But then he dipped down and jerked Elena’s body against his. His maniacal eyes tinged with pleasure at my outrage.
“Let her go,” I hissed.
“I don’t think so.”
“Whatever you want,” I told Gideon. “Don’t hurt her.”
“I already have what I want,” he said. Then with one move, so quick I barely saw it, he drew the knife along her throat and a river of red began to spill down her front.
I fell to my knees, my howl of despair so loud it shook the trees. But it did nothing to stop the river of blood that poured from her wound. They’d bound my hands so I couldn’t even use them to stop the bleeding—even though I knew it was useless. For a horrifying moment, I considered cauterizing the wound with my fire, but I wasn’t sure if that would hurt her even more.
The moment of indecision cost me, and she bled out before I could do anything at all.
I was soaked in her blood. I moved as close as I could to her lifeless body. Alaric made a sound behind me, but I had attention for no one but her.
Even Gideon ceased to exist in my mind.
For long minutes, I was swallowed by an abyss of grief.
She didn’t wake up. My body understood before my mind could catch up. Before I recognized what I was doing, I stood and pivoted, bringing up one bloody claw to slash through the soot-stained air at the man who no longer held a claim to my mate.MyElena.
He wasn’t her brother. He was barely even a man in my eyes. He was certainly less than human and didn’t deserve an ounce of my compassion, despite what Elena may have thought.
Injured though I was, I reacted with an instinct borne of thousands of years of battle. Instinct that urged me to protect my mate at any cost, to avenge those who harmed her by any means necessary. It was otherworldly, the rage that fueled my revenge.
White-hot the fury rose inside me, obliterating all of the remaining humanity I’d clung to for so long. Without Elena, there was no reason to hold out hope any longer. Without her, there was no need to hold my murderous impulses in check. When it came down to it, there was no point in living without her. My thunderous snarl echoed off the walls of the castle, rattling the icicles pointing dangerously below, and causing the snowdrifts to explode in every direction.
As the fury overtook me, I remembered, barely, to keep the fight away from the castle.The hatchlings. They were the only thing I refused to destroy. I’d take every human and every capital soldier with me, but I’d not harm them. Even if they’d never take wing, I still believed they had a chance. It may be too late for me, but I still held out hope for them.
With that thought, I managed to shift, surprising the men who still held my chains. They cut into the spines of my wings and dug into my snout. Either they would break or I would—I was past caring.
But I knew, the same way I knew Elena was mine the moment I saw her, I wouldn’t be the one breaking. In the end, they may take my life, but they would lose theirs if they dared.
I took sick pleasure from the look on Gideon’s face when I took wing, my strong wingspan carrying me out of the human’s reach. With one powerful breath, I dove for the nearest human, the one who’d held a knife to her throat, managing to snare his retreating body in my claws. He struggled, but I liked that he did. He stunk with fear and piss and shit and if I could have laughed in my dragon form, I would have. Because I couldn’t, I did something much better. As he screamed, I took him into my mouth, my teeth crushing his delicate bones until his throat snapped and he stopped screaming. I spit him out like a spoiled bite of food.
I wasn’t done.
The humans had started to scramble while I killed their friend, but they were no match for my anger. Alaric, I noted as I flew past, had rallied the castle guard and was slaughtering the remaining mortals with complicated spellwork, the runes on his hands glowing like stars.
“For Elena!” he shouted.
“For Elena!” they chorused.
Hearing her name brought a fresh wave of pain and I sped up until I was level with Gideon, who’d shifted to flee. I flapped one wing and knocked him to the ground with a satisfying thud. I half-shifted, retaining my scale-armor and claws. I didn’t want to kill him like I had the first. I was going to use my bare hands and bathe in his blood.
They wanted a beast? They would get one.
Gideon rolled onto his back, his eyes white and wide with fear. I could scent it on the air, and it made the dragon inside me roar with satisfaction.
“Don’t kill me,” he pleaded. “I’ll give you—I’ll give you whatever you want.”
“Good,” I said, my voice more dragon than human. “Very good.”
“M-money?” he stuttered. “Jewels, land. Whatever you want.”
“I’ll bet that’s what you promised the humans to get them to attack us, to poison your sister. They’re always greedy for whatever they can get their hands on. But,” I said, leaning forward, “I’m not a human and the only thing I want is your life.”
I lunged, grabbing his cloak and twisting as I rose to my feet. I released my wings and flew us back to the spot where Elena’s body rested.He would see what he had done and it would haunt him as his life drained away...along with his blood.
