Fine, they could play dirty. Kal knew within a second Maddie was here, not exactly where. She was down. Fuck.
Eadric - it’s clear. Burn them.
Kal flexed his arms and called on his dragon's powers. His skin turned to scales, his dragon remaining within as they worked together. Turning his head one way and then the other, looking for the access to a basement, and he caught Eadric as he let out a battle cry, his body engulfed in dragon fire.
Go, Kal. I’ll get whoever is up here causing this strange fiery light.
Eadric charged into the white of the room with Kal on his heels.
Maddie?
Her scent fresh and stronger, he followed where she’d been stopping dead at a bookshelf. She did not just disappear. He turned in a quick circle, but there was nothing. Where had they gone? There was no more house. This was it.
Anger seethed through him. He would not give up now. No, he’d come too far for her. There was something he missed.
Kal gripped the edges of the taunting bookcase and ripped it away. Surprise hit him as an odd door surfaced. Maddie was behind here, and this door was the only thing between him and his mate.
Fueled by his need to protect her, Kal pushed at it. Metal.
Claws extended from his hands and he began to rip at the cold and unforgiving material. It would not stop him. Kal stopped and scowled at the marred surface. Too slow. Something else. There had to be another way in. Some other way to force this door to open. It was then that a small green light on the right side caught his eye.
Eadric? I need something. A key card I would assume.
A moment later something smacked him in the back of the head.
Here. Now hurry up.
Kal swiped up the card from the floor. It was only then that Kal noticed the blaze around them out in the main room. So much for quiet.
Shoving the key card against the smaller rectangle, his patience wore thin. Finally the pad and the doors parted. Of course. How stupid could he be when his mate was involved. Stupid. He couldn’t do that. A second passed as he cleared his mind.
An elevator the size of a fucking shower greeted him. His dragon growled. Yeah. No. They wouldn’t be shifting; not in here.
Getting in, he turned and saw several buttons. Great. Which floor. Stepping back, Kal relaxed his mind. Blowing out a breath, anything to calm his heart, the blood pumping through his veins, and the anger surging through him. She was here, he just had to sense her. The door closed and for a moment he stood there. The quieter he was, the louder she came through as he searched floor by floor. Room, by room, her heartbeat finally echoing back like a beacon. Pressing the button, he prepared for an attack as he descended.
His dragon crouched within him, ready. Their skin thick with dragon scales still, his eyes-battle ready to hunt by body heat rather than by human sight. Kal sat in balance between human-warrior and dragon-warrior.
Pushing up against the wall with nowhere else to hide, he did what he could.
The doors opened, and before he took his next breath something growled, lunging in to attack. Kal snapped out a hand, and the figure began to scream as he incinerated it within seconds. Another figure came out of a fog and Kal simply reached out again. This time a knife sparked against his armor as the person ignited and screamed.
Maddie’s voice broke the screaming and sounds of confusion beyond the tin can fortress.
Kal? They have magic. I can’t protect you.
He squeezed his fists against the change, his claws trying to break through. He didn’t give a damn what they had. They would not stand in the way between him and Maddie.
I’ve seen the magic. It hasn’t helped them. I’m coming. He said back.
Reaching for her through their connection, he allowed her emotions to flow through him. Her anger, her fear, and underneath it all, hope. He’d never let her out of his sight again.
From the corner of his eye, more movement.
“Stay right there,” said a voice.
Standing still, he turned his head and glared. Who the hell had the right to tell him to stay, like some pet.
“Tell me where Maddie is and perhaps I will do as you ask.”
Three men walked out of the fog like the mist taking on form, guns pointing in his direction.
“She’s safe, for now. As long as you cooperate, maybe you’ll see her again.”
His dragon didn’t like those words one bit. Neither did Kal nor the roar that he screamed into the space.
Stretching to his full height, he unfolded from the elevator. The mist clouded the room and he couldn’t make out the full size of what he believed to be a hall. Morphing into something between the dragon and the human, the stench of fear permeated his nostrils. Kal let more of his dragon come out to play, but only enough that they could still move.
“W-what the fuck is that?”
Much better, he thought to himself.
The humans started to shoot at him, the bullets more dart-like. They bounced off his scales. Very little on this planet could hurt him, and he had every intention of showing them exactly how useless their weapons were.
Kal sucked down the air, slowly tasting it, feasting on the smell of terror. It was a drug to his beast. They lived for this shit.
Fire brewed within him with every step he took. He’d taunt them. A second later and Kal began to torch the room, filling any space between him and the men with fire. Heat signatures of human and not-so-human scattered. The mist might have blinded him as a man, but not as a dragon.
The attack stopped, and he sprang into action. Kal used his dragon sense to sniff out threats. He needed to understand his enemies, but more, he was trying to figure out where Maddie was imprisoned. So close, yes, Maddie was weak. What had
