Blackwing Dragon (Harper's Mountains 5) (19 page)

Lightning flashed behind the Smoky Mountains, and storm clouds roiled in the sky, making the evening look darker, more sinister. A fitting mood for the apocalypse because Rowan had made up her mind now.

She pushed against her heel, rocking the chair under her.

She’d Changed and flown to Kane’s cabin last night. And then naked and human, she’d stood shielded by the thick forest. She’d watched him fall to his knees and scream at the sky, every muscle tensed, fists out and clenched, yelling, “Where the fuck are you?”

Oh, Kane had been hiding deep pain from her. In that moment, his agony had pulsed against her body and made her dry heave into the ivy.

There was no more wavering anymore. The time had come to decide—is he strong enough or not?
Am I?

The answer had to be yes because she couldn’t stand this awful poisonous feeling in her chest anymore. She loved Kane with every fiber of her being, and her withholding freedom for his dragon was hurting him. It would always hurt him.

Bite him. Free him.

Another flash of lightning, and a deep roll of thunder sounded. Rowan blinked slowly and lifted her gaze to the giant snowy owl who stood watching her from the thick branches of a pine. It was as if Ryder could tell what she was thinking. As if he could read her thoughts and see the fire coming. His feathers were ruffled, his gold eyes trained on her, unblinking.

She’d been recruited to protect the Bloodrunners, and she would at any cost.

Any cost other than her mate’s happiness.

Air Ryder turned his head slowly toward the gate, and she could hear it too—the rumble of a late-model Bronco engine.

He can do this. Set him free.

Rowan stood and leaned on the railing of the porch as Kane stepped from his ride. He wasn’t meeting her eyes today, but last night had been rough. She understood. He wore black. A black T-shirt over dark jeans and black work boots. Black sunglasses to match his black hair that hung in a wave in front of his face.

Trust him.

Lightning streaked the sky, closer this time. Kane didn’t hunch under the booming sound it created. He stopped at the bottom stair, his hands clenched at his sides, his tattoos stark against the pale skin of his left arm. Roses and skulls. Beauty and death.

“We need to talk,” he said in a gruff voice.

“You aren’t leaving me,” she said sternly.

“You have a dragon you don’t want, and I want a dragon I can never have. We aren’t the same. I think it’s best if I make a life outside of the Smoky—”

“You aren’t giving me a day like yesterday and then taking that away from me, Kane.”

“Dark Kane.”

“Stop it. You marked me, you chose me, you drew my heart from Damon’s Mountains to yours, so for better or worse, we’re in this.” She tilted her chin higher and inhaled a deep, steadying breath. “I have to show you something.”

“If it’s your treasure, I’ve already seen it.”

Rowan frowned. “What?”

“I looked when you were asleep a couple weeks ago. Metal.” His lip snarled up, and he smelled of anger. “You think metal is your treasure.”

“I don’t think, Kane.
I know
. I obsess about it. I feel attached to it. It kept me safe.”

“And I can’t.” Kane cocked his head, exposed his neck. “If I go far enough away—”

“I’ll follow—”

“If I give you space, you can find a better match.”

“And what about you?”

He shrugged a shoulder up and let it fall again.

“Will you find a better match than me, Kane?” she asked louder, not about to let him ignore his way out of this one.

“No! Okay? You’re it. If I was like you, a shifter, a dragon, you would be my treasure.”

She gasped and held onto the porch railing to steady herself. Her voice would tremble if she spoke, and she needed to be strong right now, so she swallowed hard and blew out a shaking breath before she responded. “You are my match, Kane. You are. No one else gets me like you. No one else has even tried. Things are going to change today. In here. In 1010, things will be different. And I’m scared, and I don’t know what is going to happen, and I can’t keep my head on straight if I have to think about you leaving me. Please.”

When Kane took his glasses off, his eyes were so sad. “You would settle for a broken man?”

“You won’t stay broken.”

