Chapter 16
The dragons charged down the slope, their scales gleaming and their feet thundering.
Nia had seen a multitude of dragons before.
She hadn’t been afraid as she’d come into the mountains, knowing that she was one of only three people in their contingent who had even understood that dragons existed before last week, much less seen them.
She had an advantage, and she felt she would be fine.
That was before she realized that not all dragons were like the Alexanders.
Her guts rolled, and her whiskers twitched as she saw the rest of Joel’s settlement arrive.
She froze with horror as the orange dragon headed straight for them, his ochre scales gleaming gold in the dusk as he used a mere sweep of his head to bowl aside two of her companions.
Now, he was coming for her.
His chest widened. Steam bellowed from his nostrils as he arched his head back on his great neck.
Every hair on Nia’s body stood up straight. Her muscles expanded and contracted, driven by something deep within her that fired off orders so quickly, she didn’t even have time to think. Her feet left the ground just as the fireball exploded in the exact spot she’d been standing.
Her claws sank into the tree’s bark, and she shot upwards, climbing with incredible speed. The heat from the fire followed her, warming her tail and reminding her of just how close she’d come to death.
Cole’s voice was screaming inside her head.
There was too much input. I’m okay. What about you? She’d seen the way Joel had flung him with his tail, and she’d heard the sickening thump when he’d landed. Nia had only just found her mate, and then she thought she’d lost him. Granted, she might lose him anyway.
I’m fine. We’ve got to find some way to fight them. They’re too big. Too powerful.
Nia was high enough in the tree now that she reached branches thick enough to hold her weight.
Do they have a vulnerable spot? Cole asked.
Nia tried to think. She was no combat strategist. She’d brought Beck and Kendrick there because she was friendly with the dragons, not because she knew how to take them down. Had anyone said anything about it before?
Suddenly, she remembered a discussion with Chelsea about just how rough-and-tumble Corbin was, and how his dragon body protected him from all the bumps and bruises that most little boys would get. It wasn’t impenetrable, though.
Just under the jaw and in the joints on the undersides of their limbs, but remember what Kendrick said. We can’t kill them. She crawled further out to the edge of the branch as she surveyed the scene below. At the moment, there was no chance of any of Joel’s people getting killed.
Kendrick had recovered from sliding into the tree, although the tree didn’t look like it would recover.
Shards and splinters of wood scattered the ground where the dragon battled the blue beast that had attacked him.
He was holding back, using the bulk of his weight and his many years of experience to wear down his opponent, even though blood from Joel’s bite wound gushed down his shoulder.
Beck was in a similar situation with the coal-black dragon that’d come for him.
He ducked and dodged, waiting for the right chance.
He finally brought his head up under the black dragon’s chin.
A crack like a splitting tree ripped through the air as the black dragon staggered backward, but he didn’t fall.
That left Joel and the orange dragon to fight the wolves, and they seemed to be enjoying themselves.
They knew they had the advantage. They snapped and stomped, but they weren’t trying all that hard.
They were playing with the Montclairs like housecats might play with a mouse.
The wolves tried to dive in for attacks, but they were quickly driven back by the beat of a tail or the sweep of a wing.
They’d all seen what had happened to Cole, and it didn’t help their confidence.
Nia took advantage of her position. She’d been working on cute little bubbles, but now she brought back the magic that’d originally been given to her.
She chose the orange dragon first, pissed at it for scaring the hell out of her.
Nia rained magic spheres one after the other down onto its head.
They exploded in brilliant light, leaving scorch marks on the scales.
While he was distracted, Morgan and Scott darted in on either side of him.
Morgan sank his teeth into the base of the dragon’s wing.
It ripped, sending a bright stream of blood sliding down over the scales.
Scott leaped up to do the same on the other side, but the dragon was ready.
He brushed the wolf aside like a gnat and lifted his leg, ready to stomp.
Nia aimed for the slightly exposed side of the dragon’s belly and unleashed a volley of orbs. They popped and exploded, stinging the great beast and making him step backward instead of trampling Scott.
Great job, Nia. Cole sounded much better now. We’re going in after Joel.
She turned on her branch in time to see Rachel, Brianna, and Cole come racing in.
Brianna went straight for his tail, making Nia’s heart clench.
Hadn’t she seen what Joel had done to her father with that tail?
But instead of biting it, she raced nimbly up it and onto the dragon’s back.
Taking a cue from Morgan, she clamped her jaws on his wing.
Meanwhile, Cole and Rachel went directly beneath him.
Nia’s attention was pulled away as she saw a flurry of movement just behind them.
The black dragon had managed to pin Beck to the ground.
His jaws were open, a terrifying white against the deep obsidian of his body.
Nia blasted him in the side of the face, her aim hardened by pure anger that someone would try to hurt someone she cared about.
The black dragon flinched against her attack, his eyes and open mouth vulnerable to the exploding pops of magic. That was just enough for Beck to shove himself up under the black dragon and hurl him aside.
We’re getting some hits in, but it’s not doing much good, Cole informed her as they retreated from Joel once again.
Nia didn’t like the sound of that. They could retreat, but then Joel would always be lurking over Eve’s shoulder.
Cole could call the rest of the pack, but to what avail?
If they couldn’t reason with the dragons, then a battle wasn’t going to change their minds.
They had to win. There had to be something she could do.
She turned and strafed the ground with magic when the orange dragon tried to go after Scott and Morgan, sending great clouds of dirt up into its face and making it pause just long enough for the wolves to get out of the way.
Over here!
At Cole’s call, she turned once again. Nia blasted Joel as Cole danced around him, trying to find a good spot. She then fired at the blue dragon, sending a ball of magic straight down its throat as it tried to send flames at Kendrick. It belched golden sparkles.
You’re the best advantage we’ve got, Nia. Keep them coming.
She watched the wolves and the dragons on the ground, firing when Cole called for it and otherwise doing whatever seemed necessary.
She liked the feeling of him inside her head, the closeness of them working together like this.
Nia was truly terrified for her life, yet she could feel the warmth of her bond with Cole.
In that moment, she wasn’t concerned about what the others thought.
She didn’t turn to see if they were giving her funny looks, and her only concern about the pack’s future was whether or not they survived.
It was down to just the two of them, and she understood what Beck had meant back at the pub.
When nothing else mattered, how did she actually feel?
She moved to another branch. Nia was serving as a good distraction, but it wasn’t enough. Her magic could rain down on the dragon’s heads or make them pull back from an attack, but it was only keeping things somewhat even. Cole thought she was an advantage, but Nia knew she could be more.
Watch for me, she told Cole. I’m coming down.
No! There was a pause as he leaped out of the way of Joel’s tail. You’re safer up there!
I appreciate that. She crouched, her head bobbing and weaving as she studied the great scaly backs beneath her.
Nia found the patterns in the way they moved, lunging forward or pulling back.
She could see them as clearly as the patterns that came in people’s lives, just as she could read the tarot cards she laid out before her clients.
The cards were merely a reflection of the truth.
Similar themes showed up throughout the deck because people—no matter how diverse or unique they thought they were—experienced those themes over and over again.
Death and rebirth.
Beginning and ending.
Rise and fall.
Advance and retreat.
Nia, please! Cole’s voice in her head wasn’t that of her best friend’s father.
He wasn’t a pack Alpha. He wasn’t even a police chief.
He was her mate. A man who cared for her without needing to know why.
He was a protective force, but even he couldn’t understand the array of opportunities she saw below her.
She jumped.
The air rushed up around her, ruffling her fur and making her stomach stick to her spine. She loosened her legs and extended her claws. Her body writhed to guide her landing.