Noah stared at the heart in awe. It was beautiful, but he didn’t know if it would remain so. How long can a dragon survive in this form? He pondered this for a moment, but Raven’s dying words echoed through his brain, pushing him to act. Unwilling to risk losing the dragon, he squeezed the gem, slicing the diamond points deep into his palm. Rolling his hand over, he let his blood seep out onto the heart. The power of the dragon raced up his arm, slamming into his brain. A mighty roar shook his world.
“Mine!” the dragon roared as it claimed its new home.
Noah fought for control over the beast, but the dragon’s rage gave it an unnatural strength. The desire to destroy everything that had hurt Raven coursed through him. “No!” he cried out. Dropping the blood-covered heart, he wrapped his arms around Raven’s body, trying to hold on to himself, but the dragon was too strong. It ripped its way out of Noah’s body, taking Noah for a ride. The leather collar around his neck forced the dragon into a size smaller than it was used to, but this size was more than enough to do what it wanted for the moment. Noah’s consciousness dropped away as the creature pounced on the body of the man who had killed Raven and started ripping it to shreds.
“Raven!” Daniel called as he banged on the front door of her home. It was well after two o’clock, and Noah hadn’t checked in yet. “Where is he?” He jiggled the door handle and found it locked. “If you don’t answer in the next ten seconds, we’re coming in!” When no answer came, Daniel turned to the men standing behind him and stepped out of the way. “Break it down.”
The four men dressed in heavy SWAT outfits hefted the metal battering ram and swung it at the door. It cracked under the pressure. Drawing back the heavy, steel head, they swung it into the wood again. The latch broke loose, and the door banged open.
“Raven!” Daniel yelled as he stormed into the foyer. A feeling of wrongness hit him, stopping him in his tracks. “Find them!” he bellowed to the men following him through the door. His team spread out as he headed towards the stairs leading to the living space. Since he had been in Raven’s home before, he knew exactly where to look. Noah was most likely being held in Raven’s master bedroom.
Slamming into the room, Daniel paused to look around. The smell of dragon pheromones was heavy in the air, but the room held no signs of Raven or Noah.
The radio on Daniel’s shoulder crackled to life. “Commander.”
Daniel grabbed up the mic and snapped it on. “Did you find him?” Worry had settled into his heart.
“We found something,” the man answered back. “You had better come and see this.” There was a hint of horror in the man’s voice.
“On my way.” Clicking the radio into place, Daniel stormed back out of the bedroom, pondering their situations. What the hell is Raven up to, and where is Noah?
A small group of men were waiting at the bottom of the steps when Daniel came down. He looked at them expectantly.
One of the men held out his hand and pointed down the hall. “This way, sir.”
Daniel nodded and turned down the hall. The strong smell of blood quickened his steps. Fear for Noah’s health clawed at Daniel, and he reprimanded himself. He should never have let Noah go with that crazy woman. This could be worse than the last time she had claimed one of his men. At least then, his man had survived the encounter. A group of men stood in the doorway of what he knew was Raven’s dining room. “What is it?” he said as he came up and stopped behind them. They filled the doorway, making it impossible to see what was beyond.
One of the men turned around and looked at him. “Sir!” he said as he stepped back from the door.
Daniel looked at the man. His eyes were wide in shock, and he looked rather green. Turning to the room, he pushed his way through the remaining men and stopped as soon as he saw the carnage. It looked like a bomb had gone off.
The beautiful wooden table that Daniel knew had been in there was reduced to splinters. The wallpaper and curtains were rent with claw marks. What looked to be the remains of bodies were shredded all over everything. And right in the middle of the whole mess lay a black dragon glistening with blood.
But the blood and gore wasn’t what froze Daniel in his tracks. His eyes barely even noted them. It was the limp form the dragon hunkered down next to that held his attention. He stood there in shock as he studied the scene. He couldn’t see the face of the woman who lay untouched in the carnage, but the long strands of dark hair that curled around her body gave Daniel an idea who she was. Raven. Dread settled its claws into him. She was much too still to be alive.
Swallowing hard, he turned his attention to the dragon. Its scales were so black they almost shone purple in the light from the broken window. The only dragon he knew with that deep of a color was Raven herself. The dragon was small. Its body was barely the size of a medium dog. The creature practically lay on top of Raven’s body, with its face buried in her chest. The glitter of tear-shaped diamonds were scattered over everything.
Daniel brought his hand up to his face and wiped it over his mouth as he took in the horror. The diamond tears of a dragon hurt like hell to cry. The only time he had ever seen a dragon cry was when it lost a mate, and that was usually only one or two. He had never known a dragon to cry this much. Besides, Raven didn’t have a mate. Pulling himself together, Daniel stepped into the room.
The dragon’s head popped up from where it had been resting on the woman’s body. Another tear fell to the floor with a soft click. The creature turned dark eyes towards Daniel and glared.
Daniel froze so as not to startle the dragon. “Hello,” he called softly to the creature.
The dragon growled at him and kneaded the floor with its claws. Long strips of wood curled away as the sharp talons rent the polished surface.
Kneeling down, Daniel offered his hand to the dragon. “We’re here to help.”
The dragon growled again and moved closer to Raven’s body. It was clear she had been something special to the creature.
“Tell me who you are,” Daniel said, trying to coax the dragon into talking as he inched closer to the pair.
The beast tensed as the distance between them narrowed. Finally, when it felt Daniel was too close, it launched itself at him.
Having practiced this before, Daniel was prepared for the attack and twisted to avoid the creature’s powerful jaws. He grabbed it by the front legs and wrenched it around to slam it on the ground next to him. Even though the thing was small, it thrashed violently under him. Two of the men standing in the doorway were on the dragon in a heartbeat. It took all three of them to wrestle the thing to the ground.
The dragon let out a heartbreaking keening as two more men came in to tie the poor thing up.