As Keelin moved in and out of the vehicles, she glanced
around. The parking lot was full, but the warehouse was
far from the main road, hidden back enough that no one
would accidentally stumble on it. There weren’t any
people out here, not with all the action inside. Which
was good for her, she’d have privacy to strip and shift
so she could fly back to the mansion.
A burning scent accosted her about two seconds before the
three males from inside appeared as if from nowhere,
stepping out from behind a black SUV with dark tinted
windows. Her alarm bells went off, but she didn’t panic.
Inhaling deeply, she only scented the three of them. Okay
so it was unlikely someone was trying to attack her from
behind. Still, she wasn’t letting her guard down.
“You smell delicious, little dragon,” the one named
Marshall said. Apparently the leader of the trio.
And he knew what she was. Just great. “Get the hell out
of my way,” she demanded. Shifters or any supernatural
beings only respected strength. She was pretty sure these
three were out here to ambush her but she knew well
enough to always stand her ground, no matter how afraid
she was.
“Not after what you saw back there,” the other one—maybe,
Martin—said.
Somehow she kept her expression blank. “Saw?”
“You’re special, aren’t you little dragon? Not everyone
is powerful enough to see or contain the power.” Marshall
spoke again while the third one stepped to the left, as
if he was thinking about moving around one of the
vehicles to cut off her escape.
She was about tired of the ‘little dragon’ comments. And
she had no idea what he meant by ‘contain the power’. She
pinned him with a stare, her dragon’s fire tickling the
back of her throat. Tonight was definitely going to end
badly. Probably with her clothes shredded and these
losers burned to a crisp. She knew her animal was in her
eyes already, was barely containing the urge to shift.
But she’d be weakest when she underwent the change, just
for a few moments. She needed to put some distance
between them before she let her dragon take over.
“Special?” she asked, wanting to keep them talking as she
took a couple steps backward.
They followed, one having to fall behind the others in
the tighter space between the vehicles.
“Very special,” the creepy one she’d seen biting that
female said in a sing-song voice. The sound of it felt
like ice trailing down her spine. His eyes darkened and
she scented that fire again. Demons. They had to be. “And
now you have to die.”
Fire erupted in one of the male’s hands and she didn’t
think, just let her instinct take over.
Not bothering to shift, she unleashed the fire that had
been tickling her throat, a scorching stream releasing at
the two closest males. She nailed one of them in the arm
and face.
He screamed and the other male went for a weapon. A gun.
He yanked it free from the back of his pants. Before he
could lift his arm she whipped her fire at him, ready to
fry him when a blast of bright orange flames fell from
the sky, lighting up everything around them.
She jumped back, lifting an arm to shield herself from
the brightness. Her fire died in her throat as the flames
from above ate up the three males, incinerating them and
four vehicles around them in seconds, as if the fire
itself was hungry enough to devour everything in its
path. She could feel the heat but just barely. As a
dragon she could shield herself—to an extent—from other
dragons’ fire, but whoever was breathing it was
specifically guarding her against its destructive power.
She sensed it bone-deep.
She stared at the sky but whoever it was had shielded
themselves—until a shimmering bluish-green dragon with
scales the color of the Mediterranean suddenly appeared,
landing in the ashes of the demons and destroyed vehicles
with a thump. He spread his wings, a beautiful pale blue
that gave off the illusion of flowing water and stared at
her with sapphire-green eyes.
Eyes she would know anywhere.
Before she could move or even think, the male shifted to
his human form. Bran stood there, all six feet four
inches of sexy, pissed off male. His expression was one
of pure rage as he stepped toward her. Not that it
stopped her from checking out every single naked inch of
him. And the man was built. All those hard lines and
striations looked as if he’d been carved from marble.
She knew she should be more worried about what the hell
had just happened but as he stalked toward her, it was
hard to remember her name.
“Keelin,” he growled out and it registered that he was
angry—at her. “What the hell were you—”
She stomped her heel against the gravel, not caring if
she looked childish. “Don’t you f**king lecture me!” She
couldn’t take it from him of all people. Not now, not
ever.
He let out another growl, this one filled with something
else. Not anger.
He fisted her hips, tugging her to him faster than she
could blink. She’d barely let out a gasp of surprise
before his mouth crushed over hers, hard and demanding.
