Diablo reached the front of his apartment building and jogged past the door for the fifth time. Mother, the beast still raged within him, and thanks to the God damned surge, other peoples’ emotions flooded him, as well. So much so, he thought he’d burst into flames or explode. With the luck he’d been having lately, it would probably be both.

Six fights in the illegal dragon fighting ring and still nothing had eased. He’d even held his beast back for as long as possible, letting his opponents beat the shit out of him, drawing blood and breaking bones, before his control shattered and the beast went berserk. After his last fight, where the fighter’s manager had to hold his heart back in his chest to speed up his healing, Diablo left. That was one bridge burned. They were never going to let him fight there again. That dragon almost hadn’t survived, and he’d left one hell of a mess to clean up.

He reached the alley between two apartment towers, three blocks from his, picked up his pace, and roared as he hit the shadows, desperate to release the pressure building within him. So many people feeling things. So many things. And he felt all of them. What control he had over his empathy was gone. The ability to just think about shutting it off or turning it down was gone, vanished by the brush of a knuckle against the back of his jeans.

Through his God damned jeans!

It was a miracle the surge’s power hadn’t materialized before Diablo had found him in that parking lot. Mother, he couldn’t imagine trying to control all that emotion when Grey had been going crazy about Servius kidnapping Ivy. Dealing with Grey’s emotions had been hard enough with what little empathy he’d had to begin with.

Now it felt like he’d grabbed a high voltage power line, and his beast was going insane. It needed to attack the danger, be in control, be the strongest baddest mother-fucking drake around. And while it might be — it would certainly fight dirty to win — being at the top meant dealing with politics. Something he didn’t have the skills or patience to deal with, and was smart enough to rein the beast in long enough to not get involved.

Except he was involved in everything right now. That’s how he got zapped by the surge. Nero had lost control, was barely holding it together, and was inamorated with a soul-sick human. That had put Raven in danger.

But a part of him couldn’t accept that. Raven had been in danger by the surge’s massive, uncontrolled power because she cared about these humans and wanted to help. Even if he let his beast scream at her, she wouldn’t back down from that. And he would never let his beast do that. She was the only true thing in his life. His rock. His sister. They’d been twins. Before the Scourge. And even though they’d both been reborn with new names and new interests, that knowledge, that connection formed in conception, always remained. He would die for her again and again if he had to, and he’d follow her wherever she went.

The last time she’d been reborn, she’d gone to Nero. So had he. Nero had been good for her.

Diablo passed his front door again.

If he was honest with himself, Nero had been good for him, too.

He’d met Andy, who’d proven to him that he could control the beast. The beast wasn’t in charge. Diablo was… had been. Now it took everything he had to keep from destroying his furniture in a rage that would only satisfy the beast for a moment.

Grief swept over him in a massive wave and dragged at his control. Rage burned in after it.

The beast slammed his fist against the side of a dumpster, crashing it against the building’s side with his enhanced strength and making a thunderous boom roar through the alley.

He punched the dumpster again, crushing in its side.

The beast howled, and the rage and grief burned hotter.

Another punch. Another boom.

He grabbed the lip of the opening, heaved, and swung it to the other side of the alley. It hit with another boom, toppled over, and spewed garbage bags over the broken asphalt.

With a roar, he ripped off the lid and tossed it deeper into the alley. It ricocheted off the wall and crashed into another dumpster.

Yes. More.

He had to let it out. Release the pressure.

But there was no end to it. All the beast did was rage. It was always ferocious. Letting it break and tear and howl didn’t release anything, it only made it stronger.

A gust of confusion and fear swept through the rage. More fear, boredom, lust, craving, joy, all clawed past the beast. The apartment buildings were filled with people, and too many of them were awake at this hour. Except that wasn’t the truth. He wasn’t being overwhelmed by just the people in his vicinity. The magic the surge had flooded into him hadn’t just increased his ability to sense, but also his range. This was his earth magic at its strongest. It was crushing him, and the beast’s only survival instinct was to fight and kill.

Destroy.

The beast rushed toward the other dumpster.

No.

He staggered to a stop halfway down the alley. Trashing the trash bins wouldn’t solve anything. It wouldn’t make the emotions go away. And Mother, it had been hours since he’d been zapped by the surge. That meant it wasn’t going to go away at all. The effects were permanent.

The beast screamed. It couldn’t live like this. Not with all that fear and desire and rage and even joy. It was too much. He was going to lose who he was, and the beast wouldn’t allow that.

He clenched his fists. If he was smart, he’d gate to his apartment—

Bad idea, the neighbors would hear him breaking his furniture— Nero’s? His room was too close to the kids’ rooms, and the transition suites were occupied.

The beast screamed at that. He grabbed the lid of the broken dumpster and slammed it against the wall.

Damn it. No.

He tossed the lid behind him.

His only option was some place remote. But he didn’t have a satellite phone. If Raven woke and needed him, no one would be able to get ahold of him. He couldn’t risk it. Too much was happening at Nero’s house, first with Anaea, then Capri and Grey, and now Nero himself. He had to stay close to ensure Raven and the kids were safe.

God damn it. That meant there was no safe place to go where he could scream the beast into submission without endangering anyone. He was just going to have to suck it up and control it.

He drew in a ragged breath and ran past the dumpster, out of the alley and along the deserted block.

Andy had taught him control.

Mother, Andy would have understood this overwhelming buffet of emotions, too. When he’d first joined the puzur, he’d been a teen with an out-of-control empathic ability, so strong Raven hadn’t been sure if he’d ever be able to fully know which emotions were his and which weren’t. That kid had grown into an amazing man and had taught Diablo so much about empathic earth magic, what it meant to really be a part of a family, and about friendship.

Diablo growled.

No way in hell was he going to ruin his friend’s memory by letting the beast loose. He could control this. The running wasn’t burning the beast’s energy away, so perhaps concentration on the calmer emotions within him might help.

He reached his apartment building’s front door. If he was going to gate into his apartment, he’d need to run back to the alley to hide his gate from prying eyes. But the beast really wanted to smash that other dumpster, so he decided just to take the three flights up.

Even taking the stairs three at a time did nothing to wear the beast out. Not that he’d expected it would. He’d spent the last few hours fighting and then running around. Physical exercise wasn’t going to do anything to bring the beast under control.

Except he doubted concentration would, either, and feared nothing would.

He reached the third-floor landing, yanked open the fire door — managing at the last minute to not rip the door off its hinges — and stormed toward his apartment.

Just get inside and do that meditation thing Andy had taught him. Surely that would help.

But his beast wrenched him to a halt before reaching his apartment, and his gaze leapt to the number on the closest door.

306.

Eva’s apartment. The new neighbor he’d been spending— and wanting to spend a lot of time with. The girlfriend Raven had been teasing him about. The one he didn’t want to accidentally hurt or scare with his beast.

The lock on the door clicked, heard with crystal clarity in the quiet of the hall with his enhanced hearing.

His pulse pounded. She couldn’t catch him here. Not like this. He had to get to his apartment, now.

He drew his power to rapid free gate into his apartment, but the beast jerked him a step closer to her door and the power to gate vanished.

The door opened, framing Eva in a simple red wrap dress that accentuated all her curves. His pulse, his whole essence, including the beast, stuttered. There was something about her that stunned him every time he looked at her.

In that moment all he wanted, and all he feared, was for her to invite him in. Just ask. He’d say yes. Right now, he had no control over anything, including his beast.

And that was what terrified him the most.