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There were very few people in the world Savannah Maelstrom hated as much as Mads Durkheim. Before they were Savannah and Mads, they were known as Cecilia and Carl, and she hated him then, too. Before that, they were Marie and Edgar, Lisle and Hans, Anne and Jurgen, and before all of that, they had no human names, they were simply Dazenth and Rugarth, squatting in caves and claiming the skies. She had a long, long memory, but no matter how far she stretched through the years, she could not remember a time she did not despise him.
As they aged and their respective clans began to disappear around them, her hatred shifted but it never mellowed. She understood it was in her best interest for Mads to be alive. There were so few dragons left in the world that the loss of any one caused a deep sense of sadness. Her Chester had been one of the last dragons born to the world and had been her last hope in continuing not only her clan, but their species. Now Chester was gone and Savannah had nothing to keep her alive—except her desire to see Mads destroyed.
She ate only to keep her strength up and slept only to keep her mind sharp. Charles mourned the loss of their son, but his chief priority was always gold, so he returned to work and left the suffering to Savannah, who agonized enough for the both of them. She suspected Charles blamed her for Chester’s death. He never came right out and said it, but he knew she’d developed the blackmail plan with Chester, and they both knew she should have never allowed it to backfire so tragically.
But there was still a chance to fix everything. True, she could never bring Chester back, but she could give Charles another heir. It might take years to do so, but once she had Mads out of the way, she would have nothing but time to provide reparations for her terrible mistake. It wouldn’t be easy to remove him, but he had a weakness now—a weakness Savannah would have never anticipated, but one that she was grateful for all the same.
Who would have thought that the ancient and powerful Rugarth would find himself bound to a humble, pitiable human? A human girl who could be so easily tracked, found, and plucked from her insignificant life. A human girl who didn’t even put up a fight when Savannah roared through the clouds a few weeks later, swooping down to grasp the girl by the shoulders and lift her into the heavens. She did struggle once they were in the air, but a quick blow to the head knocked her unconscious.
When the girl woke again, they were safely ensconced in Savannah’s secret lair—a ranch in the middle of the Wyoming Badlands, several hundred miles from the street where Savannah had found her little treat. She jerked into a seated position when she saw Savannah, immediately wincing and holding her head.
“I wouldn’t move around too much if I were you,” Savannah said in a sing-song voice. “You have a nasty bump.”
“Where are we?” The girl demanded, her words laced with pain.
“Nowhere you’d recognize.”
“Mads will come for me.”
“Of course he will, my dear. In fact, I’m counting on it.”
April’s eyes widened and then narrowed into pained slits. “This is a trap.”
“It is indeed. But don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you. Much.” Savannah grinned a toothy, dragon grin. “Just enough to get his attention.”
“Why don’t I just call him?”
“Call him?” Savannah pretended to pout. “Now where’s the fun in that? I think that’s what I hate most about this century. Everything’s so damned convenient, nobody is willing to go the extra mile. Not for work or for a good time. But I’m still willing to do what it takes.”
“Look, I know you miss your son—”
“You know nothing,” Savannah growled. “What do you know about a mother’s pain?”
“He tried to kill me!”
“No great loss there,” she snickered.
“Well, obviously Mads disagreed.”
“Mads is an idiot. He always has been. He thinks he’s smarter and better than everybody just because he’s the oldest, but he’s done nothing for us. He won’t even mate with another dragon to ensure our species’ survival! Now, we need to get started. I don’t want to rush things, but I do have a full schedule this week.”
“Savannah, please. Please don’t do this. It’s not too late to just...turn things around. You haven’t done anything yet. Just take me home and Mads never has to know.”
“That speech started great but the ending was very weak.” She grabbed April’s small hand and squeezed her fingers, bending her wrist backwards nearly to the point of snapping. She could tell the girl wanted to keep her mouth shut and hold onto some scrap of pride, but April’s silence broke before her wrist did, howling with pain.
“Aww… what was that, dear?”
“Please,” April panted. “Please, stop.”
“Better. That was much better. But I already told you, I can’t stop. We have work to do.” She shifted her hold, applying pressure to April’s index finger until it did snap, like a branch breaking in a cold November wind. The girl’s scream of pain was like music to her ears—a concert she did not want to end anytime soon.
“It is a shame that Chester never got to eat you,” Savannah said, almost conversationally. “You look like such a delicious, tender morsel. I’ll simply have to do the honors for him.”
April’s middle finger snapped then and oh the girl’s agony was exquisite. If Mads didn’t feel her earlier pain, he definitely felt this one. “We don’t have a lot of time. Let’s see what else we can break before he tries to save you.”