“I can't get through the wards,” Cato said.

“Dax, smash it open,” Kian said.

With a marvelous roar, that could be heard through the entire compound, Dax rammed against the door, half shifting at the same time. His wings flew out from his back. The other dragons lowered their invisibility cloaks as the door flew open. The room was empty.

“Were you looking for your mate and baby?”

Kian turned, seeing dozens of vampires standing in the hallway, led by the one called Victor, who he’d seen the first time he’d been to the mansion.

“You fell right into our trap,” said a vampire in a blood red hoodie.

“Cato, you said you saw their signature in this room,” Kian growled.

“Our magic worked,” said Victor, raising an eyebrow.

“What have you done with them?” Kian demanded.

“You’ll never know,” said Victor.

“I'm scanning the house again. The scans have changed. I will find them, Kian,” Cato said.

“Hurry.”

“It's time to take on some vampire scum,” Dax growled, still in his half shift form.

He extended his two-handed laser sword from this wrist device and charged at the vampires. They evaporated into wisps of smoke. Dax swung at thin air, turning and growling at their disappearance.

“Where did they go?” Aidan asked.

“Over here,” said one of the vampires. They were suddenly behind the dragons. Kian went into his half-shift form and blew fire at the crowd, the room caught fire and the vampires shrieked.

“They’re fire dragons,” said one of the vampires.

“Attack them,” said Victor.

The vampires all jumped on the dragons, bearing their teeth. They were strong, but not nearly as strong as the dragons. Kian bashed half a dozen men off of his half-shifted body and breathed fire at the rest.

“Have you found her, Cato?” Kian demanded.

“I'm still scanning,” Cato said, ducking under the blow of one of the vampires. Dax was out in the hall, punching and biting and slashing at the vampires attacking him. There were more coming all the time and the dragons couldn't seem to turn back the tide.

“I can't get a hold of them,” Dax complained. “They keep disappearing into smoke.”

“I've already scratched three of them,” Aidan said. “You have to be quicker. You can't just slash. You have to use some finesse.”

The two dragons were back to back in the hall as the vampires emerged from every door, attacking Kian’s crew. He had his own hands full. Kian tried to distract the vampires from Cato as he scanned the mansion for Everly and Ember.

“Finesse?” Dax snorted. “I'll show you finesse.”

Suddenly there was a massive roar, and Dax's dragon tail whipped around in the narrow hallway.

“Now you've done it,” Aiden complained. “You're stuck, you big oaf.”

“That just means they can't get by,” Dax said through their mental link. He breathed fire down the hall.

“Now you've set the whole place on fire,” Aidan said, ducking and swerving as he used his laser swords on the vampires.

“I've ignited some vampire scum!” Dax said triumphantly through the mental link.

“Well, I've slashed the neck of at least six,” Aiden said.

“I found her,” Cato said. “She's in the tower above the third floor.”

“How do we get there?” Kian asked.

“The quickest route is through the air,” Kian said.

“Dax, make a path.”

Kian could hear the building creaking as Dax shifted back into his half-shift form. The vampires were still attacking from every side, but their teeth couldn't penetrate the dragons tough hide. All four men barreled down the hall and out the front door. Aidan sent a stream of flame into the sound system and chuckled through their mental link.

“Was that really necessary?” Kian asked.

“Are you kidding me? They have the worst taste in music of any living creatures on Earth. Where did they even find that stuff?”

“Would you shut up about music?” Dax said.

“When you learn to fight then you can tell me to shut up.”

They hurried out the front door and shifted into their full dragon forms.

“Where is she?” Kian demanded through their mental link.

“There,” Cato said, sending an impression to the other three dragons.

They flew up to a tower. It had one single narrow window.

“How are we supposed to get in there?” Kian asked.

They landed on the roof and inspected the window. Kian went into human form and peeked in the window.

“She's in here.”

Everly saw him and ran to the window, placing her palm against the glass.

“Kian,” she wailed. “I knew you'd come.”

She held Ember affectionately in her arms, with her hand over the back of the baby's head.

“Stand back,” he said. She ran away from the window, and Kian bashed it in with his elbow. The glass shattered, and he used his scaly arms to clear it away.

“Come, you can fit through this window.”

“We have vamps incoming,” Aidan said.

“Keep them off us,” Kian said, taking Ember as Everly passed her through the window. “Cato, take the baby.”

Kian handed Cato the child. He took Everly's hand and helped her out of the window. She threw her arms around him, her soft curves pressing against his hard chest. She looked up at the other men.

Dax was in full dragon form, blowing fire indiscriminately all around him. Aidan was in half-shift form with his burning red laser swords spinning and dancing as he sliced and diced at the vampires. Cato was also half-shifted, holding Ember protectively in his arms.

“It's true then,” she said, her mouth dropping open. “You are dragons.”

“We are. I should have told you before, and I'm sorry, but we don't have time to explain now. We have to get out of here.”

He half-shifted in front of her eyes, and the surprise on her face was heartbreaking. But when he reached out to take her hand, she accepted it. He lifted her up in his arms, pumping his wings to take her away. Cato was right behind him in half-shift form, holding baby Ember against his chest.

“We can't kill them,” Dax complained. “Even when I set them on fire, they just disappear into smoke and the fire goes out.”

“And my swords are not killing them,” Aidan said. “They just get back up a minute later.”

“We leave,” Kian shouted through their mental link. “We will deal with this later.”

The dragons followed their leader and flew away from the vampire’s compound. Going under their invisibility cloak, they were unrecognizable to the human eye as they flew through the air back to their home. He cradled Everly in his arms and she clung to his neck.

“I'm sorry I didn't tell you,” he said. “I didn't want to shock you.”

“You don’t have to worry about shocking me now that I’ve been kidnapped by vampires,” she said.

“We have shields around the property, but you must have walked across them. It was irresponsible of me not to warn you. I won't make that mistake again.”

“I knew you would come. I knew you would defeat them. They told me they were setting a trap for you, and I was afraid for a moment that you would be trapped. But then I told myself, no. Kian is too strong and brave to be tricked by these vicious vampires. He'll come for me and Ember. And save us both. I knew you would.”

She buried her head in his chest and a tear trickled out of her eye and soaked into his scales.

“I'll always come for you. I'll always protect you. And I won’t ever keep a secret from you again.”