“Tina!” Anthony shouted, his voice tinged with horror.
A hand grabbed her and spun her around, pinning her to the boulder. She struggled, surprise and the shock of a sneak attack shaking her concentration enough that she lost connection to her magic. A strange man snarled at her, a scar across one eye, his grip tightening around her neck. He watched her, his eyes heavy with lust and desire, and he pressed his body against hers.
Shit. Using her magic also meant enthralling everyone around her, and she had forgotten that in the heat of battle. This guy now wanted her in more ways than one, and this wouldn’t end well.
As she gasped for air, her fingers clawing at his hand around her throat, she saw Anthony in the knee-high lake struggling to fight off a dozen men as they swarmed him. But as his eyes met hers, his form shimmered with an impending shift.
Every one of these men had threatened her, and every one of these men would die.
Black and white spots danced in Tina’s vision as the stranger suffocated her, but she wasn’t about to sit back and let him do it. She reached into her waistband and grabbed the dagger hidden in the folds of her dress, stabbing the man in his neck before he could so much as blink.
He yelled, though through all the blood, it was more of a gurgle as he staggered backward. Tina’s hands were drenched in seconds, but she didn’t care. She yanked her dagger out of his body and kicked him backward, letting him stumble and fall into her lake.
Not far off, Anthony shifted into his massive black wolf. The men around him shimmered as well, and she suspected they were about to change into dragons. One aimed a gun at Anthony’s exposed back as he morphed.
“Anthony! Look out!” Terrified at the thought of losing her wolf, Tina froze with fear.
Anthony snapped at the man, tearing into the stranger’s arm and drawing blood. The attacker screamed, and Anthony tore into the men as they swarmed him. In seconds, Anthony decimated them. Blood stained the crystal clear lake, pooling like dark ribbons beneath the surface. Bones crunched, and despite the chaos above her, Tina couldn’t rip her eyes away from the carnage.
“Tina!” Zane shouted. She spun to find him running through the lake, his clothes already drenched as he kicked up water. “We need to find cover!”
“But Anthony—”
“I’m fine,” Anthony said from behind her. She turned to find him naked, bloody, and beautiful, dripping wet as he ran toward her. “I thought—I thought you … Thank the gods.” He pulled her close, cradling her head in his hands as he studied her face, as if looking for injuries.
Tina held him close as dragons screeched overhead. This wasn’t over yet, but she was so grateful her wolf was okay.
With a deep sigh, Anthony looked at the cat shifter wading toward them in the lake. “Zane, keep her safe and take her to the forest line. If she’s hurt in any way, I swear to God I will—”
“Don’t you threaten me,” Zane interrupted, the edges of his mouth curled in a snarl.
Anthony glared at the cat shifter briefly before squeezing Tina’s hand. He kissed her quickly on the cheek and ran out into the lake, shifting midstride.
“Let’s go,” Zane said, taking Tina’s hand.
“I can help, Zane. I’m not going to just—”
“I know,” Zane said softly, a gentle smile on his face. Though his voice sounded calm, his wide eyes betrayed his worry. “They’re expert warriors, Tina, and we’re vastly outnumbered. These dragons are after you. Let me protect you while they finish this battle.”
Frustrated and disgusted at the concept of running, Tina glared up at the sky as Draven sank his teeth into another attacker. Maybe if she got to cover where she couldn’t be surprised again, she could do a better job of taking down some of these dragons who had dared attack her home.
“Fine,” she finally conceded.
“Thank you.” Zane kissed her forehead, and despite her anger, his touch left a delightful buzz behind. “This way.”
They ran into the water in the opposite direction Anthony had gone, the peaceful day interrupted by terrifying growls and the beat of wings. A torrent of fire blew past them, and Tina ducked the onslaught with only seconds to spare, the fire hitting the water around her with a startling hiss.
Zane lifted her to her feet and guided her toward a row of trees planted along a nearby garden wall. They reached the small forest seconds later, his arm protectively curled around her as they hovered out of sight.
Moments later, Draven released his grip on a dragon’s neck. It plunged to the earth. When it landed in the lake, Tina’s world shook. She lost her balance, almost collapsing to her knees from the impact.
An earsplitting shriek cut through the air and a massive golden eagle flew toward one of the five remaining dragons.
Killian.
He darted through the air like a bullet, almost too fast to see. With another mighty shriek, he struck one of the dragons across the face. Before the dragon could attack, the eagle darted away. Killian attacked time and time again, always too fast for his opponent to hit him back. Every time Killian dragged his claws over his victim, he drew more and more blood.
Not far off, a massive black wolf leaped into the air. His powerful jaws snapped like a bear trap as he fought to grab one of the circling dragons. One of the attacking dragons foolishly flew just out of reach, taunting Anthony.
Big mistake. Anthony kicked off the ground with his powerful legs and dug his teeth into the dragon’s tail, pulling it with him to the earth. It violently snarled the whole way down.
From this angle, Tina could see farther into her gardens and noticed Flynn, who stared into the sky a few dozen yards off and reached into his boot. A glistening dagger appeared in his hand, and he took the briefest second to aim before releasing it into the sky. It landed deep in one of the gray dragons’ chest. The creature shrieked as it fell to the ground, landing with a deafening thud.
Tina closed her eyes, ready to access her magic, when Zane shouted beside her, interrupting her thoughts. “Killian, six o’clock!” Zane yelled into the sky.
The eagle darted left at the last second, narrowly escaping the snapping jaws of a dragon. He cawed in thanks and dove for its head, digging his claws into its neck and drawing a torrent of blood.
Zane’s eyes darted over the melee. “Anthony, tail at three o’clock!”
Another dragon swooped toward Anthony and his prey at frightening speed, but Zane’s warning came just in time. Anthony launched out of the way, and the dragon sailed once more into the air.
Tina gritted her teeth, trying to focus, but there was too much confusion, too much chaos. She didn’t have enough control yet to focus with all the distractions and adrenaline pumping through her body.
“Draven, teeth at—”
Zane didn’t get to finish the sentence as an eighth dragon leaped over the wall at them. This was the smallest of them all, but it snapped at Zane with a ferocity that said it was very much willing to kill.
As it attacked, its tail struck her hard in the head. She fell to her knees, her world spinning from the force. She tried to stand, but nausea burned in her throat.
Desperate to protect her men, Tina reached in her core, frantic for more of the powerful magic that had protected her in the throne room. Energy bubbled within her, boiling and powerful but just out of reach as her nausea worsened.
As Tina fought to control her magic, her vision cleared somewhat even while a blistering headache tore through her brain. She watched in horror as the dragon pinned Zane to the earth. He wrestled with the beast, trying to regain the higher ground as his form shimmered.