Chapter 37 Tash
Tash
They were talking about me like I wasn't even in the room.
The Big Plan was to storm the hunter's nest, neutralize anything with opposable thumbs, and come back before sunrise.
Apparently in their world, I was supposed to park my ass right here with the twins and maybe practice breathing exercises until somebody texted the all clear. Chance stalked the living room as they finalized their plan.
The part of me that had spent years keeping my head down and my daughters safe was primed to give in. Play it safe, Tash. Don't rock the boat. Stay where they put you.
But Taryn erupted under my skin. Not gently, either. Her fury spiked, pure gasoline, the same way my body coughed up adrenaline earlier tonight. Every inch of me caught fire. Kill.
My hands curled into fists. Every cell in my body hummed, electric. Taryn's magic layered over my human panic, but she didn't care about fear, it just made her wilder.
Chance caught the movement. He stopped cold, narrowing his eyes at my fists.
"Stay here," he growled, low and final, like he'd already won the argument. "If anything comes close, lock the doors, take cover. We'll deal with the rest."
He meant it. Fuck all, he meant it. I could see every protective instinct marching up and down his spine like a drill sergeant was directing them. It had to be killing him to leave the girls behind. To leave me behind.
"No," I bit out. Loud enough to make all the men's attention snap in my direction.
Xavier stood in the entryway, all clipped and business, his badge already clipped on like he might need to go wrestle a bear. Damon leaned on the banister, arms crossed, every bit the sullen alpha brawler.
Chance's chin jerked, the tiniest flicker of panic in his gaze.
I didn't wait for him to lay it out again. "I'm coming with you."
Chance tried again, softening his voice like maybe I'd melt if he dialed back the tough guy. "Tash—"
"No," I said, even sharper. "You need me. Taryn's part of this, whether you like it or not."
Xavier stepped in, holding up both hands. "Let's not debate this now. Time's running."
Damon rolled his eyes, but said nothing. He actually looked impressed, which for his stone face was a miracle.
Chance turned to me, eyes blazing gold now, no pretense. "You just got this power. You don't even know—"
"I know exactly who those bastards are," I bit back, "and I'm not letting them hunt us like animals. They said over and over, once you grab the mate, the whole clutch is at risk. I'm not leaving my kids at the mercy of these psychos."
Taryn roared in response, giddy with pride. Kill them all!
My chest went hot, magic climbing my spine so fast I had to bite my tongue to stay human.
Chance stepped closer. Crowding me, but not touching. He wanted to win by sheer gravity, but I might as well have been a hundred pounds heavier. I didn't move.
Fifi watched from the floor, blinking, arms crossed exactly like her dad. Mere sat next to her, eyes darting from face to face, calculating every micro-expression.
The girls didn't say a word, but the set of their jaws told the entire story.
Chance saw it too. For a split second, his mask slipped. He looked at me, at them, back at me, and the realization hit him. My dragon wasn't going to be leashed.
His hands hit his hips. "This is insane."
"Let me make it simple," I snapped. "I'm going. You can fight me, or we can do this together."
Taryn howled. I nearly swayed on my feet with how ready she was to rip the ceiling off and go.
Damon whistled through his teeth. Even Xavier's mouth twitched.
Chance dropped the pretense. "You hang back. No heroics, no grandstanding."
I mirrored his pose, hands to hips, chin lifted. "Deal."
Xavier blazed through the rest. "Get ready. We go in hard, sweep the property. Damon's with me. Chance, cover the perimeter with Tash. If it goes sideways, you get to the sky."
He didn't even blink at the idea of me going. That felt good. Honestly, it made everything else pale.
Damon shoved off the wall, scowling at the drama, but didn't say another word. He led the way out, boots pounding the front steps.
Heart beating a war drum, I pivoted for the door then chanced a look back at the twins. Fifi smirked, pure pride. Mere's mouth twitched in a smile that was half terror, half respect, but her eyes gleamed gold behind the lenses.
"Don't do anything stupid," Fifi said.
"Define stupid," I shot back.
"If you die, I'll never forgive you," Mere whispered.
I wanted to hug them both, but my brain said if I touched them I'd crumble. No time for that. "Stay with your grandmother," I ordered. "If anyone but us comes to the door, run for the safe room."
Fifi saluted. "Go get ‘em."
Damon and Xavier in dragon form had already taken to the sky. Chance stalked out ahead, eating up the distance with pissed-off purpose.
I followed, muscles fizzing with magic. The cold night slapped me the second I hit the porch.
