“You wish!” Bobbi spat. “You must be delusional if you think—”
But just then, a deep, familiar voice growled,
“Get the fuck away from my female!”
23
The guard who was holding Bobbi down suddenly let go of her shoulders and scrambled away.
“Rep. Dragon!” she heard him saying. “Holy shit! I didn’t have anything to do with it, all right? I swear I didn’t!”
The abject fear in the Saurian’s voice made Bobbi turn her head. She looked up…and up and up at the big Kindred. Maybe it was just because she was still on her knees but Dragon seemed to have grown bigger somehow—if that was even possible. He was looming in the storeroom doorway, a long, curving blade clutched in one hand.
Bobbi recognized the knife as the same one he had used to cut his wrist that morning to let her drink from him, but this time the bright silver blade had been obscured by an oily dark green substance that dripped on the floor.
Crap, is that blood? Saurian blood? she thought, feeling sick. Oh my God—what the Hell has he been doing?
Then she remembered Zerlix bragging that he had left the big Kindred in a fight for his life against the Poison Daggers, who she assumed must be another Clan. He must have thought the fight would keep Dragon busy long enough that he could do whatever he wanted to her.
He had been wrong. And now, Bobbi had the feeling he was about to pay.
It wasn’t just the way Dragon had grown bigger and the possessive anger in his deep voice that made her think so. It was the way his bronze eyes had changed. There were flames in them now—as though his very soul was on fire and burning out of control.
There’s fire inside him, she thought numbly. And it’s going to come out and burn Zerlix to ashes!
The thought didn’t make any sense, but somehow she couldn’t shake it. When Dragon spoke again, he had that strange echo in his voice, that deeper, wilder tone that almost sounded like someone or something else was speaking through him.
“How dare you touch my female?” he growled at Zerlix. “I’ll kill you for even coming near her!”
The fury in his face was frightening to see, as was the dark green blood spattered on his clothing.
But none of it seemed to faze Zerlix, who simply gave the big Kindred an arrogant grin.
He feels safe because he’s the son of the main mob boss—the Komendant or whatever, Bobbi thought. He thinks Dragon won’t dare to lay a finger on him, no matter what he does, because of his status as the only biological son.
But looking at Dragon’s face, she didn’t think Zerlix was quite as safe as he thought he was. Zerlix, however, remained unfazed.
“Hello, Little Brother. Hope you don’t mind, your little female and I were just getting better acquainted.” He cocked his head to one side and gave Bobbi a wink. “Weren’t we, sweetheart?”
A deep, rumbling growl rose in Dragon’s chest—a murderous sound that could only precede carnage and death. It was an explosive situation and Bobbi got to her feet slowly and started backing away. She didn’t know what kind of violence the big Kindred was about to unleash, but she could tell it was going to be bad.
Something told her this moment of confrontation had been a long time coming. She remembered the awful, sad story Dragon had told her about his adoptive brother biting the head off his pet, right in front of him. And there must have been many other, similar incidents.
Whatever justice Dragon was now about to exact, she had a feeling that Zerlix richly deserved it.
It’s about to happen, she thought, hiding behind one of the large wooden shelves and peering out between the canned goods stored there. Dragon’s going to unleash Hell on his brother and then who knows what’s going to happen next?
But the expected confrontation never came. Because at that moment, just before Dragon pounced, a female voice in the doorway said,
“What in the world is going on in here, boys? What are the two of you doing?”
24
Res. Tizlah pushed her way into the storeroom, glaring at her two sons, who were facing off against each other.
“Dragon, what in the world is wrong with you?” she demanded. “And Zerlix, why do you have your equipment out? Put that away at once!”
Dragon turned his glare from Zerlix to his adoptive mother.
“You told me you would keep Bobbi safe and far away from him,” he said, gesturing at Zerlix. “And then I come in here and find him about to rape my female—the female I Claimed as my own!”
“Now, surely it’s not like that!” Res. Tizlah protested. “And I was keeping Bobbi safe! I put her to work peeling and chopping the bullah bulbs.” She shot a glance at Bobbi, who had stepped out from behind the shelves. “I don’t know how she got in here to cause all this trouble!”