Wedging myself in his lap between him and the wheel, I gripped it tightly just in time to barely miss the vehicle headed in front of us barely. Vance was still convulsing under me but miraculously could move his foot off the gas. Slipping my foot around his, I could hit the brakes.

  Pulling down a side street, I slowed us down to a stop.

  "Vance?" I wiggled around, and I grabbed his hand to pull his now formed claws away from the scale. That terrible thing that did this to him. He was struggling underneath me, grunting as I slipped my fingers inside his wet palm. Twisting, I turned to straddle him so I could yank the scale out of his hand. It was covered in blood as Vance’s claws had dug into his palm deeply.

  The convulsing stopped abruptly, and Vance shuddered as his body slowly relaxed under me.

  He panted heavily as his head turned slowly to look up at me. "T-thanks..."

  I was speechless from the sight of him, now that I had a chance to really take him in. He had black shiny scales that riddled up the right side of his neck to just underneath his strong jawline. And his right arm also contained obsidian scales over it, with his hand that now had black claws tipping each finger. Slowly, a large, leathery black wing stretched as it was stuck under Vance's back now. It was too wide to stretch out fully, and it tucked itself closer to his body.

  "Uh… no problem..." I glanced awkwardly around the cab of the truck. Part of me wanted to run out screaming for help. But the other felt helpless, and that knowing it was my fault this had happened to him. My lower half lifted as he pushed himself up to get more comfortable in his seat. He swayed forward, losing his balance and falling face-first into the curve of my neck.

  I stiffened as my stomach felt butterflies from the warmth of his breath against my neck.

  "Sorry…" he mumbled as his lips brushed my skin. Heat rose into my face, and I had to keep from shuddering against him.

  Gently, I pushed against his chest to push him back against the seat, and his arm grabbed around my waist to pull me back down with him. I stiffened as I realized if this kept up; we were both going to be in trouble. His brown eyes fluttered up at me as a corner of his mouth smirked upward.

  "I can't seem to control myself. My body feels like sludge." he purred softly.

  Dread with overwhelming panic filled me. "What do we do? Why did that happen?"

  And why the fuck haven't I turned tail and ran already?

  "Calm down, Alyssa." he chided.

  "And call Gage..." he grunted as he sidled into the passenger seat. I lifted away from his lap as he did so and was amazed, he even had the strength to do that. Mesmerized, I watched silently as the wing shriveled as it melded into his back. The shiny scales also seemed to retract or disappear underneath his skin. Vance looked like he did before I electrified him with the scale I found from the lab. Settling into the driver’s seat, I put the gear in drive and headed for my apartment.

  Entering the apartment was more of a hassle than I thought. Vance was still weak on his knees from the forced change. Here I was, trying to keep from toppling over with a six-foot-one man leaning on my shoulders. Against my amazing five-foot-one while I tried to heave him up with my uninjured arm. We finally stumbled inside, and Vance leaned against the wall as he waited for me. As I shut and bolt the door, Peaches had greeted me as usual whenever I came home. But the sassy feline had freaked out when she caught sight of Vance. Her tail puffed out as she hissed at him before tucking tail and rushing out the front door.

  "Peaches! Come back!" I cried out, chasing her down the hallway. I lost sight of my blue baby as she slipped through the rails by the stairs to disappear.

  "Dammit." my shoulders slumped. I already had one missing family member, and I sure didn't need another.

  As I got back, I quickly closed and bolted the door. Lifting my head tiredly, I saw Vance had made it over to the couch. He was leaning against the side with his arm propped up with his head in hand. I then immediately called Gage, though it went straight to voicemail, so I left a brief message about what happened. I left out a lot of the detail about Vance shifting out in my car, so I just told him he was stranded and needed a ride. Then left my address and Apt. number so he could find us. He was on the other line as I received a text just as I headed into the living room.

  Be there in 20. – G.

  That was a fast response. I sighed as I got closer to Vance.

