Dragonfury 01 - Fury of Fire by authors_sort Page B

escaped.”
    “Not exactly.”
    “What then?”
    Lothair shifted, leather jacket rasping against brick. The movement was small, barely a fidget at all, but Ivar knew his XO well. The male didn’t like what he was about to admit. “Bastian beat us to her.”
    “Jesus Christ.” Ivar grabbed hold of his temper before it slipped. Attacking Lothair wouldn’t get either of them anywhere but bruised. And wouldn’t that be the cake topper on an already shitty day?
    Suppressing a growl, he crossed the large, rectangular room, skirting a jagged hole in the floorboards. He stopped at the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking out over his new backyard. Moonlight streamed in white-blue waves, casting shadows as he stared through cracked windowpanes, his gaze moving over the twisted steel shells that littered his property.
    The God-awful mess was an environmental nightmare, a slap in the face to all Dragonkind. How could the humans walk by the eyesore every day? Ignore the mess while leaking oil tanks contaminated their neighborhoods and poisoned the planet? Jesus, it baffled and angered him every time he saw the same travesty repeated in different countries all over the world.
    The entire human race needed to be put down. Eradicated before the damage became irreversible and every species on Earth died a horrible death. Phase two of his plan would take care of them…wipe out the apathetic beasts in one fell swoop.
    But first things first.
    Ignoring the smell of stale beer and rotting wood, he glanced over his shoulder at Lothair. “Where is the female now?”
    “Dead. Was when we got there.”
    Ivar raised both brows, surprised by the new twist. Bastian didn’t usually kill females, pregnant or otherwise. The male wasn’t hard-hearted enough. A failing if ever there was one. “He took the child?”
    Lothair nodded. “Forge is going to flip out. We need to get the infant back.”
    No shit, Sherlock. The conclusion was a no-brainer. Not if they wanted to keep Forge in check. Even as young as he was, the massive male was an asset to the Razorback crew: powerful, focused, with a whole lot of brutality to spare. Well, at least, he had been before meeting Caroline what’s-her-face. The little bitch had sent the normally unshakable Forge sideways. In an unprecedented move, the male had bought a cell phone to keep in touch with her.
    Love. A total frickin’ catastrophe.
    Ivar rubbed the back of his neck. What a mess. Precisely the one he’d hoped to avoid when he sent his warriors after the female to take the baby a month early. Kill her now. Give Forge his child. Sidestep disaster. All logical moves, but for one thing. Bastian had mucked it up…again.
    The Nightfury commander was like a cat…all nine lives intact as he landed on his feet. Just once, Ivar wanted to see the male go splat. Once would be all it’d take—after which, he’d scoop up Bastian’s ashes like dog shit, put them in an ugly urn, and set it on his soon-to-be-completed mantle. The trophy of all trophies.
    “How do you want it handled?” His boots scraped the floor as Lothair pushed away from the wall. “You want me to tell him?”
    “Nah. I’ll deal with Forge,” he said and heard Lothair exhale in relief. Ivar almost smiled. It wasn’t that his XO was a coward, but only a maniac would go toe-to-toe with Forge when delivering that kind of news. A female taken too soon and a child lost to the enemy.
    Yeah, the male was going to lose it.
    Good thing crazy fit Ivar like a glove. He enjoyed living on the edge, and besides, who else would be able to control Forge—to channel all that rage in the right direction?
    A little manipulation on Ivar’s part—maybe even a lie or two—and Forge would no longer be sitting on the fence, wondering if he wanted to join the Razorbacks’ ranks. He’d be gunning for Bastian and those who followed him. With the male 100 percent in his corner, Ivar would get what he wanted—his laboratory staffed and the vacancies in