Page 63 of Shark 2

Something cracked inside of the office and Silver roared as he kicked the door open.

Standing in the open doorway, Silver spun his ax and smiled. “You should have run, little tiger shark.”

Holding out my hands, I said, “You don’t want to do this. I’m your daughter, remember? I’m your family. You would never hurt your family.”

He scoffed. “Family? You aren’t my family. You nor those troll witches.”

“He’s not himself,” Grant reminded me and set a hand on my lower back. “He doesn’t mean anything that he’s saying. It’s just the spell.”

I knew that, but it didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt to hear the words come out of his mouth.

“Out of my way, Dragon, I have no qualms with you,” Silver said and made a shooing motion with his hand at Grant.

“You’re under a spell, Silver. I don’t know if you can break free of it, but you have to try. I know you, and I know if you hurt Kass, you’re really only going to hurt yourself. You love her and you don’t want to kill her.”

“She’s cost me thousands of dollars in repairs for all her stunts,” he snarled. “For what? A few hundred bucks off of the tourists? Why are you sticking up for her when she costs you so much pain? So many days and nights of torment? I remember you drinking yourself into a stupor because she wouldn’t listen to you, wouldn’t stay out of trouble, and wouldn’t admit her feelings to you.”

My breath hitched at the admission from Silver.

“That was over a year ago,” Grant said. “We have worked through our issues and we’re sworn to be mated.”

Silver’s eyes widened. “Mated?”

Grant and I nodded.

Silver threw his head back, set a hand on his stomach, and laughed so loud I flinched back. “You’re actually going to agree to be mated to … this thing? You lot really have lost your mind. I’ve seen the girls who throw themselves at you. You could do so much better.”

“Listen here, old man,” I snapped and bared my teeth. “I love you, but I’m tired of your mouth. Also, I’m pretty sure you hurt my sisters, your adoptive daughters, and I think it’s time to shut you up and make you pay for the pain you caused them.”

He gripped his ax and smiled viciously. “Try it. I’ve killed hundreds of beings during my lifetime.”

My anger ebbed a bit as I softened my voice and said, “I know. I know how much it hurts you to have all those deaths on your hands. That’s why I know you don’t actually want to kill me. If you did, you would feel like my death had been the final piece to tarnish your soul, fully beyond repair or redemption.”

His ax dropped a bit, giving me the distraction that I needed.

Jumping forward, I slammed my shoulder into his chest while simultaneously grabbing the wrist of the arm that held his ax. With a sharp twist, I snapped his wrist bone.

He punched me in the side with his other hand as he roared in pain and the ax fell to the ground.

Grant kicked the ax away so Silver couldn’t pick it back up.

Jumping away from him, I let my scales flow over most of my body and shifted partially, including a tail. Dancing on the balls of my feet, I held my fists up, punching the air in quick jabs, and smiled wide. “What’s wrong, old man? Out of shape?”

“Kass, don’t taunt him,” Grant growled as he also shifted.

“Impudent uncultured child,” Silver growled.

“Grumpy old codger,” I bit back while smiling wide. I sure hoped he remembered this when the spell was lifted. It would entertain me for decades to come. I was fairly certain he wouldn’t look me in the eye for at least a week after the spell was removed and he retained his memories. Memories of me beating his ass and talking so much shit he couldn’t respond.

He tried to punch me, but I leaned out of the way of the jab and hit him in the stomach with an upper cut. He made a satisfying, “oomph,” from the hit.

I danced on my toes, throwing short jabs to his face and stomach, being careful of his unbroken tusk so I didn’t cut myself.

He roared in anger, darting forward to grab my hair, and jerked me forward as he headbutted me.

Stars filled my vision and I stumbled back, dizzy and disoriented. Shark skulls were made of cartilage and thus not strong against headbutts by bone skulled ogres.

Grant pulled me back as Silver tried to attack me again, and punched Silver in the chest, causing him to slide back through the puddle of blood and hit his back against the bar top.

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