  "What a night..." he muttered once I returned.

  "Yea...it’s crazy..." I nervously laughed as I sat on the loveseat to the right of him. He had leaned back in the seat now with his eyes closed.

  "Did you call Gage?"

  "Um...yea. He said he'd be here in 20 minutes." My eyes took in his body as I watched him breathe slowly.

  "Are you a demon?" I blurted out. What else could he be, with the massive wings, claws, and scales that popped up all over him? Then, horror-struck when I realized I just invited a demon into our home. And Gage would be here at any moment. Was he just like him? I wasn’t really dreaming when I saw him fight that zombie chic. And the metal on his arm was scales and not just my imagination.

  "What? Hell no. Not one of those freaks." Vance lifted his head briefly before leaning back again. We sat in silence, and it felt like an eternity before he spoke again.

  "Dragon," he mumbled.

  "A…. dragon?" my mouth slumped open, then I wondered if I had heard him correctly.

  He let out a long-drawn-out sigh as he sat up, with his dark tawny eyes boring into me as he contemplated his next words. Before he could speak, a rhythmic knock came through the door.

  And I nearly jumped ten feet out of my seat.

  "Jumpy?" a corner of his mouth quirked up in a grin.

  Scowling at him as I pulled myself off the couch to head to the front door. The rapping on the door continued, so I yanked it open with an irritable growl.

  "What?!" I glared as I caught Gage getting ready to continue his incessant knocking.

  His forest green eyes looked shocked when I yelled at him, "Whoa, calm down there Alyssa."

  Shaking my head, "If someone tells me to calm down one m--" my voice caught in my throat as I finally noticed that Gage was carrying something.

  "Peaches! Where did you find her?" my long-haired, blue feline was snuggled up against him where he cradled her in one arm. Gage was in his street clothes, wearing a grey t-shirt under a long-sleeved green flannel buttoned shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, exposing the black-sleeved tattoos that were inked on both arms. I couldn’t make out the designs of them, however, as they were written in another language. They also had an odd silver sheen to them when the light hit them just right.

  My feline seemed pretty content where he held her in the crook of his arm. I had to admit that it shocked me that Peaches had even let him lay a finger on her. As she was a timid feline, with trust issues.

  "Wow, you have a way with animals." I commented while scratching my furry friend behind the ear.

  Gage leaned down close to my ear. His warm breath causing a chill to run up my neck.

  "Kitty cats have always liked me…." his voice sultry in my ear, and my body stilled as my lower abdomen fluttered warmly. With a low chuckle, he stepped past me to enter my apartment, leaving me there speechless.

  CHAPTER 7

  “You fucking did what!?” a harsh growl came from Gage, who was now pacing the floor irritably.

  Vance sighed exasperatedly. "I was forced to change, Gage." he winced when he shifted his position on the couch. "And it hurt like fucking hell..." he grumbled as he picked up a couch cushion and squeezed it to his chest. Gage, on the other hand, had become eerily still, with his forest green eyes locked onto Vance and the only visible motion coming from him was the tick in his jaw. I was sitting on the other couch across from Vance, with Peaches snuggled in my lap as she demanded that I pet her. The only sound in the room was her purring now, and I was too afraid to break the silence. Hell, I still didn't know what was going on. All I knew was that Vance turned into a dragon. Dragons were freaking real. And I was still having trouble trying to wrap my head around that new knowledge.

  "Gage?" Vance prodded when the other man hadn't said a word for a while. Then sudden realization popped on his face, and he pointed a finger at me in disbelief.

  "You did it in front of her?!" he exclaimed, as he smacked his forehead, shaking his head. "We've been here six months under the radar, man..." Gage's shoulder slumped.

  "I know..." Vance glanced wearily at me.

  “So, you’re a dragon. Does that make you one too, Gage?” I pointed at Gage with eyes wide.

  “Ah...yea, I would say so.” He replied matter-of-factly.

