Page 79 of Death God

Smooth’s eyes brightened. “That’s very good.”

I had no time to brief my rescuers on my spirit allies, but I told them what the spirits had just told me.

“The horseman has opened the portal, and his army is slaughtering ours,” I said, rage buzzing on my skin. “The dark mages and witches are using their foul magic to incapacitate our forces. Also, two-thirds of the vampires on the battlefield have turned on our vampires as well.”

“Lucian turned on us,” Marlowe snarled, a storm darkening his sapphire eyes.

“You refused to bang his sister, the vampire princess,” I said.

He gave me a hard look. “I’ll never betray you. Lucian must have struck a deal with War behind my back, betting he’ll be on the winning side. I’ll tear his fucking head off!”

“Leave that to me, my liege,” said Musketeer. “The traitor must believe that he’ll be able to take over your territory and rule over all the vampires on this continent once he helps War eliminate Your Majesty.”

The rest of the vampire warriors snarled and vowed that they would never let Lucian rule North America. They didn’t spit though, unlike the shifters.

“We need to get back to our army to lead the charge and preserve our forces,” I said firmly and snapped my fingers to stress my point. “If we stay here, we won’t have an army to go back to.”

“We’re trapped here,” Marlowe said. He looked composed, but I could feel anxiety pouring out of him through our mating bond. He cared about his men. That was why his warriors would follow him to the end, even when he’d been half-mad looking for me. “We’ll have to fight the horseman here before we return to the army.”

The silly vampire forgot that he had me and that I was mighty now.

“It might take a long time to fight sour tits Spartoi,” I said, then grinned at him encouragingly. “When you confessed your love to me and promised to buy me a ring with a diamond the size of a grape on top, you secured your best asset. Though I’m sunshine to you, sugar, I’m death to our foes. You’ve also done a good job boosting my power, so I’m going dragon!”

I shouted for everyone to give me a wide berth as I sprang toward the spacious center of the tower. Marlowe chased me, calling my name urgently.

In a flash of light and fire, I shifted before my mate reached me.

He stepped back, eyes wide, as a female dragon grinned at him with a huge mouth, big fangs, and a strong jaw.

I turned my head left and right to regard my jade-colored scales, which sparkled in the dim light. Too bad there was no mirror for me to take a good look at myself.

Everyone gasped at the sight of my dragon. I didn’t blame them. She was magnificent. I might be a chameleon, but this dragon was my true form.

“Sunshine?” Marlowe called tentatively.

I puffed out a stream of fire in answer, and Marlowe came to touch my smoky snout instead of backing off. Lucky for him, my dragon fire couldn’t burn my mate.

My tail slashed left and right and toppled a stone wall. Fairy and Mouse jumped back in alarm.

Urgent shouts and heavy footsteps came from the stairs beneath. The vampire warriors who were guarding the stairs rushed up.

“The horseman and his army are coming up the tower,” one of them reported.

“Peachy,” my dragon said, and everyone did a double take, even Marlowe.

Sure, dragons usually didn’t talk, but I was Pip. Even when I shifted to a wolf, my rainbow wolf could talk. I hadn’t let her talk because I didn’t want to freak out the other shifters in the Shifters Academy.

“Let him and his minions climb all the way up, and then they’ll have to go all the way down.” My dragon chuckled. “Don’t we love to frustrate our enemies? Now, whoever doesn’t have wings and doesn’t want to jump off the tower can hop onto my back. Don’t get comfortable, though. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience—riding a magnificent dragon.”

I squatted down for them to climb onto my back. “Chop chop, we don’t have all day.”

Marlowe gazed at me, full of pride and desire.

The three mages mounted my back right away. Bangs was a bit slower, so a vampire shoved her up, and she yelped in outrage.

“Be careful with my mate!” Marlowe snarled.

Three vamps hopped lightly onto my back, much more carefully now.

---