Chapter 1 #2
My lips peeled back, showing sharp canines as the most dangerous growl I had ever uttered awoke in my chest in a warning. The sound reverberated in the air threateningly, the clicking in the back of my throat telling him to back the fuck off or lose both hands.
Dante’s palms slowly raised in surrender. “Fine. I get it. It’s your turn.”
My ferocious gaze went to D, daring him to try to take her from me too.
Surprisingly, he shuddered at me instead. “Sorry, my dude, but that growl is still so fucking creepy… You’d think I’d be used to it by now.”
With a grunted huff, I turned my back on them and began to run towards the estate with long, bouncy strides. Leaving everyone behind, I passed the now-finished battle that left both evil Vampires and Wolf Shifters dead on the blood-stained grounds.
The flames that had fully consumed the boat house flickered out of existence while I effortlessly jumped onto the large estate’s structure, using the balconies and brick ledges to get us to the fifth floor. Seconds later, I soared through the terrace and into Natasha’s room, kicking the doors open.
Gently, I laid her sleepy form on the mattress while shadows swirled, and D flew through the balcony after me.
Dante materialized on the other side of the bed, but I ignored them both, pulling the sheets over Natasha’s dainty body to cover her.
Once she was safe, the Beast receded, and I knelt next to her, a man once more.
Reaching for her hand, I brought it to my lips as the images of what her fire had just put me through attempted to disrupt my resolve.
A resigned breath attempted to leave my lungs when the sound of crackling fire sliced through the room. Before confusion could fully grip us, the Eternal Blaze ignited in our mate again, forcing Dante, D, and I to stagger away from the bed.
Heart pounding against our ribs we witnessed her wings renew from the flames, expanding in size at either side of her, and fully curling around her protectively, forming some sort of—
“Cocon de Vampir,” D gasped in Romanian, clearly taken aback.
“Vampire cocoon,” Dante echoed, instantly translating it.
Thanks to Countess Dariah, we all knew what that was but…
“What the fuck does it mean for her?” I growled.
“It means her transformation is not over…”
With D’s answer, Dante stepped closer, my large robe materializing in his grasp. He draped it over my shoulders to cover my naked body.
Every inch of me tensed when the three of us watched Natasha’s blaze begin to consume her bed too.
My gaze never left Natasha, not as the blue fire spread over the sheets, and mattress, before it jumped to the wooden bed frame, destroying them all. Instinctively, I leapt into action, trying to carry her before her unconscious body hit the floor—instead, the flames jumped onto my body.
D flashed toward us, pushing me out of the path of destruction before doing what I hadn’t been able to do—catch our mate. His venom rushed out of his pores with the flames’ contact, creating a silver film over his skin—like a fluid shield.
No, I couldn’t look away. Not even as I slammed against the far wall from the force of D’s shove and the scorching fire rushed over my arms and torso, catching my robe and setting it aflame.
The unbearable pain I’d felt the first time returned with a vengeance. Enraged that I’d somehow escaped its obliterating power, it spread over me like I needed to be punished for surviving it.
“Fuck!” I roared through gritted teeth, transforming into the Beast—the only thing that had been able to truly stop the Eternal Blaze from consuming me earlier.
I stumbled a couple of steps while fire and fur rippled over me as one, and I held myself to the wall—my form growing, bones rearranging.
Dante’s Twilight shot towards me, sending with it ancient spell, after ancient, powerful spell to combat Natasha’s blaze…
to no avail. Thankfully, when the transformation overcame me, the burns on my arms and stomach began to regenerate.
Once I was no longer a man, the fortified skin of the Beast fully replacing my own, the blue fire was forced to die, retreating against its will.
My left knee hit the floor while tendrils of smoke swirled off my fur, and I worked to catch my breath.
Relief sank Dante’s chest before his attention turned to the raging blaze taking over the sleeping area. Once more, his shadow bands of magic flew, but I shook my head.
“It’s not going to work,” I muttered, frustration spreading over me like the blaze along the lush rug.
“What?”
“Stop trying to end the fire, it won’t work. It’s too powerful. Just give it something it can’t burn…”
A new light entered his gaze, and his eyes dropped to my chest. “Like the Beast’s skin.”
With my nod, he swept his arms over the room, sending a blanket of shimmering shadow magic that resembled the never-ending night sky.
“Indistruttibile!”
Transformation followed the starry blanket, turning everything that it touched into something that resembled a mix of moonstone and steel. I knew it wasn’t that simple; his power was not only ancient, but it defied logic.
Even with their every attempt to advance, the flames began to die, unable to consume whatever he’d created.
Just like it had with the Beast.
“Now what?” I panted, forcing myself to my feet as a man once more. My intense gaze focused on her face.
“Now we wait for her to wake up,” D answered simply.
“And so, we’ll wait…” Dante somberly echoed.