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The creature coiled back its neck, dove, and smashed its head into me with unbelievable power. Pain exploded through me and that impact triggered my fury.
I exploded out of myself without even thinking. My skin split apart and I erupted to twenty times my size. Bright green scales burst out all over my skin and my neck stretched to an impossible length.
My back cracked open and my wings thumped outward so fast and so hard that I knocked Cason away. He stumbled and I rose off the ground to confront him in my dragon form.
Now we were evenly matched—but not quite. I was bigger and way madder. He recoiled and stepped back to get away from me, but that only ignited my fury even more.
I lunged for him and clamped my jaws on his neck. He screeched in pain and I tasted blood. Now I would kill this son of a bitch once and for all. That would send a message to my enemies that Clan Heller wasn’t screwing around.
I yanked him sideways, flung him to the ground, and jammed his head into the grass. I raised one claw to slash him to pieces when he cracked his tail around and struck me across the head.
I roared to shake the earth, but he was stronger than he looked. He lashed his tail again, whipped it around my neck, and hurled me off. I would have tumbled across the grass, but I shot off the ground instead.
I launched into the air and took wing, but he only followed me. He was more determined than I gave him credit for.
I beat my wings faster gaining altitude. I needed to draw him away from the city and he followed easily.
I shot into the atmosphere, burst through a cloud, and turned on him with vicious fury. Now I could kill him and the world would be a better place…..but he didn’t come. I looked everywhere, but he didn’t follow nor did he attack. He had completely disappeared—the coward.
I swooped low over Riley’s apartment building, but she wasn’t there anymore and neither was Cason. He would track her down no matter where she went which meant that I had to beat him to it.
6
RILEY
I pulledmy car onto the shoulder and let out a long, shuddering breath. I tried to uncurl my fingers from the steering wheel, but so much adrenaline coursed through my veins that I couldn’t relax.
I shut my eyes, bowed my head, and did my best to calm down. Those men attacked again. They always found me. I would never be safe and neither would Connor.
I couldn’t keep my eyes closed. I couldn’t slacken my vigilance even for a second and I looked up to search the landscape around my car. I was in the middle of nowhere with rolling fields stretching as far as the eye could see.
Nothing moved out there. It was four o’clock in the morning with grey dawn light revealing the sleeping countryside. I’d been driving all night. No other cars passed on the highway, but I kept searching everywhere for someone to jump out and attack me—to attack us.
Connor lay curled up asleep on the passenger seat. Three assault rifles lay where they’d fallen on the floor in front of him. That was all I had left in the whole world—three guns and my son.
I made a quick mental inventory of the ammunition I still had in each gun. I had two more assault rifles and a crate of ammo in the trunk of my car along with some emergency supplies. That would get us to our next destination, wherever that was.
I had to think. I had to activate my contingency plans. That’s what I had contingency plans for—for situations just like this. Those guys found me too many times before. Now I had to disappear again.
My throat constricted when I thought about Kingston. He would blame me for this. He would think I disappeared because he found me. He would think I vanished to stop him from getting Connor. If he only knew.
I would give anything to see Kingston right now. I really wanted to explain it to him, but more than that, I needed him.
I ached to feel his arms around me again, but that would never happen. I would probably never see him again. Connor would never know his father. That on its own was the biggest tragedy of all.
I pushed the door open as quietly as I could, unlocked the trunk, and dug into the duffel bag to pull out my emergency burner phone.
I made one last check that Connor was asleep and walked fifty yards away from the car before I dared to hit number one on the speed dial.
It rang a few times before a woman picked up. “Where the hell are you, Riley?” she blared without even introducing herself. “I’ve been searching everywhere for you.”
I heaved a huge sigh. “It’s nice to know someone out there still cares about me.”
“Don’t give me that self-pitying shit. Just tell me where you are.”
I glanced up and down the highway. “I’m on Interstate 80 between York, Nebraska, and Grand Island.”
The rapid tapping of computer keys tapped in the background followed by a mouse clicking. “Okay,” she finally said. “Keep traveling west on I-80 until you get to Cheyenne, Wyoming.”
