Page 70 of Draco's Defiance

‘Sebastian was right,’ Draco reported before coming to land by the building that checked those wanting to enter the estate. ‘I see five of them and no sign of the chimera.’

The family’s security detail, though, was another matter. The bodies of at least seven staff were scattered both inside and out of the office.

‘Shit.’ The dull throb of regret echoed in his heart. Draco hadn’t known any of them personally, but they’d all been loyal employees, some since before his birth. None of them deserved an ending like that one.

A fresh volley of shots sounded from behind him, and turning, Draco eyed the perpetrator. A young guy, probably around Cole’s age, was waving what looked like a semi-automatic weapon around, his face illuminated by the eerie light cast by the security building.

“There’s another one over here!” His eyes bulged as he charged at Draco, firing haphazardly and presumably hoping for the best. “A fucking dragon!”

‘Fuck!’ Two or three bullets grazed Draco’s skin, one embedding in his left thigh before the aggressor stopped firing. He roared as pain seared in his leg, opening his mouth and allowing the instinctual flames that waited there to rain down on the moron who’d caused it. Screw what Balthazar or Sebastian said. The asshole had shot him. He merited every agonizing second of his fate.

The guy scarcely had time to acknowledge his plight before the torrent of fire enveloped him. His body became a dancing ball of flames in the Vaughns courtyard, the noxious smell of blazing flesh rising like smog in the air around them.

‘Draco!’ Cole swept into view, breathing a fresh round of inferno over another fool who thought to take them on. Clearly, Cole was also prepared to kill where it was necessary. Draco’s lips ticked up despite the hurt. ‘Are you okay?’

Draco’s gaze surveyed his wound, his anger ignited by the bullet’s audacity. How dare it puncture him and cause the pain! He was a fucking dragon!

‘I’m all right,’ he concluded, glancing up. There was nothing he could do to remove the bullet still lodged in his skin until he shifted back to human form. He’d just have to deal with the pain.

Irritation flared in his nostrils, sending sparks flying into the darkness as he watched something bounding in his brother’s direction. It took a moment for the outline of the chimera’s two heads to register in Draco’s brain. ‘Watch your back, Cole!’

Turning just in time, Cole dodged the galloping beast, leaving Monroe hurtling toward Draco. For one lengthened second, the two locked eyes, a peculiar mix of shock and fury raging in Monroe’s. That could have been the first moment he’d understood who the Vaughns truly were; that he and his father weren’t the only shifters in the world.

That he had a real fight on his hands.

At last.

The words echoed in Draco’s head. This was the moment he’d been looking forward to, the one where he could barbecue Monroe and end all their woes.

Stretching out around them, time slowed as the chimera leaped in his direction, and Draco’s mouth widened, preparing to throw fresh flames on their enemy.

‘No!’ Balthazar’s shrill scream cut through the tension, his violet dragon appearing from nowhere and slamming the chimera into the side of the security office. The two-headed beast slumped to the concrete, unconscious.

“Balthazar!” Draco shouted his name aloud, aware of how his thunderous dragon voice bounced around the space. “What are you doing?”

‘We said, no killing!’ Balthazar hissed in Draco’s head.

‘You said that,’ Draco argued as he lurched toward his hapless brother. ‘Not us.’

‘You’ve been shot!’ Balthazar’s brow furrowed as he took in his brother’s injuries.

‘I’m fine,’ he insisted, although the burning wound begged to differ.

‘I’ve knocked out the rest of them.’ Sebastian stomped from around the corner, his gaze widening as he took in the scene. ‘What happened here?’

‘Balthazar refuses to kill Monroe!’ Draco was fit to burst with rage.

‘I meant to you, Draco.’ Sebastian gestured to his leg. ‘And what about these two?’ His gaze surveyed the two charred corpses of Draco’s and Cole’s making.

‘They got what they deserved,’ Draco sneered as he staggered toward Monroe. ‘But this one hasn’t.’

Lifting his head, he closed his eyes and braced, sensing the liquid fire burning in his throat, but as his lips parted, it was Cole who stood between him and the unconscious body of their foe.

‘Don’t, Draco.’ Cole shook his head.

‘I thought you understood?’ The pain in his thigh was growing and making it difficult to think. Maybe, it’s worse than I thought?

‘I do,’ Cole implored. ‘But we’ve done enough. The situation is under control. Let’s contain Monroe and get a doctor to help you.’