Page 11 of Claim the Light
I’m grateful that the bullets are giving me a reprieve from Tyler’s attention.
Nobody but Sienna Scorn had ever had this much skill with golden bullets. She’d been the leader of the Scorn dragons, the clan of thieves and murderers who had assimilated into the supernatural underground. That is, until Lana ended her.
This new storm can only be the work of her daughter, Gisela, which confirms for me that it was her who shouted for me to stay down.
I’ve nearly reached Micah when Gisela finally appears and alights on the rooftop beside me, tucking her wings into her sides.
She’s young, only fourteen, with blue-black hair, pale skin, and high cheekbones. Dressed in black from her boots up to her chin. Her arms are outstretched, a golden pistol bearing a silencer held in each hand. Her face is a picture of concentration as she continues to fire each weapon.
My eyes widen at the number of apparently fully-loaded spare magazines that rest within a strap across her chest, and the speed with which she reloads the moment her guns are empty. All without missing a beat as she storms toward Tyler.
Behind him, I finally spy a second dragon shifter—the source of the bullets that shot through his back.
I recognize Dane, the fifteen-year-old Scorn dragon sworn to protect Gisela. He also holds two weapons with silencers and wears a belt with spare magazines in it.
As he alights on the rooftop, he retracts his dark green wings. Despite his younger age, he’s already broad-shouldered. He has a strong jawline and muted, green eyes that appear shadowy in the dark.
“You think you can steal my clan, Tyler Dalton?!” Gisela shouts. “The Scorn are my people, and I will fight to the death for them.”
Because she’s Sienna’s daughter, Gisela is the rightful leader of the Scorn. When I first met her, she didn’t have a dragon and, as a consequence, she was despised by her mother. It was why Tyler was able to take control of the Scorn after Sienna’s death.
But Gisela’s powers have clearly changed and the position of alpha can be won by a fight to the death, the same way that Callan won the Dread. He later willingly handed over the role of alpha to his sister, but a peaceful changing of hands is a rare occurrence among dragon shifter clans, even when it’s from parent to child.
“I’m challenging you, Tyler,” Gisela calls. She lowers her guns, no longer firing new bullets while the storm of gold continues to churn through Tyler’s body. “A fight between you and me to determine who leads the Scorn.”
She glances back at me and then to Micah, who has remained unconscious and is still several paces away from me. “Without collateral damage.”
“If death is what you want, then you’ll have it,” Tyler snarls, the contours of his face barely visible within the storm of dust. I’m surprised when he continues. “But not today.”
Gisela gives a hiss. “You would run from this fight?”
Tyler’s laugh makes my blood run cold. “I’m not running. I will simply wait for fear and darkness to spread. Then you’ll realize how truly weak you are.”
He pushes forward through the continuing barrage of bullets, his form seeming to waft across the ground, a mass of smoke and ash.
The sense of dread burrows more deeply into my heart.
Gisela now stands between him and me and, despite the bullets that are clearly hampering his movement, he is a tower of might filling the air in front of her.
She holds herself tall despite her young age, her hair shining brightly and her hands hovering once more over the guns at her waist.
Even within the simmering cloud of wrath that Tyler forms, I sense his focus is not on her anymore.
Gisela twitches when his next words are clearly directed at me.
“I will come for you, Sophia,” he says in a low whisper that sounds once again like a moan of wind through a dank cavern. “These bullets can’t kill me. Nothing can. Fear is eternal and so am I.”
His lips curve into a cruel smile. “I only choose to leave now because you will tell others what you’ve seen here. Your terror will fester, and each night when you fall asleep, you will ask yourself if this is the night I will come for you.
“You can’t hide from me. I own the darkness. Nobody can protect you. Not even your precious Avenging Angel.”
There’s a rush of air at my back and I’m startled when two new figures alight onto the rooftop beside me. I should have been able to hear the beat of their wings before now, but my ears are still buzzing and my heart feels like it’s working overtime to keep beating.
Beatrix Lamonte lands on my left and holds her blood-red wings aloft to form a shield around me while her cousin, Felix, tucks his wings and crouches on my right, positioned close to Micah.
The cousins are both tall and lean with the same high cheekbones that belong to many Scorn dragons. They have straight, black hair; dark eyes; and pale skin. Beatrix’s hair is cut at an angle along her jaw, while Felix wears his longer hair in a bun. They were born into the Scorn clan but are now Dread dragons loyal to Callan and Zahra.
“Like fuck she can’t,” Beatrix replies to Tyler’s assertion that Lana can’t protect me. “Asper Ashen-Varr will tear you to shreds, Tyler.” Beatrix’s sneer turns into a sweet smile. “Assuming there’s anything left of you once Gisela is done with you.”
