Chapter 13

I’m a fucking dumbass.

Not just any dumbass, but the king of fucking dumbasses. I deserve to wear a crown of barbed wire and thorns.

“The door was closed,” Bronson insists for the tenth time since he barreled back into the room, Nina unconscious in his arms. “I don’t know what the hell happened.”

What happened was my queen saw me kill that man, slicing his head clean off his body.

I don’t say that to the other guys, though. The less they know about Nina—and her abilities—the better.

Fuck, what else did she see?

She’s probably terrified and confused, her fragile mind unable to comprehend everything that just transpired.

Did she see my partial shift? Does she think I’m a monster?

Damien stalks forward, body lean and powerful, and points a dagger at Bronson’s face. “What did you do to her?” he demands, eyes not wavering from the fierce shadow wolf.

Bronson’s eyes flash with a ring of silver as a growl rumbles his body. I immediately jump to my feet, prepared to rush between the two supernatural psychopaths before they can fight with my love in between them. Fortunately, Bronson calms down first, his body relaxing incrementally as his arms tighten around Nina.

Fuck, I’m going to have to ask him about his possessiveness towards her. The way he acts around my girl goes beyond a relationship between mere strangers.

Damien doesn’t lower his dagger, but his eyes do flicker towards the sleeping girl. I could be mistaken, but I swear his eyes soften marginally before they harden once more.

“I will flay you alive, Wolfie. Cut your skin off and bathe in your blood. Eat your innards and then dance in them.” The tip of the knife touches Bronson’s throat. One sudden move, and the wolf will be very much dead.

Nina…

I need to get her away from them. Now.

“She was fine,” Bronson growls, staring Damien in the eyes. “All of a sudden, she started rambling about monsters and dragons and Kai.” He nods his head towards me, and Damien spins on his heel with a predatory grace that belies his nature. As a mage, you wouldn’t consider the man high on the totem pole of life. Above a human, for sure, and maybe above dumbass shifters, but definitely not higher than a dragon.

Yet, if Damien ever felt the need, he could dominate not only the prison, but the world. He’s a rabid dog tethered to a chewed-up leash that is seconds from snapping in half. He needs someone to control him, call the shots, warn him when he’s going too far.

Frankly, the guy scares the shit out of me.

Being the sole focus of his piercing glare sends prickles of unease racing down my spine. Instead of showing my discomfort, I glower right back.

“Would you like to share with the class, Kai?” he asks coldly. He flexes his muscles once, the movement almost threatening. Brandishing his knife in the air, he takes another step closer. “How do you know the girl?”

“Why do you care?” I growl, crossing my arms over my chest. I know my eyes are vertical slits as my dragon comes out to play.

“Maybe…” Another step closer. That damn knife of his continuously twirls between his fingers. Is it wrong that I want it to cut one of them off? Or hell, maybe he’ll drop it on his throat—one can only hope. “Maybe I just want to fuck her.”

Smoke flares from my nostrils as my breath saws in and out. Damien’s smile only grows, though his eyes remain cold.

“Maybe I just want to slide my cock into her sweet, virginal pussy. Is she a virgin, Blade? Or did you get to her first? Or did someone else?—”

Before he can finish his sentence, I lunge forward, claws extended. Damien laughs jovially, as if this is the most fun he’s had all year.

He sidesteps my blow stealthily, ducking beneath my clawed hand. A growl emanates from my chest as I spin around once more, preparing myself to strike. To maim. To kill.

Blistering pain erupts on my back, and I roar as Damien slashes at my skin with his knife.

“I won’t hesitate to kill you,” Damien says stoutly, backing away and crouching in a defensive maneuver. His eyes are cold, steely, devoid of any warmth. Those are the eyes of a killer. “But… I’m already tired of this.”

My body quivers as my feet hover a foot above the ground. Glimmering, pearlescent manacles clasp both my wrists and ankles together, stilling my struggles. The bastard cast a spell on me.

“You going to kill a man who can’t even fight back?” I hiss, my eyes flickering to an unconscious Nina. She’s lying on the ground with her head in Bronson’s lap as the twins hover over them both. “Fucking coward.”

“What type of man do you take me for?” Damien queries, dusting imaginary lint off his suit jacket. “I’m many things, but a killer of an incapacitated man isn’t one.” He ventures a step closer, his eyes thin slits. “What is she, Blade?”

