Trapped Like a Rat

MADDIE

~I need to get the fuck out of here!~

My only thought was to leave. To push my way through the bodies of crazed partiers and find the nearest exit.

I searched the crowd for Darren or Harry, but it was impossible to tell one face from the other. A blast of smoke from a fog machine filled the room.

This was my chance to make it out.

I tried to force my way through the crowd without drawing attention. Every step led me farther into the maze of sweaty limbs and bare torsos.

The exit door was within eyesight. Only a little more effort, and I would climb out of this cesspool and into the fresh air of the night.

Against my better judgment, I looked up to the second floor of the club. Green eyes pierced right through me. They saw me!

I was only feet from sweet relief when I felt it—my ~brand~.

It burned with an intensity I hadn’t felt since back at the penthouse. Seeing Loch and Hael together again must have ripped off an invisible bandage and exposed the wound anew.

And I knew it would have felt ~so damn good~...

I tried to keep pushing forward, but my legs felt like molasses. It was impossible to leave, no matter how badly I wanted to.

A dark mist materialized around me, and I knew it wasn't the smoke machine. They had come to claim their prize, their possession.

The pounding of the music echoed through my body as the two hulking men looked down at me with lustful eyes. They mind-linked with me, eliminating the need to talk over the droning rhythm.

Hael

We knew we could smell you.

Loch

You’re either brave or stupid for thinking you could come here and slip right under our noses.

Hael

I prefer to think a little bit of both.

Maddie

You two look as insatiable as ever.

Loch

Then you know us better than we thought.

Hael

Why don’t we cut the chit-chat and get down to business?

Loch

Forget business. Let’s skip the foreplay and go straight for the fucking.

Maddie

Typical. Two assholes that can only let their dicks do the thinking.

They surrounded me, Loch in the front, and Hael behind. It was hot, but exactly what I expected.

They were the two most hedonistic beings I’d ever met, and they wouldn’t let me leave without getting a taste of the forbidden fruit.

Only, to them, I wasn't forbidden. I was their plaything that refused to bend to their every whim. I’d misbehaved. And now I needed to be punished.

They pushed their bodies closer to mine. I could feel the heat emanating from them like a furnace. Hael’s groin pushed into my back as he bent down over my shoulder, kissing my ear.

I tried to turn away, but Loch was right there, his eyes staring into mine. The blazing green of his irises were captivating.

His hand went to my chin, and I was surprised by how soft his fingers felt. For a fleeting moment, I wanted them to touch every inch of my body.

To work their way down, down, down until they found their way inside...

Hael's kisses moved down to my neck, sending shivers coursing through my spine.

Loch smiled, and for a split second I thought I could almost see a tinge of red on the fangs behind his lips. But then his mouth was pressing against mine, our tongues entwining together.

It took me back to our times together in their penthouse. The first time we had sex in the Jacuzzi. The way their touches always seemed to overpower my most profound will to turn and flee.

I was almost swept back to the Maddie I was before I jumped off that roof…

Until I tasted it.

Something in Loch’s mouth caused me to pull back in surprise.

~What was that?~

Metallic and salty…

My eyes opened, and before Loch's dazzling smile could pull me back in, I saw a dark stain blotting his collar.

I leaned closer and realized there was more than one dark spot...and they looked a hell of a lot like blood.

Loch bared his fangs once more, and I could see what my eyes tried to show me before—blood staining his razor-sharp incisors.

My body jolted into action. I pushed Loch aside with unexpected force and sprinted for the exit.

Loch

Don’t you run little rat!

Hael

Give her time, Loch. She doesn’t want us right now. But I know she will...

I could sense Loch hurrying after me, but it was no use. Hael was surprisingly on my side. I hated to see what Loch would do to me for refusing to let him corral me, but I didn’t want to find out.

Sprinting past the bouncer, I was suddenly out of the club and on the neon-bathed sidewalk.

I could still hear the music from outside, but Loch’s and Hael’s voices were no longer echoing in my mind.

~Fuck.~

Adara was right. There was something different about Loch.

Something terrifying.

God help us all.

***

“Another mutilated body has been found in the Skeleton Quarter of Requiem City,” the news anchor said. “That makes this the fourth body in as many days. Although authorities have yet to identify the victim, the other three have had ties to Requiem City’s underworld…”

The screen went blank as Thea turned off the television.

