Page 187 of Scars Like Wings

My control snapped at last, and I lost it. With my dragon taking over, my tail came to life and whipped out at her. The crystal spikes on it bit into Zaria’s skin, slicing her, as it sent her flying into the vault. My wings unfurled behind me, and I pushed off toward her. A part of me could hear Quinn and some of the others call out after me, but I didn’t care.

This bitch has to die.

It took no time to catch up to Zaria. She was bleeding from her wounds still, the smell of blood stinging my nose but making me smile with a mouth full of fangs at the satisfaction of weakening her. She swung her sword at me, but it was easy enough for me to dodge. Because of the amount of energy radiating from the blade, I could anticipate its movements easily. It didn’t help that clearly a sword wasn’t her weapon of choice. Her moves were sloppy and lacked any precision. The sword was large enough to do damage despite the clumsiness.

If it was a tree.

Zaria went to slam her blade down on me when a black blade sailed through the air and impaled itself into her stomach. She cried out and went to pull it out when another blade struck her hand.

“What the f—?“ She screamed in pain.

“Hunter weapons may not be able to kill you, but it can hurt like a bitch, I’m sure.” I turned to see Quinn approach.

“I had her!” My tail slashed through the air angrily. I didn’t recognize my voice. It was so feral and full of rage.

Quinn held her hands out, calm and steady in the face of my fury. “I never said you didn’t?—”

I cut her off with a snarl. “She was trying to killmefor fucking money. Something that yourfamilydoes apparently?—”

Quinn shook her head. “No, Byrd, that’s?—”

My tail hit the floor hard enough to dent it. My fingers sparked with power and anger. She was so lucky there weren’t any crystals nearby. I had no power over myself, and I didn’t know what I would do if I had that power right now. “Why thefuckdidn’t you tell me, Quinn?”

Quinn’s eyes glistened with tears. It hurt seeing her like this, but I couldn’t stop the heat of my anger boiling over. A part of me tried to get me to stop this, to remember that this was myQuinn and my fated mate. I loved her, didn’t I? The problem was that I didn’t know if that part was me or my dragon.

She continued. “I wanted to, baby girl. I wanted to desperately?—”

“But you didn’t! Why?!”

“Wecan’t!” She yelled. “Hunters can’t talk about what we are with those who don’t know about our existence. There have been so many times I wanted?—”

“You are a hunter, Quinn! You huntme. You huntdragon-shifterslike me and my parents. I should havefuckingknown that you were a hunter by your daggers and your powers. I was sostupid. You kill people like me for fuckingprofit,” I roared, making her flinch like I had struck her. I hated this. My words were spit with venom, but I didn’t feel them in earnest. They were weak. I believed Quinn. My heart knew, but that didn’t matter. My life had been put at risk too many times now because of naivety and blindness. Something had to give.

Quinn shook her head. “No, no, we don’t. Please, let me explain. We hunt dragons, yes, but only those who have killed. It’s just like other supernatural creatures, like vampires or shifters?—”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?!” I roared at her again, shaking the Vault. “You could kill me?—”

My words were cut off then as burning pain radiated from my side. I looked down to see a shard of hard blood red magic sticking from there with a smiling and bleeding Zaria holding it.

“Oh, she could kill you, but it’s way more fun if I do it.” She chuckled. I snarled at her before my tail slammed down on her back, knocking the wind out of her as she flew to the ground. My spikes struck her back. She cried out just before Quinn kicked her head. The force was hard enough to knock her out completely.

Finally, she was fucking silent.

My knees buckled under me as the poison from the magic took hold. I groaned in pain. I reached to pull it out.

“Baby, no, let me do it. That’s going to burn you if you do it,” Quinn said, crouching before my injured side. “This is going to hurt like hell. I’m so sorry.”

Why not just leave it in? That’s your job, right?I thought, but I couldn’t bear to say it. It felt wrong. This whole thing felt wrong. I just knew in my gut?—

Quinn pulled the shard out, and my roar echoed off the branches of the Vault. The fires in my blood grew for just a moment before I felt the same chill flow through my system as before, killing the flames of agony. With it, the heat of my rage died, too. My dragon and I became less intertwined, and I was able to gain some control back and clarity back. My tail and wings calmed their frenzied movements behind me. Just like before, the blood from my wound hardened and crystalized into rubies on my skin. I wiped it away, watching the crystals fall to the ground like falling red stars.

“Nunca dejas de sorprenderme con tu belleza, mi tesoro.You never cease to amaze me with your beauty, Byrd.” Quinn whispered in pure awe. Her golden voice and proximity showered me in warmth. Her eyes glittered with admiration and love at my magic.

At me.

We maintained eye contact until the shard melted into fresh blood in Quinn’s hand. She broke our eye contact to wipe it on her jeans.

The magic of the moment melted with the blade. I stepped away and crossed my arms around my sides.

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