Then she heard a hiss from behind her, and Zoa realized that this night was far from over.
He was here.
He was here on the ground with her while everyone else was in the sky. He’d brought the distractions, and he’d separated her from her protectors. He’d thought of everything.
That was Kellen’s way.
“So, it’s you,” she whispered, turning around. She stared into his beady eyes. He was just as horrible as he’d been the last time. He smelled bad, and he looked bad, and he seemed...well, bad. When Zoa had been locked up in his home, she’d been hurting and scared and afraid. Now she wasn’t afraid anymore. She was just tired.
Kellen shifted back to his human form and stood there, staring at her. He looked weird in his naked human form. He was nothing like Declan, who was tall and beautiful and handsome. Kellen just seemed...gross.
How had he managed to survive this long? She wondered how nobody had killed him before. She wanted to. That was what Zoa wanted. She wanted to kill Kellen so he couldn’t hurt anyone else, but she was just a human, and her heroes were up in the night sky.
“And it’s you,” he sneered.
“Why did you come for me? I don’t want to go back with you.”
“I don’t remember asking your opinion. You’re mine, you little bitch. I own you.”
Before, she would have cowered. She would have cringed when he spoke such harsh words, but Zoa was different now. Declan had healed her body physically, but he’d also started the undoubtedly long process of healing her heart. She didn’t have to bow to someone like Kellen now because she had someone who loved her.
She had someone who believed she was his mate.
Zoa was aware of the fact that the dragons were still fighting. When were they going to realize that the real fight was happening on the ground beside the treehouse? Zoa and Kellen were at the very edge of the clearing. If any of the dragons looked right at this particular spot, they’d see her, but Kellen was still in the darkness, cloaked in the shadows.
“How did you find me?” Zoa asked. She wasn’t going to argue about ownership. She was, however, going to try to keep him talking as long as possible.
“I had your savior followed.” Kellen seemed proud of this.
“Then you came here.”
“Then I came here,” Kellen agreed. “Now it’s time for us to go, pet. You had a break from your cage, but you’re going right back.”
“No, that’s where you’re wrong.”
“I’m not wrong, or have you forgotten what I am?”
Once again, Kellen shifted into his snake form. He was big and hideous. He was larger than a normal snake would be. While she had loved playing with tiny ringneck snakes as a kid, Zoa found the idea of even looking at Kellen to be repulsive. Most snakes were beautiful creatures. He was not.
Zoa took a step back so she was more clearly visible to the dragons. Oh, she wished they would stop fighting and just look. If only they could see her down here and know that Kellen was here. He was right here. She closed her eyes and wished.
“Come on, Declan,” she whispered.
Even if she screamed, the dragons wouldn’t be able to hear her. The sounds of the battle were too loud. One of the dragons was tossed from the air and landed in a tree. The branches cracked and splintered, but the dragon itself appeared to be unharmed. He righted himself and got up and hurried back to the sky.
Kellen hissed, but said nothing. Zoa had figured out that they couldn’t talk in their animal forms. No matter what type of shifter they were, they couldn’t speak when they weren’t human. That was probably a good thing, because Zoa didn’t want to know what Kellen was going to say.
Suddenly, from above, one of the dragons managed to breathe fire.
“No!” Zoa cried out even though she knew it didn’t matter.
They couldn’t hear her.
Zoa didn’t think all of the dragons could breathe fire, but one of them had. Its breath hit the top of the trees around her, almost burning her. The scent of burning leaves filled the air, and it reminded her of autumn. Long ago, burning leaves meant evenings around a bonfire.
Now it meant she was in danger.
They were all in danger.