Page 87 of Slay Me

“Why the hell would you do that?” Fiona demands, eyes burning bright. “We needed him to take us to Liv!”

“No the fuck we don’t,” I growl. Turning to my team, I say, “Shift, and follow me.”

“Boss—”

“Not a fucking suggestion,” I snap and then march out the door.

As soon as my boots hit the ground outside, I hold out my arms and let the beast free. Bones snap, ligaments pop, and pain surges through every inch of my body as it expands to free my second skin. I grow, expanding higher and higher until I’m three times the size I was before.

“Fucking shit!” The female voice pulls my attention, so I glare down as the berserker stands between my guards. “He’s a dragon!”

“Say a word about this and we’ll kill you,” they warn.

She simply nods, all the while looking up at me. I turn toward the night sky and push off, stretching out my wings and taking to the sky. Up here, the beast is typically at its happiest, free from the confines of my flesh, but right now, he’s far more anxious than I’ve ever felt him. Wind whips at my wings though my scales make it nearly impossible to feel as I soar through the sky, senses on high.

I can feel supernaturals below, lurking in the alleyways, but they are not my concern. Liv’s emotions are all over the place, terrified, angry, in pain—she’s unstable at best, and with what I know about Ernesto—a low growl escapes my throat.

Minutes tick by as I follow the bond between us. Since it has not been fully solidified, it’s a partial connection, strong enough to sense when she’s near, but not stout enough to pinpoint her location from long distances.

Still, I get within two blocks and I know exactly where I’m going. I land, shifting as I do and not breaking stride as soon as I’m on two legs. I conjure a ball of flame and blow the doors right the fuck open.

Then, I allow a partial shift, my scales giving me just enough protection from the sea of supernaturals inside. “Liv!” I bellow, my way of letting her know that I am coming for her.

That I am coming forhim.

A jaguar shifter charges, but I grab him around the throat and snap his neck, throwing his limp body at a fae rushing toward me with a blade in his hand. As soon as he’s down, I rip the blade free and bring it down on his throat.

The sickening crunch might as well have been mute as I spin and jab the blade into the throat of another fae.

They fucking flock to each other.

Bracken, Killian, and Duncan rush in behind me, Fiona right behind them. The four of them immediately launch into an attack until the tile is slick with blood, the walls splattered with it.

Someone screams.

I whirl toward the front door, sprinting out onto the lawn until I see her. She’s at least fifteen stories up, though, thanks to my enhanced sight, she might as well be dangling directly in front of me.

His hand on her throat, Ernesto holds her over the edge of the roof.

She thrashes.

My dragon explodes out of me, and I take for the sky.

I hover above, terror icing my veins. He rips her back but keeps her close enough that she’s teetering on the edge of the building. Her hands are bound, blood crusted on her face and what I can see of her arms.

A dozen supernaturals with firearms stand on the roof behind them, their weapons trained on me.

“Kill them!” she screams.

“Shift back, or I drop her!” Ernesto calls out. He holds her further over the edge, and her pulse spikes. I can sense the terror as though it were my own.

Positioning myself over the roof, I drop down and shift mid-fall. Balancing on the balls of my bare feet, I land in a crouch and stand slowly.

“Are you okay?” I ask Liv. Eyes wide and shimmering with tears, she nods.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers.

“Don’t be.” I shift my gaze to Ernesto. “Let her go.”

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