My father coughed behind me. “Jalisa.”
I raised a hand to stop him from talking. “We will let the public know of our history. We could lose business. It will hurt us. But we built our success, in part, off the backs of those we severely underpaid and mistreated. Never again. We don’t have to keep fighting. You kill me and nothing ends. It just gets worse for you. We can help you get out of this, Nepa. And get justice for your family. I know you aren’t evil. You weren’t behind killing my brother. We talked to your uncle Pierce. You’ve done some shitty things, but we can get through it. Well, at least I can, not sure about Ivan. That you’ll have to work through on your own. However, what I’m offering is a good deal. You can hate me all you want, but you know that I, personally, haven’t done these offenses. And there is a reason your cousin loved me. Back when he used to remember me. And I love him just as much. I’ve never mistreated dragons, and I, along with my father, will dedicate our lives to ensuring justice for your kind. Can we call a truce?”
She considered me for a moment, working her jaw as she thought. I stood patiently, trying to ignore the fighting off into the distance and weird booming noise behind me, along with occasional shakes of the ground. This mansion was not stable, and something was happening. Perhaps a realm quake? I opened my mouth to encourage her to speed up when she finally spoke.
“I don’t trust you, and I think my cousin is a fool for falling for you. But if you can do what you say you can do, then I will give you an opportunity. However, just know, that this doesn’t start and end with me. If you don’t keep your word, it won’t be just me who comes for you. I’m the nicest of the bunch.”
She gave me a sharp-toothed smile that I was sure was meant to chill me to the bone because I was fighting hard not to shiver. She couldn’t shift but seeing that she had dragon teeth made her nearly as dangerous. Yes, she was nice because I should havebeen dead. She’d been holding back while fighting me. That was kind and terrifying at the same time.
I gave a curt nod, still holding my breath. Had I actually talked myself out of possible death instead of going in for the fight? That felt very…wise of me. “I understand. I’ll put out our first apology tomorrow. I need to know that Ivan’s okay and get my father help.”
Nepa’s sword disappeared from her hand, and she looked to the double doors behind me. “I’m pretty sure Ivan’s outside.” She turned and began to walk away. “Did you know Jacob was a dragon too?”
My heart stopped for the briefest of seconds. No, I did not know Jacob was a dragon. Well, that explained the ground shaking. There was a dragon fight outside, and I really hoped Ivan was winning.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ivan
I’d never fought my kind before, but there was a first for everything I suppose. When Jacob unveiled himself, my mind froze. How had I not known? Had he dampened his dragon scent with magic? It had to be magic.
The bastard walked toward me confidently. “Surprised? Thought I was some weakling?”
I shrugged, standing up after being tossed like a ball into a wall. “No, actually, I thought you were some idiot. Can’t say my mind has changed about that.”
He blew out his breath again, and it felt like my head was being shoved under water. This wasn’t going to work. He could suck all the air out of the room, and at some point, I would need it to breathe. I ducked under his tunnel of wind and tackled him tothe ground. Wasting no time, I punched him in the ribs with my icy fists, satisfied with the crunch of bone. I needed to get to his face and smash it in. He struggled underneath me, but I pinned him down with my body and my left forearm. With my free hand, I grew my talons into icy pointers before stabbing them into his gut. I tried to get to his face, but he was wildly blowing his forceful winds, and I was too close to lifting off him.
He bellowed out an earsplitting cry, and this time I did get tossed into the air. Then into the wall. And then through the wall. Finally, I landed on my back into the dirt, cursing. It felt like the life inside me exited my body before being sucked back in. If I was a weaker being, I’d be dead. As it stood, I’d be able to heal any damage at this level fairly quickly.
I got to my feet, sucking in the air. The scent of forest and earth surrounded me, reminding me that I was back home and away from the pollution of the human realm. A cool breeze brushed over me, the approaching night wrapping around us like a blanket. I flexed my fingers as if to touch the night air. It was good to be back. I wanted to shift into dragon form and roll around in the tall grass, feel the magic of the realm against my skin. However, I had more pressing matters to focus on, and my realm reunion would have to wait.
