Page 444 of Flirting with Darkness

The kidnapper snarled, shifted into a dragon warrior form, and launched himself at me.

Realizing I hadn’t done it yet, I yanked on the bonds with my four mates, letting them know I was with Caleb and the direction to go. They would be here in a few minutes as backup.

I dodged the crazy swipe of his claws, shifted my hands to wolf paws, and clawed his chest.

He roared in pain and tried to punch me, but I jumped back out of the way, barely making it.

I hammered his jaw with two punches, too late realizing he was baiting me closer.

He whispered a spell and iron chains surged up out of the ground and wrapped around my wrists, holding me in place.

Before I could react, he had me by the throat and glared down into my face.

He was fast.

“Momma,” Caleb called.

“Stay on the fountain, cub. Let Momma handle this,” I ordered with what air I could get into my lungs.

His face was covered in scales, so fire wouldn’t hurt him. My hands were immobilized, so I couldn’t claw him.

“What are you?” he asked. “How are you using these powers? You’re not a hybrid.”

Focusing, I forced tree roots out of the ground to wrap around his legs and higher up his body.

His eyes widened, shock and fear heavy within them. He released my throat, and I smiled.

Opening my mouth, I sang the song of fear Leona had taught me and aimed it at him.

People screamed around me and I immediately stopped singing, giving myself a moment to look around.

Shit. There were a dozen people around and apparently my aim wasn’t working great with the song. If I sang more, I would possibly cause a panic that might cause innocent people to get hurt.

He tore free from the roots and punched me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me.

The chains were too strong for me to break free. I needed to get free, but nothing I tried worked.

Nico appeared beside the fountain.

“Teleport Caleb to safety!” I ordered him.

Nico’s face contorted in rage as the order I’d given him as his queen, the magical connection we had, forced him to obey.

Nico grabbed Caleb and they disappeared.

“No!” the kidnapper screamed. He spun back towards me and wrapped a hand around my throat, cutting off my air again. “Where did he take him?”

Rhys roared as he dove out of the sky towards us.

Foxfire leapt off Rhys’s back, his sword slicing through the air, right through the spot the kidnapper had been a second before. Unfortunately, Rhys’s roar surrendered the element of surprise, giving the kidnapper time to teleport out of the way.

Rhys adjusted his trajectory and transformed as he landed and engaged the kidnapper in hand-to-hand combat.

Foxfire, who hadn't moved from in front of me, his normally jovial expression angry and serious, kept his eyes trained on the enemy as he asked, “Are you okay?”

“Can’t get free,” I explained. “I sent Nico to take Caleb to safety.”

He looked at the chains and his brows furrowed. “Interesting magic.”

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