AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why don’t we head back to the hotel and see if our dear old professor figured anything out?” Niko said gently. “This conversation has gotten dark enough for one night. Thank you, Quinn. You’ve been invaluable in this battle.”
She looked up at him in surprise. “Really?”
“Your visions haven’t steered us wrong yet, and they showed us his true nature,” Niko confirmed. “We might be able to survive this thanks to you.”
“Thanks for saying that,” she said. “Sometimes I feel so out of the loop that I doubt myself. I’ll keep trying to stay ahead, and we’ll keep in contact.”
We said a quick goodbye before heading back to Mountainview, side-eyeing every person that passed us. The fact that we couldn’t trust ourselves or anyone in this town was not going to make our lives easy.
“Something has to give. We can’t just wait, but what do we need to be prepared?” Levi asked. He was as on edge as I felt.
“There you are!” Professor Drole shouted as he barreled toward us. We’d barely pushed open the front doors when he spotted us. “I think I’ve got something.” His excitement had my heart pounding. Could this be it? The moment I got my life back? I hated to hope, in fear of disappointment, but I’d be damned if I didn’t give in just a little.
He had a glass vial in his hand, and a violently swirling pink substance moved inside of it.
“Drink this.”
He pressed it into my hand, and the glass felt icy to the touch. The thought of putting something so angry looking in my body wasn’t exactly enticing, but the alternative was worse.
“This is safe for the babies, right?” Kane asked. There was menace in that voice, and the professor swallowed hard before answering.
“Yes, I believe so. I’ve never worked with dragons, but I avoided anything that might harm a human baby.”
That was good enough for me, so I was done with questioning. I was going to grab my destiny by the balls and reclaim it.
The liquid was thicker than I expected, and it coated my throat on the way down until it was hard to breathe afterward. It slowly slithered through my system like it was taking over my body from the inside. The moment it hit my stomach, my body violently protested, and it took everything I had not to vomit it back up.
“Anything?” he asked as he clapped his hands together, but my body was too angry to answer the question. The moment a waste basket was placed in my hands, the liquid expelled itself, turning purple as it exited. Thankfully, it was easier coming up than going down. He let out a harrumph. “Well, guess that’s a no. Moving on to the next!”
He was gone as quickly as he came. We all stood in a daze, angry, frustrated, and sad that it didn’t work.
“I think I need a minute,” I said as I stalked off. Shockingly, I was angry, not sad. I was pissed off that this had happened in the first place. Livid that my babies were being forced to go through this with me. Furious that my mates were strangers. And outraged that this monster was lurking among us without a care in the world.
“Nope. I’m redirecting you,” Kane insisted. “Come with me.” I didn’t protest when he took my hand and led me upstairs. Most of the guest rooms had been turned into small apartments for the dragons, so when he pushed the suite door open to reveal a gym, I was utterly confused.
“When the hell did this happen?”
“It took some convincing, but after the attack, West was more willing to do it,” he admitted. “We thought we might be able to help you train in hand-to-hand combat. But right now, I think I know what you need.”
He led me over to a punching bag. It was on a weighted stand and hung down in front of me. Kane gave the simple command to wait before locking the door to the gym and grabbing some sort of tape off the supply shelf. He came over and wrapped my hands before teaching me how to properly punch. I didn’t bother to tell him I knew how; I just let his sweet and smoky campfire scent flow over me, calming my anger.
“Now, I want you to think about every single thing you’re angry about, landing a punch for each one. Put your energy into it,” he prompted.
At first, my punches were weak, but that just rubbed me the wrong way, and I was already angry enough that it fueled my fire. Each blow was cathartic and healing, taking a bit of my anger out of me with each hit I successfully landed.
Sweat poured down my back and covered my forehead as I lost myself in the movement. My mind was blessedly clear for once, and my anger had gone from a raging inferno to a low simmer.
When I finally stepped away and turned to Kane, he was watching me with a hungry look in his eyes.
“I can’t even tell you how sexy that was,” he finally choked out. Even his voice was raspy. He stood up and walked over, using the towel in his hand to clear my sweat away. It was both gross and sweet.
“I need a shower,” I said out loud, but my inner voice was screaming for him to take me right now.
“You can shower after I claim you, Farren,” he said in a growl. His eyes were set on me like I was his prey, and I swallowed hard. But I wouldn’t run; I wanted this.
“Then take me,” I challenged. Kane was on me in the space of a breath, his mouth claiming mine while his hands held me in place. The moment I let out a moan, he swept his tongue inside. We fought for dominance, tasting and taking from each other, meeting fire with fire.
“Take these off,” he ordered as he helped strip me down. My clothes tried to cling to me since I’d done a full workout in them, but Kane wasn’t deterred. He was breathing me in like he’d never get his fill. “You smell so fucking good.”
