Page 160 of The Bond That Burns

“No,” Viktor screamed, but the guard was too far gone, driven by his panic.

I saw the blade glint overhead, saw the arc it made as it swung down toward me. My reflexes were slowed, my body overwhelmed by the chaos erupting inside me. I turned my head just as the blade struck.

Blinding, searing agony exploded across my face. I roared as the blood rushed down my face, warm and sticky, my vision blurring.

“You fool!” Viktor’s voice thundered through the haze of pain.

I looked through a blur of red just in time to see my uncle reach the guard and rip his throat out with his fangs. The man gurgled, dropping to his knees before collapsing in a heap.

It had taken my becoming a fucking dragon but for once in my life, my uncle was standing up for me.

The other guards backed up.

“Let him be,” my uncle commanded, wiping the blood from his mouth. “I order you to remain where you are.”

“But my lord,” one guard foolishly tried to protest. “Surely, you...”

“Do as I say!” Viktor barked.

I wanted to scream, wanted to make it all stop. I opened my mouth to beg for help, but all that came out was a strangled roar. My vision swam, tinted red.

Dimly, I saw the guards stepping away, their backs to the walls. My back arched violently. I felt a horrifying, wet tear, as something burst free.

I collapsed forward, panting, trembling. I glanced back. Wings. Dark, crimson, slick with blood, unfolding from my back like some misshapen flower.

I caught Viktor’s expression. Triumph and awe. He was basking in this. My agony was his victory.

Was this how it had been for my father? At what point had he ended it? Had the transformation really killed him? Or had he attacked Viktor and failed? Been put down like a monster, an animal?

“Larger,” Viktor murmured, almost reverently. “Stronger. Perhaps this one will survive.”

I slammed my fists down against the ground, hearing the stone crack beneath them. My body convulsed again. I felt my jaw elongate, teeth sharpening, hands twisting into claws.

Suddenly, the room felt impossibly small.

The air pressed against my chest. Between spasm after spasm of pain, I felt panic. The walls closed in as my body twisted and stretched.

My bones cracked like thunder, shifting and reshaping themselves. The fire in my blood burned hotter.

But then... the agony began to shift. The pain receded. Replaced by something else—strength. Power. Possibility.

I grew. Bigger and bigger. My wings unfurling with a loud leathery snap.

Something was happening to Viktor’s face as he watched. It was transforming, too. Eager anticipation was bleeding away to something I’d never seen from him before.

Dread. Fear.

He stumbled back against his desk, his bravado faltering. “Guards!” He raised his arm, pointing at me, at whatever I was. “We’ve waited long enough. Bring this creature down. Now!”

The guards didn’t have to be asked twice. They lunged towards me. The first guard’s blade gleamed as he raised it. I swiped a massive claw. The man flew across the room, slamming into the far wall with a hideous crunch.

Another came at me from the side. My tail lashed out, sending him sprawling to the ground like a broken toy.

They kept coming and coming and I reacted as quickly as they came. I was no longer human. No longer highblood. No longer breakable.

Their weapons glanced off my scales. One by one, I tore through them, ripping and shredding.

The carnage was effortless. What was more, I craved it. I enjoyed it. The blood was beautiful to see. Splattering across walls. Pooling along the floor.

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