It had been a few days since my run-in with Loch and Hael in the club. Harry and I had taken a short break from selling our product, much to Darren’s dismay.

The best thing for us was to catch up with Thea, Darshan, and Zayda, which was precisely what we intended to do. But this wasn’t the relaxing break we had envisioned.

“What the hell?” Thea said, equal parts annoyed and terrified.

Harry and I looked at one another, just as confused as Thea. We shrugged our shoulders, and she let out a big sigh.

“Did they shrug?” Darshan asked. “I bet they shrugged.”

Zayda sat in her place in the corner, sipping on wine and keeping to herself. It would have been annoying if all the attention hadn’t been thrust on Harry and me.

“This could’ve been you!” Thea said. “How would I live knowing I supported your endeavors only to see you two turn up like...like…”

“Burned BBQ?” Darshan added, trying to help his partner.

“Well, we’re not dead. So, there’s that,” I replied.

Thea poured another glass of wine and took a large gulp.

“What Thea’s trying to say is we don’t want you to end up like these assholes,” Darshan said with an uncomfortable smile. “It won’t be as much money, but we can find you an honest job.”

Harry looked at me and shook his head. We had been through some shit, but at least we were on the same page.

Yeah, this shit looked terrible. And whoever was doing this obviously had an MO to clean up the dingiest parts of Req City.

But ever since my run-in with the scumbucket who had tried to steal my stash, Harry and I refused to work alone. Just like deep-sea diving, it was the buddy system all the way.

“No offense, but we don’t need an ~honest~ job. Harry and I won’t end up like those chumps,” I said unconvincingly.

“No matter what happens, we’re sticking together and keeping our heads on a swivel. Plus, we’ve managed to make some new friends. If some asshole wants to come after us, they’re in for a big surprise,” Harry added.

“But no one knows who’s doing this!” Thea yelled. “What if it ~is~ your new friends?”

She had us there.

But something told me that Dane and Aneurin wouldn’t save my life just to roast me on a skewer later. I couldn’t say what it was, but they didn’t seem like the type.

“What if it’s your old flames?” Zayda asked.

Everyone’s eyes turned to the quiet one in the corner.

“Come again?” I asked, unamused.

Zayda shrugged her shoulders and took a sip of wine.

“Did she shrug her shoulders? It seems like she shrugged her shoulders…” Darshan said.

“I’m just saying, you did end up fucking over two dragon lords,” Zayda replied. “What if you pissed them off to the point that they’re gonna roast this whole damn city?”

I tried to hold back my laughter, but it was impossible. She was right about one thing: I did fuck with dragons. But for Loch or Hael to murder people out of spite?

My mind fluttered back to the night at the club when Adara pulled me aside.

~…since you’ve left, he’s started to change…~

I shook her words out of my head and stood up.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve to blame this on them,” I said. “They might be assholes, but they’re not murderers.”

It was Zayda’s turn to laugh. My skin flushed red with embarrassment and anger.

If they weren't murderers, then what was that taste on Loch's tongue? Why were his collar and fangs stained crimson?

The evidence pointed toward my old mate, but damn if I would admit that to Zayda.

“You can try to dismiss the evidence,” Zayda said. “But the bodies were burned...charred to a crisp.”

XANDER

I watched the headlines scroll along the bottom of the television.

~Four dead. Burned. Nearly incinerated. Drug dealers and thieves. No leads at this time.~

Of course, the police had no idea where to look.

The world was much bigger than anyone cared to realize.

After all these years, it seemed to be coming true.

The prophecies.

The empirical evidence written in centuries-old texts, telling of what had happened so long ago.

Loch and Hael were Twin Leading Breeds. Dragon Lords that could only be kept in one place for so long before their minds started to burn with a desire to leave…

To roam.

And if what I believed was true, they’d stop at nothing until one or both of them burned this city to the ground.

If I didn’t intervene, history would likely repeat itself. I had the luck of knowing these texts like the back of my hand.

With the help of my newest intern and her blood mage powers, there was a good chance I could wipe these dragons off this planet once and for all.

Loch and Hael’s time would come. And when it did, they would feel their misplaced wrath turned back on them.

If Requiem City was going to burn, the Dragon Lords would cook with it.

I’d make sure of it.