Miguel Ramirez Lopez

With my foot pressed down hard on the pedal, I motored it back to Philly. No cop cars were in sight, thankfully. I wasn’t in the mood to be pulled over. We had the money for tickets, of course, but it would have been an unnecessary delay.

And when you’re at war, unnecessary delays could mean death.

That none of our dragons, not one, had come to our aid had me so aggerated and worried that I drove with two hands on the wheel. Normally, I was more laid back, driving with one hand and maybe my knee guiding it too. Not today.

This anxiety wasn’t something I was accustomed to. Anger, sure. I could be a bit heated. I’d admit it. But this was so much more. This was everything we had built. The Three-Tailed Clan was a wonderful clan. We were closer than most. We had built a true community. We had doctors and bankers. We had pharmacists and store owners. We had a grocer. Honestly, if we wanted to, we could form our own city and survive and thrive, damn it. We would rock it.

Hmm. Maybe when the dust settled, we could consider that. I’d like to get away from everyone, including humans.

But with Audrey, of course. She had us all wrapped around her little finger, and honestly, I was beginning to not mind. Loving her had changed me, and I knew I was a better dragon for having met her. So much more protective than ever before. I might’ve been selfish once upon a time, willing to be with any woman, but now, she was all I needed.

It wasn’t too much longer until I arrived back in the city. Reckless perhaps but I drove by our place. It was still standing, but it looked like a war zone. It also appeared as if no dragons had answered the call after we had left.

I wasn’t able to find any dragons, not at their homes, not at their places of work.

What. The. Hell.

Once night fell, I embraced the shadows and took to dragon form, relying on my nose. On the outskirts of the city, I found a horde of dragons. Not just Three-Tailed but also Fanged Serpents.

I shifted back to human form and hung back, hiding in a tree, its leafy branches concealing me as I eavesdropped.

The dragons made some displays of power on either side, neither one wanting to be intimidated. Dragons were animals after all. Animals tended to jostle and fight for power.

Gradually, they shifted to human form. Us leaders could communicate in our minds, and we could do so to a limited extent with our clan members, but from one clan to another, that just wasn't possible in dragon form. Roars were just that—roars—and not a method of speech with actual words.

“You will learn their location?” a Fanged Serpent asked as soon as he shifted.

Ethan Reid cleared his throat. “We will. Will that be enough?”

“To join the Fanged Serpents?” The jackass threw back his head and laughed. “No, but it’ll be a start. You’ll see, though. It’ll be worth it. The Fanged Serpents are the best of the best, the fiercest dragons. I understand why you all want to join us.”

What. The. Fuck. This could not be happening.

Our brothers were looking to betray us.