Chapter 28
Fighting the urge to turn into his dragon form, Duncan closed his eyes and concentrated. As a guardian, he had heightened senses for tracking beings not from the Mortal Realm. He inhaled deeply and concentrated with all his might. The additional power Ava gifted him with made this task considerably easier.
He could sense the essence of Celestials. No surprise, with the house inhabited by four of them. After a few seconds, something strange caught his attention. The scent of a demon—one he couldn’t identify. Not a wraith or an incubus or any other he could recognize from the Dark Realm.
An entity he never encountered before had taken Ava, and that scared the hell out of him. Given the creature’s distinct signature essence, tracking the bastard should be a piece of cake.
Guilt and rage fueled his determination to find Ava’s abductor and shred him to pieces. If he hadn’t sent her away, she would still be safe and by his side. A dragon-shifter should always be able to recognize his mate, and he had failed her miserably.
Shifting into his dragon form, Duncan soared through the skies above Las Vegas, undetected by mortal beings. As a dragon, his senses magnified ten-fold. Able to isolate the scent of the demonic being, he continued to track it as a predator would its prey.
The distinct essence grew as he neared the strip. Circling until he found the exact location, he landed on the top of his own casino and peered through the skylight into his penthouse. What he witnessed through the glass caused a tidal wave of rage that swept away all reason.
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Thankful that Trayan vanished and left her in one piece, Ava searched for a way out of her metal prison. She examined the small gilded lock on the cage door. With no obvious place for a key, Ava wondered if the lock could be voice activated. A search revealed a tiny silver button on its base. With her finger pressing down on the button, she said Trayan’s name.
An electric shock surged through the lock with enough force to send her flying to the back of the cage. Clutching her sides in pain, Ava closed her eyes as the cage swung wildly from side to side.
Continuing to try random words or phrases would leave her too weak to fight the demonic god when he came back. She sat for what seemed to be an eternity. Piece by piece, a plan came to her. She would use Trayan’s massive ego against him by flattering his uniqueness and pretending to admire him.
Hopefully, she could distract him enough to somehow disable him. It may not be the best plan in the world, but it was all she had.
Sparks of static filled the air, causing her skin to tingle and her ears to pop. Trayan appeared in a shockwave that had the furniture in the room lifting off the hardwood floor and slamming back down. Her cage rocked violently and flung her about. Her captor had returned, looking for his pound of flesh.
Trayan stalked to the cage and grabbed one of the bars, stilling the jerking movement in the process. With his black eyes, soulless glare, and thick, ebony horns, he was the essence of pure evil. His skin glowed, not the soft glow of a fire, but a yellow, jaundiced glow reminiscent of subway lighting.
As he moved closer, his acrid scent seared her nostrils. The hair on the back of her neck stood straight, and her heart raced.
Powerless after the ritual of reviving Duncan weeks before, she was still no match for a demon—god or whatever the hell Trayan had become.
With a wave of his hand, he dissolved the cage, and she fell to the ground. Ava’s already bruised body screamed in protest, but she remained stoic, refusing to appear weak. His fingers gripped firmly around the handle of the electric whip he had used on her earlier. The tip sizzled and snapped as it snaked across the floor.
Fighting through disgust, she put her plan into action.
Summoning her sex goddess wiles, Ava stood and sauntered toward Trayan, giving him a seductive smile.
“You know, Trayan, I find your new enhancements a real turn-on. I know we haven’t exactly seen eye to eye in the past, but perhaps it’s time for our relationship to change.”
A slow, menacing grin spread across his face. In one swift movement, he used the whip to pull Ava toward him. Now face to face with her tormentor, she could see the burning rage in his demonic gaze.
“You think me stupid, bitch?” His voice had lowered a couple of octaves, resulting in a rumbling echo. “You think I’ll fall for your tricks and your lies after you humiliated and rejected me time and again?”
Trayan dragged her to the bedroom. She gasped in dismay as the whip split into four pieces and secured her wrists and ankles to the bedpost. The stinging electricity seared through her flesh, as she struggled to free herself.
Trayan’s demented laugh assaulted her ears as he hovered over her. “Our relationship will change, Goddess. You will bend to my will, submit to me, and satisfy my darkest urges. And when you’re all used up, I’ll throw you to the hellhounds.”
Trayan fell upon her like a ravenous wolf, biting her flesh. She screamed in protest as he tore at her clothing. Repulsed by the feel of his hands and mouth on her skin, she struggled against him. Her thoughts flashed to Duncan, and she wondered if he would ever know, or even care, what happened to her.
A thunderous roar and a shower of glass from the skylight halted the vicious attack. Duncan, in his glorious dragon form, plummeted to the floor. His scales glistened as his talons extended for the attack.
Trayan spun around, fangs elongated and claws protruded, as he grew in size to match Duncan’s. The two opponents hurtled toward each other, coming together in a clash of fury and brutality. Each tore at the other with claws and fangs as trails of blood arced across the room. Fire shot from the dragon’s mouth as Trayan used his super-charged whip.
Bedding and furniture caught on fire, filling the room with smoke and flames. Ava’s bonds suddenly dissolved, perhaps due to Trayan’s concentration on the battle. She rolled off the bed, fell to the floor, and covered her mouth. Too weak to stand, she crawled toward the sounds of the life-and-death struggle, unable to see through the smoke.
Flames licked her skin, as she shimmied across the floor through the blood and soot. The sounds of battle grew louder by the second until she could make out the forms of Trayan and Duncan through the haze.
The viciousness of their encounter evident by bleeding gashes on their skin, both men showed no signs of giving in. The flames spread up the walls. At least she would die knowing that Duncan had returned for her.
Ava watched in horror as Trayan slashed at Duncan’s throat, slicing through his blue-green scales. Duncan roared in pain, instinctively turning and shielding himself from further assault.
Ava screamed as the electric whip in Trayan’s hand morphed into a sword, sizzling with red sparks.
“Prepare to die, Shifter.” The demon roared as he wielded the blade above his head.
Before Trayan had a chance to strike, Duncan’s dragon tail slashed Trayan’s throat, severing the chain that held the glowing orb. As the orb tumbled to the floor and rolled out of Trayan’s reach, a look of terror flashed across his face. The demon instantly turned back to his Celestial form and fell to the floor, gasping for his last breath.
Trayan’s body turned to ash. Flames roared all around them as Duncan charged toward Ava, taking a nanosecond to smash the still-glowing orb. Once she was safely on his back, he shot through the skylight and away from the inferno.