Jacob stepped through the me-sized hole, his wings folding tightly to him before expanding them again outside. “You know, I was going to follow orders, but I don’t see the purpose. Your family’s used to tragedy. I think it’s okay if they lose another one of you.”
“You fucking piece of shit. You think that decrepit old fae back there is going to have your back? Where’s your loyalty to dragon-kind?”
Jacob cracked his neck from side to side. He was preparing to shift soon and when that happened, there would be no talking, for either of us. “The only loyalty I have is to myself.”
“I thought you were a part of this rebellion thing?”
“I’m a part of getting power. The only way dragons can get respect is by taking it, and the only way to do that is with political power.”
I gave an exaggerated yawn. Talking to him wasn’t going to bring any enlightenment, not that I thought he actually would. “Or by just destroying towns with a few breaths if you’re the rule by fear kind of leader. More dramatic but easier. In any event, you, my friend, are the last person who should be in any kind of power. We’ve got enough idiots running things.” I clapped my hands together. “Alright then, let’s get with the fighting.”
As if reading each other’s minds, we both burst into our dragon forms. I’d never encountered a wind dragon before, but he was about what I expected. Around my size, but instead of scaled skin like myself, he was furry and all white, except for those purple eyes.
Unimpressed, I sucked in a deep breath before releasing a spray of icy water in his direction. It splattered against his left wing and expanded, freezing it. Jacob roared and blew in my direction, and to my displeasure, I was tossed back toward the wooded area behind the dilapidated mansion. His breath really was storm level.
Before I could retaliate, Jacob sucked in a breath, and it was as if all the air in the surroundings was absorbed. I tried to blow ice, but nothing came out. Heaving, I stumbled back, losing balance as the edges of my vision faded. I could go without air for a period of time as a dragon, but I still needed it with my magic.
I looked up to the darkening sky, the bright stars blurring under my fading vision. No, I would not end it like this. I took off in flight, flapping my wings to reach as high as possible until air reached my lungs. Taking in massive gulps of air, I floated, pleased that the asshole had a limit with his magic. Istared down at him smugly, looking at his frozen-over wing that prevented him from meeting me in the air.
Encouraged by my new advantage, I blew out a heavy spray of ice. Jacob quickly shifted, missing my original aim, his head. However, he wasn’t left unharmed as my ice spread across his massive furry tail. Time was of the essence; my ice encasement was not permanent in this warmer climate. I needed to act fast to inflict as much damage as possible. I sprayed out a round of ice pellets at Jacob, stabbing into fur and skin. The sight of red surrounding the ice showed me that his skin wasn’t so tough. I looked further down and noticed that my ice pellets had broken off a portion of his vulnerable frozen tail. Jacob roared in pain and fury. He would retaliate, but I didn’t intend on giving him time.
I blew out another round of ice, but this time Jacob managed to dodge all of the attacks. He jumped back, his iced wing still brushing the ground. He then reared back, standing on his hind legs, his leathery underbelly fully exposed for me to impale. His large purple eyes were now shining as if light was peeking out through cracks behind his sockets. I blew another round of ice pellets, hoping to stab him through the heart. However, he blew out another round of wind, knocking my pellets in different directions and sending them into the ground.
The wind moved further in my direction, concentrated like a tornado. My stability was vulnerable while floating in the air, and I turned to fly higher, only the wind tunnel entrapped me too quickly. I struggled to push against it, but it hit me like a wall, smashing into my body like giant fists. I roared out as the wind crashed into me, snapping my bones wherever it could. I’d never felt such agonizing pain before all at once. Nausea wracked me, and I fought to remain conscious, to mentally push past the pain. However, it was too great, all consuming. Opening my maw to send another round of ice felt impossible,the wind had stolen any form of movement from me. My wings, now broken, failed me, and I began to descend until I collapsed on the ground with a hard thud, further damaging my already broken body.
Painful darkness fought to cover my vision, and I blinked in slow motion as I watched Jacob move his body in my direction. He was also injured and limping toward me, however, I knew he had enough power left to crush me. I tried to lift my head, but it didn’t feel right, I was sure my skull or face was cracked. I couldn’t tell what part of me was more damaged than the other. I only knew whatever I had left in me, it would not involve moving. Not until I healed.
