"Fuck!" shouted Thorne, his hands on the large windows looking out onto the back property, his eyes locked onto the pair of gray dragons. "How the fuck did they find us here?"
"What?" demanded Adelaide. "What are you talking about? Are those things dragons?"
"Yes, they're fucking dragons!" shouted Thorne over the sound of the beasts letting out another pair of roars.
Thorne's eyes latched back onto the creatures.
Grays, he thought, noting the ash-colored scales that covered both of the dragons, which meant that they were newer dragons, unaffiliated with any clan and not seasoned enough to have earned a color. Standard dragons; nothing I shouldn't be able to handle. But there's two of them; that might make things tricky.
Before he could act, the dragons shifted. Where the massive grays once stood was now a pair of menacing-looking thugs in slick suits. Thorne could tell right away that these were ronin dragons – not with a clan, nor with a mercenary company - just a few low-lifes looking to get paid.
"Thorne Lewis!" called out one in a deep voice. "You know why we're here. Send the girl out and we'll allow you to leave with your life."
Thorne boiled with rage.
"Someone knows we're here," he hissed, turning to Adelaide.
"I can see that," she said, her fear-widened eyes on the dragons.
"No," said Thorne. "Someone who hired these fuckers knows we’re here. They know who we are, and what we're doing."
Adelaide said nothing, and it was clear that she didn't know what to make of all of this.
So much the fucking better, thought Thorne. She doesn't need to know any of this crap.
"You'll let me leave with my life," said Thorne. "But are you gonna replace that fence?"
The two thugs turned to each other and shared a look.
"Come out now," one of them said. "Otherwise, we'll have to smash through this lovely home and pick the girl out of the rubble."
Thorne's mind raced. He realized that this was a do-or-die type of situation. Even if he wanted to give up Adelaide, there was no chance these thugs would let him live.
Maybe if I can get them talking, he thought, I get some information out of them. Maybe give Adelaide a chance to get to a hiding place.
"You," said Thorne, his voice low and gruff. "Stay here until I talk to those assholes. And when I do, you make a break for it out the front door. Passcode for the gate out front is five-seven-seven. Just run as fast as you fucking can, and don't look back."
Adelaide said nothing, her face frozen in an expression of fear.
"Nod or something!" demanded Thorne. "I need to know you understand me!"
Adelaide finally nodded slowly.
"Good," he said. "Run into the bayou. I'll come find you. Just keep running."
Adelaide nodded again, but Thorne could tell she was almost too shocked by what was going on to really comprehend his words. He had hoped he wouldn't have to be the one to tell her about dragons, but at that moment, he realized how silly this thought had been. All he could hope for at this moment was that she was able to understand his simple directions of "run."
"Don't forget what I said," hissed Thorne, standing up and heading toward the back doors.
"Here I am," said Thorne, stepping out onto the backyard, his arms outstretched.
As he got closer, he could see that the thugs were a pair of twins, both with slim bodies, dirty blonde shoulder-length hair, and bony, menacing faces. He sized them up as he approached. Thorne knew that two on one would be tough, but he was a silver, and silvers were nothing to screw with.
"We don't want you," said one of the thugs. "We want the girl. Where is she?"
"Yes," said the other. "Give her to us now."
"Now," said Thorne, "why would I want to do a thing like that?"
The twins exchanged a look.
"Because, otherwise, you die."
"And how can I know for sure that you're not gonna just kill me anyway?" he said, hoping that Adelaide had already started running, knowing that each second he kept these two occupied was a little more distance she could cover. “I mean, grays aren't exactly known for their scrupulous ways."
"Because we're getting paid for this, just like you," said the twin on the right. "We're here to collect her; our client said nothing about you."
"Right," said the other twin. "As far as we're concerned, you can fuck off back to your mansion."
A client, thought Thorne. Who the fuck would this be?
"Who the hell are you working for?" said Thorne. "Who the hell wants this girl so goddamn bad?"
"Someone who wants to make sure that the Abruzzi don't have her. At any cost."
"Clearly not at any cost," said Thorne, "if they're hiring garbage-tier mercs like you."
The twins exchanged another look, this one more heated than the one before.
"You fucking silvers," said the twin on the right, "think you're the only mercs that matter, the only ones who can get the job done."
"You're arrogant," said the other twin. "And that arrogance will be your undoing."
"Now," said the right-most twin. "Are you going to give us the girl, or are we going to have to roast you alive?"
She'd better be gone, thought Thorne. Long fucking gone.
He knew a fight was about to break out, and Adelaide couldn't be anywhere near it. Thorne glanced quickly over his shoulder, looking to the area where he'd been with Adelaide only a few moments before.
To his horror, he saw that Adelaide hadn't run. She was still in that same spot, that same fearful expression on her face.
God-fucking-dammit! thought Thorne.
He knew that the time for subtlety was over.
"Adelaide!" he shouted, his voice booming. "Run! Right fucking now!"
That did it. Adelaide snapped back into reality, signaling her understanding with a nod. Then, she sprang up from where she was hidden and rushed out of sight, toward the front of the house.
"Get her!" said the twin on the right. "I'll deal with this duplicitous fuck!"
With that, the twins shifted into their dragon forms.
Time to fight, thought Thorne, shifting himself.
Moments later, Thorne was in his full silver dragon form, eye-to-eye with the twin on the right. The other took up and off into the air, the buffeting of his wings harsh in Thorne's eyes.
Shit, he thought. Gotta kill this fucker and then that one before he can get to Adelaide. Here goes nothing…
The dragon in front of him swiped through the air, Thorne ducking out of the way reflexively. Then, he lifted into the air, flapped in place for a moment, then hurtled toward Thorne like a ruby meteor. Thorne dodged this attack too, the dragon hitting the ground hard enough to crack the pavement from the impact.
