Page 73 of Thrown into the Mob

But years of my mistreatment had nurtured a ferocity inside my dragon. He roared, creating a flame that was so hot, it burned almost white in the center and had a bluish hue on the edges.

The narrow flame acted like a blowtorch. Evander’s scales glowed before shaking and shattering, reminding me of dropping a ceramic plate on concrete. Except this wasn’t a piece of crockery. This was my brother, my twin, and I might have dealt him a death blow in order to protect the alpha I adored and our son.

The air was clogged with the acrid stench of burning flesh, and my twin’s dragon spasmed and his wings locked. His beast’s mouth opened, but there was no roar, just a guttural gasping, and he fell. But his wings clipped mine, and he took my beast down with him.

Break free of him, I begged my dragon, knowing I was of no use.

The two dragons were tangled together, and my beast didn’t have the strength to pull away. I had to give him some of my own. He was weakened, and siphoning off my energy would reduce mine to almost nothing.

Each second brought us closer to the ground, and I closed my eyes and channeled my energy to my dragon.

Now, I yelled, and he flapped his wings hard, pushing Evander’s beast away as my twin’s dragon plummeted. The tips of my dragon’s wings ripped as they were caught in his opponent’s claws. He gained control and rose up as Evander’s dragon hit the earth. He lay still, and my dragon landed beside him.

My twin shifted to his human form. He lay on his back in the grass in the early-morning light, and his eyes opened and found mine.

I shifted too and knelt beside him, and both of us were naked and bloody. With a hand on my jagged belly wound, I leaned over him.

“I felt it too.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “When Madd arrived, I felt it, just a little. But I knew it wasn't real, though I wanted it to be.”

There was nothing I could say that would matter now, but despite all the pain he’d caused, I wept for the man who should have been my closest friend.

“I’m sorry.” His eyes were losing focus. “About Father and everything.”

His hand reached for mine. I took it, and he squeezed once before his hand went limp.

I kneeled on the grass holding my brother's hand, and my dragon howled. No matter what had happened since we were born, I had lost my brother, and my dragon was mourning his dragon twin.

Evander had spent our lives competing with and resenting me, and yet we never really knew one another. And now we never would.

The compound alarm continued to blast, followed by the crack of the net launchers I'd installed on the rooftops. They were cable rigs designed to tangle wings and drag dragons to the ground. Once grounded, a dragon surrounded by wolves had no advantage. Three of Evander's dragons were already falling with cables wrapped around their wings.

A shadow overhead alerted me that Vasik had not been caught at the compound. If he wanted to fight on my brother's behalf, I had nothing to give. My beast and I couldn’t even get off the ground.

But he landed and shifted. His gaze rested on my twin’s body. He stared at it for minutes and finally gave it a nod of respect. Then he got on his knees, vowing that I was the flight Alpha.

“Evander and your father are gone, and you are the only one left, for now.”

“Oh no, no. You’ve got it wrong. I’ve left that life behind, and I’m part of La Luna Noir now.”

“For now, Conrad.” He stayed where he was on the bloody grass. “You would be similar to a regent.”

The blood my beast had lost, and my injury was making me dizzy, and I rubbed my head. “What are you saying?”

“The eggs. Evander laid eggs, three of them, and they’re waiting to hatch.”

THIRTY-FIVE

MADD

We stood on the ridge overlooking the flight compound as what remained of the original house came down.

Conrad had Tyson on his hip, and we observed the machines take apart the building where my mate had grown up. Stone by stone until the study where the patriarch had sat behind his desk was rubble and the east wing where my mate had lived and worked crumbled.

I felt a twinge of satisfaction as the corridor where his dragon had raged and my wolf followed was destroyed and the stone was turned to dust.

Tucking my arm in my mate’s, I asked how he was. Much as he wanted the place gone, it must have been bittersweet watching the building where he was born and his omega father died be torn down.

“I feel nothing except relief. That house wasn’t a home but four walls and a roof under which its inhabitants endured pain and suffering. But I kept the desk.”