Page 74 of Saving the Last Heir
“Sorry,” I said, holding my hands up in surrender as I glanced around at the drakes. None of them had rested on their haunches. All six glared at me, leaning forward on their toes, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. I didn’t know whether to be terrified or flattered, that this many dragons were worried about me hurting their boss.
Joseph straightened and circled around the car, coming to a stop only a couple feet from me. He kept his eyes on me like I was a harmless puppy hereallywanted to kick.
He jabbed his finger into my chest. “You know what I don’t like about you fucking winged motherfuckers? Always thinking they can get out of anything. Comes from having those goddamn wings. Today? You don’t get out of shit.”
The drakes around us inched closer. Joseph eyed me, smiling as he noticed the acrid smell of my own fear. I was suddenly terrified of what he was going to ask me to do.
“You got me a car this time,” Joseph finally said, leaning close, his voice low, almost like a lover’s whisper. “Next? You get me a person.”
My face twisted in disgust, my jaw clenching so hard I thought my teeth might shatter. A kidnapping. Of course. Whatelsewould this psycho want?
“You want me to kidnap someone?”
Joseph nodded slowly, eyes never leaving mine. “See, boys? Just because they got wings doesn’t mean they don’t have brains. This one catches on quick.”
The drakes made strange hissing sounds that were the approximation of dragon laughter.
Rage and hatred filled me, but I’d figure this out. I’d done it before, I could do it again. Alessio Torrence was a piece of shit crime lord. What did I care if someothercrime boss got kidnapped and killed by this psycho? Hell, it would probably save some innocent lives in the long run.
“Who is he?” I asked. “Give me the name, and I’ll get to work.”
Joseph frowned and blinked in confusion before chuckling. “Ha, you think you got it all figured out, don’t you?”
My resolve slipped as he spoke. Something was wrong here. I was immediately terrified.
“I’m not having you snatch aguy,” Joseph said, then went on. “I’m not solely involved in black market business. I do dabble quite a bit in the vanilla world like you do. I’ve got a rival that I need to put the fear of God into. You’re gonna take his kid.”
“Absolutely not,” I said, the words tearing free of my throat before I could stop myself. “No way. Not a chance. I’m not gonna let you mess with a fucking child.”
A dangerous flash of anger flared in Joseph’s eyes, and my dragon snarled a challenge that rumbled in my chest, audible to all around. The drakes rushed forward, a tidal wave of claws, teeth, and hunger. I readied myself to shift and try to fight my way out. The odds were against me, but I had no other choice.
An instant before they were on us, Joseph surprised me by lifting a fist into the air.
“Stop!” he bellowed, his voice booming out like a grenade blast, and the drakes froze. Their snarling faces so close I could feel the hot fetid breath of their dragons washing across me. My body shook with uncontained rage and fear.
“You see that house?” Joseph said.
Thrown by the abrupt and pointless change in subject, I shook my head to clear it. “What…what about the house?”
Ignoring the question, Joseph pointed at the rotting building. “My great-great-great grandfather built that house over two hundred years ago. Made a fortune in tobacco and cotton right here,” he said, and swept an arm around the clearing. “Before this forest grew up, it was a field as far as you could see.” He leaned in close, his nose almost touching mine. “I want you to look at that door.Luca!”
I was proud that I didn’t flinch as he screamed in my face. Instead of looking at his disgusting face anymore, I turned to look at the house as he asked. From inside, I could hear the faint sounds of grunting and exertion. Whoever this Luca person was, he was having a hard time with something.
A few moments later, my jaw dropped open as a burly man with a shaved head dragged my sister’s egg out of the house. I almost lunged forward to steal her back, but before I could, a heavytalon from one of the drakes shot out and wrapped around my leg as though they’d all read my mind.
In horror, I watched the man haul my sister out, then reach back into the house, and retrieve a shotgun. He racked a shell and pressed it against the egg.
“No!” I screamed, jerking forward, but I couldn’t break the hold of the drake. Panic flared within me as I imagined him firing the gun into the shell, shattering it and murdering my unborn sister. I would die. If that happened, if I had to watch that, I would die. My heart would shatter and stop beating.
“Please,” I moaned, tears brimming in my eyes. “Please don’t hurt her. Please, please, please?—”
Crack!
Joseph backhanded me across the mouth, silencing my begging. It didn’t hurt because I couldn’t feel anything at the moment. All I could do was look at the egg and the gun pressed against the shell.
“You and I both know shifters prefer to handle things with tooth and claw rather than guns, but”—he shook his head, smiling and giving a refreshed sigh of delight—“sometimes it proves a point. You go near that house, Luca there blasts that egg. That gun is loaded with a fat silver deer slug. It’ll turn your little sister into a nice scramble. All it’ll be missing is some toast and sausage.”
“Please no,” I begged again, eyes blurry and swimming with tears. “I’ll do anything. Don’t hurt her. I’ll take the kid.” Shame, disgust, and regret washed over me as the words tumbled out. “I’ll get them for you.”
