Page 42 of The Goblin in the Sink Drain
The force of Rían’s stare hit me in the side of the face as I replayed my choice of words, and I could only swallow as a surge of his power leaked into the air, almost like he couldn’t help himself. My declaration had moved him, even if it wasn’t as clear cut as I made it sound, and his inner beast was ready to roar.
“Not happening.” Nelson jerked his chin toward the exit. “Just remember you drew first blood.”
This was what we wanted, an excuse to get him out the door and into the open.
Expressions somber, I marched ahead of Rían, who wasn’t about to leave my back undefended, and we stepped out onto the sidewalk. This part of town was definitely shifter owned and operated, or else the streets wouldn’t be filling with people whose eyes flashed gold in the right light.
Good. Even better. This meant we could do what we came to do without traumatizing any humans.
As soon as Rían and I both stood in the open road, the pride began tightening ranks around us.
“Last chance,” I warned Nelson. “I don’t know what Sartori told you about the Walshes, but I’ve got a feeling he left out abigdetail.”
Given my own lineage, and how fiercely he had protected the secret of my origins, I was convinced Carmichael had kept the fact the Walsh clan was helmed by dragons to himself. They were so rare as to be mythical, and a whole clan appearing would raise questions. Lots of them. Especially a clan with a bone to pick with Carmichael. So, yeah. I could see him quashing any rumors of winged lizards to keep the surrounding packs, prides, andclans from realizing if this grudge broke into an all-out war that he was solely responsible. And, that as his allies, they would be expected to join the battle.
“Oh?” Nelson chuckled, amused, and then he signaled at us with two fingers. “Do tell.”
A dozen shifted cougars prowled from the alleys with their tails twitching and ears pinned back.
“I’ll do you one better.” Rían nodded to me, and I gave him room. “I’ll show you.”
Even after his assurance he wouldn’t be incapacitated while he shifted, I still gnawed my bottom lip. The wolves I had watched with envy through my window as a kid taught me a lot about the change. Such as the strength of the wolf determined the length of the transformation. Some spent ten to fifteen minutes contorting on the ground, vulnerable to enemies, dependent upon their allies to watch their backs.
That was why the charms Mercer bought off the witches gave the Sartoris a critical edge by allowing pack members to shift in an instant.
Though I had seen Rían’s dragon, once, I hadn’t been present when he became it or relinquished it, and I was breathless in anticipation of witnessing the process. Not only because I might endure the same later, but because it was him. There were probably worse things than developing a crush on your betrothed, but it was damn inconvenient timing for me to realize the true reason I had tagged along.
I wanted to protect him.
Me.
Liam or Fayne would have made better choices for backup. But I couldn’t let him go.
Not without me.
A whistling noise sliced through the air beside my ear, and I swatted at it, thinking it was a bug.
Well, I thought wrong. I realized it a second too late. I hadn’t pieced it together before impact shuddered through me and my hands gripped a wooden shaft sticking through my chest.
“An arrow?” Blood slicked my palms and leaked down my stomach. “Who shoots arrows?”
Light to rival the sun exploded on my left, and dry heat swept across the street, buffeting me.
“A d-d-dragon,” a man stuttered out from the crowd. “Sartori said…”
“He lied,” I panted from between clenched teeth. “Obviously.”
“There’s no such thing as…” a woman murmured closer to us, “…d-d-dragons.”
“And yet.” I caught my breath. “There’s one right in front of you.”
Unimpressed with me defending him while bleeding out, the dragon bumped his nose against my cheek.
“It’s an illusion. A glamour. Just like Sartori warned us,” Nelson shouted. “Dragons have been extinct for decades.”
Amazing what people choose to doubt when proof is staring them in the face.
Screams and yowls rose in a terrified chorus of regret as Rían bared his fangs, ducked his head, and roared in Nelson’s face. The alpha staggered back, yelling orders to his people, but a plinking noise drew my attention to where a third arrow had bounced off Rían’s scales to hit the dirt.
