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Paco paled, likely realizing he wouldn’t leave this room alive. None of his men would. Despite that realization, he decided to fight back.
Except she was gone before he even pulled the trigger. The bullet slammed into a shipping container and all hell broke loose.
As Paco’s men raised their guns or shifted into their wolf forms with resounding cracks as their bones reformed, I unleashed my dragon. The beast’s echoing roars gained in volume as it emerged from my skin like a fiery wraith.
My back smoldered red hot, but it was a feeling I’d long since learned to accept and embrace. The pain kept me focused.
As Death danced from guard to guard, dispatching each with precision and grace that always turned my blood cold, Rin scooped Kenzo up under his arm and dragged him out of the fray.
All this bloodshed for that waste of space.
I stepped in front of Paco. The Nightstalkers’ alpha pulled the trigger again and again, but each bullet bounced off my dragon-hardened skin, flattened by the impact. When the clip was empty, Paco met my gaze.
I expected to see fear in the man’s eyes, not angry determination.
Bones cracked and popped as Paco shifted into his other form, his eyes glowing with an otherworldly intensity and his clothes shredding around him. His wolf was massive, coming up to my waist, and his inky black coat bristled.
He knew he was going to die, but he would fight to the end. The least I could do was give him a worthy death.
Unbuttoning my shirt, I removed it and my shoes, not wanting either to restrict or hinder my movements. My slacks were loose enough to maneuver in.
The air carried a sense of impending doom as we circled each other, my muscles tensing with each step. Years of training for these exact circumstances had honed my reflexes, but fighting a man prepared to die was never easy.
Paco lunged forward with blinding speed.
Letting my instincts take over, I knocked the wolf to the side and countered with a series of sharp kicks and punches, each strike calculated for precision. My hits landed, but the wolf’s resilience was astonishing. He shrugged off blows that would have dropped any lesser opponent.
As we circled each other again, I noticed a pattern in the wolf’s attacks. The beast’s moves were becoming more predictable, and I seized an opportunity.
With a lightning-quick jab to the wolf’s solar plexus followed by a powerful roundhouse kick, I sent the alpha sprawling across the warehouse floor.
But Paco wasn’t finished yet. He growled and leaped to his feet before launching himself at me like a relentless predator.
As I ducked under the lunge, I swiped my claws upward.
The wolf crashed to the ground with a soul-shattering whine. Shifting back to his human form, Paco collapsed onto his knees. He held a hand to his stomach as if he could stop his intestines from spilling out.
“Tell Ichiro…we know what he’s doing.” Each word was a struggle. He coughed, and blood bubbled out of his mouth. “We won’t let him…turn us into…his slaves.”
I had no idea what he was referring to. “Explain.”
“The pyrocrystals…” Paco fell onto his side and released his entrails.
The hair on the back of my neck raised. “What about the crystals?”
“Ask…Kenzo…” The man exhaled for the last time.
Whatever I was about to learn, I knew I wasn’t going to like it.
After retrieving my shirt and shoes, I left the carnage behind and strode from the warehouse. Outside, I found Rin and Kenzo standing beside the limousine.
Kenzo rubbed his chafed wrists. “You?—”
I wrapped my hand around my cousin’s throat, cutting his words and air supply off. “Tell me about the crystals.”
Kenzo’s eyes bulged out of his head as he yanked at my arm. I loosened my grip just enough to let the kid speak. “What do you?—”
Tightening my grip again, I gave Kenzo a rough shake. “Don’t be even more stupid than you already are. How is Ichiro involved?”
