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The shadow of a dragon flew over him and landed on the ground. Bash bared his teeth, snapping and ready to tear into the red-scaled beast. He’d already seen Spooky battling one of them, but this one was on a different level. Even in dragon form, there were deep scars all over its body.Didn’t dragons heal like other shifters?
Bash shook himself awake and raced forward. The longer he waited around, the more chance the dragon would end up hurting or killing someone he gave a damn about. And Bash couldn’t go back to how he’d been at the beginning. When he thought of that cold, dead, empty husk that he used to be all filled with anger and nothing else, he couldn’t stand it.
“Woah, Woah!” Justice shifted into her human form and held out her hands. “You’re Bash, right?” she asked. “Right?”
Bash grunted. Once he did, she blew out a breath and gazed around. “You two!” she called to a pair of circling dragons. “Put the goddamn palace out with the others. Every last one of you that can use water or earth, get to it. Now!” The dragons disappeared and she turned back to Bash. “Where is Arden?”
“I don’t know,” he said shortly after shifting. “He and Janek were fighting and that’s the-”
Justice’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. It might have been comical if the world wasn’t burning down around them. “Janek? My brother?” Her brows furrowed. “Wait, do you mean he’s fightingalongsideArden or-”
“No!” Bash snapped. “I mean Janek is going to kill him, kill all of us if we don’t kill him first.”
She took a step back. “B-but he wouldn’t,” she muttered, her chest rising and falling more quickly. “J-Janek can’t… He- I…”
Bash slapped her sharply. She blinked and touched her cheek, but whatever spiral she had been in stopped. “I’m sorry I had to do that. Hitting a woman is bullshit, but we don’t have time for you to freak out. You can lead these people, clearly.”
“Yes,” she nodded.
“And you’ve fought before. I could see the scars even before you shifted back.”
“Yes,” she said again before she sucked in a breath. “I can handle this. You help your men and mine. If there are gray wolves, they’re more likely to attack you. The black wolves are on our side,” she said shakily before she cleared her throat and held her head up high. A crack of lightning shot across the sky, but she didn’t flinch. “That would be Arden. Youneedto find him, okay? If he fights for too long, he’ll lose himself again. And I don’t want to know what will happen if we can’t get him calmed down.”
Bash grunted. “And your brother?”
“Is a traitor. Cut him down or tie him up. Either way, he’ll pay for what he’s done here.” She nodded. “There’s your vampire and over there, your witch.” She frowned as she gazed up. “I don’t know what the fuck that is.”
“Spooky,” Bash said shortly. “I saw him change into that.”
“Get them all and get to Arden.”
Bash shifted back into his bear form and glanced between Eldon and Gamble. While the vampire was busy slicing through flesh and ripping out throats, Gamble looked as if he was on his last leg. In his arms were two small children and Gamble was clutching them so tightly, trying to save their lives.
Bash’s heart squeezed. Gamble was so rough around the edges, but underneath it all there was that heart that drew Bash to him.
Witch first.
He shot off in Gamble’s direction and cut off a wolf that was going for him. Bash knocked the creature away, but as most wolves did, he came with a pack. Teeth sank into his back leg and he shook one off as he snatched up another wolf in his teeth. He swung the beast around until he heard the sharp, distinct sound of a neck-snapping. Once he dropped the carcass, he went after the other ones.
“Bash, be careful!” Gamble panted.
No shit.
“Don’t give me that look,” the witch snapped. “Just don’t get killed!”
Bash almost wanted to laugh despite the situation. Gamble sounded so angry and he had a feeling that when the situation was over and everything had calmed, he would hear the man’s mouth about it. Bash used that motivation, the promise of an angry Gamble that he would pull into his arms and cuddle, to cut down two more wolves.
The last one rolled after Bash tossed him to the side, a pained whine spilling from his mouth. As Bash stepped forward, a blur sped past him and snapped the animals’ neck. Eldon straightened up, blood covering his mouth and chin. His fangs were out and he looked wild, those usually calm gray eyes full of fire.
“Where’s Spooky?” Eldon asked.
Bash ignored the pain in his leg. He was about to shift when Gamble nodded toward the sky. When they turned all of them paused. Spooky was riding a dragon down to the ground, a wail leaving his lips as they crashed. The earth shook and Eldon quickly plucked the children from Gamble’s arms.
“Give them here,” a woman panted as she ran over. Through the soot, Bash recognized her. Justice’s mate. “Trust me, there’s a small number of us who have gathered up survivors. Besides, they shouldn’t be out here, not with all of this.”
Gamble frowned. “They’re under an illusion,” he said shakily. “If they get too far away, it might crumble.”
“All we can do is our best,” Mya said as she reached out and squeezed his arm. “But we can protect them. You can’t fight if you’re carrying dragonlings around.”
