Page 119 of Saving the Last Heir
Shyanne knelt and picked up the wrench Joseph had tossed aside, then brought it down on the drake’s claw. He hissed in pain, but with his size and strength, that probably felt like a mild bee sting if anything. Yet, as ineffective as the attack was, Joseph still tilted his eyes down upon her and looked ready to swallow her.
I shifted back to my human form and held my hands up. “Stop! Stop. Come and get me if you want me, but leave her alone.”
“Jackson, no!” Shyanne screamed, clutching the wrench to her chest.
“Hush,” I said. “It’s my decision.”
All of our plans had been put into motion. There was no other strategy left to play other than luck. I hoped he’d take me up on the offer, perhaps even open himself up for some attack I could take advantage of. It was my only option with Shyanne here. In afair fight, I was almost sure I could take him, but I couldn’t focus on him when I was terrified that Shyanne might get hurt. If I wasverylucky, he might even leave the door unguarded and allow her to run.
Joseph glared at me, still in his dragon form, eyes judging and expectant. Finally, he shifted back to his human form, but reached out and grabbed Shyanne before she had the chance to run.
Putting his face close to Shyanne’s ear, he spoke quietly, but still loud enough for me to hear.
“What’s our boy Jack playing at here? Is he ready to play the martyr to give his little piece of ass a chance to escape?” He winked at me. “Huh? Is that what you’ve got going here?”
Shaking my head, I said, “No. All I want is to fight you. See who’s the best. Simple as that.”
“In your human form?” Joseph asked. “Seems a bit boring, don’t you think?”
Ignoring him, I nodded toward Shyanne. “Let her go, Joe, then we can get down to business.”
He obviously didn’t like being called by a shortened version of his own name. His nostrils flared, and his grin turned into a scowl.
“The last guy that called me Joe ended up screaming for his mother as I peeled his skin off. I finally put him out of his misery by turning him to a pile of ashes. Looks like you want the same treatment.”
“Let her go.”
“And what if Ifuckingdon’t?” Joseph growled as he pulled Shyanne closer, using his free hand to reach up and roughly squeeze her breast.
“Get your filthy fucking hands off her,” I shouted, taking a few steps toward them.
As I moved, Shyanne dug her hand into her pocket. The frantic look in her eyes didn’t give me any clue what she was searching for.
“Oh!” Joseph crowed. “You don’t want myhandson her? Well, wait until you see what else happens. Maybe I’ll turn you into a cuck before I—Oww, fuck!”
Shyanne had pivoted, slamming the wrench against his head with enough force to shatter the skull of a normal human, but Joseph only staggered. With his grip on her shirt, she was forced to stumble forward as well.
I moved, trying to see an opening, but before I could get close, he recovered and yanked Shyanne close, blood oozing down to his ear.
“Littlebitch,” he snapped, his nose an inch from hers. “Takes more than that to kill a shifter, dumbass.”
It was now or never. Ihadto move. He had murder in his eyes and might kill her at any second. Leaping forward, I caught Joseph’s attention again.
Joseph, registering my attack, pulled his eyes from Shyanne and locked them on me. My legs flexed as I ran with as much force and speed as I could manage. Shyanne swung at Joseph with her free hand as if to slap him. Her hand struck right at his temple, and when she pulled away, two heavy ivory dragon teeth wereembedded in his skin. Joseph blinked in surprise and turned his gaze on her. Already, her wrench was flying, swinging toward his head as she put every bit of power she had into it, holding the wrench in both hands like a baseball player swinging for the fences.
Even as I sprinted forward, I realized what she was doing. I was too far away to help, things were happening too fast, and I had to pray that her aim was true, otherwise, she was a dead woman. Joseph’s arm was cocking back to hit her. A full strike from a shifter would kill a human.
The wrench arched toward his head, Shyanne pulled her lips back in a rictus of aggression and anger, her muscled arms flexing as the tool grew close.
Pang. The sound of her strike against his head was like a hammer banging on a steel post. Joseph’s head rocked back, the two teeth that had been stuck on his head was gone, replaced by two bloody red holes where Shyanne had driven them deep into his skull.
Skidding to a stop a couple feet away, I stared in shock as Joseph took two shambling steps forward, one eyeball totally red as the sclera filled with blood.
“You…you…youuuuu.” His voice became a slurred growl as the last syllable dragged on, blood trickling from the tear duct of his eye. He fell forward, arms limp, not even trying to catch himself. His face slammed into the stone floor, teeth shattering, and then he lay still.
I stared down at him, jaw open in shock and surprise. When I tore my eyes away to look at Shyanne, she looked equally thunderstruck by what she’d done.
“Holy shit,” I said. “Did that really just happen?”
