Chapter 26
TWENTY-SIX
Samantha
Just a short time ago, this was all just a nightmare. Now, it’s my reality. My dream from the other night merges with my reality in a way that leaves me sick to my stomach. But unlike my nightmare, I’m going to escape this.
With nothing else to do, I do the only thing I can. I find an opening between the dragons and start flying as fast as I can. I’m quicker than the males are, but they’re practically on top of me, and I know it. Unfortunately, I only make it a short distance before Malikay smashes into me from above.
His claws tear into my wings, and a terrible sound comes from my lips. I buck. I toss. I do everything I can to try to escape him, but he’s holding on tight.
I search for an escape, but only see the other male dragons around me. I feel like a mouse on the ground, with hawks all around me, trying to tear me into pieces.
Tears sting my eyes. I keep fighting against him. In response, he claws me deeper, and for a minute, I’m falling to the ground before I catch myself once more.
Get away from me! I scream, even knowing it won’t make a difference.
You won’t escape this time , Malikay hisses into my mind.
Then he releases me. Wobbly, I fly away from them, trying my best to escape, only for Malikay to grab me again, digging his claws into me in new and painful spots.
I fight against him. He releases me, and I bolt once more. Except, he smashes into me again, digging those terrible claws into my back and wings.
He’s playing with me. This is all a game to him.
I use my fire, blazing at the dragons that surround me. They shift back, but the second I’m done, they’re surrounding me again. I keep blazing them with my flames, trying to get some space between me and them, but then Malikay is on my back again, ignoring the flames.
She needs to learn a lesson, Malikay says smugly. Let’s teach her what happens when she fights us.
Suddenly, all I can see are the dragons. All I can smell are their terrible smells. And then claws are coming at me from every direction, shredding my wings. Shredding my body. Every inch of me is in pain, and now I’m only in the air because Malikay has his grip on me. If he releases me, I’ll fall.
Still, I’d rather fall than endure this. The pain is unlike anything I’ve felt in my life. My mind is begging me to lose consciousness, but I can’t. If I do, then it’s really over.
What the hell? Balor growls, but his words are edged with fear.
The dragons move away from me, except Malikay, and I see the sky has darkened. Gray storm clouds swallow the blue, and rain begins to fall, slow at first, then faster and faster.
My heart squeezes as relief flows through me. They’re here. I’m saved.
I smile. You’re in for it now.
No ! Balor says in horror.
I spit blood. If you think I’m hurt, it’ll be nothing compared to what they’ll do to you. Get ready to die.
The dragons fly around in a panic as lightning splits the sky and thunder roars. And for one second, the pain clears enough for me to truly relish the fear that’s settled into these pathetic assholes. They thought they were so big and tough when it was just me. Let’s see how big and tough they are with my men.
Fuck , Malikay mutters, and I see them. I see Evander, Aydan, Granger, and Zane, flying at us like bats out of hell.
Malikay releases me, and then I’m falling. I try to catch myself. I flap my wings, but it’s like trying to parachute down with a parachute full of holes. I barely have the energy to brace myself as I smash into the massive pool at the house. It hurts, like hitting a concrete wall, but as my head goes under water, I manage to pull it out and rest it on the side of the pool. My wings stretch out, the broken things they are, at terrible angles on the sides of the pool.
But I’m alive, and I have my men. If nothing else, I have that.
Craning my neck, I watch as Granger turns the sky into a dangerous battlefield. I don’t know how he does it, but the winds are battering the enemy dragons rather than my men. Granger squares off with Malikay, Aydan with Balor, Evander with Than, and Zane with Kek.
Fire brightens the sky and cold blue ice answers its call. The different colored lights fill the sky, and roars of anger and outrage follow. As much as I don’t want my men to battle these monsters, I can’t keep having these creatures waiting under my bed for their next opportunity to attack. It needs to end here.
And I think my pack knows it.
But there’s something different about the way they’re fighting. Something frightening. It’s as if they’ve stopped giving a damn about their own safety at all, and they’re just in it to cause the most destruction.
Dragon bodies smash together. Claws and teeth rip at each other’s flesh. Blood rains down from above, mixing in with the raindrops. As big as my men are, they still have the minds of humans. I fear what these dragons will do that they aren’t prepared to handle.
I want to help them. I try to lift my head again, but it falls.
They need to end this, but they need to be okay.
Granger’s voice comes low and angry in my thoughts. Shred their fucking wings. Ground these assholes. Don’t worry about anything else.
I don’t think the enemy dragons expected their change in strategy. It appears that before this only females had to fear their wings being shredded. Stupid bastards. When my men get on their backs and begin to shred their wings, I can sense the terror within the beta males.