Thorne moved back, putting a bit of distance between himself and the dragon. The gray struggled to his feet.
He's eager to go in for the kill right away, thought Thorne, squaring up his body and preparing for the gray's next attack. I just need to bait him and let him make his own mistakes.
Thorne prepared a feint, pulling his body back and looking as though he was about to rush in for a careless attack. The gray noticed this, and as Thorne hurtled toward him, his large scaled feet booming against the ground as he ran, the gray lunged back, filling his chest with air. Then, as Thorne grew closer, the gray did just what he'd hoped he would. A massive stream of dark orange fire shot from the gray's mouth; Thorne knew he wouldn't be able to resist roasting a rushing dragon. But Thorne was ready. As soon as he'd caught sight of the flames forming in the gray's mouth, he moved his body out of the way, taking flight and allowed the flame jet to shoot past him harmlessly. The pool, however, caught fire, the superheated flames of the red-hot enough to scorch the water itself.
The gray stumbled, the fire blast taking it out of him for a moment. Thorne wasn't about to waste this chance. He rose higher in the air, giving himself space for momentum. Then, once the gray was small beneath him, Thorne propelled himself downward, hurtling toward the earth and smashing the gray. He felt the snapping of many thick bones under him, and Thorne knew that this was it for this particular gray. The beast struggling helplessly underneath him, Thorne lunged in and bit down hard on the gray’s neck, snapping it like a stick.
The gray fell into a lifeless heap.
Now the second one, thought Thorne.
Thorne took off into the night sky, scanning around him for any sight of the gray dragon. Finally, he caught a glimpse of the beast flying away from the property, his huge ash-colored wings flapping against the ink-dark night sky.
I'm coming for you, motherfucker, thought Thorne, picking up his speed and racing toward the gray. Eventually, he caught up with him, the beast stopping in mid-flight and whipping his body around to face Thorne. Looking down, far below him onto the ground, Thorne eagerly searched for Adelaide among the thick trees. But he couldn't spot her.
Good, he thought. Get good and far the fuck away from here.
Now he had the second gray to deal with. The dragon pulled his head back and launched a fireball at Thorne, the superheated orb of flame hurtling toward him. Thorne, momentarily distracted by his search for Adelaide, was caught by surprise by the fireball. He moved out of the way, but not quickly enough to avoid having the very tip of his left wing singed.
Oh, you're gonna pay for that, you piece of shit, thought Thorne, anger building inside of him.
He let the scorching pain pass through his body. Once he collected himself, he prepared for the gray's attack. The dragon zipped through the air, hoping to hit Thorne hard enough to knock him out of the sky. But Thorne wasn't about to fall for this move. He dodged the gray with ease, the dragon hurtling past him.
You're not the only one here who can play with fire, prick, thought Thorne.
As the gray stopped in mid-air, turning himself around gracelessly in order to recover from his overshoot, Thorne let a budding flame take form in his mouth. He held fast, giving the gray an easy target. Sure enough, the gray squared up for another attack.
Can't believe how easy these amateur fucks are to bait, he thought, feeling the heat from the flames in his mouth.
Then, the gray flapped his wings hard and rushed toward Thorne. But Thorne was ready. Right as the gray closed in on him, the beast's mouth wide open and his claws ready to rip and tear, Thorne opened his mouth and blasted out a thick jet of dark blue flame. The fire tore through the air, connecting with the gray and engulfing him in superhot fire within seconds. The gray, totally consumed by fire, kept himself aloft for a brief moment before the flames ate through his wings and sent him hurtling toward the ground. The beast let out one last roar as he dropped, and when he hit the ground in a flaming heap, Thorne heard the thud.
Now I gotta find the girl, he thought.
Thorne scanned the ground frantically, hoping to catch some sight of her. He had nightmare visions of her in the jaws of some gator, or God forbid, right where the gray happened to be when he smashed into the ground. But as he flew, he caught the scent of something – something strange and enticing. He sniffed the air, noting that the scent was almost intoxicating. He sniffed and sniffed, unable to resist the scent.
That's…gotta be her! he thought, aiming his body in the direction of the scent and flying as fast as he could.
What the hell kind of smell is that? he thought. Never smelled a human like that before.
He put his confusion out of his mind as he flew toward where the smell led him. Soon, he was able to spot movement among the trees, and sure enough, he saw that it was Adelaide. She was running as fast as she could, and from Thorne's height, he could see that she was headed in no place in particular. He flew toward the ground in front of her, smashing through the treetops and coming to a landing on the earth just before Adelaide. She stopped in place, and he took a long sniff of the air. Sure enough, the scent was stronger, almost overpowering.
Gotta ignore it, he thought. She smells so fucking good.
Adelaide, her eyes wide, stared up at Thorne. But he didn't have time to stand there while she looked at him with disbelief; he had to get her back to the house and figure out just what the hell was going on. He gestured with a swing of his head for her to climb on his back. It took a few moments, but she eventually got the hint and got on him. Once she'd had a moment to grab hold, Thorne took off, up and into the air. He flew over the bayou, making his way back to the house. Once they arrived, he came to a landing in the backyard, the flame on the pool dying down, the gray dragon twin now back in human form and splayed out lifelessly on the concrete.
Thorne felt Adelaide scrambled off his back, and once she was on the ground, took another long sniff of the air. With her on his back, the scent was so powerful that he could hardly think straight. Looking down at her as she stood before him, she was the only thought that could be held in his mind.
Thorne needed to fuck her, and now.
He shifted back into his human form, now face-to-face with Adelaide. The scent had left him intoxicated; he felt hardly in control of himself. So it was almost something of a surprise to him when he rushed toward Adelaide, took her into his arms, and kissed her hard.