Page 53 of Red and Her Dragons (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 4)

“Marcus, go!” she commanded and dropped the ring of fire.

I nodded and carefully jogged toward the porch where a collection of different firearms was cast aside. I picked up a couple of them and frowned. I hated violence. I hated taking lives. That’s why I became a doctor. To save lives and encourage health. But this was a war and killing was regrettably unavoidable.

And considering I refused to let another shifter fall at the hands of a crazed psychopath, killing was also necessary.

I checked the clips and pulled back on the barrel to load a bullet in each pistol. Wolves charged forward, running around Emily who was busy taking out the humans with the spears. I aimed and fired as a wolf leaped to my back, forcing me forward. As I landed on the ground, dirt entered my mouth. The pistols flew from my hands. My body ached from the jarring collision with the ground. I glanced up as two wolves picked them up in their snouts and ran into the woods.

“No!” I screamed. The last thing they needed was a collection of weapons. We needed to disarm the attackers, not make it easier for them to defend themselves.

Humans rushed toward me, stopping as their fear-filled gazes took in something from behind me.

Growls from larger animals than the wolves approached my side, stopping the humans from reaching me. And just in the nick of time. A few more feet, and they would have been on me.

I spat out the dirt and pushed myself up to my knees. A bear stood on either side of me and leaned into me to help me up from the ground. By the looks of them, it was Kai and Jasper. I nodded in thanks, then they rushed out to help with the fight that had moved into the front yard.

Surprisingly, it appeared like things were going a lot better than I thought.

21

EMILY

I had sucked in a breath and had held it for so long I almost forgot to keep breathing. Everything around me slowed to almost a standstill, as I watched Marcus collapse onto the ground. For a brief pause, everything inside me stopped working. I knew I had to get to him. To help save him from the assholes stabbing him with spears. But I couldn’t get over the initial shock of him falling to the ground. It nearly killed me watching him lay on the ground. After a few beats, I forced myself to move my feet and get to his side.

Then his dragon faded into his human form, and I knew he was in serious trouble. When I finally made it to him, my legs gave out and I fell to my knees at his side. He looked so pale, and he was covered in bruises. Blood soaked his clothes. I couldn’t tell if he was breathing.

My heart broke. Tears filled my eyes and raced down my cheeks.

Vague shapes moved around me, but I didn’t care about them. Marcus was dying, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Grief filled me while I stared at his still form, and then something inside me other than despair brewed. It was such a strange sensation. My grief had overpowered me, but this something… this other thing I couldn’t put my finger on, it was so much stronger. Whatever it was, it brought with it a hefty dose of rage.

That sensation had filled me to the brim. When I couldn’t hold it back anymore, I held out my hands to the side and screamed into the night air. My hands formed fists and I slammed them into the ground. Fire erupted from the dirt, launching three feet into the air, surrounding us in a perfect ring.

I cried as the fires continued to snap and burn. The group that had taken Marcus down, backed away cautiously as they watched with a collection of shocked and frightened expressions. I didn’t care. I was too hurt and overcome with the fact I was losing someone I loved. They were lucky I wasn’t snuffing out each of their lives.

Marcus gasped. I sucked in a breath of shock as hope washed over me.

As I maintained the ring of fire surrounding us, I started trying to wake him up.

“Marcus!” My voice came out high-pitched and full of worry.

He didn’t move. Or respond. He only continued to lie on the ground.

As I continued to call out for him, he slowly started to stir. He wasn’t lost to me yet, which was a huge relief. But the more effort I put into waking him up, the less concentration I was giving to the ring. And if the ring of fire fell, the humans and wolves would attack again, and I would lose Marcus for sure.

There had to be a way for me to get him up and moving much quicker than screaming at him.

Then I slapped him. His eyes peeled open, and he rolled to his back, wincing in pain. At least he woke up. I was losing control over the ring of fire that erupted. I could feel the magic within me fading. I couldn’t protect him forever.

He needed to move.

And when he did, Cassie’s scream filtered from inside the cabin. I sucked in a breath, dropped the ring, and rushed toward the cabin door. The second I stepped inside, I caught three men standing in the hallway, just outside the door Cassie had barricaded herself behind. They banged on the door and threw themselves against it. The door vibrated against their movements, but it wouldn’t be long before it gave away completely. Before it did, I had to do something to stop them.

“Hey!” I shouted, drawing their attention.

One of them turned out to be a woman with a military buzz and deep green eyes. She smiled. “I’ll let you boys handle this one. I’ll take care of the girl.”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I warned.

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