Page 81 of Blood on the Ice

“I don’t knowwhythey did it. They said it was important, so I did what they asked. It wasn’t much different from all the other shit my dad had me learn. Mom’s magic stuff never took when she tried to teach me, but that’s because I’m not magical.”

The guys in the back are right—I was a huge target as a major shifter heir and no one taught me how to deal with magical protections. Something feels wrong, but no time to investigate. The back fields are approaching quickly and the feeling of bad juju is intensifying as we head toward it.

“Be careful, Lucas. I don’t like this… heavy presence.” Liam catches my eyes in the mirror and I nod, going back to focusing on the road.

We drive for another mile when the sky in front of us lights up like an explosion and I almost slam on the brakes. Morgana’s hand tightens on mine and I look down to see it’s turned to stone. She’s going to shift soon and we definitely have to get the fuck out of this car. Hitting the gas, I speed toward the glowing skyline as if our life depends on it—and maybe someone’s does.

When we get close enough to see the wings of an enormous dragon fighting yetanotherenormous dragon surrounded by electricity, I skid to a stop. Liam curses under his breath as we all hop out of the car. My bear pushes at my skin and I know I’m going to need him, so I drop to my knees and let the shift come. A loud roar fills the air as my hands turn into enormous paws and the white coat covers me from head to toe.

Colors explode in front of me as the change is completed and I have to stop for a moment to see what the hell is happening. To my right, a fucking enormous gargoyle with bright blue eyes, wings, and onyx skin is digging into the ground as if it’s going to take off. On the left, I watch in awe as the Prince drops all pretense of a glamor, transforming into a seven foot tall light show with vines and flowers trailing all over his limbs up to the crown that seems to emit sunshine that makes his huge wings glitter with golden highlights. Iggy and Slade are behind him, sparkling with their own magic as they look to our girl.

This is utter chaos.

“I will take the air. Prince, take the ground with the shifters. Ignatius, watch my back as I fly.”

Before I can respond, Morgana pushes off and flies toward the battling mythicals like she’s on a mission. I struggle with speaking—even as an Alpha shifter—in full bear form, so I pop into the Prince’s mind as we walk toward the fight.

~What’s the plan? ~

“We find out what the fuck is going on and where the hell a fire drake came from. To my knowledge, there are none registered in the area.”

Of course, he and Kaspar checked the registry for other mythicals when they moved in. Those species have the hardest time not getting into territory battles when they live in proximity. I nod my big ass head, then move faster toward the two reptiles and the shadow of our mate cutting across the sky ahead.

“We will need to subdue it if it’s just a rogue,” the Fae says as he glances at Slade. The siren winks at him and I huff in relief.

I’ll fight anything to protect Morgana, but a dragon is a bit much for me.

Unfortunately, once we’re close enough to see what’s going on, that plan goes out the window. Not only is there a furious firedrake dodging the electrical strikes from the Prince’s pissed off storm dragon, there’s an entire crew of fuckers on the ground trying to bring Kaspar down. Even as a bear, my eyes widen as I note there are various types of Fae, shifters, magic users, and even a goddamn pack of wolves.

“What thefuckis going on?” Iggy yells as the magic users turn their attention to him. A bolt of sizzling dark magic flies past his ear and he snarls, shooting the short witch right in the gut with a ball of energy that knocks her flat.

I can’t answer, but it doesn’t matter because the wolves and a group of fucking misfit cat shifters get my scent. If I could grin, I would. Wolves are bigger than people think; so are tigers and lions. But even more impressive than that are my paws are over an inch and half wide—large enough to span almost two dinner plates—and when I smack a bitch, they go down. The first two wolves that come for me get knocked aside like bowling pins as I move towards a gallop. Those fuckers can run faster than me, but once I get going, it’s like being hit by a fucking tank.

Hopefully, I can distract these dipshits while Morgana and the Prince handle the fucking dragons—if not, this is going to go south very quickly.

night on bald mountain

Swooping through the air, I keep my eyes peeled for the guys on the ground. The damn dragon is dangerously out of control, and I can’t tell if this is going to swing our way. Kaspar is powerful—even more than I thought—but with our focus split between his opponent and the other fuckers down there, we can’t combine our strengths to help him.

“Look, dude, I get you hate me, but why the fuck did you get in a scrap with afire drake?” I yell as I pass the storm dragon’s auricle to dive around the next wave of fire.

~He says this isn’t his fault. ~

I blink when Liam speaks in my head, but the information is helpful. If Kaspar didn’t pick this fight, that makes the people on the ground part of an attack force rather than misguided friends. Assuming they were was a gamble, but I was hoping we hadn’t walked into a giant battle on the State U campus.

So much for that.

~I know it looks bad, but he says he came here to burn off his anger and the drake showed up with his friends soon after. That means they followed Kaspar. ~

I have little time to react to the Prince’s words before another stream of fire nearly crisps me for my distraction. “Goddamn it, this fucker is determined.”

A puff of steam comes out of Kaspar’s enormous nose, cloaking my path as I work to get behind the fiery lizard. It’s obviously not the first dragon I’ve fought, so I know what to do to weaken it; I just need the opportunity. If I can get out of his line of vision, I can get close enough to use one of the snakes. Des would love to poison the reptile who thinks it can attack my people without consequence.

The next loud roar catches my attention and I look down to see Lucas in bear form, absolutely wrecking his way through the shifters. Pride wells in my chest; he’s fierce as hell, despite his pampered teddy bear appearance. Magic blasts shoot through the air as I weave my way around the huge mythical, so I know Iggy is doing what I asked.

But where is Slade?

Suddenly, a soulful song fills the night sky and my eyes widen when it echoes off the rolling hills of the back pasture. It’s loud enough to fill the atmosphere and press into my skin, but it doesn’t affect me. I lick my lips, momentarily distracted by more proof that Slade is my mate. The only people who are not affected by sirens’ songs are their mates or those with enchanted objects to prevent the spell of their music from invading their brains.

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