and skid in her landing. She could hear music pumping through the speakers and the roar of the crowd over the repetitive beats. There wasn’t any sign of a struggle inside but she already suspected it. Eoghan wouldn’t bring the fight with Mariko to his paying crowds.

“What the—?” The watcher on the roof cursed and flung himself through the door, no doubt to find and warn someone up the food chain.

Annika tentatively reached forward and scanned the minds below. She found one she could use and boomed into his head. The underboss was already hissing into a walkie-talkie and pushing his way through the crowds.

Gio. Where is he?

The shock in his mind clamped down and tried to push her out.

“Fucking dragons,” Gio hissed when he barged through the door to the roof. He charged forward without a care for his own skin.

Annika pushed her snout forward and into his stomach. He stumbled back but didn’t stop glaring.

“He’s not here, which I’m sure you already know.”

Where is he?

“You got left behind for a reason. We don’t question his reasons.”

She growled and tiny trails of smoke exited her nostrils.

“Go on, light me up. I can’t shake my ass at him and have him forget my crimes.” Gio raised his hands and shook his head.

A screech sounded in her ears right before something huge slammed into her. They rolled off the edge of the roof, a tangle of wings and claws and fangs. Annika tumbled end over end before she landed roughly on the ground below.

She glanced around and spotted her attacker. The dragon was larger than herself and diving straight for her again.

Andon.

Annika acted fast. She snapped her wings back open and lifted high into the sky. Andon missed sinking his claws into her scales and dragging her back to the ground but succeeded in raking deep furrows down her spine.

I’ll be paid well for your death, Andon snarled in her head. So lovely for you to come to me instead of making me seek you out.

Music thumped in the warehouse but people streamed outside, lured by the fighting dragons.

She roared into the night and blew flame in his direction. He shifted out of the way with a quick flick of his wings and her blast missed him by inches.

Eoghan would destroy you.

He’ll be my prisoner by the end of the night.

They danced in the sky, looking to tear at wings or burn with breaths of fire. She knew she needed to finish the fight. Andon had other dragons in his entourage. If they weren’t backing him up, then they were elsewhere and she suspected it wasn’t aiding Eoghan in any way.

Andon dove straight into her and they crashed into the side of another warehouse. Glass shattered around them and dust covered them both. Annika was the first to push off from the ground and she rounded on Andon.

The larger dragon was slow to prepare for the attack. Her claws slashed into the underside of his neck and shoulders, tearing scales away from his body. The copper scent of blood filled her nose.

Andon jerked himself out of her grasp before she could turn flames or fangs on him. He shook his wings and tried to lift into the air but they were useless. One hung limply at his side. There was no place to go.

Annika struck, dragging herself over him. Her jaws closed around his throat and shook until life left her enemy.

Her sides heaved with each panting breath. She craned her neck upward and found Gio on the edge of the roof. His eyes glowed in the night.

Tell me where he is, Gio. I guarantee Andon isn’t the only dragon in the sky tonight.

“The complex between here and DC. Same place we went with you.”

She lifted into the air without another word.

The flight was much quicker than the drive. She kept her eye on the interstate leading out of Baltimore. The complex was nestled between the two cities and just off the main road.

You don’t need to go alone.

The gentle voice in her head almost made her falter. She pumped her wings and steadied herself.

Jaya dropped out of the clouds next to her. She swung her head to eye the other dragon then turned her attention to the road below and adjusted her path.

He fights Mariko tonight, she thought to Jaya.

Then we keep our idiot Prince alive.

They flew in impatient silence. Annika didn’t know what to expect. She tried to lock away all her emotions. It wouldn’t do to worry until she took stock of the situation. She didn’t know how many men he brought with him. She didn’t know how many Mariko called hers.

She couldn’t let Eoghan go into battle alone. She couldn’t live with herself if he died. And if he lived, she might just kill him herself for making her worry.

They found chaos when they arrived. Bodies littered the ground. Both sides had planned for slaughter and it was what they received.

Annika hovered and spotted Eoghan near the center of the maze of containers. He looked like some mad angel. Huge wings unfurled at his side and he shouted orders to the men and women around him, some still in their human forms and some in their animal skins. Snarling werewolves were his honor guard, snapping and tearing into any enemy who came too close.

An entire stack of containers had fallen to the side and some broken doors spilled contents onto the ground. He was trapped with the containers at his back and two groups attacking from the sides. They were surrounded and they were outnumbered but Eoghan wouldn’t give up. He would die fighting.

Why won’t he take on his full form? Jaya thought at her.

Lightning flashed around Annika and barely missed searing her wings. She snapped her wings together and dodged another barrage. There, on one stack, someone wielded the elements and directed them at the newcomers. They must have had orders to take down any dragon in the sky but the ones on their side.

