Page 54 of Fanged Secrets
Oksana hesitated, but Jordan’s gaze was unforgiving, and the shifter had no fight left in her. “He... he had his people conducting raids on Leyore turf,” she admitted, thick accent and husky throat hazing her words. “He thought he was raiding a van full of narcotics, but instead, he found blood. That’s when he started snooping around, piecing things together.”
Jordan’s eyes darkened, her voice tight, and I could see the anger simmering beneath her calm exterior. “And how did he know about your kind?”
Oksana’s expression was one of resignation, and her lips curled into a bitter mockery of a smile. “He has contacts inRussia. He was there not long ago – to secure arms deals or something. I’m not sure on the details… But that’s when he learned of us. Our leader thought Don would make a useful ally. But we revealed too much.”
“What did he do?” I asked, blank faced and cold.
Oksana’s eyes filled with a deep, painful regret. “He stole what was most precious to us.”
A fragmented memory floated through my mind, sending me back to the day I’d followed this woman into Don’s club. I’d been thrown off by the threat to Amara’s life, but what else had she said that day…
“An egg?” it came to me suddenly, and Oksana’s gaze snapped up the moment the words left my lips.
“A dragon shifter’s egg.” Her words were whispered, steeped in sorrow. “New life, a hundred years in the making.”
Her face was pained when she continued and Amara’s grip on me tightened. “Don is nothing more than a man, but with our legacy in his grasp, we’re powerless to deny him. We followed him here, and we’ve been at his beck and call ever since. All in the hopes that he will return what he took from us.”
I knew enough about dragon shifters to understand the melancholy that rolled off her in waves. Dragon shifters were ancient, long living, near immortal. But they rarely bore children. One in a thousand years was what I had heard. And Don had ripped it away from them.
“Why?” Jordan’s tone was clipped, but even she was visibly shaken by Oksana’s words. “Why did he steal it? What was this all for?”
“He... he wanted you to kill Amara. To invoke your coven’s rules.” Oksana turned watery eyes on me. “Knowing that Jordan wouldn’t let you die, he planned to propose a duel between Jordan and a champion of his choice – one of us, to kill your leader and take the throne.”
The room fell into a heavy silence as Oksana’s words sank in. We were right on the money then. I felt a cold fury rising steadily in my chest, my fists clenching as I struggled to keep my emotions in check. This was Don’s plan all along, to manipulate us – all of us – to use us as pawns in his twisted game.
Jordan was the first to break the silence.
“If we get the egg back,” she began, her voice steady again, “will your people join our side? We can end this, Oksana.”
Oksana’s eyes narrowed, her expression hardening. “We cannot risk turning on Don. He has threatened to destroy the egg. We would sooner destroy ourselves if it means keeping our child safe.”
The room fell silent again and I glanced at Jordan, waiting for orders.
But before the redhead could speak, quietly, so quietly that I almost didn’t hear her even with heightened senses, Amara spoke up. “I think I know where it could be.”
My head snapped toward Amara, and the others turned to look at her too, disbelief etched on their faces. Oksana’s gaze locked onto Amara, suspicion and something else – desperation, maybe – flickering in her eyes.
“Don ordered me to kill you,” she said, her voice low and thick with her foreign accent. “And I would have to do it. I am compelled.”
She paused, a glimmer of resignation in her eyes. “Go, do what you must, before I am forced to follow through on his orders.”
I exchanged a quick, tense glance with Jordan, who nodded grimly.
“Go,” she said, her tone leaving no room for argument. “We’ll handle things here.”
Before she’d finished speaking, a guttural groan echoed from the doorway. I turned quickly, heart sinking when I saw Hunter standing there, her body contorting in mid-transformation.Behind her, Don loomed, a scowl twisting his lips, and in his hand, a perfume bottle.
Realizing what was happening, Jordan’s voice rang out, urgent and commanding. “Dylan, take Amara and run!”
I didn’t need to be told twice. But as I moved, Oksana, free from Hunter’s control, lunged toward Amara. With a swift, frantic kick, I sent the dragon shifter crashing into a cubicle. But Oksana was on her feet again in seconds.
I grabbed Amara’s hand and pulled her toward the door, adrenaline surging through my veins. Jordan and River tackled Hunter out of the way and I barreled straight toward Don. With all the force I could muster, I slammed the grinning man against the wall with my shoulder. His jaw snapped shut at the impact and the back of his skull hit the concrete with a satisfying crack.
But it wasn’t enough to kill him. As Hunter roared behind me, our eyes locked for a brief, furious moment. I saw the twisted satisfaction in his gaze, but there was no time for confrontation. I had to get Amara out of there.
We tore down the hallway, chaos and panic erupting behind us. The crowd screamed as Oksana, in pursuit, began a full transformation, dragon form bursting from her body like a geyser erupting. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Sky sprinting toward Oksana, pulling out a shimmering powder from her purse. She threw a handful at the shifter, who howled in pain as the powder settled on her scales.
But I didn’t stop to watch the aftermath. I tightened my grip on Amara’s hand, hauling her through the panicked crowd. We reached River’s banged-up Ranger just as Oksana let out a deafening roar behind us.