Scowling, I spit at his face.

The psychopath doesn’t even bat an eye.

“What is she?” he asks again.

“I. Don’t. Fucking. Know.” And it’s the truth. I don’t think anyone in the Compound knows what she is. All I know for certain is that she’s something other, something ethereal.

And she’s mine.

From the first moment she comforted me—a sniveling little boy who had just been ripped away from his parents—my dragon claimed her as his to protect, fight for, and love. She’s my star, moon, and sun. The entity I orbit around. My everything. She loves every piece of me, even the ones I haven’t apologized for.

When I left her…

When I was taken from her…

I squeeze my eyelids shut, attempting to dispel the horrific images of those dark times. I hadn’t intentionally broken my promise to come for her. I had tried.

And it’s what brought me here. Still, the fact that I fought for her doesn’t immediately assuage my guilt at leaving her behind.

“If you guys are done pissing on each other,” Abel retorts, “you should come see this.” His voice is high with wonderment and awe.

Damien—the asshole—moves forward silently, leaving me hovering above the ground in a vise of chains.

“Fucking asshole,” I mutter, twisting and wiggling. I can easily shift into my dragon and burn the mythical chains, but I don’t dare with Nina so close. The last thing I want to do is hurt her.

Stepping over Hunter’s pool of blood, Damien leans over her, effectively obscuring her from view.

I don’t like this.

At all.

My dragon hisses and howls, my struggles renewing with vigor. It takes time, but I’m eventually able to overpower Damien’s magic and break free from the manacles, which lowers me back to the ground.

Eyes reptilian slits, I hurry to Nina’s other side.

Her skin seems to…glow. That’s the only word I can think to use, but even that doesn’t fully encapsulate what I see. A golden sheen surrounds her still body, haloing her dark hair and pale skin. It flashes like errant fireworks with each breath she takes.

“What the hell is she?” Abel gasps, and I don’t like the expression on his face. It’s too wistful, too needy, as if he wants to lock her away and keep her to himself.

Come to think of it, I don’t like any of their expressions. Cain’s eyes are narrowed suspiciously, and Bronson’s normally broody mask has been removed, revealing adoration and worship.

And Damien? He looks as if he’s found a brand-new toy to play with. Something shiny to covet as his own.

Fuck, I need to get her out of here.

“Is there anything you want to share?” Damien asks me once again, voice curt and succinct.

I glare at him in return. He seems to have forgotten that I’m the leader. The king.

“Let’s take her somewhere she can be more comfortable,” Abel suggests, bending to take her from Bronson.

The shadow wolf growls, his arms grasping Nina’s shoulders to hold her still. All four of us raise an eyebrow at that. His behavior is extremely territorial, possessive. Unlike anything I have ever seen before. Bronson doesn’t have girlfriends. Hell, he barely even has lovers.

He’s almost acting as if she’s…his mate.

Oh.

Fuck.

Without a word, Bronson scoops her up in his arms and carries her to a small room dug into the wall of the one we’re in. There’s only one door leading in and out. Though I don’t like having her out of my sight, I know she’ll be safe and protected with us here.

“I’ve never seen anything like that before,” Cain begins, brows furrowed. “And I’ve seen a lot of nasty shit.”

“She’s not nasty,” Abel protests, hitting his brother on the back of the head. Cain scowls once at Abel before turning on his heel and stalking away.

Once he’s gone, I turn towards the two that remain. Damien’s expression is as impassive as always, but Abel is looking longingly in the direction Nina and Bronson disappeared in.

“She’s mine,” I stress, voice more dragon than human. Fire licks at my skin as I survey the threats to my mate, my beloved.

Damien smirks coldly, grabs a dagger out of his suit sleeve, and moves to sit in front of the bedroom door. Abel merely stares at me quizzically for a moment before placing a hand on my arm.

“Don’t start a war that you can’t win, brother,” he advises.

And with that ominous statement—threat—he takes off after his twin.

What the fuck am I going to do now?

One thing is certain. Brother or not, friend or not, inner circle or not, if any of these men decide to hurt Nina, I will not hesitate to kill them.

It was my hesitation to kill that separated us in the first place.