“You can’t fix me, Roe.”

He was wrong, though. She was going to give him the biggest gift her love could give him. “Come inside,” she murmured. Rowan turned on her heel and pushed open the door, then stepped into 1010.

She’d thought about doing this in his mountains, but Weston swore this place had magic, and she needed it right now. She needed it to make her braver. She needed it to make this easier on Kane, easier on The Darkness.

God, let Ben be right. Let this work.

Kane’s boots echoed across the floorboards, and the door clicked quietly closed behind him. Outside, the thunder rolled, but in here, it was so quiet the air charged with electricity between them. The lights were off, and Kane’s eyes glowed green as he shifted his weight side to side like some predator watching his prey. She wasn’t the prey, though. Not today. She was the hunter.

“I asked you once, if you could, would you have your dragon back?”

Kane ticked an irritated sound and hooked his hands on his hips.

“You didn’t answer then,” she pushed on. “I need you to answer now.”

After a few seconds of stalling, he gritted out, “Yeah, Roe. I wish I was strong enough to still have the dragon.”

Rowan hesitated for a moment, then pulled her shirt over her head and dropped it to the floor.

“What are you doing?” Kane asked, glowing eyes glued to her breasts as she unsnapped her bra.

She was scared. Shaking. This was a big moment. Her road had been forked, and this was her choosing the path surrounded by dark woods. It was the path most unclear, but Kane was worth the risk. He was worth everything.

“Touch me,” she whispered, the tension in her chest tight.

Kane strode toward her like a trail of gunpowder on the ground, and the second he swept her up in his arms, heat exploded between them. He rammed her backward until the backs of her knees hit the kitchen table. His lips were hard and unforgiving. This was the desperate kiss that came after a near-loss. It was the kiss that followed near-death experiences, and that’s what he’d almost done to both of them. He’d come here in hopes of breaking their bond. Fuck. No.

She bit him hard enough to draw blood from his lip, and a feral snarl ratcheted up his throat. He gripped her hair hard and trailed sucking kisses down her neck as he unfastened his pants with his other hand. Rowan clawed her fingers, dug into his back, pulled him closer. The table under her scooted loudly across the floor as Kane jammed them back by inches.

There was a loud
riiip
, and her shorts were in tatters. Her panties, too. Kane’s lips were back on hers, and he grunted a wild sound as his fingers dug into her hips. When he pulled her forward, slid into her, Rowan arched against him and cried out. She fucking loved him like this—barely in control, snarling, out of his mind with lust for her. And she could feel The Darkness. So seductively, he was calling out to her. Reaching out to her, but he didn’t feel scary.

He felt like home.

Kane won’t hurt us.

Kane dragged her to the very edge of the table and slammed into her over and over, his body moving like crashing waves against her, his dick so long, so thick, filling her just right.

He pushed her backward, climbed onto the table, spread her legs with his good knee, and bucked into her even deeper, his body tensing with every stroke inside her, his abs hard against her stomach. When he lowered his lips to her breast and sucked her nipple hard, she sank her claws into the back of his neck and dragged him closer in desperation. She was losing her mind, seeing him in shades of red like a heat signature.

Bite him!

His eyes were so bright when he locked gazes with her, so inhuman. He bared his teeth and rested his forehead against hers as she came. Her orgasm was explosive and took up her whole mind as she pressed her lips against his chest, right over his heart.

As he slammed into her faster, she bit him gently, testing.

“Do it,” he begged.

Kane pushed deeply into her and gripped the back of her neck, cradled her against him as the first shot of warmth flooded her middle. “Fuck, Rowan, do it!”

Rowan bit down as hard as she could. She bit until her mouth flooded with iron, until he yelled her name. Until her belly was full of his seed and he wasn’t begging her anymore.

She bit down until she could feel the long, low snarl of The Darkness vibrate from Kane’s body and fill the air.

