Chapter 16

16

L ost to the madness, the need of both man and Dragon King to find their mate and rescue her from certain harm fueling the frenzy within them, the muscles of his body grew, joints and tendons stretched and bones cracked and reformed. Swamped in white, hot Dragon magic, the smaller, denser deep pewter scales of his Battler Dragon were forced through his skin.

Roaring to the Heavens, pain of his transformation joining with his rage and unfamiliar feelings of helplessness, he tore through the woods. Uprooting trees and ripping great mounds of tangled brush from the earth in search of the door to the underground tunnel, he acknowledged the presence of an ally – the King of the Big Cats in the form of a huge Black Panther.

Digging and pawing, magic popped all around them as the two apex predators frantically searched until Rafe was sure he’d lose his mind. Swinging his nearly ten-foot body, covered in scales, every bit the Dragon King with whom he shared his soul just a smaller, more compact version, covered in battle armor and without wings, he zeroed in a what appeared to be a hollowed-out tree stump.

Moving so quickly, he hardly remembered the action, he grabbed the limbs on either side and with a mighty pull, ripped it from the ground, revealing the metal T-shaped handle they’d been searching for. Ripping open the hatch, flames flew from the hole forcing an anguished roar of, “DONATELLA!” From his stubbed snout.

Jumping into the hole, he landed with a thud, immediately racing through the roaring flames. Balling up his ginormous fists, he knocked down deteriorating block walls and punched through metal doors, refusing to let anything stop him from getting to his mate.

So focused on his own actions, he was unable to respond as Max’s voice slashed through the frenzy of his mind, “Going around to find the exit.”

Racing into a huge room that resembled a surgical theatre, the scent of Nat’s blood cut through the smoke and flames, permeating his every sense. Speeding from the room, forced to bend at the waist just to fit into the tunnel, his shoulders cut through the earthen walls.

The farther he went, the smaller the tunnel became, but he refused to be stopped. Using the impenetrable scales covering every inch of his body, he removed all obstacles.

Flames licking at his heels, the walls closing in all around him, he opened his jaws to roar her name just as her scream of “RAFE!” cut through the haze of his mind. Picking up speed, forcing his enhanced senses and sight to their very limits, he saw the lifeless body of his mate, face down in the dirt before him.

Scooping her up without slowing, barely able to hear her sluggish heartbeat, he burst through the tunnel and took a hard right. Awash in the fragrance of fresh air and fresh blood, he moved quicker still.

Spying a metal ladder stuck into a concrete passage leading upward, he poured on more speed and the second he ducked under the cement archway, he bent his legs and jumped. Landing in the same wooded area as before, he barely noticed where he was as he laid an unconscious, barely breathing Nat on the ground.

Dropping to his knees, forcing himself to be calm, his scales to recede, and his body to return to normal, Rafe ignored his own pain as he commanded his Dragon King, “Magic, healing magic, she’s lost a lot of blood.”

Appearing on the other side of Nat, Max also got to his knees as he asked, “May I help?”

A single nod, not only to say yes but to give the King credit for knowing Rafe would rip him apart if he dared to touch Donatella without permission, was all he could manage. His entire focus, all that he was or would ever be, was focused on his mate and keeping her alive.

Closing his eyes and shutting out the chaos of his Brethren’s voices in his head, he focused on each cut, starting with the deepest first. As quickly as he could, making sure not to overload her system with unfamiliar magic and cause any further harm to her delicate system, he knit ever single broken vessel and torn vein back together with a meticulous precision he hadn’t known he possessed.

When her heart beat without stuttering or stopping all together, he sat back on his heels, simply watching the gentle rise and fall of her chest. Looking up at Max, trying to hold back the tears burning his throat, he murmured, “I’ve done all I can do. It’s in the hands of Fate and the Universe.”

“She is strong and you have done your best. Now, you must deal with the man responsible.”

Getting up and following the King, it only took a single look at the insignificant piece of shit who’d dared to touch his mate, dared to harm innocent young women, and had dabbled in black magic for Rafe’s rage to return tenfold. From one heartbeat to the next he went from human to Battler Dragon once again.

Reaching down, he closed his massive paw around the quivering waste of flesh and bone and jerked him from the ground. Holding him at arm’s length, Batterfield’s nails scratched at the scales covering Rafe’s hand as he feet dangled in the air.

Squeezing tighter and tighter, reveling in Norman’s fear as the little man’s face turned a brilliant shade of purple, Rafe shoved his snubbed snout into the psycho’s face and snarled, “Today you die.”

“No, please, no, no, no,” Batterfield’s frantic whispers had no effect on the Dragon. The bastard had not only laid hands on Donatella, he’d also left her to die in a fiery tunnel, not to mention, killing and disemboweling six young, innocent women.

“Yes,” Rafe hissed through his long, sharp fangs. “Yes, Norman Batterfield, today you die for your crimes.”

One final squeeze. The sound of cracking bones and ripping flesh filled the night air. A single loud pop, like that of a helium balloon being stuck with a pin. Blood, gushing like a fountain, covering Rafe’s scale-covered face and chest from the gaping hole where Norman’s head used to be and it was done.

Dropping the headless corpse on the ground, the Battler Dragon turned without a single backward glance and returned to his human form. Walking back to his mate, he gently lifted her from the ground and cradled her to his chest.

“I’m taking her to the hospital.”

“I shall dispose of the body, mi amigo. ” The King laid his hand on Rafe’s shoulder. “Take care of your mate, for she is all that matters.”