Eoghan’s half-shifted state made more sense.

Jaya swooped low and knocked a wing into the powyr user. The woman flailed and fell off the stacks and Jaya rose back into the air before the other dragons could attack her or defend their wytch.

The stacks of shipping containers made it difficult for the dragons to get at the shifters on the ground. Skirmishes were taking place all over the complex. Groups ran down the lanes and dove around the corners just as a dragon flew through and lit the pathway on fire.

But as Annika watched, the dragons changed tactics. They flew at each other, breathing fire as they went and lighting the stack up on two sides. The shifters trapped between didn’t stand a chance, Eoghan or Mariko’s forces alike. Their pained screams turned to deadly silence.

We need to take them out.

Annika thought her agreement at Jaya. They wheeled higher into the sky and prepared to attack.

Annika dove toward the dragon below and sank her claws into its back. The beast screamed and tried to turn its head around to hit her with flames but they were too tangled. She snapped at the wings beating to keep them aloft, tearing into flesh and bone as they hurtled toward the earth.

At the last second, she whipped open her wings and let loose the dragon in her grasp. Her enemy slammed into the ground and didn’t move.

Nearby, a second body crashed into the pavement. Jaya balanced on top and delivered a final blow.

The madness on the ground was nearly deafening, even on the edges of the battle. With the dragons out of the air, the fight resumed between the shifters. Growls and hisses joined with snarls and howls. Bullets pinged and ricocheted off the metal containers.

Go to him, Jaya ordered.

They lifted off the ground and swung over the stacks. The collapsed side gave them room to land but barely enough space to maneuver.

Annika landed behind one group that attacked Eoghan and his dwindling force. She slashed with claws and knocked some out of the way but soon she and Jaya became huge targets. She roared at the first bite to her legs and shook a cat off her wing as it tried to claw its way up her body.

Pain laced through her side and Annika spun as much as she could manage in the tight space. Mariko lined up another shot.

Eoghan launched into the air, his focus completely on Mariko. They rolled with one another until he kicked her savagely away from him. Her features changed as she reached into the Wyrd. Her fingers lengthened and thickened into claws.

A booming crash startled Mariko and she and Eoghan both turned to see what had caused the noise. The door on a tipped over container fell open, looking like a lolling tongue. Two barrels rolled out, one leaking fluid as it turned.

Beyond them, Annika saw someone climbing to the top of a stack. She recognized the powyr user Jaya had knocked to the ground.

She leapt into the air but it was too late.

Static rolled uneasily over her scales just as a new round of lightning crashed down on the ground. Mariko was hit and thrown backwards. Another blinding lance landed near the leaking barrel. A line of flame flashed to life and led straight into the open container.

The container burst into flame. A thick bellow of fire blew out the open door and Eoghan disappeared inside.

Everyone on their feet fell to the ground with the force of the blast. Even in the air, she felt the wind blistering her scales and she wavered to keep aloft.

Her heart broke into a thousand pieces. She was so close to having her life back and so close to making a life with Eoghan. She searched desperately for any sign that Eoghan made it out alive and found none.

As quick as the explosion, he was gone.

The container landed with a crash. Smoke billowed out from both sides. Movement caught her eye and she didn’t dare to hope.

Against the smoke, wings unfurled and a body as large as a house rose above the flames.

Relief flooded through her. She roared into the night.

Eoghan balanced on the nearest stack and answered her cry with one declaring his victory.

She and Jaya perched on another stack. Some of Eoghan’s men not caught in the blast were the first to arrive and urge others to their feet. Mob men were quickly sorted from Yakuza that just didn’t have any fight left in them without dragons at their back. The living dragged the bodies with them.

Annika split her focus between Eoghan and those below. Then, she spied a curious and infuriating sight.

Lenore tried to scoot away from the Yakuza and rejoin Eoghan’s ranks.

Annika pounced. Everyone around Lenore scattered.

She pinned Lenore to the ground. The woman stole everything from her and when that failed, she tried it again. Her blood would taste wonderful on her tongue. The scent of fear rolled off the woman like an intoxicating perfume.

Ann.

She hissed and turned her head, ready to chomp on whoever tried to stop her exacting her revenge.

Yer not a killer.

She poisoned me.

She snapped her jaws in front of Lenore’s cringing face. Her tail lashed from side to side. She was a killer. She was trained for it. If anyone deserved to be eaten, it was Lenore.

She will be dealt with. Come.

He lifted into the air and hovered to make sure she let Lenore loose. She did, reluctantly, and followed him into the sky. She turned and verified that Lenore was sorted back into the losing side. Then, and only then, did she wheel around and trail after Eoghan.