Page 106 of Darkness Bound (Night Prowler 5)
The Queen turned and looked behind her. She shouted, “Stop!” and Hawk froze. He looked up, and his face hardened.
Could it be possible he hadn’t noticed her? No, Jack realized, as Hawk released the panther and straightened, putting his shoulders back. He’d seen her all right. He’d just chosen to ignore her.
A hysterical giggle threatened to burst from Jack’s throat. He’d chosen to ignore the arrival of a white dragon, in order to continue his fight to the death with a black panther. The world had gone entirely mad.
There was utter silence in the clearing, so she was able to hear with perfect clarity what the Queen said next.
“Tell me,” she said to Leander, looking at the two men.
Leander, even in profile, looked as if he’d had better days. His relief was palpable. “A challenger to the Alpha,” he said, sounding out of breath. He spread his hand over the small of Jenna’s back, as if to reassure himself she was really standing there.
The Queen cursed, and Jack decided she liked her.
“What’s your name?” she said to Hawk, ignoring the panther, who had crawled several feet away, and was shaking. It shook its head, coughed, and sprawled over the ground.
“I’m called Hawk,” he replied, in a tone of impatient disrespect.
Leander growled, but the Queen simply held up her hand, staring at Hawk. She flicked a glance to the panther. “Stand down, Hawk. This contest is over.”
He snarled, “I’ll never stand down to the man who hurt my woman.” His eyes met Jack’s.
My woman. Dear God.
The Queen turned to look at her. From somewhere in the crowd, Morgan’s voice rang out. “I can explain everything!”
The Queen’s gaze found Morgan, and a faint smile crossed her face. She nodded, said, “I can hardly wait to hear it.” Then she looked back at Jack and her voice turned hard. “But not just yet. First I have business to attend to.”
Leander bent his head to her ear, murmuring, “You’re exhausted. You look pale, and you’re shaking. Whatever it is can wait until after you’ve res—”
She broke from his arms without waiting for him to finish, and made a beeline toward Jack.
Jack took one horrified step back, then another, until she realized the Queen wasn’t looking at her, but at something right behind her. Weak with relief, Jack pressed to one side and let her pass, and then the Queen stood before Weymouth.
He was still bleeding. Red splatters decorated the front of his shirt in an erratic pattern, lurid against the white. He bowed, sniveling, his hand covering his nose. “Welcome, Your Highness!” he said nasally. “So wonderful to see you. And please don’t worry about me, it’s just a little—”
The Queen’s hand shot out, and she grabbed him around the throat. “Traitor!” she hissed. Then the woman disappeared in a flash of glittering mist, power blasted through the clearing in a heated wave, her white shirt was shredded to confetti, and the dragon was there again, looming over them all.
Weymouth was clutched in one of its powerful claws.
His scream was high and piercing. The dragon flung him to the ground and he lay there, gasping, blood flowering through his shirt where the points of five sharp talons had punctured his skin.
He tried to scramble away. His glasses fell off, as did one shoe. The dragon reared high above him, inhaled a breath, and opened its muzzle, revealing row upon row of gleaming, pointed teeth.
Weymouth looked over his shoulder. Comprehending what was about to happen, he rolled to his back, pulled the same blade from his pocket he’d held to Jack’s throat, grasped it with both hands, and plunged it, hilt deep, into his chest. He made a gurgling sound, hideous and wet, which was summarily drowned out when the dragon stretched its neck and exhaled.
A molten stream of fire roared from its mouth.
Weymouth was incinerated.
It was over within seconds. When the smoke cleared, a charred husk lay unmoving on the ground, the earth all around it scorched black.
The dragon turned back to woman, who delicately burped a tiny flame. She covered her mouth and said, “Excuse me.” Then her eyes fluttered closed and she slumped to her knees, caught before falling all the way by Leander, who ran up to gather her in his arms.
Jack didn’t see anything else after that because the ground came up hard to catch her, and the world faded to darkness.
The rage inside Caesar felt like a nuclear bomb detonating in his bowels. He’d been staring at the satellite phone in his hands for long blank minutes, shaking with fury, needing to beat something bloody, thinking the same two words over and over.
That. Bitch!
