Embrace the Light (Godstone Saga 5)

His brother grabbed his arm, pulling Eno’s gaze to his face. He held up a spare gun. “For Drayce.”

Eno took the weapon and shoved it into the waistband of his pants. There was a good chance that Drayce wasn’t going to get the chance to use it. Eno was planning to shout the code word the second he thought Drayce was within range of hearing him.

He glanced at Adrian to find a nervous and slightly crooked smile on his lips. He had to be out of his element now. This thief’s success was marked by not getting caught in gunfire like this.

Ready? Adrian mouthed.

Eno nodded.

Adrian jumped up and began firing wildly down the wide hall, while Davi rolled around the edge of the doorway and joined him. The kidnappers instantly retreated to cover. Eno jumped through the doorway and immediately turned right, putting a wall between him and the bastards who took Drayce. The smaller hallway already possessed one dead body with a gunshot to the forehead and a narrow set of stairs.

The second his foot hit the first step, more answering gunfire broke out and he flattened himself to the stairs. He crawled up to the landing and stopped as someone on the second floor started to fire at him.

“Drayce!” Eno bellowed at the top of his lungs. “Drayce!”

“Eno?” The answer came back a little softer, but it was unmistakably Drayce. Oh, thank fuck!

“Toaster! Toaster! Toaster!” Eno shouted over and over again. There wasn’t an ounce of remorse in him, but there was a shiver of fear. He’d seen and felt what it was like to face Drayce in his dragon form. No matter what kind of reassurances Drayce gave him, that deeper survival instinct with his brain still screamed run.

“Fuck, yes!” Drayce shouted, and Eno swore his voice was somehow deeper.

Shit. Maybe this was a bad idea. Drayce’s dragon was enormous, and he was up on the second floor. If he shifted completely, he was going to bring the entire shrine down on top of them.

Eno hesitated, the wooden stairs biting into his chest and abdomen, as he tried to decide what to do next. Adrian and Davi weren’t going to last much longer. They had to be running low on ammunition. He needed to make a try for Drayce and then maybe they could run for the back door together.

A blood-curdling scream echoed through the second floor followed by the thunder of frantic footsteps running toward him. Eno barely managed to get his gun up and squeeze off two rounds, placing the bullets neatly in the man’s chest. He gasped and fell forward, tumbling the last of the stairs to crumple at the landing. Eno stared at him for a second. It was like he hadn’t noticed Eno was there. Or he hadn’t cared.

More footsteps drew Eno’s eyes up the staircase and a chill ran along his spine. His finger flinched and he almost didn’t stop himself in time. Drayce was standing at the top of the stairs, but it wasn’t quite him. His normally pale skin was darker now and looked almost pebbled. Green eyes glared at the corpse, but the pupils were more like reptilian slits. Long, black talons tipped his fingers and scored the stone walls.

“Motherfucker,” Drayce swore. Licks of fire curled up his lips as he spoke and kissed his cheeks. Somehow Eno pulled his gaze away from the creature that was somehow half man and half dragon to a flickering glow on the second floor. Something was already on fire, and it was likely growing. Smoke was creeping along the ceiling and filling the hall.

Drayce took a step closer and Eno jerked, his shoulders slamming into the wall while the gun whipped back to point at Drayce’s chest.

His friend lifted his hands and smiled, though it was still a cold and wicked thing. “I’m in control. I promise,” Drayce reassured him.

“S-sorry,” Eno apologized but still struggled to lower his weapon. Drayce didn’t seem bothered by it.

“Who’s here?”

“Davi and Adrian. They’ve got to be running low on ammo now. We need to hurry.”

Drayce nodded and stared at Eno. “Toaster, right?”

“Yep. Caelan said toaster. Have a blast.”

“Fuck yes,” Drayce repeated, and this time Eno could feel the resonance of that growl in his chest.

Drayce darted down the rest of the stairs, moving too fast to be more than a blur. A black blur that seemed to be much bigger than his normally slender frame. Eno began to follow but jumped back when flames blasted through the halls and painted the far wall. Men screamed in a mix of pain and panic. Walls groaned and something crashed.

The gunfire had completely stopped. Eno stared along the hall and was surprised to see Davi poke his head into the corridor. He frantically waved Eno to him.

Sucking in a breath, Eno ran, joining Adrian and his brother in the small room off the kitchen near the rear door.

“What the fuck?” Davi demanded.

“Drayce. Holy fuck, that’s Drayce and he is pissed,” Adrian exploded in a rush.

The entire building suddenly shook and groaned loudly. Black smoke was filling the entire place, making it impossible to see or even breathe. Eno grabbed the shoulders of both men and turned them toward the door. “Go! Now! He’s going to demolish the entire place!”