That's when Taryn really started to push. It was different this time. There was no hesitation, just a tidal wave of need, the dragon practically drooling at the chance to crush our enemies.
Chance angled me toward the back yard, where the meadow cut off into darkness. "Ready?" he asked.
Taryn howled bloody murder.
My hands shook, so I balled them tight and focused on the breathing drills he'd drilled into me, four in, two hold, six out. Each breath fanned the flames higher. At the edge of the clearing nothing but starlight painted the grass.
Chance's body shimmered, scales flickering like oil on water as the change rolled over him.
My clothes, thank god for Maeve, went light as second skin, shifting as I shifted.
Taryn ripped to the surface.
I didn't ease in.
I let her take the wheel.
Heat blasted out of my chest, the spark so sharp it nearly blinded me.
My arms shimmered, first the hands, then the forearms, then everything.
Scales burst into existence, every color at once, like sunlight through a prism.
It hurt, but only in the way sprinting hurts, like maybe I was built for it.
My legs warped, my feet clawed the dirt. My vision snapped wider, clearer, every edge razor-bright. The tail, fuck, the tail, lashed behind me, balanced, ready to whip the world in half if it came too close.
Our wings exploded out, the membrane iridescent, each ripple pulsing with Taryn's urgency.
I bellowed, just to hear the sound. It shook the yard. Somewhere behind, Fifi howled back. In human form, but loud enough for the stars.
Chance watched, his eyes narrowed in pride. He whipped his wings once, then shot up into the sky, a black arrow between the trees.
Taryn wanted to catch him. No, she wanted to outpace him. Prove that she belonged. I flexed, dug in, and launched.
This was nothing like the practice runs. The urgency, the need to get there first, to prove I could protect what was ours, doubled everything.
I caught the wind, air battering my scales, but it felt absolutely perfect.
Up above, Chance glided in slow circles, waiting.
I joined him, my wings flexing wide, rainbow glow reflecting off his shadow. For a moment, we hovered, side by side, dragons in full glory, nothing holding us back.
Chance banked left, toward the distant glimmer of headlights on the far ridge, his body slicing the night open. I followed, Taryn surging with every muscle fiber, not out of fear but anger.
Below, the safe house shrank to a toy. The woods ignited with the sound of our wings, the old world left behind.
The world from a dragon's view was almost too much.
Every detail popped, like somebody had jacked the contrast all the way up.
The woods were a rumble of shadow and glint, nothing subtle about how we tore through the clouds.
Beside me, Chance's wings gulped the wind, black, terrible, and beautiful, while Taryn flooded our veins with a wild "oh yeah, let's break things" energy.
We followed Xavier and Damon. The hunters' cabin waited below, tucked halfway down a gravel switchback, lights out, a dead thing already.
Chance tucked and veered. I followed, and together we spiraled down.
The destruction was insane. The grass was torn up, furrows crisscrossing like a herd of angry wild boar had staged a mutiny. The old porch was cracked, one rail gone, the steps broken and splintered. Scorch marks licked up the siding, black, crusted streaks that went all the way to the roofline.
But the bodies.
Jesus.
Two men were crumpled near the porch, one with his arm cocked at an angle that screamed "never getting back up." The other sprawled out on his back, mouth open, eyes wide, like he'd seen God and wasn't thrilled about it.
At the cabin's side, a black SUV was caved in against the exterior logs, metal accordion-folded, both side mirrors snapped like twigs. If you'd told me a dragon had used it as a soccer ball, I'd have believed you.
Taryn sucked in air, greedy to catalog every ugly inch, but there was another scent that crashed through the smoke and blood.
Mint.
A bad, raw odor, a chemical brain-burn that made every dragon want to puke. It got up under the scales, clung to the nose, and was so thick it nearly masked the rest of the evidence. This was the first time I’d encountered it as a dragon, and damn. It really was horrible.
Chance glided in slowly, wary. He arced around the property once, wings slicing the cold, scanning for trouble. Nothing moved, except the smoke eddying up from what had to be an overcooked fireball on the porch.
I kept three lengths behind him, Taryn's joy curdled a little by the stink, but still burning to get closer, to see what had happened.
We landed at the edge of the clearing. The change back was messy. My scales were singing, my bones aching from the magic, but I managed. I dropped onto the gravel, sweat already cooling in the wind, my heart roaring.
Chance scanned the property, eyes still rimmed in gold. Xavier shifted and went inside the cabin.