But as they saw with me, terror doesn’t stop it.
The satisfaction I feel watching my men do to the bastards what they did to me probably makes me some kind of psychopath. The beta dragons wail, they buck, they try to escape, but the much bigger males don’t let them go.
Please stop! Balor begs.
Like you stopped with me? I ask, my tone full of a strange kind of cruelty.
We will never bother you again, Malikay pleads, and hearing the fear in his voice makes my whole body happy.
No, you won’t , I say.
Kek’s wailing fills my mind, and then I see Zane release him. Kek tries to fly. I see him, but his shredded wings won’t save him. He plummets from the sky and hits the earth out of sight. But Zane goes to follow him.
Than is the next to go, but Evander follows him as he falls, continuing to claw and bite at him as he experiences his last time in the sky. They disappear from view, but I know Evander won’t let him get out of sight. We’re not done with him yet.
When Balor falls, Aydan lets him go. It isn’t until he hits the ground that Aydan follows after, and there’s something about the way he moves that tells me more injuries are coming. That whatever pain he felt in the air is nothing compared to the kind of pain he’ll feel on the ground.
Malikay takes the longest to go down. He fights until the very end. But, I realize, Granger isn’t seeking to destroy him quickly. His movements are deliberate. He wants the pain to last. He wants to torture the other dragon and make certain that once he breaks him, there will be nothing left of him.
Granger’s satisfaction as Malikay falls from the earth is palpable.
I hear the sound of sirens. Tires screech outside the home. I try again to get up, but can’t. Part of me wants to turn into my human self, but another part of me thinks I’ll drown in this pool if I do, so I stay in dragon form.
Time passes. I don’t know how much. My head falls onto the concrete. My eyes close, but I don’t sleep. I’m in too much pain to sleep.
“Sam?”
I don’t move at the sound of Granger’s voice, but it soothes something inside of me. I’m not alone any longer. He’s here with me.
“Sam.” He touches my head gently and strokes my scales. “You can shift back now. The bad dragons are in custody and they’ve been tranqued, so they can’t shift back. No matter what they do, they’ll never fly again. We made sure of that. Now, they’ll be relocated to a bleak island where they can never hurt anyone again.”
Good , I think. I’m glad.
“Shift back, honey, let us take care of you.”
I release a pained breath, then think about my human self and how much I want to be her now, even though some part of me doesn’t. My body shifts, and suddenly I find myself underwater. Strong arms surround me and lift me so that I can breathe once more.
My eyes flash open, and there’s Granger, pulling me from the pool. Aydan, Evander, and Zane emerge into the backyard in human form and gather around the pool, arms outstretched to help. Granger hands me off to them, but the movement has me screaming in pain.
Aydan cradles me to his chest, staring down at me. “We were so scared,” he murmurs, his voice thick with grief.
“So was I,” I joke, but it lands wrong, as they all stare at me.
“I’m so sorry,” Zane says, pain in his voice. “This is all my fault. If I had been more aware, if I had been stronger…”
“No, don’t even think that way,” I tell him, hating that he’s blaming himself for this.
Zane draws in a deep breath and his expression changes. “We need to check her over.”
A minute later, his hands are on me, moving my shirt. I hiss, shocked by how the small movement hurts. Zane’s hands are delicate on my uninjured skin as he inspects my back, my arms, and my legs.
When he’s done, he steps back, silent.
“How is she?” Granger asks.
Zane doesn’t answer.
I glance at his beautiful face. “I need to know.”
He hesitates, then nods. “I don’t know if you’ll be able to fly again.”
Tears sting my eyes, and then begin to roll down my face. Evander leans forward and begins to kiss all over my face, looking as distraught as I feel. Never be able to fly again? But I’m a dragon. Flying is like breathing to us.
“It is not impossible,” Zane says. “I have just never seen injuries that severe without lasting issues.”
I nod, overwhelmed.
“Can you handle shifting just once?” Zane asks, his voice gentle.
I think about it and shudder. “No.” I really can’t.
Tension sings between them as sharp as broken glass. I know they want me to shift, but I also know they don’t want to hurt me more.
“We need to get her to the healers,” Zane begins, and his voice breaks. “I am so sorry I failed to protect you.”
“You’re here right now. That’s all that matters,” I say, trying to reassure him even though it hurts to speak.
But based on the distraught faces of the men around me, my words don’t make them feel any better.
They carry me from that house to a waiting car in silence. No one seems to know what to say, but I know what they’re all thinking. Will she ever fly again?