Page 30 of A Velvet Kiss After Dark

When she spoke, her voice cracked as if she'd been screamed all the energy out of her. "Please tell me Hell is short for Helsinki?" she asked in a small voice.

Anyone could clearly see this desert wasteland was not Finland. Unless Finland secretly harbored desert wastelands, sand dunes, and ash-spewing volcanoes.

She and her entourage were perched on a crevice high in the air, on an island no bigger than the bathroom in her two-bedroom apartment. The island was precariously located on a comically thin spiral of rock in which severe wind had long decayed and weathered the rock down to a spindly point which had to be a mile high in the sky. It was a wonder the mass didn't waver in the air, yet it held steady.

"This is serious, Tabitha," Kane said at length, voice laden with emotion untraditional of him.

"We can't send her back," the woman said. "She'll have to remain here or come with us."

"What skills could she possibly have?" a male vampire who looked similar to the female said. "Kánnérd, explain this now."

"No time, Seth," the female said. "Shh. Look. We have company." The woman slid her bow around and pulled back her bow into attack position. A menacing green arrowhead, covered in some toxic substance dripped with goo that sizzled as it fell to the ground.

Tabitha reeled her head around and let out an actual scream of fear at what she saw.

No way. I must be dreaming, she thought.

Her mouth fell open in shock, for miles high in the air next to them flew a silver-scaled, reptilian, two-horned creature with red-rimmed eyes of venom. It soared closer, leaving it's craggy mountain perch and gaining rapidly on them. A sudden gale of harsh wind blistered across her face, steaming her skin and causing her to sweat upon its immediate touch.

Kane cursed and held her tight, bracing himself against the fierce wind, lest they be swept off and fall to their deaths.

"Is that a . . . ?" she stammered.

"Dragon," the big werewolf replied. "Aye, lass, 'tis indeed."

"Dragons aren't supposed to be real," Tabitha said dumbly. Yet, her words belied the very proof that she was staring at an exquisitely long and muscular beast the likes of which she'd only encountered in fantastical movies. "But, they aren't real," she said, knowing full well the proof was in the pudding and staring her straight in the face.

"And, yet, here we are," Kane replied dryly.

The dragon's scaled were shaped like spades, and they wrapped around its muscular frame like that of a snake. A duo set of wings, like that of a dragonfly, one pair pressed close against its body as if to retain heat, the other significantly larger, flapped the dragon closer to their precarious perch. Back at its mountain top sat what appeared to be a crevice in which four golden eggs the size of pandas rested, awaiting to be born someday.

An ear-piercing screech rent the air as the dragon's massive jaws opened. It let loose a terrifying sound for all to hear. A warning cry? A cry for assistance? Would more dragons be coming? This was not Pete the Magic Dragon they were dealing with. This was an enemy seeking to kill and destroy.

Tabitha ducked behind Kane like the coward she was, and she was grateful when the mercenary for hire curled protectively behind him as he hefted a gigantic ax with his free hand.

"Why do you have an ax?" She'd seen him with knives and guns, yes, but an ax?

"We'll discuss my weaponry later, woman. Right now we need to get down from this platform before we become dragon fodder!"

Suddenly, a scarlet dragon reared up from beneath their island-perch, eyes alight with silvery vitriol. She trembled at the sheer size of it. How on earth could she stop such a thing if it wanted to eat her, or knock her down to the earth, a mile below. She'd die instantaneously. Immense wings flapped, the force of the gale crowing them hard to one side as they each struggled not to topple over the ledge. It was trying to blow them off, she thought frantically, and the other dragon's cry had brought another to its aid!

Oh dear. It's going to eat us.

A deadly fork-toothed smile aimed right at them as the scarlet beast climbed higher, staring straight at them. It gained air, and then whisked straight passed them and circled the sky above them with a sudden rush, and then struck like a rattlesnake—at the other dragon.

Huh? she thought, more confused than ever.

The silver dragon released a fearsome screech unlike anything she'd ever heard—breath filled with flames as it defended its nest from the other dragon. The heat blasted Tabitha in the face like opening an oven door. Her eyeglasses fogged, and she quickly wiped them off with shaking hands.

"This fight isn't for us. Get down the turret, now!" Kane commanded.

Kane wasted no time. He tossed back his head and began to contort. Tendons stuck out as the animal inside him burst forth in a tangle of heavy black fur. Sharply pointed ears like that of a wolf, and the snout of a snarling coyote transformed his handsome visage into a frightening sight. An icy stiffness froze her muscles so she couldn't move, too frightened at the sight of his beast, his eyes glowing with an eerily luminosity. The team at once form a circular formation, weapons drawn. It didn't console her even an iota. She was about to become mincemeat.

So many thoughts flew through her head as she saw Kane in his werewolf form for the very first time. In fact, she'd never seen any werewolf's beast in person. The animal that incited humans to go on hunting massacres, and that forced the werewolves to hide their identities and their true natures lest they be massacred into extinction, pulsated with growing rage and strength at the dueling dragons. Now she understood why humans of historical and contemporary times feared werewolves so. The mean visage oozed an aura of chaotic violence and disheveled mayhem, as if he was ready to tear apart an enemy at moment's notice.

Claws strong enough to gut and slice an animal open, sable and ebony fur to blend into midnight surroundings of brush and trees, eyes shimmering golden yellow in color, the pupil smaller and blacker than empty space; a lolling, protracted tongue, pink as newborn flesh lapped around sharp incisors as if the animal slobbered at the anticipation of consuming raw, bloody meat. His body length grew, nearing seven feet tall, knees capped in a lunging forward angle unnatural to humans—impossible for bipedal humans—yet his clothes ripped away from his body like a snake shedding its fragile tissue. His arms hung long past his hips, spine curved as he hunched at an angle, and then the other werewolf burst out in his formation too, and the vampire sunk low with weapons drawn—ready to commence battle. Yet, they looked like ants compared to these violent dragons. What could they possible do?

Kane suddenly hefted Tabitha into his arms and over his hairy shoulder. She grabbed hanks of fur and held on, eyes wide on her pale face as he deftly began climbing down the rocky spindle of rock they'd taken portal onto. He maneuvered the rocky expanse as easily as a monkey scaling nimbly from limb to limb. Her weight seemed to go unnoticed, not even making him struggle for breath as he lowered them feet by feet at a staggeringly rapid pace that left her breathless.

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