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I kept my word. As the alphas and a few of the guards West had brought along gathered in the courtyard, I hovered above the estate with vast, steady flaps of my dragon wings. Fire itched to unfurl up my throat. I couldn’t help remembering that past dragon shifter’s comment about the fae trying to steal those flames from hermother.
I didn’t have time to puzzle over that idea further. Movement caught my eye in the distance between the rollinghills.
The vampires had left their headlights off, having perfectly good night vision and no interest in giving us any warning. But the moon was bright enough for my shifter vision to pick out the shape of the vehicle cruising toward us down theroad.
It must also have been bright enough for the vampires to see me, waiting against the starry sky. The truck had only crossed about a quarter of the distance between the hills and the estate buildings when it started toslow.
I braced myself, my muscles bunching. With a few broad flaps of my wings, I soared closer. The second the vamps stopped or showed any sign of disembarking, I had to dive. I had to burn them up before they could turn their guns onme.
The truck didn't stop, though. At my movement, it swerved around in a U-turn. As soon as the vehicle was pointing away from me, they hit the gas. The truck shot down the road the way it'dcome.
I hurtled after it, tucking my wings tight as the wind warbled over my scales. The itch in my throat deepened into a furious burn. In the back of my mind the echo of gunshots rose up, the jabs of the bullets' impact, Nate's body as he'd crumpled the othernight.
The vampires were stretching the distance between us. Almost at the pass between the hills already. No, I couldn't let them escape. I smacked my wings through the air, fangs scraping together infrustration.
A tickle of sensation broke through my rage. A tug. I tried to shake it off, but it wrapped all through my awareness. Abruptly, the meaning of it hitme.
My mates were calling mehome.
My muscles twitched, rejecting the idea of retreat. I could keep going, fly harder, farther. I could feelit.
But that wasn't the point, was it? I'd promised them. And the last time I'd gotten carried away with vengeance, I'd burned most of a forest down. As soon as the truck veered out of sight into the pass, the vamps could stop and get ready for me with theirguns.
That might even be what they wanted—for me to keep chasingthem.
An ache formed in my chest. I didn’t want to let them just leave. I wanted them all burned into cinders. But I forced myself to bank on the wind and wheelaround.
The smell of clover filled my nostrils again as I glided over the property I'd inherited with my role and landed in the estate's grassy yard. I let myself shift back when my feet touched the ground. The grass pressed soft and cool against my tender human skin. Then an arm slid around my shoulders, pulling me into a tight, pine-tingedembrace.
West. The last of my anger fled as I buried my face in his shoulder. He'd never been the one to come to me after a shift before. But everything was differentnow.
Everythingwasdifferent.
He helped me up, keeping his arm around me. I didn't need his support to stand, but it felt kind of nice having him there anyway. And I liked being able to see up close the faint embarrassed flush that had crept up hisneck.
My other mates had gathered around us. "The vamps left," I said. "They saw me and they took off. Fornow."
The last words fell from my lips with an ominous weight. We all knew they'd be back tomorrow, with larger numbers or a more thoroughplan.
"Then we get ready for them," Nate said, but I heard the thread of worry in his voice. It wasn't just this estate but so many other kin all across the country we needed toprotect.
It was too much for one dragon alone. I could admit that. Maybe it was too much for even me and my alphas and all the kin who stood withus.
If we could summon powers beyond our own kind, I had to find thatout.
I took a deep breath and raised my chin. "As soon as it's light, I want to talk to thefae."
Chapter 16
Ren
“I don’t knowabout this, Sparks,” West said as we pushed through the brush in the dense forest. Twigs crackled under our feet. My alphas and I were making our way through the woods on the other side of one of my hills, not far beyond the property that belonged to the dragon shifter estate, toward a pocket of fae land. The sky had clouded, but a few streaks of sunlight pierced through, bringing the summer heat with them even this early in themorning.
“For any reason other than the hundred or so complaints you’ve already made?” I asked the wolfshifter.
West narrowed his eyes at me. Then his expression gentled as he wiped away a cool drop of dew that had dripped onto my cheek. “You haven’t had many dealings with the fae yet. I’ve never seen a sign they have the slightest friendly feeling toward us. Even the history fanatic back there hasn’t heard of any warm relations between our communities.” He jabbed his thumb towardAaron.
That sounded pretty similar to his earlier objections. “Okay, but Iknowthey worked with the dragon shifters before. You all saw the carvings on that pedestal in the mountain. I listened to a dragon shifter from almost two hundred years ago talk about how great the faeare.”
