So I lunge at his throat and sink my teeth in as he tosses me about.
Chapter 24
Clarissa
Irun as fast as I can past Sebastian and Theo and Vlad. There is no way they are keeping me from fighting. Keeping me from saving Toshi. Panic is rushing through my veins as my legs pump faster and faster, careening me toward the edge of the woods. Toshi can’t die. I’ve already lost one man I love to this Council, and I’m not losing another. He’s too important to me. Too good to me. He indulges the softer side of me. The side of me that longs for comfort and lazy days and slow kisses and dancing in the rain. The part of me that longs for adventures without a reason and the changing of leaves with the seasons and cotton candy on a hot summer day in the middle of a carnival.
I can’t lose Toshi.
And I won’t lose this war.
I see them. Smell them. Hear their battle cries. A dragon’s head rises in the distance, and for a second, I falter. My speed slows down, and my heart begins to hammer in my chest, and then a small voice flutters in my head.
Do it.
I don’t recognize the voice. It’s soft. Airy. Nothing like the voices I’ve heard before. But it’s strong. And confident. And that’s when my stomach begins to roll. To move. I feel a pressure in my abdomen that gives way to another burst of physical strength, and then I hear it again.
That tiny little voice.
You can do it.
I close my eyes as I approach the edge of the woods, and I allow the anger to take over my body. The anger over losing Kyle. The anger over hope being ripped from me. The anger of them taking Toshi, and the anger of everyone spilling secrets of mine before I was ready. The men keeping things from me. My body finding Kyle’s scent to be repulsive. Joel always trying to convince me I’m something I’m not, and Josie always creeping around like she doesn’t trust us.
I feel myself morphing, but for the first time, I feel in control of it.
The rage floods my veins, and I feel my stomach hardening into steel. No, metal.
No, iron.
I feel my entire body hardening into iron.
Claws project from my fingers and toes and red and black hair protrudes from my skin. My fangs are longer than they’ve ever been and are dripping with saliva ready to be pumped into the veins of these fuckers. My eyes focus on a deer in the corner, holding a spear tipped with a green serum that seems vaguely familiar.
I know it isn’t good, and I know I must destroy it.
I no longer fear the monster within me. I no longer fear my Primal form. The anger in my veins fuels me, it doesn’t change me. I change myself. I leap toward the deer, and my jaws clamp down around its throat. The spear falls to the ground as I rip my head to the side, tossing the bloodied carcass across the battlefield.
Then I grab the spear in my teeth and sink the tip into the ground.
I see the green permeate the snow and kill everything in its path. The snow melts. The ground dries up. It cracks into brittle pieces that give way to the wind. The grass withers away and the bugs crawling on the ground crumble to nothing but dust.
Those spears aren’t meant to kill the humans.
They’re meant to kill us.
I hear two distinct growls come charging from the forest, and I whip around to see Sebastian sink his teeth into the Bat. General Tera. The coward that transforms and flies away. Vlad leaps into the air, heading for the dragon, and sinks his fangs into the scales that coat his throat. I run for the dragon, knowing Vlad is going to need help. I slide underneath the dragon’s small legs and run my claws along its underbelly.
The fire that erupts from that dragon’s throat is enough to take out the entire village if he reaches it.
I sink my claws into Doryu’s scales, peeling them away. I rake my claws across him as he tries to consume me with his fire. Vlad’s climbing up the length of his neck, and I’m not sure what he’s doing, but I know I need to expose some of Doryu’s skin. That’s the only way we’ll be able to take him out. The only way we will be able to wound him.
My claws dig through the kevlar sheets of scales that reflect the rays of the overcast sun. I hear Doryu crying out in pain and chance a look up to see what Vlad’s doing. His claws are raking out the dragon’s eyes, and a grin crosses my cheeks.
Take away a dragon’s eyes and you take away his aim.
Perfect.
I sink my teeth into the patch of skin I’ve exposed, and Doryu drops to his side. Vlad is tossed across the field by Doryu’s head, and I can hear him whimpering. I want to go after him. To make sure he’s okay. But I know I’m so close to taking out this dragon.