Storm headed exactly where Lilith thought he would: his home high up in the mountains a couple hours outside of Seattle.

Just because she knew where his home was located didn’t mean her task would be easy. The home nestled away in the snowy peaks of Washington state was one of his many homes. This particular home was invisible to humans—even Slayers. Many had tried to find it, but they never did, even though they knew it existed. Besides the hidden location, another challenge was the security that surrounded the mountain.

This wouldn’t be easy.

The legends about Storm said that from high up on his mountain peak, he would create massive storms that he kept contained, just to hear the wind scream.

The thought of facing a being so powerful in such a secluded destination was terrifying, but Lilith would never admit that. Why didn’t she take the shot faster at the hotel? That would have been a million times easier.

She had her work cut out for her, and she would have to make part of the journey by foot. She was glad her shoe socks were enchanted to keep her feet warm. This was going to be an arduous mission.

The base of the mountain was heavily wooded with pine and cedar trees. The vegetation was littered with snow, and from the base of the mountain, she couldn’t see its peak.

Well, I’ll take my car up as far as I can, she thought as she tried to come up with a solid plan of attack.

Lilith applied chains to her already off-road tires and started up the mountain. The trees were far enough apart at the bottom that she could slip up through. Her car didn’t like it though. There was barely enough traction, but Lilith was going to avoid trekking up the mountain for as long as she could. It didn’t take long.

The snow covered a small ravine, and without warning, the front of her car plummeted forward. Even though she had only dropped a few feet, there was no way her car could continue the journey. She opened her car door, stepped out, and kicked her door wildly in frustration.

Hold it together, Lil, she thought, giving herself a mini pep talk.

She attempted to cover her car with branches to hide her tracks, but her attempts were futile. She needed to move before Storm’s guards found her. Lilith reached inside her car and grabbed her gun.

It was cold outside for a late afternoon in the middle of winter, but she felt almost comfortable in her suit and hood. The sun was out, and there was hardly any wind, which made it more tolerable.

Soon, she was hundreds of meters from her car. The climb became more intense as she moved higher. She almost fell several times, which would’ve been disastrous. She’d smash into a tree if she was lucky. If she wasn’t, she’d fall down farther and hit one of the jutting boulders.

Out of nowhere, she saw something move. It was Storm.

Did he see me? Lilith thought. She realized he didn’t or she’d be dead.

Storm wore a copper-colored coat with big boots and was simply walking and looking at the ground. He had a strange look on his face. Pensive, almost lonely.

She followed him, trying to be quiet while waiting for the perfect moment to take out her target. He walked slowly through the snowy trees, and the Slayer could hardly believe her luck.

Storm had unwittingly exposed himself. They were on the top of a snowy cliff that rose hundreds of feet into the air, about they were only seventy meters apart. She thought about pegging him from afar, which had been her plan all along. But, something intrigued her and she wanted to get up and close, to really see the fear in his eyes when she extinguished him.

Raven would have liked that, and after all, part of the reason she wanted to kill Storm so badly was to avenge her friend. She crept closer and closer until she was fifteen feet behind him. He was so lost in thought that he couldn’t hear her moving over his own footsteps. She took out her rifle and prepared to call his name.

He stopped before she spoke and held out a hand to something in the trees. She hesitated. Were there guards? She ducked back. She didn’t want to kill him without knowing if he was alone.

A majestic, white elk with blue horns shouldered its way through the trees and looked down at the dragon shifter with expressive eyes. The elk nuzzled up against Storm’s shoulder before placing its soft muzzle against his fingers.

“Hello, sweet beast,” Storm said.

It was the first time that Lilith had heard him speak. His voice was soft and gentle, without a hint of malice. “I wish I had something for you.”

Fuck.

She wasn’t going to kill a man who was treating a beautiful animal with such love and kindness.

You know what? No. It didn’t matter. He’d killed Raven. She raised her rifle to her shoulder, avoiding the scope. She didn’t need it at that close of a proximity. The elk saw her movement and dashed away.

Storm turned to face her. His copper-colored eyes watched her.

“Red Shadow,” he said. “You don’t give up easy.”

“Nope.” She slid her finger over the trigger.

She had him. He had no time to transform before she could shoot. Trees swayed in the distance as she inhaled deeply. She could do this. “Any last words?”

He laughed. “You’ve got me, Slayer. Congratulations. I hope the money is worth it.”

“It’s not only for the money,” she snapped. “You killed Raven in cold blood! He did nothing to you!”

He scowled. “Raven tried to kill my brother. You expect me to let him go? That man was evil.”

Did this dragon actually have feelings? He was ruthless and dangerous, yet he was so kind to the elk. And he seemed to truly care about his family.

She faltered.

He saw her hesitation. “Leave, Red Shadow. I will not send my men after you. Leave in peace. You and I have no quarrel.”

She tried to pull the trigger.

Do it! Lilith screamed in her mind.

She could use her lifetime of training and walk away avenged with a healthy chunk of change.

