Page 69 of New Nebraska Home

The urge to step on the arrogant wolf, or maybe even bite him in half and toss his remains into the flames, was almost overwhelming. He would have been the perfect example of what I was willing to do to save my family. With one quick chomp and toss of my head, I would show Zmei exactly what he had to look forward to while discouraging anyone else from getting in between me and my prey. The only thing that held me back was the fact that I had made a promise.

The wolf stumbled to his feet, and I let out a warning growl, letting steam escape from my nostrils as I stared him down. Like the good little puppy he was, he turned and whimpered away.

That pack needed a stronger alpha.

Zmei had taken advantage of my momentary distraction and had managed to get closer to Leif. He now held a knife to the boy’s throat, and it broke my heart to see Leif shaking with tears rolling down his cheeks.

“How are you going to save the abomination now?” he sneered. “If you want to face me, you will have to do it in your human form. You can’t hurt me without hurting him.”

He wasn’t wrong. But I wasn’t alone.

I could sense something moving behind Zmei, even though I couldn’t see anything. It had to be Cal.

Looking into Leif’s eyes, I tried to tell him that he would be all right now as I waited for Cal to make his move.

He didn’t. A slow fog creeped in over the ground. Zmei was so focused on yelling at me that talking about his master plan and the need for pure races fighting the humans, it had him wild with indignation. He never felt the fog come in and cover his ankles. He never noticed it climbing until it was well over his waist.

“What the hell?” he yelled, at the fog still rising and covering everything.

I said nothing and just showed my fangs as I marched a little closer.

Zmei started to panic. His grip tightened on Leif, and he pulled away the ropes holding Leif to the stake, picking him up. The son of a bitch used the kid as a human shield. It would not save him.

Leif struggled against Zmei with everything he had, while Zmei called to his followers to attack me, to overwhelm and kill me.

Almost as if he had hit a button, several of the people who were just standing with a dead look in their eyes came to life and started rushing towards me.

All it took was a mighty swipe from my tail to knock them all down. Several got back up, and I had to use my tail again to not break my promise to Liz.

Killing them would have been so much easier.

As I worked, the fog got thicker, and then suddenly, Liz was there stabbing her blade into Zmei’s shoulder.

A high-pitched scream of agony escaped his lips as he dropped Leif and turned on Liz.

Leif was picked up by some invisible force, most likely Cal, and in a blink, he was gone. Cal must have zoomed him off to safety. That left Brock, Liz and I to take care of Zmei.

He screamed again, this time long slender fangs protruding from his lips as his body changed from man to giant snake. He towered over Liz in his shifted form, his fanged dripped venom as he hissed at her.

I lunged into action, spitting fire at his face, while Liz ran from Zmei. And when Zmei lunged to go after her, I lunged, grabbing him around the throat just under his head and bit down with everything I had, severing his head entirely.

The change in the air was instant. With his death, his magic dissipated, and the thick, cloying, oily magic was replaced with fresh, clean air that rolled in, clearing away the smoke and fog.

I spit the head on the ground, tipped my head up, and sent a column of flames into the air, hoping to burn the acidic taste from my lips before I shifted back to my human form.

Brock was standing there waiting with my pants in one hand and a bottle of water in the other.

I reached for the water, first swishing it around my mouth and spitting it back into the ground three times before taking the clothes.

“Are they okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, Cal grabbed the kid and ran him to the car. He’s staying there for now. Olive is freeing all the others—she managed to escape Zmei’s influence—and I think everyone else is waking up.”

Sure enough, all the townspeople looked confused. They didn’t know where they were or what they were doing.

“I think the entire town is going to be hungover tomorrow,” I said with a laugh, and Brock agreed.

“Let’s get our girl, go home, and sleep until noon,” Brock said.

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