Dragonfury 02 - Fury of Ice

dragon followed, mirroring each movement. As a load of WTF got rolling, Mac breathed faster, air sawing in and out of his lungs. The scaled chest rose and fell with his, the clickety-click of scales sounding loud in the silence.
    Uh-uh. No way. His brows collided. That couldn’t be him. It couldn’t be, but—
    The dragon’s eyes were the same color as his, and a memory was chasing its tail inside his head. Leading the recall parade? A deep voice talking to him, echoing inside his head, helping him change into—
    Holy shit. He was a dragon.
    A sound of distress left his throat. The whimper sounded raw, on the edge of fear, but Mac didn’t care. The weak-ass reaction could go to hell. Something bad had happened, and now, he was in monster territory. Not a big problem on a normal day. He dealt with the human variety all the time, but…
    God help him.
    He scrambled backward, away from the reflection. The scrape of claws on wood floors bounced around, echoing off brick walls, making the black glass swell and ripple. The clatter made him look down. He flexed his hand. A huge talon responded, curling and releasing on command. Jesus Christ. That didn’t belong to him. It couldn’t, but as he spread his fingers and stared at the webbing between the claws, he knew denial wasn’t an option. He wasn’t dreaming. The blue-gray dragon was not only real, he was it . It was him . One and the frickin’ same.
    His breath came faster. Twin tendrils of steam rose from his nostrils, freaking him out as viselike pressure roped his rib cage. One crank at a time, the band tightened until he couldn’t breathe and the walls closed in. Claustrophobia lit him up, warning him to get the hell out before he got buried alive. His gaze swung to the patio doors on the other side of the loft. Could he make it? Would he fit through them like—
    “It’s all right, buddy.” Hushed and even, the voice came from out of the shadows. Mac latched onto it as panic spun him around the lip of insanity. The sucking whirlpool tunneled his vision, narrowing his world until he couldn’t see anything but blur. “Easy. You’re all right.”
    “Out,” he rasped, not recognizing his own voice. He sounded like a monster, all growl and hiss, nothing like his normal self. Pressed up against the back wall, he shook his head, and sensation tingled, slid across his temples, then up to surround the horns on…Jesus. The things were growing out of his skull. “I need…out.”
    “I hear ya, but not yet,” the voice said, sounding a lot closer. “Hang tight, buddy…let me explain. We’ll get you straightened out.”
    “Can’t wait.” Seeing spots now, a second away from hyperventilating, Mac clung to the only thing that mattered. Kept his sanity by focusing on Angela. As always, she helped ground him, driving the “holy shit” reaction to the back of his mind. He needed to find her…to make sure she was safe. “Ange…my partner…she’s in trouble and—”
    “Not anymore.” Shadows morphed into the outline of a man. Raising his hands, the guy turned his palms up, a gesture meant to reassure. But it was the eyes Mac focused on. The shimmering green felt like a lifeline and, as he grabbed hold, the guy said, “Rikar’s got her. She’s safe, Mac.”
    Mac’s brows collided. Rikar . He knew that name. Remembered the voice and the patience. The kindness over the hours he’d spent in hell. And God…right this minute? Big sissy or not, he needed to hear it again.
    “Where is he?”
    “With Angela. Protecting her…making sure she’s okay.”
    Relief rolled through him. Which was just plain stupid. He didn’t know this guy. Didn’t trust him, but his cop instincts were squawking again, telling him that despite the blurry eyesight and the fucked-up situation, the guy was solid—for real in a trustworthy kind of way—and Mac wanted to believe him.
    Claws clicked as he set his foot back down on the floor. “Where?”
    “At Black Diamond…our lair.” A little closer now, the voice came at him like a sidewinder through the blur. “It’s solid, Mac. Our enemies can’t track her there.”
    “Let’s go,” he said, needing more than reassurance. No way he would believe it until he saw her for himself. Add that to the bonus of getting the hell out of the loft’s confining space, and yup, it was win-win all the way around. “I want to see her…to make sure.”
    “Sun’s coming up, big guy.”
    Mac frowned, a big “so what?”