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Mariah shook her head. “He’s beyond reason. What else are we going to do, Evan? He’s going to keep coming for me, and he won’t stop. We’ve finally drawn him out, and this is our chance to stop him for good. If he thinks you’re cooperating, we might find the opportunity we’re looking for.”
No one said anything for a long time. I glanced at Jax, then at Lucas, holding my brother’s gaze for a long time. Of anyone, he understood the weight of what rested on my shoulders tonight. I owed it to Sebastian. To Abi and Lucas and the entire clan. To Mariah’s parents and the parents who’d raised me. I had the opening I’d been waiting for.
“Fine.” My dragon roared within, furious at the idea of putting our mate in danger, but Mariah was right. Tomas would keep coming, and we had to seize the opportunity while we could. “But you will all do exactly as I say. Do you swear it?”
Mariah nodded, her eyes still blazing with streaks of amber. Jax and Lucas agreed, and then there was nothing left but to move ahead.
I kept Mariah by my side as we walked out of the house. “Do you feel up to shifting and flying? We can drive if you need to save your energy.”
She shook her head, just as I’d figured she would. There was an air of determination about her now. “I can do this.”
Out in the large circle drive, the four of us shifted, then took to the sky. Her first time flying with multiple clan members didn’t seem to throw Mariah off too much, though I knew she could sense the presences of Jax and Lucas’s dragons, too. It wasn’t the same as our connection, but a family shared a different type of bond. In fact, she seemed less anxious now. We were all of one mind tonight.
I led us over the treetops in a direct line, heading for the front gate while communicating through the bonds. I told Mariah to stay back with Lucas while Jax and I took the forward position. Within a matter of minutes, the two of us had landed and shifted into our human forms. Lucas and Mariah should’ve landed quietly within the trees, shifting back, and waiting. We didn’t want Tomas to know her full capabilities.
Moonlight glinted off the gate’s cold, hard metal as Tomas stepped out of the shadows. There was no sign of the guard he’d held hostage.
He smiled, a cruel, twisted grin that was as devoid of warmth as his eyes. “Ah, Evan,” he drawled, “I see you brought dear Jax along for the ride. How touching. The son who betrayed me, standing with the enemy.”
Jax bared his teeth but remained silent. Tension radiated out of him like a raging inferno. His own father had tried to have him killed: I couldn’t imagine what was going through his mind. He stared Tomas down as he took another step forward.
“Where is my project?” Tomas asked, looking around with wide, feral eyes. He lifted his voice. “My lab is ready and waiting for you, my dear! I have so many plans for you. Come on now, don’t be shy! Let’s see how magnificent you have become.”
He’d utterly lost his grip, or perhaps he’d always been this mad and only covered it with a veil, and a thin one at that.
“Leave them alone,” Jax said. “You don’t have to continue on this path. No one else has to get hurt.”
Tomas threw his head back and laughed. “But of course I do. This is my life’s work. Don’t be any more of a fool than you already are, boy. I knew it was you all along, leading my men all over the country. I should kill you myself right now for your betrayal.”
I growled, ready to fight.
Tomas waved his hand. “Honestly, I’d rather not get my hands dirty if I don’t have to. If you just hand Mariah over now, I will leave the rest of your town intact for now. Until I perfect the serum, that is. No need to waste time killing when I can get started with my tests. Mariah?” He raised his voice. “My lab is ready for you.”
Mariah stepped forward from behind the trees and walked toward us. I jerked my gaze to Lucas, and he shook his head, his lips pressed together. Mariah wasn’t following the plan.
She stopped several yards behind me.
Tomas drew in a deep breath, his eyes wild as he stared at her. “Ah, my dear. You’re even more magnificent than I’d hoped for. You don’t know how relieved I was when I heard you hadn’t died.” His eyes flashed with malice as they focused on me. “But then you interfered and took my project right from under me.”
“Do not speak to my mate,” I hissed.
Tomas only laughed. “I knew you were special.” He pointed his finger at Mariah. “I knew from the moment I first laid eyes on you. You were meant to be mine. Just imagine the things we will do. Come closer. Let me inspect my project.”
“She’s not your project, Tomas.” Jax stepped forward, his fists clenched.
I moved closer to Mariah’s side. “You can’t have her.”
“Wrong again, Evan.” His voice dripped with condescension. “I can take her at any moment. The only reason I’m still standing here is because your pathetic attempt to stand up to me is amusing.” He took several steps closer. “Sebastian was the only real competition I ever had. The only true threat. I don’t fear you,” he sneered. “You’re nothing but a second-rate, bastard son, worthless to the future of shifters. You’re weak. You don’t see what’s right in front of you.”
My dragon writhed within me, aching to be released. This man was a threat to everything that mattered to me.
“No matter.” Tomas waved his hand dismissively. “Sebastian was easy enough to kill. It won’t be any trouble to send you to join him.”
The challenge in his tone set me off, and my dragon surged to the surface.
“Come on, then,” I snarled, the smoke streaming from my nose as fire built within me, my fangs extending alongside my claws. “Try your best.”
“Very well.” His wicked grin was the last thing I saw before he shifted into his dragon form, a monstrous beast that rivaled the size of my own dragon. His serpentine eyes burned red, its scales glinting like polished silver under the harsh light.
