Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 89222 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89222 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Kidnapped.
There’s no stopping the vexatious roars that echo throughout the garage during my short transformation into my ancient dragon form that crushes everything in its way. They naturally grow louder and more violent as panic pumps through my system and dreadful images of the bruised, bloody mess she probably is race around my mind.
Mate!
Beastly bellows bury themselves in every corner of the building in the midst of my trampling out into open to chase the faint scent I should have no problem tracking. Furiously flapping physically propels me faster through the clouds, yet no matter what I do I can’t accept that it’s fast enough.
That it can’t be faster.
Move!
And I do.
I dive.
I swoop.
I shamelessly expose myself to Sleepers and Awakers alike and roar with so much force that it shatters apartment windows. Sets off car alarms. Bursts fire hydrants and pipes, leaving nothing but pure destruction in my wake.
My pursuit of the scent continues over the tops of office buildings and between narrow high-rise spaces not intended for a creature my size. Hope becomes more and more potent, pushing me to beat my wings harder while holding my breath in anticipation of finally locating her until I realize where I’ve been led. Landing at the parking garage I left mere minutes ago causes me to release another crestfallen roar along with a billow of smoke.
They…took my mate.
Stole. Her.
Hid.
Mother of fucking Dragons, they also somehow managed to cover her scent and hide her from me.
From. Me!
Us!
New surges of aggravation send me soaring out of the garage and up to the top floor of the building through my office glass window in desperate need of releasing my exasperation. Otherworldly cries of pain shake the room shattering anything with a delicate surface. Light fixtures fall to the ground creating a concert of crashes that splinter computer screens and vintage statues rush to join. I shut my eyes in an attempt to reason with and soothe the other side of myself, promising we’ll find her, promising everything will be alright, but it’s utterly useless. Rage and resentment and rancor stay latched onto my magical essence resulting in my tail wildly whipping around to smash the things my voice didn’t destroy while my breath melts everything that crosses my path during my abrupt exiting to scour downtown for a second time.
Third.
Circling the outskirts of the city proves to be equally fruitless eventually convincing me to search near our headquarters again.
When the results remain unchanged, I fly from the office to the estate, breaking every rule and protocol I’ve ever created to keep us safe.
Our location undisclosed.
It’s a selfish, irresponsible action that I should regret yet no tiny portion of me does.
Because that shit doesn’t matter.
Nothing matters except finding my mate and returning her to where she belongs.
I burst through the library door in my Awaker form on another gut-wrenching roar.
The sound shatters the teacup that Griff, our contract hacker who is also a griffin shifter, happens to be holding prompting him to slowly swivel his chair my direction on a displeased sneer. “I’ll have you know I was planning to drink that.”
“Find. Her.”
“I’m not really in the mood for games,” he states, English accent adding to the snark. “Perhaps had I been given a chance to finish my tea, I’d be more inclined.”
“That wasn’t a request, griffole.”
“Then there’s no need for me to decline your invitation, Huff the Magic Draakon. I can simply summon your trusty house servant to bring me another cup of tea and resume the moment of my day in which I do not have to give a damn about you, what you’re doing, who you’re doing it with, or which portion of the planet to avoid because of where you are doing it.”
Closing the gap between us happens in what feels like a single blink.
And so does lifting him out of his seat by just his obnoxiously long neck. “I am in no mood for your bullshit, Griffin.” Squeezing without crushing requires more concentration than I care to admit. “You will do whatever it fucking takes, however fucking quickly you are capable of doing it, without further reluctance, or I will rip you limb from limb with my bare hands faster than your regeneration process can comprehend.” The additional pressure begins to redden his face. “Ending your sad, pathetic excuse for a life is not on the top of my itinerary for the day; however, if you say one more fucking word that so much as brushes me the wrong way, I will rearrange my schedule to rearrange your insides to be outsides. Am I making myself understood, Mr. Hutcherson?”
“An earthquake?” Z croaks out in confusion upon entering the library. “In downtown Dreki? How is that possible?”
“Seismic activity.” A.D.’s voice joining the conversation shifts my attention to where he’s arrived at our younger brother’s side with our cousin closely on his heels. “The shitty news Sleepers didn’t say earthquake.”