Touching my healed cheek, I said, “I really wish I had your gift.” Or maybe a water-based gift since, at this point, fire was spreading like…well, wildfire. The rain coming from the spooky dark cloud hovering above helped, but it wasn’t enough. I sure hoped Keeley’s storm picked up fast.

As the fight went on, more and more dragons fell—many of whom had been heading right for Sam. Not only were dragon shifters seriously strong in their human form, injured or not, but they would fight to the bitter end. It would have been admirable if they weren’t trying to kill us.

The more mercenaries that died, the more the remaining ones tried to escape by charging at Sam’s shield or trying to damage it with fire. Of course, the intelligent creatures swiftly realised that the only way to fight the shield was to kill Sam.

That was when they came at her even harder than before. But Sam and Jared had known that would happen. And since coming at Sam meant facing our squads, the creatures were basically just flying to their deaths.

When one came much too close, I sent a telepathic warning to Jared. He lifted his hand, and currents of electricity streamed from his fingers and crashed into the creature’s skull. The shifter was dead and back in his human form before he even hit the ground.

“Can I just say thank God for Keeley!” shouted Paige, but I barely heard her over the hissing of fire, the snarls of a jaguar, the screams of pain, the pounding of heavy rain on the ground, and the cries of fury that rang throughout the air.

Keeley’s rain was coming harder and faster, incredibly managing to calm the flames. Wiping rain out of my eyes, I cast a quick look over my shoulder, wanting to get a brief glimpse of Butch. His hand was gripping Sam’s upper arm, supporting her weight. It seemed that keeping the massive shield intact was taking its toll on her.

Ava’s infuriated cry made me whip around. A dragon had snatched her from the ground, its claws digging into her shoulders. “Salem!” I shouted, but his psychic energy was already rippling in the air toward the dragon; it hit the creature right in the skull—like that, it was dead and shifting mid-air. Which was great and all, but it meant that Ava was falling too.

Yellowy-green ooze shot out of Denny’s fingers and formed a net that thankfully caught Ava. I didn’t have time to enjoy my relief as dragons rushed at us from several directions. The mass attack took me by surprise, thanks to all the smoke billowing around us and messing with my vision. But I was ready when the charging shifters fell to the ground, either dead or too weak to shift.

With a snarl, a short blond lunged my way. I was just about to attack when something barrelled into my side and rolled me onto my back. Now I had a heavy motherfucking asshole straddling me, fingers digging into my throat. I shoved my psychic hand into his mind, found his blood-bond, and played it like it was a banjo string.

Crying out, he released me and cradled his head. I knifed up and punched him in the jaw. He rocked backwards, almost falling off me. Almost. The bastard was too freaking big and heavy. Eyes glittering at me, he struck me right in the temple. Motherfucker.

Glaring at him through the spots filling my vision, I blocked the next punch and tried to shove him back. No success. Then Paige was there, slapping her palm on his head. There was a rippling from her elbow to her hand as she transferred an injury to him—an injury that would be three times worse for him.

His skin began to blister, peel, and smoke, making him scream in total agony. I took advantage of the moment and punched him in the dick. His breath exploded out of him, and he slumped to the side.

“Bastard!” I wheezed as I got to my feet, rubbing at my throat. A blast of psychic energy whizzed past my ear and crashed into his head. Like that, he was dead.

Twisting, I gave David a nod of thanks and looked around, unable to see much through all the smoke. Keeley’s rainstorm was fighting the fire—the heavy raindrops would probably leave bruises on me, now that I was partly human—but the dragons just kept creating more damage and breathing more smoke.

“You’re tiring!”

Paige’s accusing words made me snap my gaze to hers. Yes, I was tiring. Hell, even my psychic hand was tiring. Like Butch had predicted, I still wasn’t yet accustomed to not having my old level of strength and speed. I’d overexerted myself, forgetting my new limits. And her protective instincts no doubt told her to get me out of the way.

Suspecting she might try to follow those instincts, I lifted my chin. “I’ll be—” A blast of cold rushed our way and a dragon literally rocketed out of the thick smoke. Butch blurred to my side and slammed up his shield, blocking the blast and making the creature do a sharp turn to avoid the shield.

“Sam agrees that I need to be with you right now!” Butch told me, which meant they’d also noticed I was tiring.

Paige scrubbed at her eyes. “The smoke needs to go!”

But it couldn’t. It was trapped inside Sam’s shield, just like everything and everyone else. Thankfully, the smoke did our internal organs no harm, though it was uncomfortable to inhale. My eyes, on the other hand, didn’t do so well against it; they stung and itched like crazy.

“I just spoke to Jared!” shouted Butch. “He said—”

A large wing snapped out and sent Butch, Paige, and I zooming backwards, soaring what felt like miles through the air. The breath whooshed out of me as I crashed into something hard—most likely a tree. Groaning and coughing, I got to my feet, utterly pissed. These winged bastards needed to die. I blinked rapidly as I glanced around, searching for Butch and Paige. I couldn’t see them through the smoke.

But I could smell Butch.

More specifically, I could smell his blood. A lot of it. The scent wafted over me, reached something inside me. I didn’t let myself think of how good it would taste; didn’t give in to the pull of the scent. Instead, I blocked it, just as I’d practiced with him in training.

“Butch! Paige!” I shouted as I followed the scent of his blood. But there was little chance that they’d hear me over all the roaring, snarling, screeching, and screaming.

Not allowing myself to panic, I called out their names over and over. Just as Butch’s scent became stronger, something long and spiked shot out of the smoke and swung at me—a fucking barbed tail! Cursing, I ducked. But one of the spikes grazed my scalp and it hurt like a bitch. Quick as I could, I rolled toward Butch’s scent, pushed to my feet and—