  "I think I'm dizzy..." holding my head down between my legs, I breathed in and out slowly. My thoughts were racing. Dragons? They're real? Perking my head back up, "Why are you telling me this?"

  Vance looked surprised. "Well, considering how you had a front-row seat of my shifting. There really wasn't any other option but to tell you the truth.

  "We could have killed her." Gage chimed in, getting a growl from Vance, who was staring daggers at him.

  "Shut. Up." Vance spoke through gritted teeth.

  "What? It could have been another option." the other man shrugged his shoulders.

  "Seriously, Gage. Shut the fuck up, or I will make you shut up." the two bantered back and forth. I couldn't hear anything else as the blood drained from my face at Gage's response to killing me as an option.

  Gage then moved to sit on the couch next to me. “Tell me how it happened.” He changed subject as he glanced at both of us. Knowing that it was my fault made me uncomfortable coming forth with that information.

  “It was a scale I found.” I reached back into my pocket to retrieve the accursed thing. Lifting it up with the palm of my hand, I dropped it down onto the small coffee table that sat between the furniture. The scale bounced twice before it settled in the middle of the wood. Gage leaned over to look at it better. Then, as he reached for it, Vance and I both jumped from our seats to shout in unison. “No!”

  Gage froze, looking at the both of us like we were crazy, then held up both hands to show he would not make another attempt for it.

  "That's the thing that did it to me." Vance replied.

  Gage peered over the scale again curiously, and his brow furrowed as he turned his attention back to his companion. "It's a healer’s scale..." his voice nearly choked it out.

  Vance's eyes widened as he moved to sit on the edge of the couch cushion to get a better look at it, "I don't believe it, but how...." he growled with teeth bared as he flung his pillow down. The movement startled Peaches, and she hissed irritably as she ran from her spot on my legs. Gage slumped back against the sofa, sighing loudly. Pulling his ponytail out of his hair, he ran his hand through his dark locks. “Not just any healer’s scale….” His lips pressed firmly into a thin line.

  Vance startled as his face paled. “How can you tell?”

  “I spent plenty of time with her. I think I should know it anywhere. She was the only one that shined like that…” Gage sighed heavily.

  Vance was back to holding a cushion again, gripping it tight enough that I feared he was going to rip it apart.

  “Who was she?” I piped up curiously as Gage mentioned who the scale belonged to.

  “Our friend….” Vance sighed heavily as he fell back against the couch.

  Gage was silent as he was hugging a cushion as he picked at a stray piece of string.

  “What happened to her?”

  “The Endseekers happened…” he began. “A species that thrives on putting others through hell. Before we realized what they were doing, it was too late to stop them. They nearly wiped out our whole species. Houses clashed and blamed one another for their coming destruction. Yet, it ended up being our own kind that destroyed us in the end.”

  Gage jumped out of his seat with a snarl, “It wasn’t her fault they changed her. If it wasn’t for them, she wouldn’t have gone mad. You have no idea what torture they put her through. The daily experiments, the drugs they injected her with that some days she could barely lift her head off the floor. The fucking dark room they kept her in!”

  Vance threw his hands up exasperatedly. "They blamed our house for her actions, Gage."

  Gage pointed a finger at Vance. "I'm only going to say this once. You weren't there. You don't get to point fingers when it was your own father that sent her away. None of this would have happened if it weren't for him!"

  Billowing smoke rumbled out of Vance's mouth and before I could blink, he was atop of Gage snarling in his face. I squeaked as I hopped off the couch to move out of the way from the fighting men. His eyes were dark glittering pools, as scales erupted over his tight muscles that shined like onyx. Gage was struggling against him, holding his fist back before he connected with his jaw. Silver scales bloomed over Gage’s with sharp metal spikes protruding from his forearms. Both men were locked in arms before falling off the couch as they wrestled to the ground. Their thrashing caused the small couch to fall backwards, before a loud crash was heard as the wooden coffee table shattered to the ground. The scale that had been on top of it had rolled under the other couch. Both men froze, with Vance holding Gage in a choke hold, as they glanced at the mess on the floor and back up to me slowly.

