Damon King

I didn’t sleep well. At all. Or maybe I slept too well. Too deeply. The dream of making love to Audrey repeatedly played on a loop in my mind. I couldn’t get enough of her, and she even told me, “I love you,” at one point.

I knew it was a dream. I knew it, but I also knew it had to do with the blood I’d given her. We were bonding. It didn’t always happen. If it did, it meant we were supposed to be together. It wasn’t exactly a whole mating thing like some of those silly romance stories have with werewolves. But it did suggest that we were meant to be together.

But even in the dream, I was worried. I was envious of Francesco both in the dream and before I’d fallen asleep. Of course he came back from dropping her off at her place telling Miguel and me about their kiss. Miguel had cursed Francesco out in Spanish. At least I assumed he was cursing at him. He was angry enough to have been damning him to Hell for the rest of time.

I hadn’t said a word. Francesco had made a stupid, off-handed comment about us three always being together, and it made me think of one thing that I wouldn’t dare say out loud.

That we could all love her and share her.

Because that was ridiculous. Because I didn’t think she would go for it. Because I didn’t think they would go for it.

Besides, it would definitely be too much for her. It was all happening so fast for her.

And for me. Then again, that was the nature of the blood bonding.

This last time of making love to Audrey was more intense than the others. I could feel myself sinking away, back toward consciousness, and I struggled to come deep inside her one last time.

“I love you,” I wanted to say, but I said it in my empty room rather than to the dream Audrey.

My sheets were sticking up down my body some. I was so fucking hard right now.

Before I could even think about doing something about my erection, my heart started to thud in my chest, pounding furiously.

Somehow, I just knew that Audrey was in danger.

It was barely morning. I threw on some jeans and a gray t-shirt, not bothering with boxers. I shoved on socks and my sneakers and was out the door in less than a minute. I didn’t even bother to think about waking the others. No way were either one of them awake, and besides, we couldn’t all go running off to save her. At least two of us needed to worry about the clan.

Right now, I was worrying about my heart.

Oh, man. I hadn’t hesitated to give her my blood, but I never thought it through. I never thought we would bond. Not like this. So crazy. But I needed her, and she was in danger. I just knew it.

I rushed to my car, a black Corvette. I zoomed down the street, taking turns tight, tires peeling. Somehow, I just knew where to go. Maybe it was a blood thing. I couldn’t explain it, but I just had a beat on where she was.

My heart started to race, beating more times per minute than the miles per hour my car was clocking, and I was close to hitting one hundred and twenty. There!

Audrey was shooting at a dragon. Every bullet hit, but the dragon’s scales deflected them. None penetrated. Before I could park and get out of the car, the dragon had swooped down and captured her.

I opened my mouth to shout her name, but all that came out was a roar. My dragon was out before I could think twice, and I unfurled my wings. Without hesitating, I took to the sky, racing after the offending dragon when three more appeared, blocking my path.

No!

Like a madman, I attacked the dragons. I tried to char one, clawed at the wings of another, and slapped the face of the third with a wing.

But the one evaded my fire. My claws merely scraped against the wing instead of puncturing it, and the third just shook his head and then countered with a blast of fire.

I jerked out of the way of the blast and dove straight down. This was dangerous, our fighting here. Too many houses and the sun was rising. There wasn’t a cover of night.

What should I do? Try to ignore these three clowns of dragons and tear after the one who took Audrey? Who might already be too far away by now? Or should I lure these guys away from the innocents? Because I knew they would have no qualms killing each and every human who saw them.

I’d just have to hope and pray that my bond to Audrey didn’t die and that I would be able to locate her. Because I knew her. She’d hate me if humans died because of her.

Stay safe, my heart.

I flew away as fast as I could, zigzagging my path so if they blasted fire, I wouldn’t get singed. They tore after me, and as soon as we were away from all buildings and above a dense forest, we ripped into each other. A few claws did more than just scrape my scales, but I dragged the wing of one dragon and spun. I released the dragon to send it flying into another one. The two tangled together, plummeting, and I sent a blast of fire at them.

Crap. I didn’t want to set the forest on fire!

Thankfully, they were falling so fast that the flames didn’t catch on. They crashed through the branches and trees, and a thunderous thud sounded when they hit the ground.

Hopefully, those two were down for the count.

This last dragon was more wary than the others. He was faster too, bobbing and weaving, reminding me of a dragon boxer. I darted and ducked and avoided his blows and then slammed my tail hard on his face. Before the dragon could react, I wrapped my tail around his neck and pulled him close. My claw also dug into his throat, and the dragon soon stopped struggling. He was dead.

The other two hadn’t moved, and I released my hold on this dragon. As he dropped, he shifted back to human. All dragon shifters, if killed as a dragon, reverted to humans. If they died a human, they remained a human.

Down below, I spied three humans. They all were dead.

And I was wounded and bleeding. Wonderful. I labored as I flew back toward the mansion. This was not good. Not at all. And if more of the Fanged Serpents found me, that fight might have a much different result…