Dragonfury 02 - Fury of Ice

another total body shake. Man, with a move like that, the male looked more like a dog than a dragon. “No way I’m missing the show.”
    Show . Right. More like a beat down with death as the endgame.
    Under normal circumstances, it would’ve bothered him that Venom knew what he was thinking. Not tonight. Rikar didn’t give a shit. Transparency was the least of his problems. A female was involved. So, yeah. The Razorback would hurt until he gave up the goods. End of story.
    Upon approach, the cave wall rippled. As the magical doorway glimmered in the low light, Rikar breathed deep, preparing for the electrostatic jolt, then stepped through what had been solid rock moments before. The hair on the nape of his neck rose, reacting to the spell that surrounded Black Diamond and hid their lair from outsiders…human and Dragonkind alike. His boots connected with smooth concrete on the other side of the portal. Thank Christ. The inside of the lair smelled a whole lot better than the cave, like pine floor cleaner, fresh air and…
    Home.
    He closed his eyes, taking a moment to center himself. A second was all he needed. As the aftershocks of the magical doorway faded, he strode up the slight incline of the double-wide corridor, following the round lights embedded in the concrete floor. The only source of illumination, the runway took him past the medical clinic. He glanced through the sliding glass doors as he passed, looking for his commander. Empty. Not a soul in sight: nothing but an examination table, state-of-the-art equipment, and a shitload of silence.
    Rikar shook his head. It made sense. No matter the scrapes and bruises, B was no doubt with his female: holding her, soothing her, making love to her. All life-affirming activities, ones his best friend no doubt craved after what had gone down in the Port of Seattle.
    A strange sensation settled in the center of Rikar’s chest. His heart hurt as it sank deep and poked around, stirring up all kinds of debris.
    Rikar frowned. What the hell was that? Jealousy?
    Nah, couldn’t be. He was happy for his friend…really. A male of worth like Bastian deserved the best. And Myst? Man, she was exactly what his commander needed. Still, the awful feeling pressed in, twisting him up tight. He upped his pace, refusing to acknowledge it, not wanting to believe he envied his best friend.
    Bypassing twin elevators and the gym, he heard Venom move in behind him. The sound of their footfalls became one, echoing together, two males moving in unison toward one purpose. Answers. Rikar wanted them. And like the upstanding male that he was, Venom would back him up.
    Good thing too. The next hour would get messy…in more ways than one.

Chapter Two
     
    A steady hum hung in the stale air, the sound’s a soft accompaniment to the elevator’s rapid descent. Smooth and uninterrupted, a ride in the Otis would’ve been perfection any other time. But not now. Not tonight. Never again. Angela Keen would forever equate the small, steel box with a cage…
    And boatloads of pain.
    Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to forget the last few hours. Nothing good lay in those memories. Minutes or hours ago, it didn’t matter. The past needed to stay where she’d put it, locked in a box at the back of her brain.
    Along with her fear.
    But panic had her by the throat, making it hard to breathe. She forced air into her lungs, rebelling against captivity…against fate. And God. Anyone who would listen as she twisted her hands, searching for a weakness in the flex-cuffs. It was a no-go. There wasn’t any give. No defects in the plastic. No fault in the way they’d been used.
    And she should know. How many times had she cuffed perps just like this on the job? A hundred times? Two hundred…a thousand?
    Man, what a joke. A helpless homicide detective.
    All that training—the martial arts classes, shooting qualifications, and survival courses—and for what? To find herself out-muscled and trapped. Nothing but a POW in a war she hadn’t known existed until just hours ago.
    Dragonkind. Holy hell, who would’ve guessed?
    Not her. Not the rest of the planet either. As far as she knew, the human race was oblivious that monsters with claws and scales lived among them.
    She swallowed, fighting the pitch and roll of her stomach, wishing she’d been spared the knowledge. But the truth had a bad attitude. Getting in her face. Hitting her with another dose of reality as the guy holding her prisoner nudged her