“That right?” the first one, clearly the leader, asked. “You a shifter, but not an owl?” Walking over to Justin, he pulled out a knife and placed it against his neck. “Just what kind of animal is your cousin, asshole?”
“I wouldn’t know. We’re not all that close.”
The leader cursed, his fingers tightening on the knife, before he eased it back with a smile. “That’s all right. Now we have two shifters, and it doesn’t matter what animal he has. I’m sure he’ll be more forthcoming than you were on info, since we have his girlfriend. Greg, get the suppressant.”
Shit. He had to shift, now, before they injected him with the suppressant that kept him in his human skin. His dragon was all scales and tough, nearly impenetrable hide, so they’d have to be very lucky to inject him once he was shifted.
Justin gave him a slight nod, and he quickly backed up a few paces, not wanting his shift to inadvertently hurt Katia. Hunching over, he gave his dragon his body, along with his blessing to tear these motherfuckers apart.
Pain exploded through his body as he pushed the shift, loud pops ringing out as his bones broke and reformed. There was a rush and a sense of special distortion as he grew much larger than his human form. Once the change was complete, he threw his head back and roared, past the point of caring whether other humans saw or heard him.
The men stumbled back, horror reflected in their eyes, and he relished it—until the one pointing the gun at Katia discharged it as he stumbled.
Katia cried out, falling to her knees, and a red haze coated his vision as he stared at the fucker who shot her.
Hell yes. This one would definitely die first, and he’d take fucking pleasure in ended his worthless existence.
Chapter Nine
Katia stared up in awe at the dragon in front of her. Time seemed to stand still for an eternal moment as she stared at Col
ton. He was much like she’d imagined, only bigger—much bigger. He was even larger than the barn behind her.
His green scales shimmered iridescently in the sun, and his yellow underbelly almost seemed to glow. His eyes were a blazing kaleidoscope of bright green and yellow, and so beautiful. He had two large, curved horns at the top of his head, and spikes that began at the back of his head, getting larger as they followed his spine all the way down to the tip of his tail.
His freakin’ talons were as big as her forearms and lethally sharp, and when he threw his head back and roared, his razor-sharp teeth glinted in the sun.
She’d hate to be the one on the wrong side of his dragon. And judging by the fury in his eyes, these men were drawing their last breaths.
A moment later, time snapped back into motion as a gunshot rang out. Fire seared into her side, and she cried out at the pain, falling to her knees. Shit, that hurt like a motherfucker!
Colton roared again, letting out fire of his own, and she inhaled deeply, wincing at the resulting pain in her side at the motion. Gritting her teeth, she dug deep for strength to block out the pain and moved over to Justin.
One of the men had dropped his knife and she grabbed it, awkwardly sawing through the ropes holding his hands together. There was screaming and roaring going on, and gun shots ringing out, but she kept her focus on her task. She wanted him to get free so he could help Colton.
Colton was a dragon, and she knew there might not be much the humans could do to him, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t terrified that they’d manage to hurt him—or worse. Justin could at least shift and help.
She finally got him free, but instead of shifting, he gently took her hand and led her into the barn. There was a pile of clothes and other essentials inside, like they’d been settling in for a long stay, and he grabbed one of the shirts and pressed it to her side just as another gunshot rang out.
“What are you doing? Stop that and shift! Go help Colt. I can take care of myself.”
“I can’t shift right now. Besides, Colt doesn’t need my help, and he’d kill me if I left you here like this.”
Shaking her head, she leaned against the car behind her—the Camry Justin had been driving before. She felt inexplicably weak, but maybe it was just the pain affecting her. “I’m fine. It’s just a flesh wound. Go help Colt.”
“I told you, I can’t. They injected me with a suppressant that means I can’t shift.” He glanced down, and when he met her gaze again, his blue eyes were worried. “And that’s more than a flesh wound. Even if I could shift, I wouldn’t leave you alone.”
Brow twitching, she glanced down, instantly feeling faint. Her blouse and skirt were soaked with blood, and it was quickly seeping through the shirt Justin had pressed to her wound.
“Holy shit,” she replied, knowing her eyes were wide when she glanced up. “That’s probably more than just a scratch.”
His lips twitched, but the worry never left his dark blue eyes. “It definitely is.”
She glanced down again, feeling weak. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the sight of all the blood or from the loss of it, but she was grateful when he spoke again. It was clear he was trying to distract her, and she could have kissed him for it.
And she would have—before she met Colton, anyway.
“So, what’s your name? I’m assuming you know mine, since my cousin called you his girl.”