Dragonfury 01 - Fury of Fire

glow.
    “You son of a bitch.”
    Lashing out again, she thrust her knee up, aiming for his groin. He shifted and, without mercy, cranked her head back, raising her onto her toes. With a curse, she held the tears back, refusing to show weakness or acknowledge the pain, and kicked him again. He took the hit on the thigh and shoved her against the container wall.
    Cold steel bit into her spine and reality hit hard. She couldn’t win. He was too strong. “Get off me…get off me!”
    “Lesson one…don’t tell me what to do,” he said, aligning their bodies, pressing in until he pinned her. Unable to move, she turned her head away, gagging as he dipped his head. The warm rush of his breath touched a second before his mouth brushed her cheekbone. “Lesson two? Give me what I want, and you’ll live.”
    “I’m not giving you a thing.”
    His lips curved against her skin. “Hmm…female. You smell so good. Bet you taste even better. Give me a sip, sweetheart…a little taste of all that energy.”
    Her stomach rolled. She swallowed, fighting to keep the bile down. “Go to hell.”
    Ivar snarled, the sound hissing next to her ear. Fear ripped through her, gathered speed, twisting her energy into the force of a hurricane. For once, she let it go, embraced the wildness she’d always felt, rode the whipping wind inside her, settling into the eye of the storm. From its center, she controlled the tempest, defining the boundaries as Ivar cranked her head back and dipped his head.
    Feeding Bastian had taught her well. She knew what the connection felt like, and how he opened it. Now, all she wanted was to shut it down. Her energy belonged to the man she loved and no other. No way would she allow Ivar to take what didn’t belong to him.
    Ivar pressed his open mouth to her throat. He sucked hard, drawing on her skin, searching for the conduit to reach what he wanted. Myst tightened her grip on the energy stream as it surged behind her mental barricade. A pause. A momentary shift inside her, and the Meridian retreated, respecting her right to rule it.
    “What the fuck?” Ivar jerked then retreated, shock in his pink eyes.
    “The energy is mine.” Meeting his gaze head-on, she watched surprise turn to fury as she threw his words back at him. “And possession is nine-tenths of the law, asshole.”
    Baring his teeth, he shifted his grip. His hand tightened around her throat, cutting off her air supply. As she wheezed, struggling against the choke hold, he growled, “You’ll give me what I want, female. I’ll beat you to fucking death to get it.”
    The threat should’ve scared her, but it didn’t. No matter how rough he got, she wouldn’t give in. Bastian was coming. She could feel him now. The vague impression of him was hazy—faraway, but closing fast. It gave her strength. Enough to fight as Ivar dragged her toward an open shipping container at the end of the aisle. And as the metal doors clanged behind her, she opened her senses and sent out a call meant solely for Bastian, praying he reached her in time.

     
    Leading the Nightfury warriors, Bastian came through the clouds. Condensation wicking from his wing tips, he leveled out over southern Seattle, city lights nothing but pinpricks below him. Flying fast, he sent his signal out in a wide sweep. Each ping looped back, directing him as scent, sound, and sonar fed him information.
    The police station had been a bust. Thirty seconds circling the scene told him everything he needed to know. The precinct wall had a hole blown in the side of it, and the cops didn’t have a clue.
    But he did.
    Ivar. The rogue prick.
    Bastian growled, baring his fangs in the cold night air. The male had taken Myst. Now she was in the hands of a psychopath without an off switch.
    Inhaling deep, Bastian exhaled long and slow. He needed to keep it together. Losing his mind wouldn’t help his female, but if Ivar touched one hair on her precious head…if that asshole…
    Fuck no. He couldn’t go there. Fear was useful only when turned to a purpose, and so he shaped it, honing it into a lethal weapon to use against the enemy.
    No mercy. There would be no mercy tonight.
    Dropping down low, he skimmed skyscrapers, mining the electrostatic bands to find Myst. Her energy was like a radio wave, a magical bandwidth with a unique signature that he could lock onto and—
    His head snapped to the right. South. He needed to fly further south. She was down near the waterfront, among ocean