Lilith’s heart didn’t listen to her mind. Her finger wouldn’t pull the trigger. She tightened her entire forearm in a vain attempt to make her finger squeeze the steel trigger. She wouldn’t miss. She’d shoot him in the head with a bullet of that caliber, and he’d be down.

But was she that kind of person? Her family thought so. The world thought so. She met his eyes, which was a bad decision. She could see that there was more to this dragon’s soul than she originally thought, a person with hopes, dreams, and passions.

She tried once more the pull the trigger. She just wouldn’t do it, not with him sitting there, unarmed. It was dishonorable, especially since he had killed Raven to protect his family. She lowered her weapon.

With the amount of time it took her to contemplate killing him, he could have killed her.

He didn’t.

But why?

He walked forward, towards her. “Leave,” he ordered in a harsher tone. “I will only offer an easy escape for you once, Slayer. Your kind are nothing but a thorn in my family’s side. Next time, I will kill you.” He pushed his chest up against the end of her rifle. “Kill me or be gone,” he ordered, meeting her gaze firmly.

The shifter wasn’t scared of her.

“Son of a—” she started, taking one step back.

After a lifetime of training, she failed. She wasn’t a ruthless killer, and apparently, neither was the Keeper of the Wind.

The ground beneath her feet shifted. Her courage dropped through the floor as the earth started to shake and move. In a moment, she was slipping along with an avalanche of snow down the side of a mountain.

She saw a shape transform and fly away.

Well, he won’t kill me himself, but he sure as hell doesn’t care if the snow kills me, she thought while scrambling to grab hold of a tree or anything solid to stop her from falling to her imminent death.

The snow washed her along the ground, stealing her rifle and dunking her under the snow. She couldn’t see, breathe, or move. All she could think about was the cliff that wasn’t too far off in the distance as the snow continued to carry her. She was completely helpless.

The snow shifted, and she emerged from the wave of white and saw where the earth dropped off into open air. The Slayer snatched her whip from her hip and slashed at a nearby tree. The whip wrapped around the trunk and snapped tight, stopping her progress immediately just a few feet from the cliff edge. She managed to hold on, despite being so close to death.

Snow continued to batter her, ripping her hood from her head, exposing her face to the elements. This gave her an excellent view of a boulder crashing down through the mountain towards her and her tree.

“Uh-oh,” she said, panicking and grabbing hold of her whip as tightly as she could. The boulder bounced after hitting a ledge and came down straight near the base of her tree. “Fuck!”

The boulder smashed into the roots of the tree before bouncing past Lilith and into open air. The roots shattered, and the trunk snapped almost in half, tossing her over the edge of the cliff. The tree was still holding on, but not for long. Snow still washed through, pushing the tree further out of the ground and straining its integrity more and more.

Lilith was dangling, both hands wrapped firmly around her whip. What could she do? She couldn’t pull herself up. The moment she did that, the snow would catch her in the face and push her off. She certainly couldn’t let go. The ground was dizzyingly far below.

She spotted a truck-sized grey shape moving through the air. At first, she thought it was just more snow falling. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was a dragon.

Storm.

He was flying towards her, his scaled body getting closer and closer.

The tree above her finally gave. The top half of the tree, with her whip still attached, zipped off the cliff and started to plummet with Lilith.

The feeling of freefalling was exhilarating and terrifying. Would it be painful when she hit the ground or would the life leave he body without any pain? She would know the answer soon enough.

Abruptly, Lilith was no longer falling. She was flying. Her body was in the claws of Storm in his dragon form. His talons were wrapped around her, one clawed foot around her chest and the other around her knees and lower thighs. She let out a stream of expletives, hugging onto his claws for dear life.

Heights were bad. Heights paired with an avalanche was worse. Heights while in the hands of a dragon who could snap your spine without even trying while snow was still trying to drag you to your doom was about as bad as it got.

Maybe another person would have enjoyed flying. It was certainly breathtaking, but the Slayer was painfully aware that any moment could be her last.

They flew off away from the avalanche onto the top of another mountain peak where they could safely view the avalanche.

“Let me go!” Lilith snapped once they were over solid ground again.

She wriggled free of his claws and then dropped like a stone, falling flat in the snow. She rolled to her feet. Her whip was in her hand before she was back standing.

Storm settled down a few feet away awkwardly. His massive wings brought up clouds of snow into the Slayer’s face. He was majestic and primal, yet oddly recognizable. He had the same copper eyes, despite being far larger and covered in slick grey scales. A wealth of spikes lined his neck like a frill. His paws alone were the size of her chest, and his talons were the size of steak knives.

Lilith circled him. “Stay away from me!”

That’s when she noticed Storm’s right wing. The bones were all intact, but there was a large gaping hole in his skin. Storm in dragon form stumbled, letting out a low moan of pain. He couldn’t fly in that condition. It looked like something, maybe a boulder or a tree, had smashed into his wing when he had swept under the avalanche to grab her. His form shifted like water into his human form.

He started towards her.

She stepped back with a scowl. “Stay back, beast. I will kill you!”