Page 38 of Microburst

“Look at all the electric dragons here. Does no one else find that odd?”

“I’ve never seen so many in one family,” Benson muttered as he glanced around with a frown.

“It’sexceedinglyrare, but there are a few bloodlines that have a predisposition for a certain type of dragon,” Modren said. “Normally for a reason and assumed blessed by the gods. There was a family mostly of storm dragons in Nerthus that helped andit was a good fit. But they tried to overthrow the royal family, so obviously they’re all dead.”

Obviously. Sure thing there, buddy.

Belinda gave him an amused glance before focusing on Benson. “Butallof the women here are electric dragons and some have mated into this family. They’re engineering it. They figured out that their bloodline is like a herd mentality and that is why the Gurren family is so reclusive, always living at this compound. It’s required, yes?”

Darren’s face went pale. “No.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, hating to burst this bubble for him, but he was going to find out taking over. “There’s more to it.”

“Shut your mouth,” Grandfather hissed.

“Orwhat?” I mocked. I picked him up and held him off the ground, people gasping as I did it with ease when he was so much bigger than me. “Youbreakthe women of this family. She was fuckingbroken. You trained her like canines other nations have asfucking pets!” I threw him into the stone wall before Eloise took his head as she remembered the trauma we suffered.

Darren moved in front of me, tears in his eyes. “What? What are you even saying?”

I swallowed loudly. “She did it to me. She used to shock me when I actedunseemly.” I watched as he gradually put the pieces together and he slowly fell to his knees and let out a sob.

Because he now understood how I learned to control Eloise as a very young child before I started working with Belinda. My mother would shock me.

She wouldshock mewith her electrical power so Eloise hid.

So she didn’t change forms and only Iris came out.

So she didn’t even show thestreaksin my hair before I even knew to glamour them like now.

Eloise just hid so we didn’t feel pain.

From our own mother.

Like how other nations trained their pets.

And because it was howshewas raised.

I turned back on Grandfather. “You raise the women of this family like docile, perfect pets byshocking theminto submission and obedience. You make the men of this family mate electric dragons so you can carry on the sick practice and control the family likeproperty. But she got free and that ruined everything. Yourownershipover her because you couldn’t—”

“She should haveobeyedlike—”

Part of his arm was gone before anyone could react. I ripped it off at the elbow, just snapped it off and then used Iris’s fire to close the wound so it couldn’t be reattached no matter how amazing the healer or medicinal dragon.

And then, just to make sure the retribution couldn’t be undone, Iris and I burned his detached arm to ash. People screamed and I saw several drop out of the corner of my eye, but I ignored it. Grandfather was too in shock to register the pain or pass out yet.

“She was your child to love and you broke her!” I roared, my power shattering windows and probably more as I lost control. “And then you lied to theworldabout all of it while leaving me there with a broken mother who didn’t protect me against the royal family knowing it would happen!Wantingit to happen as punishment for both of us!

“You twisted her mind and she didn’t know how to be a person but a pet. She justobeyedand now I have to deal with that and you did it! You did it to both of us.” I curled my lip at him. “That’s for breaking your own children and…” I trailed off when the shock wore off enough and he started screaming.

Then I just chuckled probably scaring people more.

Good.

He passed out and I had eyes for one other person and she rightfully looked terrified. “Do not ever appear in front of me,and if I ever find out you shock another woman—anotherpersonin this family, you will get worse. The only reason you are spared is I would bet anything you were the victim before you were the monster.”

I saw it in her eyes—the dead look. The haunted, pained look of someone who suffered abuse beyond what there were words for.

“The gods will judge you for allowing it to happen to your daughter and not telling the world the truth to save her,” I bit out, not just giving her a free pass. “You will deserve every second of your punishment for not being stronger no matter what he did to you first.”