Page 136 of Hateful Prince
“Which. Tomb,” Tor growled, his words bitten off and filled with fury.
The light of Hades’s fire filled the darkened passageway. “It doesn’t fucking matter which tomb. The only place it could be is the kirkyard. Come on, fellas, let’s go get our girl.”
The priest stayed behind, claiming he needed to return to his wife, while the rest of us took the long way to the kirkyard. We were unusually quiet as we raced across the grounds, our fear of what awaited us stealing our words and fueling our feet. Even Hook remained silent as every step took us closer to finding her.
“I can feel her. She’s terrified.” Tor’s words hung over us all, ramping up the urgency to get to our destination.
“Why dinnae ye mention that before?”
He looked at me, his eyes a sea of endless black. “Because up until now, I couldn’t feel anything at all.”
Shit. That couldn’t be a good sign.
My dragon was right there, on the surface, begging for control. “If ye let me, I can get us there faster. Free me so we can save her.”
“Nae, I cannae,” I whispered.
“You can’t do what?” Hades asked.
Shaking my head, I said, “We’re nearly there. I can see the mausoleum on the hill.”
“You can. You must. Free me. Let me stretch my wings. We will find her far faster if I’m in control.”
“Why isn’t she using her scream?” Hook asked through heavy breaths as we ran.
“Maybe she can’t.” The despair in Hades’s voice cut right through me.
My dragon continued his campaign for freedom, his urgency a burning in my veins. “We do not know what awaits us when we get there. You were born to protect her. To slay her enemies and neutralize all threats. This is your purpose, Malakai. Our purpose. Let us save her. Let us finally be what we were destined to be.”
“She’s there!” Tor shouted, his form trembling as he grew fully into his beast and picked up speed. “Dahlia!”
“Is that blood?” Hook’s horrified question tested my thin control.
“Yes, and he will burn for this,” Hades said.
Their words registered, gasoline on an already raging flame.
“Yes,” I agreed, my dragon’s voice slipping out of my mouth. “He will.”
Only Hook seemed to catch the emphasis in my response. Tor and Hades rushed forward, sprinting toward our brutalized mate.
As I surveyed the scene, scales erupted over my skin. Dahlia was bound and bleeding, her waxy pallor dangerously close to that of a corpse. But she was moving, slowly, her eyes tracking us, relief painted across her face.
Hook removed her gag, and the first thing she said was, “He got away. He ran. We’ll never catch him.”
“Now,” my dragon ordered.
Now, I agreed, not needing any further convincing. My mate was dying, bleeding out right before my eyes. It was time for a reckoning.
Time ceased to have meaning as everything simultaneously slowed and seemed to happen in an instant. A flood of power I’d only felt once before tore through me, ripping me apart and remaking me. My consciousness stretched until it felt like I existed outside my body. My vantage point changed drastically as I grew. Trees no longer towered over me, people now so small they seemed like nothing more than playthings. I morphed into the form handed down to me by my father, by my destiny and duty to the Shadow Court. I was no longer Kai Nash. I was Malakai, dragon protector of my realm and, more importantly, my mate.
As I settled into my new body, I shook out my wings, arched my neck, and let out a roar that put Tor’s beast to shame. The earth quaked, and birds took to the sky, fleeing the vow of vengeance I’d just unleashed. Everything felt right for the first time in my existence. My dragon and I were one, my mate and I hadn’t been parted, and I’d accepted myself with no hesitation.
Glancing down at Dahlia as Tor held her in his arms, I pleaded silently with her to give me what I needed. I would not let the Ripper go free.
She swallowed hard, her eyes trained on me before she pointed a shaking finger into the trees and rasped, “He went that way, Kai. Don’t let him get away.”
There’d never been an order I’d been more eager to follow.