Nothing to do about them now, and his shirt was utterly ruined.
Another roar shook the foundations.
I told you… he began when Fiona’s tart voice filled his mind with delight.
You dared me to do it again. Did you know that it actually burned him?
Oh.
Well, that was a twist.
Where are you? Her thoughts had a kind of breathless quality, like she was fighting. Oh, he wanted to see that.
I’m coming, Beautiful. Don’t kill them all without me.
Snagging a key from the unconscious Brina, Fin let himself out of her chamber of horrors and studied the layout.
East.
Every cell in his body yearned east.
He couldn’t slip through the roots inside the prison, but he could move fast. He made it to the main gates in time to see Fiona flip one guard, even as she tumbled into another. Blood spattered her clothes and her face. She had the look of a wild Celt at war.
A goddess of flame, spring, and blood…
How appropriate.
The shadow demon roared as he lunged for Fin, and Fin grinned savagely.
Yes.
It was time to dance, so he called the fire.
Chapter 3
“When everything seems to be going against you, remember the airplane takes off against the wind not with it.” - Henry Ford
Fiona
Go ahead. Let the bastard kiss you again.
I had.
Only instead of dragging me closer, Dorran had roared in pain as light flashed out around us. With my sight still spotting from the brilliance of it, I blinked as Dorran yanked me away from him. The bite of his hands on my arms promised to leave bruises, but it was the dismay and the raw fury in his expression that captivated me.
That and the blistering around the corners of his mouth. Did I do that? Fascinated, I pressed my strength against his as I pushed forward. Locking my hands on his face, I dragged him down, and this time when he kissed me, I savaged him. The flare of light damn near blinded me. I’d be seeing the afterimage for days, but Dorran erupted in my arms and the shadows exploded around me.
Wild laughter slipped free as I danced in a circle. The pull of those same shadows being dragged out of me by Alfred had left their mark. Now, as Dorran writhed along the walls, the shadows twisting and curling over each other but never quite touching me, even as they tried to surround me, made me laugh harder.
This was a delightful discovery.
I had no idea what that light was, but I liked it.
“Come on, Dorran,” I taunted. “I thought you wanted me. Isn’t that what you used to say? You were going to mark me and make me yours?” Hands on my hips, I surveyed the antechamber we occupied as his shadows licked over the area around me as though I were enveloped in a bubble. “I’m right here, big bad shadow demon. Come try and put all your shadows in me. I dare you.”
Cocky?
Maybe.
Dangerous?
Sure, why not.
A roar shook the foundations, and the taunting smirk on my face slid away for something a lot more joyful. Maddox. Oh, I’d missed my grumpy dragon.
“Tick tock,” I called out to Dorran and began skipping forward. “I am late for an important date.”
The first guard swung at me, the shadows peeling apart to reveal his presence. I caught the fist he aimed at my face and damn near laughed again. It was like I was on speed or he was in slow motion. But it took me nothing to catch it, and I turned his arm until the bone snapped.
“Bad wolf,” I scolded, and thumped him on the nose.
The shifter flew backwards and slammed into the wall with a crunch.
Holy shit, this was awesome.
At the sudden howling as guards rushed in, a sense of savage satisfaction filled my veins. Eagerness for battle flooded me, and I was already moving to rush toward one of the shifters myself. The wolf snarled, all teeth and claws. All the better to beat you with.
Maddox roared again, and I wanted to throw my head back and make the same sound, only I was a little busy dancing the kick ass fandango.
I told you… Fin scolding me was kind of hot, no lie. But I was a little busy right now. We needed to save the foreplay for later.
You dared me to do it again. Did you know that it actually burned him?
That shocked him.
Where are you? The question pinged through me, even as I seized another wolf shifter and slammed him into a second one. Their bones cracking shouldn’t sound so cool, but it was kind of like bubble wrap.
Once you started popping, you couldn’t stop with just one.
I’m coming, Beautiful. Don’t kill them all without me.
I snorted. No promises. Maddox released another aggrieved roar, this one furious and demanding. Not agony.
No, he was pissed.
Pissed I could deal with.
I never wanted him to hurt. I was being pulled in two directions, however. At least the one from the west seemed to lessen, but the one to the east…
Oh, I needed to get that way.
The slick of Dorran’s shadows still writhed about, slithering like an oily army of darkness. Another guard got in my way, and I knocked him off his feet and flipped him before rushing the next one.
Another sound split through the snap of bones and the meaty thud of bodies hitting the walls and the floor. The rich stink of copper filled the air with a near metallic haze. It made my eyes water and burn. There was zero desire to bite. It was like wading through a beer battle and I’d ended up in one of the vats.
The smell damn threatened me with nausea, and my stomach rebelled. All at once, the shadows slammed together and Dorran let out a near preternatural sound before he lunged at Fin.
Fin!
My heart swelled and I stopped to grin as he held up two fists ringed in fire and stepped into the fight with Dorran. Oh, my druid was littered with bruises and cuts, and one of his eyes was nearly swollen shut. It wasn’t until he twisted and danced with Dorran, his back facing me, that I caught sight of the whip marks.
Whip.
Marks.
Fury was a potent thing. I’d once been told by a witch I liked very much that my temper was going to get me killed one day.
She’d been wrong about that. Lust had gotten me killed, not my temper. A snide little voice in the back of my mind reminded me it had been my anger that had me saying yes to Alfred and agreeing to that transition finally.
Potato. Poh-tah-to.
The point was, my anger was a powerful thing, and apparently, now, so was I. Whoever had put those whip marks on Fin was going to die.
I love you too, Beautiful. Big ugly on your back.
Fine. I turned and narrowly missed the fist aimed at my face, but it still managed to hit my shoulder. Fuck, that hurt. Hitting the rocks as I skidded backwards and slammed into the stone wall hurt even more.
The roar from Maddox turned furious again.
“Keep your scales on,” I yelled. “I’m working on it.”
His bellowing fell off abruptly, and I glared at tall, mangy, and toothy, who glared at me from red-hazed eyes. The snarl had his lips pulling back from his fairly human teeth, though those canines were getting longer and his snout was growing.
Oh, he was shifting.
Ugh. I sent a mental apology to Elias and a kiss of thanks. He’d once explained to me how vulnerable shifters were in those precious seconds between reaching for their animals and when the shift came over them. On their human side, they were dangerous. On the animal side, fucking lethal. But in between?