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On the negative side, if he is a collector, what are the chances he’s trafficking people as well? How much would someone pay for a dragon shifter?
A cold shiver ran down my back.
I should have told my mates. But the information didn’t change our plan. Almost any obstacle could be overcome with enough confidence. It was our only advantage. I couldn’t risk taking that away from them.
A bad feeling ate at my gut.
You’re handicapping them. You know it, and now Rehan’s calling you on it.
Rehan. My rock. My blood chilled, and I forced myself to take a breath, expelling my anger and focusing.
Caoimhe first.
Despite being cloaked in Og’s invisibility spell, Drukpa watched us approach his fortress. I didn’t know that for a fact, but if I were Drukpa, seeing through invisibility spells would be high on my list of security measures. But he didn’t know I knew, which is where we would still have our advantage. In addition, I lived during the building of these forts. I knew them like the back of my hand.
We came to the massive medieval tower, only to find the base of it expanded by an oversized garage.
Like the back of your hand, if someone turned it into a foot and gave it a pedicure.
My already rushing nerves danced uneasily.
With both our muscle hanging back and Og unable to cast his invisibility spell and wear his scaly armor at the same time, I pushed Lux to the front of our little conga line.
The air prince easily broke the lock on the garage door. I waited for a group of burly men, or shifters, or something to pop out and attack us. But nothing happened. Og pushed me through the entrance after Lux and Tenzin.
My bad feeling doubled.
We crept through a small collection of luxury SUVs before continuing into the tower. Clean, smooth wood covered the walls, and light herringbone textured the floor. The hall lights were dimmed but on. After making two rights and following Tenzin past countless doors without even checking them, my gut twisted into a knot of unease.
Something was very, very wrong.
We crossed into the hollowed-out center of the building. A vaulted ceiling, definitely not in the original floor plan, went up at least three stories, ending at a wood roof covered in glassskylights. Starlight lit the space while murky shadows clung to every surface.
It’s a trap.The catfish man from Starwars yelled in my head.
“She’s in there.” Tenzin’s right foot slid through the large arched entry.
“Wait—" I started to say, but the young dragon had already darted the rest of the way in.
I put out my arms, keeping my mates from following. At Tenzin’s entrance, every light sprang to life. Og’s spell vanished. Black and white turned to rich woods and purples. A massive backlit Victorian bar filled with liquor sparkled along the side. To my direct left, a gigantic unlit hearth sat next to a pool table. Opulent black leather furnishing dotted everything like thoughtless inkblots.
“Caoimhe!” Tenzin yelled, racing forward.
My gaze snapped to the far side of the room where a theatre, complete with red and gold curtains, sat on a raised platform. Although the curtains to the stage were drawn, Caoimhe sat front and center in a massive throne-like chair.
She still looked like Caoimhe, but her delicate nymph form replaced her human glamor. Her features now ended at delicate points, and dark glowing coals ran in harsh lines down her neck and chest before disappearing into the little yellow sun dress she’d picked out for the evening. A gold chain necklace with a massive axinite gem hung from her long, delicate neck and came to rest on her stomach, clashing horribly with the dress.
Although her eyes glowed with her fire elemental magic, they stared at nothing. She didn’t react to Tenzin’s voice.
Halfway to his mate, Tenzin suddenly slowed as if he’d hit a wall of gelatin. His wings sprouted out of his back, and he beat them once, trying to push through whatever was holding him back. But his wings stuck to the air like glue. In two steps, he went from a flat-out sprint to still. As soon as his momentumstopped, like a rubber band, he snapped back to where he first slowed. Two sharp cracks pierced the air, followed by Tenzin’s agonizing scream. His scales vanished, and blood ran down his naked back from two bloody stumps where his wings separated from his body.
Lux shook so hard it vibrated my shoulder and his face turned the same color as his hair. On my other side, Og sucked in a horrified breath and pulled his shoulders back as if they could hold his wings in place. Sympathetic pain pinched my back, and my heart skipped a beat.
“He’s a dragon shifter,” I said, not knowing if what I said was true or not. “They will grow back when he shifts… they will.” I echoed as if saying it made it true. “We need to focus. Whatever you do, don’t touch that barrier.”
I bent my knees as if I was going to do something, but bodies swarmed out of doors and surrounded us on either side of the hall. The sizzle of magic and the click of guns echoed on the bare walls as two groups of Kevlar-covered men blocked our exits. Bits of jewelry sparkled off their wrists and hands.
“Dragon shifters,” a voice boomed, stepping out from behind the curtain on the stage.
