Page 87 of Villainous Mind

Keir looked at me, pinching his lips together. “Must he do that?”

“It’s effective,” I said, grimacing.

“Enough,” Keir yelled up the stairs.

The sound stopped.

“What do you want to do with him?” Keir asked, tilting his head toward Davies. He was on all fours, panting as sweat dripped off his forehead.

“Kill him,” I said.

“It seems like an easy justice,” Keir reasoned. “I want him to rot in jail for the rest of his life so he has every day to think about the pain he caused those girls and their families.”

“He’s seen our faces.”

“Let him talk, no one will believe him.”

Davies rose onto his feet, staggering, and went outside.

A feeling of doom permeated the house. And the air froze around us.

Harry stood at the top of the stairs. His tusks had already receded. “She’s back,” he said.

I went to the window and looked out. Ice encrusted the glass and sills. The Dearg Due knelt over the superintendent as she finished her meal. She looked up, staring at the house, hollowed-eyed. Blood dripped from her mouth.

“I guess she decided for us,” Keir said. “Death it was.”

“I need to get Navy out of here.”

“Where will you take her?”

“Back to London tonight. I need to get her away from this place. Vortigern will fly her.”

“You’re going to remove your amulet and fly into London as a red dragon?” he questioned, shaking his head.

“It’s dark, and I’ll stay in the clouds. I’m landing on a forty-five-story building. I’ll take the chance.”

He nodded. “Harry and I will take care of things here. I’ll meet you there tomorrow.”

I went upstairs. “How is she?” I asked.

“Sleeping. Whatever Morgan gave her, I don’t think it was a lethal dose.”

I took my dress shirt off and slipped her arms through the sleeves, buttoning it up along with my jacket, then wrapped her in a blanket. When I took off my amulet, Vortigern would be in control, and I would be nothing more than a small inner voice. I brought her downstairs and went outside.

“Get her to London, you bloody fucking bastard,” I said, unclasping the chain around my neck and putting it on Navy. My vision changed instantly, and my body ripped at the seams as the dragon emerged. He picked her up and ran, launching himself into the air. I concentrated on one singular thought. London. The lights of Milford Haven became mere pinpoints the higher we climbed, and the whoosh of Vortigern’s wings became a metronome, keeping rhythm as we sped through the night sky. Within minutes, London sat below us.

I concentrated on the skyscraper below. Vortigern circled the building before descending through the clouds and landing on my rooftop garden with a thud.

I blacked out.

When I came to, I was lying next to Navy. I took the amulet from around her neck and put it back on.

We made it. I was never so glad to be away from a place in my life. I picked her up and went inside. Taking her upstairs to my bed, I tucked her under the covers.

I wasn’t often overcome with emotions, but tears streamed down my face. I loved her. And the thought I could have lost her was my undoing.

ChapterTwenty-Nine