Page 84 of Feathers and Scales
Pain scored across Daxton’s scrunched face. “I guess it’s your lucky day. You never wanted the link or whatever the hell this was.” His voice turned guttural, inhuman. “I’ll bring him down, Izzy. Because that’s what dragons do. We don’t cower from our emotions. We live in them.”
Light enveloped him, and he shifted. The tidal wave of heat crashed against Izzy. The dragon scorched her with his bronze, maddened eyes as he launched into the sky.
Daxton’s Insight raged at the forefront of his mind. He beat his wings as fast as they would take him. Moonlit rainbows shifted in the mist of the waves below as he flew overhead. The ocean glittered under the stars. Spirit energies circled in and out of his animalistic thoughts.
Izzy made her choice, and so did Daxton—even if that decision caused a gaping anguish that threatened to consume him.
After two days of hunting, the Tattered One’s metallic impression became a whisper in the wind. He was losing him.
Frustration blazed in his limbs. With the link no longer present, control over his dragon came in flitting moments. Just as bad as it had been a year ago. Daxton sank into darkness, blacking out once more.
He was losing himself to the dragon’s influence.
Spirit energy, like fire and power, whisked past his Insight—another dragon. He fought for control.
Jamal came up on his rear but stayed two paces back. The other dragon offered backup. Red filled Daxton’s vision.
Impact brought awareness as he rammed into Jamal’s side. The other dragon veered into him as if to say, “Knock it off.”
A metallic substance flooded into his mouth. Reality kicked in again. Daxton had bitten Jamal. Screaming at his dragon, he forced himself to release Jamal’s leg. He swooped down to the ocean, Jamal’s blood dripping from his snout.
What have I done?
The tightening in his gut only spurred on the dragon’s power. He honed his focus on the Archfiend’s signature as Jamal’s presence headed back toward land. A sickening sensation pulled Daxton under.
He wasn’t just losing control. Daxton was already Lost.
Izzy stared at the greenery whizzing by as Simon drove their rental down the interstate away from the lake where they had safely disposed of the explosive vest. Her thoughts traveled in the same manner, fast and unrelenting. She’d spent two days pushing any concern for the dragons out of her mind until she could breathe easier—even if the pinch between her shoulder blades didn’t abate.
She had to figure out how to stop Fotios.
“Izzy.” Simon’s voice sounded distant, though he occupied the seat next to her. “Hello? Are you even paying attention?”
She blinked. “You don’t have to keep repeating yourself, Simon. The link. Immortality. Return to Heaven. I got it.”
“No, you don’t.”
Heat bloomed beneath her skin. “I can’t think about that right now. I’m trying to formulate a plan to defeat Fotios without endangering the dragons.”
There had to be a solution. She couldn’t kill Fotios like the dragons, but not having enough power hadn’t stopped her before. She’d created the FPPs for that exact reason—to harness stronger spirit energy.
“What do you have so far?”Simon asked.
“I can trap dragon fire like I do Thea’s spirit energy into bullets.”
“FPPs?” Simon nodded. “That could work. Where will we get the supplies to make them?”
“I just need a pistol and a hardware store.”
“And the dragon fire?”
She swallowed. “I’d have to ask or trade for dragon cooperation without them insisting on further assistance.”
Simon was silent for a long moment. “Will that stop Fotios?”
She drew in a tight breath. A worrying thought in her brain made her question whether she could pull that trigger. Even if Fotios was a monster, he still held a piece of her heart.
Don’t let your emotions get the better of you.As much as she tried to, the more logical answer for her was to plan for that scenario. If she couldn’t stop him, she’d have to trap him somewhere he couldn’t escape. One underground location came to mind.