She released his tattered skin, and Kane froze above her, eyes sparking like green fire. His elongated pupils constricted until he looked like a snake ready to strike. His chest dripped a steady stream of crimson onto her, and the terrifying sound emanating from him was louder. The blood suddenly tapered to a drip, and then nothing at all. Kane looked down in horror at the claiming mark that was already sealing up.

It was working.

Kane launched off her, gripping his chest as though it was burning. His face contorted with pain. “What did you do?”

“I set you free.”

“Rowan,” he said, chest heaving. “You didn’t set me free. You killed us all.”

His body pulsed, became bigger, and then constricted again. Kane threw open the door and shielded his eyes from the daylight.

“It’s okay, Kane,” she said, trailing him to the front yard.

The Bloodrunners were gathered, as if The Darkness had called them from their cabins. None of them looked surprised or confused. Their pupils were blown, and they looked somber. Harper stood in front of them, chin up, looking down at Kane where he fell to his knees in the dirt.

Kane grabbed his head and screamed a bloodcurdling, pained sound.

“Fighting him won’t do any good,” Weston said.

Kane’s skin on his back was cracking like cement, then healing, then cracking again. Roe didn’t understand. This isn’t how a Change should be!

She bolted for him, hugged him, but he turned his attention on Wyatt. “Get Harper out of here.”

“Kane,” Wyatt said, hands out, pleading.

“If you want your mate to live, hide her deep underground. Now!” Kane’s voice was that of a beast.

Wyatt ushered Harper toward his truck, and the girls followed.

Aaron peeled off his shirt as if readying to Change for battle, but Rowan cut him off. “Run, Aaron. All of you, get out of here.”

Aaron and Ryder’s eyes were wide with fear as Kane’s form grew and shrank again. They peeled off, hopped in the back of Wyatt’s truck, and then it was just Rowan and Wes, watching the Bloodrunners speed away, spraying gravel and kicking up plumes of dust in their wake.

“Wes, go!”

“I can’t leave you.”

“Please!”

“Dammit, I can’t leave you, Roe! I’ve watched this. I’ve watched it, and I can’t leave.”

Oh, she knew what he meant. Death was coming for her, and he didn’t want her to do this alone.

Kane screamed again, his body cracking and healing, pulsing. His voice built to a horrifying roar that shook the woods. Blood was streaming from his eyes. He couldn’t buy Wes much more time.

She bolted for the Novak Raven, cupped his cheeks hard. “You’ll leave me because this is my choice. I’ve got this.”

“You don’t.” Wes looked devastated, but screw what he’d seen. Power throbbed within her. Dragon wanted out. She was ready for war. Ready to protect Kane, ready to protect the world.

“Take care of Avery, Wes. That’s what I want. Make her happy. Take care of Harper and the crew.
Live
,” she gritted out, then shoved him away.

Weston shook his head, backing away slowly.

Kane slammed his fists on the ground, and two deep cracks blasted through the earth. “Leave us!” he bellowed as lighting flashed behind 1010.

And Weston was gone. He blurred into a massive raven, flew away, and didn’t look back.

“Roe, Roe, Roe,” Kane chanted, as though he was trying to use her name as an anchor to himself. When he looked up at her, his eyes were flashing brown, green, brown, green, and his face was contorted into something fearsome. “I’m sorry,” he choked out right before his eyes turned green and held. A cruel smile twisted his lips, and he hunched inward.

Rowan sprinted out of the way as a massive, pitch black dragon exploded from Kane’s body, growing and growing until it blocked out the sky. She skidded to a stop as The Darkness unfurled his long neck, lifted his spiked, armored face to the sky, and roared a deafening sound. He pushed up on powerful legs, his injured back one not seeming to hinder him at all. Long claws dug into earth, and his long tail curved around the edge of the woods. His wings looked strange. They were like the wet wings of a butterfly that had just emerged from the cocoon. But with a groan, The Darkness forced his wings open until they stretched across the tree canopy on either side of 1010.