Page 87 of Shifter's Homecoming

A red-tinted light flashed in the dark water of the reservoir, outlining his Rowan, marking her place for him, seeming to pulse outward from her body. He kicked hard with his feet and stretched as far as he could—he touched skin. He clamped down on her, and changed directions in one movement. He swam up with as much force as he could muster, towing her with him.

They broke the surface. Trent took a ragged breath, not daring to shift, not daring to let go of his mate, wanting to twist around, needing to get her head above water—

Red mist shot six feet into the air above the surface. At first Trent thought it was only right there, only just around them, but then he realized it was everywhere, running the entire length and width of the reservoir, even following the water tumbling over the dam, all of it shooting up in a red wall that looked like blood spray.

The red mist dropped back into the reservoir with thekssshhhof falling water, and then the red was gone. The water stopped burning Trent’s nose and lungs. It was just water again, clean, fresh water that felt cold and good on his skin.

His mate would not create a neutralizer.

His matewasthe neutralizer.

Trent had no time for celebration. He treaded water and pulled his mate to him, holding her head up, praying that she was alive and unhurt.

Rowan’s eyes fluttered. They opened. She looked at him. Trent’s chest loosened. He could breathe again.

“You did it,” he whispered to her. “The water’s clean.”

She wiped her eyes and looked around, blinking. She cupped some water in her hand and sniffed, smiling as she let it flow through her fingers. He had just a moment to think he’d never seen anything quite so beautiful in his entire life, before she curled an arm around his neck and kissed him.

***

The sounds of fighting from above captured their attention. Rex had watched Rowan fall into the water for just a second too long and thefelenhad snuck up on him and pounced. Troy came in quick and both males were trying hard to get Rex fully in the hold.

Troy had Rex under one armpit, and he was digging for the male’s heart. Thefelenhad been partially thrown off but he was digging again in the other armpit, while the secondfelenraced up the crane, and Remington raced up the tree bridge. Rex was not going quietly. Blood was flying everywhere and there was no way to know whose it was.

Trent got Rowan to a support beam with a ladder on it and held her steady so she could grab it and climb up. Her ribbon was floating by and he grabbed it for her and passed it up to her. She flashed him a grateful look, hooked her elbow around a ladder rung, and took the top off, then poured it in her mouth before she started climbing again.

I can’t hold him,Troy shouted in Trent’s head.

Then kill him,Trent said, his eyes on the spiky platform that held Troy’s motionless mate. Was she moving? She was. She sat up and put her hands to her head. Trent did not say a word to Troy, not yet.

Graeme’s voice broke in.Just hold him for ten more seconds, Troy, ten more seconds.

Trent, treading water, looked all around, until he saw the red and yellowdragenappear on the far shore. He was the size of a wolf at that moment. He saw what was up and dove into the air, strong wings beating hard, lifting him. He appeared to grow as he flew, and when he reached the melee, he was the size of an elephant. He folded his wings against his body and dive-bombed Rex, pulling up at the last moment so as not to hit the crane, but still biting Rex’s head clean off.

Thefelenscattered. Troy let go of the motionless body and sat back on his haunches, panting hard, watching Graeme shoot back up into the sky.

You going to spit that out?he said.

Ach, too late.

Ew.

A fireball the size of a small car shot from thedragen’ssnout with a noise partway between a belch and an explosion.

To Trent, it seemed a fitting end for Rex.

55 - Make it so

Grey, sitting in the truck on the bluff, watched the scene at the reservoir through his high-powered binoculars, glad for the moonlight. He could not make out who was who, except for Rex and thedragen. Soren seemed to have disappeared.

Grey was supposed to be down there with them. He was supposed to have been stationed at the back door to the lab, but as soon as Rex had taken his eyes off of him, he’d booked it out of there. The plan had been that Khain would blow the dam and the end cap, Soren would throw the poison in the water, and Grey and Rex would wreak what havoc they could. According to Rex, all Khain cared about was that the vahiy sign was triggered, and that meant the only real important thing to him, was that the poison made it into the water supply. If they killed anyone, that would be nothing but gravy.

When the dragen separated Rex’s head from his body, Grey dropped the binocs and put his hand to his own neck. “I bet that didn’t feel good,” he said.

The air around him seemed to ripple for a moment and a voice spoke from everywhere.

Make it so,the voice of the demon said.

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