Fury of Seduction (Dragonfury Series #3) (50 page)

“It’s all good,
mo chroí
,” he said. “B and the boys are having fun.”

Tania blinked. “Fun?”

“Hammering rogues. Chasing the assholes back into the city.”

Oh, well, all right then. As long as they were having
fun
. But even as she accepted the Nightfuries’ absurd notion of a good time, another worry rose to replace it. Fear prickled through her, tightening muscles over bone, spinning toward a full-blown panic attack. Her heart picked up a beat and then another, thumping hard as she stared at Mac.

His focus sharpened on her face. “Don’t, Tania.”

She frowned at him. “Don’t what?”

“Even think about it.” His arms flexed around her as he gave her a warning look. “I know about J.J., honey. Sloan filled me in.”

“Then you know why I have to go.”

A muscle twitched along his jaw. “I get that you’re afraid for her...that it seems unnatural not to be with her right now. But Sloan’s hooked into the hospital mainframe now. The second he knows something, so will we.”

She opened her mouth to argue.

He shook his head. “Forget it. You can’t help J.J. by putting a bull’s-eye on your back. You pop up on the grid again and the Razorbacks will find you. Just like they did tonight.”

“I’ll be careful. Tell me what to do...what to avoid and—”

“No.” His snarl rippled, the sound full of over-my-dead-body. The river followed his lead, surging into a whirlpool
around them. As warm water splashed over her bare shoulders, he growled, “It’s too dangerous, Tania. I love you too much to risk you. I won’t do it.”

Struck stupid, Tania blinked. Had Mac really just said, well...
that
? Yearning pushed hope to the surface, making her heart ache as she stared at him. “You love me?”

“Yes,” he said, looking shocked by the admission. But as he held her gaze, the uncertainty she saw in his eyes cleared. Stone-cold resolve took its place, obliterating doubt. “I love you, Tania. So much it wrecks me. So much I want it all. You with me always. The mating ceremony...happily-ever-after...every single thing you’re willing to give me.”

Everything. She wanted to give him
everything
. Every last piece of herself.

“I love you too.” More tears fell. “With all my heart.”

“Then trust me.” A kiss accompanied the plea, and as his mouth brushed hers a second time, he murmured, “Trust me,
mo chroí
...to make it safe for you, and J.J. too.”

“How?” Burying her uninjured hand in his hair, she held him close, matching him caress for caress. “I can’t leave her there. She’s all alone. If they take her back to prison—”

“Fuck the prison. The parole board too.” Sea-blue eyes full of mischief, he nipped the tip of her nose and leaned away to look at her. “I play by Dragonkind’s rules now, my love. The second she’s able to travel, I’ll bring your sister home to you.”

“Dragonkind rules.” Gratitude mixed with love, tying her up inside. Beautiful man. His generosity—the love and commitment—made her go teary-eyed all over again. “I think I like that.”

“You’d better.” Wrapping a lock of her hair around his fingertip, he grinned and gave it a playful tug. “You’re stuck with me now.”

“Excellent,” she whispered, awe circling as she kissed him softly. “So...forever, then.”

“And every day after.”

Sounded about right. Felt right too with Mac in her arms wearing nothing but skin. And as she slow danced with him, twirling in the water, Tania knew it couldn’t get any better. A man to love and be loved by in return. A sister with the hope of a new future. The end of a journey, but the beginning of another...one she’d always been meant to take.

Perfection didn’t begin to describe it.

“Goddamn it, Sloan! Get the hell out of there before—”

The explosion cut Venom off. The concussive
boom!
ripped through the frigid air, blowing him back past a row of parked dump trucks. Ravenous flames followed, lighting up the night sky, blistering yellow industrial-grade paint and melting steel like ice cream in the noonday sun.

Perfect. Just what he didn’t need. Wick on the rampage.

Flipping guy. Trust the male to come in hot, hammering the enemy while threading the needle between his comrades with a nasty exhale. His best friend needed his head examined. Or a serious boot to the ass. Venom couldn’t decide, but either option would do. Maybe then Wick would exercise some caution and use the gray matter between his ears. Of which he possessed a considerable amount...

Under normal circumstances.

Tonight, though, didn’t qualify as
normal
.

The Razorbacks had tried to take one of their own—a female who belonged to a member of their pack. Why Wick cared was anyone’s guess. The male hardly ever talked,
even to Venom, so yeah, it was a crapshoot. One big “what the hell’s he thinking now?” Not that anyone gave a damn at the moment. The Nightfury warriors were too busy, 100 percent dialed in and on the warpath, chasing the rogues back into the city, away from Mac and his injured mate.

The target had been a natural one. High-energy females always were for the bastards. And no wonder. Rarer than four-leaf clovers, women who drew pure power from the Meridian—the source that fed Dragonkind and kept them alive—were valuable. Which meant the war raging between Nightfury and Razorback had reached new heights.

Escalation to the nth degree.

And Ivar, leader of the Razorbacks, was to blame.

The bastard kept crossing the line. He shamed Dragonkind at every turn, targeting H-E females, imprisoning them inside his lair, conducting scientific experiments designed to...

Hell, Venom didn’t know exactly. But whatever the nutbar’s endgame, it couldn’t be good. Especially considering the fact he called his pet project a “breeding program.” Jesus, the asshole was hurting females...innocents in a world that preached honor, discipline, and the protection of those weaker than themselves.

The thought of what Ivar planned made Venom cringe. Then again, so did Wick.

