Page 96 of Marked Dragon

“Stay back,” Drake spat. “Or I’ll slit his throat.”

He won’t,I connected with Thorn. Unfortunately, he was the only one I could communicate with in dragon form.He needs Tyson alive to ensure he survives.

Don’t be so sure,Thorn replied as his mistrust thrummed through our connection.He only cares about control, and the warriors will be here in seconds.

My stomach hardened. Drake only needed to hold off for another minute and he’d have plenty of backup.You need to go.

I’m not going anywhere without you, and he won’t allow either of us to get away. He’ll kill Tyson as soon as we try to leave.Thorn’s fear chilled our connection.

And this is why we had to come here. Sol would be dead if not for us.If we turned our backs on people we could help, we’d be no better than Drake. I needed Thorn to realize that.

“Allof you are going to shift back into human form now.” Drake tightened his grip on Tyson’s hair, pulling at the scalp.

Even unconscious, Tyson moaned in agony.

All of us paused. Since we’d come in dragon form, we hadn’t brought any weapons. If we changed into our human forms, we’d be defenseless against the warriors, who were armed with guns.

The seven of us glanced at one another as if we were all thinking the same thing.

Drake’s face reddened. “Now! Or I’ll slit his throat this instant!”

The first of the warriors came through, and I recognized two of them—Jessie and Uther. Uther’s face was scrunched with discomfort, while Jessie’s eyes homed in on Thorn and me.

The rest of the warriors filed in behind Drake. There was no way we were getting out of this.

Errol, Brenton, and Saphira landed first and shifted back into human form. A few of the warriors watched them, but most were focused on Thorn, Vlad, Cassidy, and me.

They thought we were the biggest threat, perhaps because they knew Thorn cared about the three of us, but they thought he might not see Tyson as family, and therefore, might not care about his death as much.

They were wrong.

The four of us landed behind Errol, Saphira, and Brenton and pulled our dragons back. I hated being trapped like this. Before long, I’d be exposed to Drake and his men in ways I’d never wanted to be. My mouth filled with saliva.

My body shrank as my dragon begrudgingly separated from my mind.

“Let him go,” Saphira cried. “We’ve all landed and shifted as you demanded.”

Drake pouted. “I’d hoped that Thorn and Everly would need more convincing.” He chuckled and removed the dagger from Tyson’s neck, replacing it in the sheath at his side. “But the abomination is a coward. He’s all big and bad when he catches us off guard, but as soon as my warriors and I are prepared, he cowers. Andthiswas the son my father feared.”

I took a hurried step forward and pointed my finger at the dickhead. “He’s notafraid. He cares about Tyson. One would think you’d feel the same way, seeing as he used to live next door to you.”

“Ah…Everly.” Drake scanned me, making my blood turn cold. “With a body like yours, maybe I won’t need a breeder after all. You are quite delicious, in both dragon and human form.”

A menacing rumble shook the ground as a strong arm wrapped around my body. My skin caught fire.

Thorn.

He tugged me behind him, chest heaving with each breath. “Donotlook at her. She is my mate and wife, and I willkillyou for everything you’ve done to her.”

I wanted to step around Thorn and tell Drake exactly where he could go, but Thorn’s hatred and anger flooded our connection. He didn’t want anyone ever seeing me this way, especially nothim.

I couldn’t blame him. If someone had been trying to force Thorn to be her husband and lover, I didn’t think I’d have been keeping it together as well as Thorn was.

Drake laughed, the noise like sandpaper to my ears. I winced but refused to cover them, not wanting to show a hint that he had influence over me.

“You really think you’re going to make it out alive?” Drake glanced over his shoulder at the warriors. “He’s delusional. Though he may be the firstborn, I’m the true heir. Everyone sees him as an abomination.”

My patience snapped. I poked my head from behind Thorn’s back and said, “Just because you keep throwing that word around doesn’t make it true. Thorn is the onetrying to save dragons you’re determined to kill. That’s why he attacked the chateau—you were forcing me to marry you against my will.”

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