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Already he wasn’t the only dragon in the sky and Anna knew that the fighting would break out in earnest once those not already dead had shifted to join it. Another plume of dragon fire lit up the area as Vasili began to shift, but before he could manage it, he was hit by something at high velocity. Something powerful enough to stop a dragon from shifting. Anna couldn’t see what it was, but it reminded her to have a look at what she was holding.
At first, it looked like a pill. It was oval and small enough to be swallowed. Then she realized it was made of metal and she concluded it was the receptor. How the hell had Luka gotten it out of her? And why hadn’t her father taken it out earlier if he had the technology?
She stared at the scene, watching as men circled Vasili, now on the ground.
And she began to see a pattern that fueled her anger until her entire body was glowing from it. She couldn’t bring herself to take that anger out on her father without actual proof and since now wasn’t the right time for a confrontation, instead, she turned her rage on the person closest: Nikolai.
She shifted, sliding the straps of her dress off her shoulders, stepping out of it as her bones cracked out of place, into new places. The sensation of the sheer volume of her increasing never failed to amaze her. The tail and wings unfolded. The switch from one heart to two. The ancient power that began to flow through her unfettered. All of it served to make her feel bigger, better, stronger.
Nikolai was too distracted by what was happening with his boss to feel her approach before she was right on top of him, but right before she got the chance to attack he turned around, head tilting back to look up at her.
He’d never seen her in dragon form.
She wondered if it had been easier for him to dismiss her because of it.
As if her human shape lent itself to being controlled.
The thought made her want to take a swipe at him even more. And so she did. His irises were glowing, he was shifting, but not before she managed to get a good hit in. His bones crunched under her mighty paw, her claws raking his skin.
He rolled away, out of her immediate reach, as he began his shift.
More of the henchmen and hitmen had shifted already. Some were flying through the sky, chasing each other with fiery breaths. Roars echoed across the abandoned planes, shaking the gravel. Anna paid it all little heed. Her sights were set on the dragon that had made her life a living hell, on all the dragons who did the same. Who hollowed out and took away rather than filled up. The dragons that stole and grabbed whatever they could get out of others without ever giving anything back. Her second swipe wasn’t for herself, but for all the women like her.
Fuck you, she kept thinking, watching his green scales come in.
This had been a long time coming.
Then a third dragon joined them, stopping at her side.
Zeke.
He hung back as she advanced, letting her have the fight, appearing only to join in if needed. She sent a huff of appreciation his way, smoke coming out of her nostrils in two slender tendrils. His eyes were larger but as blue as ever. If he could have smiled, he would have.
Nikolai had completed his transformation, and she pounced. He’d been waiting, ducking to the side and delivering a fierce blow to her neck. She roared, swiping her tail at his head and hitting him square in the jaw. It sent him stumbling to the side, allowing her a second to stretch her wings, taking a few running steps, becoming airborne.
She hadn’t flown in a long time.
It made her feel lighter than the two tons of weight she now sported, the wind underneath her like invisible hands supporting her, and she didn’t feel alone.
She wasn’t alone.
There were others just like her. Others who had trusted the wrong person, had broken themselves against them, had fought to stitch themselves back together. While the one who had done it to them carried on as though nothing had happened.
She turned her head to the ground where Nikolai was running to join her in the air. And she dove.
She dived straight down, wings folded along her sides, the wind rushing past her before she unfolded her wings again in order to meet Nikolai just getting off the ground with her claws all splayed right in his face.
She wouldn’t kill him.
But she wanted to leave visible scars where he had left invisible ones.
His scales gave way like butter. She raked them halfway down his neck before she let off in order to brace herself for her landing. Nikolai was roaring, the sound drowned out by the rest of the roars surrounding her. Then she recognized the call of victory, as well as the voices of her brothers and her father. She raised her head to meet Zeke’s gaze, both of them turning their heads to the battle that had been fought and won without them.
They shifted back into human form, pulling their clothes back on, nobody watching anyone else. It was a ritual, each performing it without thinking much of it.
“What the hell happened?” Zeke asked, watching the cheers from the gathered men.
“They won,” she gritted out.