Equal parts vicious and crazy, his best friend was uncontrollable. A casualty of his upbringing, Wick’s rage ran hot, neck and neck with the death wish he carried around like luggage. Venom understood his friend’s propensity for violence. Encouraged it even, at least in battle. But sometimes his intensity got to Venom. Made him sad on a soul-deep level he found difficult to ignore. Especially
since the compulsion had nothing to do with right and wrong, never mind honor or duty. What drove Wick went deeper than that, and, like it or not, Venom couldn’t do anything to help him.

He’d been there, tried everything he could think of...all to no avail.

With a curse, Venom extended his wings, slowing his free fall toward cracked concrete and twisted steel. Air caught in the webbing, and his muscles squawked, stretching under the strain. Good thing he was armored up and buttoned down. His dragon scales were doing their job, making him fire-retardant. Convenient really, ’cause, yup...the flames were gathering speed, heading toward the shoulder of the road.

Oh so not advisable.

A forest fire would bring the humans running. They’d call in air support along with cops, forest rangers, and firefighters. And a crowd wasn’t something Venom wanted, never mind could afford. Not with the rogues in full retreat, desperate to find a way out, one Venom refused to hand them by sending up a giant smoke signal to human authorities.

One eye on the sky, the other on the inferno, Venom banked hard, his wing tip inches from the ground, and breathed out. A luminous green wave shot from between his fangs, frothing over broken asphalt, stealing the air to douse the flames. Smoke billowed, throwing the smell of burned rubber and sweet grass up to meet moonlight.

Mission accomplished. No firefighters required.

Now for the Razorback jack-offs dogging his tail. Or rather, on his radar. His sonar pinged, picking up movement over the forest. Ah hell. Not again. The buggers were
playing hide-and-seek, hopscotching across rough terrain, hightailing it back to the city in the hopes of losing the Nightfury warriors somewhere along the way.

Losing the enemies’ signal in the smoke, Venom fired up mind-speak.
“Wick.”

A yellow Razorback streaked over the ripped-to-shreds asphalt.

Right on the rogue’s tail, Wick’s black amber-tipped scales flashed in the gloom.
“What?”

“Holster the fireworks, will ya? I’m in the target zone.”

“Well, get the fuck out of there,”
Wick said, his tone all “Elementary, my dear Watson.”
“I’ll smoke the rest out.”

“Give me a minute.”

“You got thirty seconds before I unleash.”

Terrific. His buddy was a flipping peach.
“Remind me to kick your ass when we get home.”

“Right,”
Wick said, eagerness in his tone.

Flipping into a somersault, Venom flew over a downed crane to scan the gully on the opposite side of the highway. Piled up like broken Tonka toys, the steel carcasses, tires still alight and smoking, littered the bottom of the ravine. Hmm...good cover down there. A nice place to hide if a rogue felt so inclined.

Venom rounded the end of a downed dump truck and...bingo. He spotted the Razorback within seconds. Bright blue scales smeared with motor oil, eyes trained on the sky, the male crouched like a cat, no doubt waiting to blow him to kingdom come when he flew over. Venom snorted, a load of “you gotta be kidding me” making the rounds inside his head.

He sighed and, angling his wings, changed course. Slithering in on a slow glide, he snarled at the male,
startling the idiot. The enemy dragon jumped like a jackrabbit, then dodged to avoid his razor-sharp claws. Too late. Venom struck, grabbing the bastard by the tail. Sharp spikes sliced the palm of his talon. He ignored the pain and yanked. A quick flip. A sickening twist and...
crack!
He snapped the rogue’s neck, leaving his ashes to float above blackened field grass.

Using the roof of a backhoe as a launchpad, Venom leaped skyward. He had five seconds before Wick exhaled and—

A flash exploded through the darkness.

“Jesus H. Christ,”
Sloan growled, catching Venom’s updraft as he cleared the tops of the ancient redwoods hugging the stretch of blacktop.

Venom growled as round two rolled in. Blue-orange flame streaked over the treetops, a horrific missile-like sound whistling in its wake. Heat went cataclysmic, sucking the oxygen from Venom’s lungs. Choking on the smell of sulfur, he tucked his wings and rocketed into a tight spiral. The fireball roared past, singeing his scales, missing him by inches. He counted off the seconds, eager to see what Wick’s arsenal unearthed. Three. Two. One...

The ravenous ball of poisonous gas struck.

Sound boomed, warping perception as shock waves expanded into a brutal surge. Newly poured concrete buckled then heaved, erupting skyward as enemy dragons screamed, abandoning their hidey-holes behind hapless graders and industrial-size bulldozers.

Venom almost snarled in satisfaction, then thought better of it. No need to get cocky. He wasn’t out of the woods yet. Especially with Wick unleashed and on the loose.

A tremendous thank-you to the readers of the Dragonfury novels for falling in love with the dragon warriors and sharing your enthusiasm with me. I so enjoy hearing from you and fielding all your questions, even when I can’t answer them for fear of giving too much away!

A thousand thanks, many times over, to Christine Witthohn, Eleni Caminis, Melody Guy, Nancy Berland, and Kim Miller for all your hard work, incredible insight, and support. Working with each of you is a joy.

And also to the entire Amazon Publishing team, whose talents, energy, and dedication know no bounds.

With love to my family (those related and the ones I’ve adopted) and all my writer friends.

As always, hugs and kisses to my husband. None of this would be possible without you.

Last but not least, to Kallie Lane—thank you for showing me the way.