  My mouth was hanging open in shock, first from the sudden outburst of fighting and then to our poor table that was now in shattered pieces on the floor. “Seriously, guys?! Fucking stop. If you’re going to fight like babies, then take that shit outside!” I yelled. I needed a break, as I was so done with this drama. Without another glance, I stopped out of the living room to head to my room. The walls rattle as I slammed the door shut behind me. I was exhausted. All I wanted to do now was forget about dragons and Endseekers that caused mass destruction. I kicked angrily at a pillow that had fallen to the floor.

  There was a soft movement up against my leg. Peaches had followed me and seemed to comfort me. She meowed at me again before rubbing her head against me again, “Thanks.” I smiled softly before reaching down to pick her up. A soft rap came from the door. “Alyssa? Are you alright?” it was Vance’s worried voice.

  “I’m great. Just give me a bit of time to process. Please.” I said a little roughly. I was feeling exhausted and was so ready for my bed.

  After taking at least fifteen minutes to myself to calm down, I finally exited the room to head back to where the guys were sweeping up their mess. Gage was picking up pieces of the ruined wood to throw into a black trash bag while Vance swept up the debris. I had to admit that seeing the guys clean up after themselves made the rest of my anger sizzle out. While I had been in my room, I had changed into a black star-printed pair of pajama bottoms and a dark gray tank top. I made my way over to the couch and pulled a cushion into my arms as I watched them work.

  “Your sister disappearing might not be such a coincidence after all. The Endseekers thrive on putting other species through hell. Just like what they did to our home world before….” Vance sighed heavily, shaking his head.

  “Before they turned everything to shit.” Gage scoffed as he tied up the black bag and took it to place by the front door.

  “Right….”

  “So, what do they have to do with Sammie missing?” my heart pounded in my ears as dread filled my chest.

  “All of those people that have suddenly turned up missing, we weren’t sure until last night when that hybrid popped up. But that’s one of their calling cards, so to speak. They deal in splicing genes with other species and their favorite is taking dragon cells and mixing them with humans. Some humans die right away or survive long enough just to have their bodies rot like you saw last night.

  “I wasn’t dreaming that then?” I thought I had imagined all of it, or I hoped I had, anyway.

  “We had some leads that the Endseekers were running the lab.” Vance continued. “Tonight, during our rounds, we will investigate further. And we plan on starting with the room you found that scale.”

  “I’m going with you.” I piped up.

  Gage laughed as he came to sit beside me on the couch. “And do what? Throw another flashlight at a hybrid if you run into one?”

  My cheeks burned hot, “When did…. No, I’ll fight. At least I know what I’m going against.”

  “It will make things go quicker if she comes. And she can take us to where she found the scale, but after that’s taken care of, she can leave.” Gage replied.

  “Can’t I stay to help? My sister is gone. I want to be there if we find her.”

  “Alyssa, it may already be too for her. If, and I mean if, we find her. That might not be your sister anymore. The Endseekers work fast, and it’s already been 24 hours since she’s been missing.”

  “You don’t know that, so I’m coming with you to find her.” I was determined to not let them talk me out of this.

  Before Vance could respond further, a rapping came from the door. I froze as I didn’t have any family close that would visit me. Also, I didn’t have many friends either that would just drop by without a call or text.

  “Ah, the cavalry has arrived!” Gage waved his hands toward the door.

  “Oh, no… you didn’t….” Vance groaned rubbing his face.

  "Why wouldn’t I? You know he'd be upset if we left him out of the carnage."

  "There will not be any carnage." Vance gritted his teeth.

  “Yea, yea…” Gage waved him off as he headed for the door. He was smiling proudly as he unlocked the bolt. Then, as soon as the lock came off, the door slammed open and knocked Gage to the ground with a grunt.

 

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