Dark and Light (A Kindred Tales Duet)

“He won’t be for long,” Raze said.

And then he changed.

Thirty-Two

Lucia watched in awe as the change happened right in front of her eyes.

First, Raze’s arms and legs lengthened and thickened. Then his neck grew longer, and his face pressed up and outward—his mouth becoming the massive jaws of a predator.

After that, the big Kindred burst out of his clothes—his trousers and boots incinerating to ashes as he shifted forms. Gleaming emerald scales flowed over his body, which was growing along with the rest of him—scales which showed the golden glow of flames between their edges.

Giant webbed wings burst from his back, vast and black as they stirred the air in the alley into whirling dust devils. Finally, a long, lashing tail sprouted, whipping angrily from left to right.

To Luci, her new mate’s Drake was magnificent! But even his transformation took only half her attention—the other half was firmly centered on her daughter.

Tony had been watching Raze change too and now he was standing there, bug-eyed and slack-jawed, as though he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Luci’s heart leapt when she saw that in his confusion, he had loosened his grip on Frannie’s arm.

“Frannie!” she cried and held out her arms. “Come to Mami, now!”

In one quick pull, Frannie yanked free of Tony’s hand.

“Hey!” He made a snatch for her but Frannie was too quick. Darting around a dumpster, she pelted right for Luci.

Luci caught her daughter in her arms and held her tight, fighting not to sob with relief.

“Oh, mija!” she whispered, squeezing Frannie to her. “Oh thank the Holy Virgin you’re all right!”

“Daddy grabbed me, Mami.” Frannie’s big brown eyes were wide. “He hurt Abuela and Lady when they tried to stop him and he grabbed me away!” She held out her arm. “And he hurt my wrist!”

“Oh, my poor baby!” Gently, Frannie kissed her daughter’s wrist, which did look swollen, as though maybe Tony had twisted it too hard and given her a hairline fracture. “I promise he won’t ever hurt you again,” she swore.

“Mami,” Frannie asked. “Is the dragon going to punish Daddy now for being mean?”

At her words, Raze’s Drake swung its huge head towards them and looked Luci in the eyes.

“Go now,” Luci heard it say, its deep voice reverberating inside her head. “Take the girl away for a short time. She should not witness this.”

“Yes, mija,” Luci said, speaking to her daughter even as she locked eyes with the Drake. “Yes, he’s going to punish Daddy. But right now we’re going to go check on Abuela and Lady.”

As she turned to leave, she saw Tony’s white face from the corner of her eye.

“What are you?” Her ex’s voice was faint with fear as he stared up at the Drake. “Just what in the hell are you?”

The Drake roared—a sound that seemed to shake the buildings on either side of him. And in his roar, Luci heard the words,

“You hurt those I love. I AM YOUR DOOM.”

Putting a hand over Frannie’s face to keep her daughter from seeing what was coming next, she hurried away. Once she might have had sympathy for Tony, but after years or terrorizing her and their children and after the way he had hurt Lady and her mom, she had no sympathy left.

Let Raze’s Drake do what it wanted to with him—it would only be what he deserved.

Thirty-Three

“We’ll have to go to the Emergency Room,” Luci said, looking at all the injuries.

Her mom and Frannie both appeared to have fractured wrists and poor Lady was still crying on the floor of the apartment. Luci had examined her as best she could and it seemed like the dog had some broken bones as well.

“And we need to bring poor Lady to the Emergency Vet, too. Dios—where will we get the money?” she muttered under her breath.

But it had to be done. She had to take care of the people she loved, even though she had no idea how she was going to pay for it. Maybe she could work some extra shifts—

“Relax, sweetheart. You’re not alone anymore—I can help you deal with this.”

At the sound of Raze’s voice coming through their new link, Luci felt a surge of relief. Of course! In all the confusion, she’d almost forgotten they were bonded. Raze loved her—he would help her bear this burden. He would help her pay for the medical care her family needed.

“I can do better than that,” Raze’s voice came from just outside the apartment door. “I can heal them myself—or my Drake can.”

Luci ran to let him in.

“Raze!” She threw her arms around the big Kindred’s neck and he lifted her off the floor and held her tight for a moment.

“Sorry I wasn’t here sooner. I had to go back to my domicile for some new clothes.”

“Raze, Raze!” The twins suddenly stopped crying and ran to him. Frannie came too, smiling through her tears of pain.