Page 52 of Payne's Envy

I could have done without Mom’s comment.

Facing Deathraka, I said, “You…”

“Although different from how I imagined, I am most pleased with you, mate. You are exquisite. No, the most beautiful—”

“I’m going to kill you!”

Raw energy sparked beneath my skin. My throat tightened and my claws ached as I slammed my feet on the concrete slab. I charged at the dragon. The massive creature didn’t have a chance to brace for impact when I plowed into him. I bit into his neck. His musk filled my nostrils while the metallic taste of his blood flowed through my mouth. The beast roared as he fell through the brick wall. Huge chunks of debris hit us, making my scales flex oddly in the places it hurt.

“Joy! Not in the house, please!” Mom shouted.

Giant hands wrapped around my body. Claws pierced through my flesh. I didn’t remove my teeth even as he attempted to push me back.

“You are ignorant of what you’re doing when you attack, mate.” The dragon’s voice rumbled in my thoughts. “Yes, I might not know all that I am, but I still have my instincts. When you challenge me, you’re making my ever-constant desire to claim you burnbrighter. I want to overpower and mount you, Joy, and you want me to. That’s why you attack. You want to make sure I’m worthy.”

In one swift move, the dragon yanked me away from his throat, slammed me on my back, and pinned me with one of his hands. With his other, he gripped my lower half. “I am worthy.”

A rush of red-hot desire began at my spine and spread into my stomach.“That is not why I attacked!”

“This might not be who we were, mate, but this is what we are now.”His word gave a finality to my worst fear. Payne. I might never talk to him as he was. Nor would I know what he thought of me before his change.

My lungs locked up as I sucked in a breath. When I tried to exhale, nothing came out, and everything felt trapped in me. Payne. Payne. My heart rammed against my ribcage, and it hurt so much because it was still beating. Payne’s organ was still beating, but he wasgone.I felt split right down the middle as I gazed at the dragon above me. My exhale finally became another inhale. Releasing a hopeless wail, I dropped my head against the concrete and panted.

A cold muzzle rubbed against my cheek, but the dragon’s breath was warm. “I am lost, mate. The only thing I know for sure is you.”

A sharp sting hit my chest. In my anger and hurt, I forgot one thing. Despite his amnesia, that was Payne. It was Payne who remembered nothing beyond our mating instinct. It was Payne who lost most by forgetting himself completely. Once again, I proved how selfish I could be when it came to needing his love.

My snout bumped into his as I turned my head to face him.

“I will become better for you. Together, we will learn. My instincts aren’t wrong. They will show us the way, but now is not the time.”The dragon released me as he rose. “An enemy is near, and I don’t like the smell. I must eliminate the threat.”

“I can do more in my actual body,” I said as I got on all fours. When side by side, I looked tiny in comparison to him.

“But you are—”

Deathraka never finished his thought.

Ruby, a dragon that roamed Grim’s woods, crashed through the window. She rolled with her wings wrapped around her. Blood leaked from the many cuts on her. They had attacked her.

“Ruby!” Mom ran to her.

Dad faded outside.

“What do you sense?”I asked Deathraka. The answer came when I looked at the broken window.

All I saw was part of a scaly face as it peered into the castle, but it was too huge to be one of ours. And its skin. It looked peeled and corroded. Was that creature created the same way as the flaming abomination had been? With body parts sewn together? The beast roared. Glass broke and bricks blew up.

When Deathraka ran for the window, I lost my balance. His mammoth feet shook the castle and left tracks on the floor. He jumped and took the entire wall out. Part of the second story caved under Deathraka’s wreckage. Mom and Melinda coughed as Deathraka disappeared into the sky.

Melinda glanced at me and said, “It’s Harvest. He’s made use of your blood.”

“I’m going to join your father. I don’t know how many creatures are outside,” Mom said before fading.

I rushed toward the hole Deathraka made. I peered down and saw nothing, but I heard the roars and flapping of wings. If the creatures were all winged like Deathraka, the fights would be higher up. I started climbing up the castle stone. The screeching and scuffling grew louder. I couldn’t see any of them! They must have been further into the woods or the other side of the castle. Thanks to my claws, I scaled to the top of the castle in seconds.

“Don’t exit the castle,” Deathraka pierced my thoughts.

“A little too late for that,” I replied. “Besides, I want to help.”

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