mine. A dragon roar thundered inside my skull. I felt my human thoughts blasted to pieces in a razor-sharp whirl of darkness as another mind stepped in to control my human body.
Without haste, I reached up and grabbed the lady’s wrists. I applied pressure, my hands igniting with little jags of golden lightening. Her face bleached white, the way everything does when lightning tries to kill the world. My stare burned with white light, as incandescent as the fey’s own widening eyes. Her grip slacked.
I gulped air, spun, and dragged her across my hip, driving her face into the grille of my Mustang. The impact dazed her; her aura of purple-white discharges dimmed. I had dragon blood tattoos all over my body for all kinds of spells. I ignored them. A dragon doesn’t borrow magic from another dragon clan; that is weakness. Weakness is rewarded with death. Besides, there was rich, succulent satisfaction in opposing her with the same brute force she’d brought to me.
I drove my fingers into the silver mop of her hair and hauled her up, only to slam her down on my well-dented hood. The whumping sound was pleasant, but not deep enough; she’d managed to lessen the impact by getting her arms under her to brace against the impact. I growled at her, ticked off. When I want someone to hurt, they should not be difficult.
I seized both her ankles and lifted, flicking her over my head so she could almost stand on my shoulders. I whipped her down, bludgeoning my own vehicle, caring only for blood.
I heard and felt the human part of me stirring in the depths of our mind. No, damn it, not my car!
My dragon soul roared, shivering my inner universe, as I continued to beat her into the shattered pieces of my vehicle.
I became aware that the body I was flailing had become considerably lighter. What was left of her arced with savage charges of lightning, just so much burnt meat. I laughed as searing jags played over me, draining into me, further fueling my rage and strength. I healed the damage to my body while paying it little attention. Laughing in the delirium of battle, I let darkness reclaimed me. My other self returned.
The black mists thinned. I grew still, studying what I held: two legs, one severed from the hip, the other from the knee. The rest of her were chunky, bloody smears of shattered bone and pulverized tissues. I blinked and dropped the legs. They hit the pavement, bounced, and rolled a little. The longer leg stopped against the fallen medallion. Its chain was a silver serpent half coiled. The centerpiece was a cloud, grown dull, its sapphire a flat blue without sparkle. It seemed as dead as its former owner.
Disappointed that the fun was over, what little of it I remembered, I turned to look at Zero-
T. He was no longer sitting back against his car. He stood, his brown complexion turning somewhat gray, his insolent smirk long gone. The guy was a demon; you’d have thought a little bloody excess wouldn’t have thrown him.
I glowered, wondering if there was still lightning in my eyes. “You want some too?”
“I had no doubt that you were unworthy of Lauphram’s favor, of being his heir. I thought a human couldn’t have what it took to rule demon kind.” His gaze flinched from mine, sliding over to the shattered wreck of my Mustang. His voice creaked. “It never occurred to me that there are worse things than us demons.” He stepped toward me and set one knee to the street, kneeling. He placed a fist over his heart and bowed his head to me. “I pledge my honor and my service to Lauphram’s heir, withdrawing all reservations and objections.”
I had the impulse to kick him in the face, but that was just the residual adrenaline whispering in my ear. The pounding of my heart had settled to a normal tempo. The dragon strength that had flooded my cells was ghosting away, leaving me tired. And I
Without haste, I reached up and grabbed the lady’s wrists. I applied pressure, my hands igniting with little jags of golden lightening. Her face bleached white, the way everything does when lightning tries to kill the world. My stare burned with white light, as incandescent as the fey’s own widening eyes. Her grip slacked.
I gulped air, spun, and dragged her across my hip, driving her face into the grille of my Mustang. The impact dazed her; her aura of purple-white discharges dimmed. I had dragon blood tattoos all over my body for all kinds of spells. I ignored them. A dragon doesn’t borrow magic from another dragon clan; that is weakness. Weakness is rewarded with death. Besides, there was rich, succulent satisfaction in opposing her with the same brute force she’d brought to me.
I drove my fingers into the silver mop of her hair and hauled her up, only to slam her down on my well-dented hood. The whumping sound was pleasant, but not deep enough; she’d managed to lessen the impact by getting her arms under her to brace against the impact. I growled at her, ticked off. When I want someone to hurt, they should not be difficult.
I seized both her ankles and lifted, flicking her over my head so she could almost stand on my shoulders. I whipped her down, bludgeoning my own vehicle, caring only for blood.
I heard and felt the human part of me stirring in the depths of our mind. No, damn it, not my car!
My dragon soul roared, shivering my inner universe, as I continued to beat her into the shattered pieces of my vehicle.
I became aware that the body I was flailing had become considerably lighter. What was left of her arced with savage charges of lightning, just so much burnt meat. I laughed as searing jags played over me, draining into me, further fueling my rage and strength. I healed the damage to my body while paying it little attention. Laughing in the delirium of battle, I let darkness reclaimed me. My other self returned.
The black mists thinned. I grew still, studying what I held: two legs, one severed from the hip, the other from the knee. The rest of her were chunky, bloody smears of shattered bone and pulverized tissues. I blinked and dropped the legs. They hit the pavement, bounced, and rolled a little. The longer leg stopped against the fallen medallion. Its chain was a silver serpent half coiled. The centerpiece was a cloud, grown dull, its sapphire a flat blue without sparkle. It seemed as dead as its former owner.
Disappointed that the fun was over, what little of it I remembered, I turned to look at Zero-
T. He was no longer sitting back against his car. He stood, his brown complexion turning somewhat gray, his insolent smirk long gone. The guy was a demon; you’d have thought a little bloody excess wouldn’t have thrown him.
I glowered, wondering if there was still lightning in my eyes. “You want some too?”
“I had no doubt that you were unworthy of Lauphram’s favor, of being his heir. I thought a human couldn’t have what it took to rule demon kind.” His gaze flinched from mine, sliding over to the shattered wreck of my Mustang. His voice creaked. “It never occurred to me that there are worse things than us demons.” He stepped toward me and set one knee to the street, kneeling. He placed a fist over his heart and bowed his head to me. “I pledge my honor and my service to Lauphram’s heir, withdrawing all reservations and objections.”
I had the impulse to kick him in the face, but that was just the residual adrenaline whispering in my ear. The pounding of my heart had settled to a normal tempo. The dragon strength that had flooded my cells was ghosting away, leaving me tired. And I
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