Marked Prince - Michelle M. Pillow Page 0,67

like what you see?” A woman moved to lift the scrap so they could get a better look.

“Wrong size,” Payton dismissed, moving away.

“How about you?” the shopkeeper asked.

“She’s the boss.” Jaxx followed Payton.

She led him to another narrow passage between buildings. Jaxx frowned. The city’s secret byways were not made for a man of his size but this one was a little wider than the one they just came from. The dirt on the ground appeared less traveled the deeper they walked. The metal walls create an effective barricade on each side. There were no doors in which to escape. His foot bumped into a bottle on the ground, sending it rolling.

“Shh,” Payton scolded with a flick of her hand.

At first, he thought she scolded him over the bottle, but then he detected the murmur of hushed voices coming from ahead.

“Did you get it?”

“Almost.”

“Lorman won’t know what hit him.”

“Nice and roasty. Filet of traitor.”

“Let this be a warning to those who would cross us. There’s only one supplier in town.”

Payton’s eyes flashed as she looked at him. She mouthed, “Doyen.”

Jaxx nodded. The space was too small for a fully shifted dragon and cat, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t half shift. City eyes wouldn’t see them here.

Fur sprouted on Payton’s face and arms. The silver-white covered every inch of flesh. Her mouth pulled forward, and her pupils became vertical slits. Sharp claws grew from her fingertips. She stood as a woman-cat, caught between a full cat-shift and human.

Jaxx let the hard armor of the dragon cover his flesh. He too half shifted and stood as a man-dragon. Talons extended from his hands, and his teeth sharpened.

The passageway came to a dead end. The only way out was the direction they’d come or straight up into the sky. Since Jaxx was the only one who could grow wings, there was no escape for Doyen and his men.

Doyen and two of his followers stood beside a rusted still. A barrel-chested thug had his arms crossed over his chest. Burn scars covered the neck and face of the other, with the variegated flesh changing the shape of his nose and left eye.

A third follower laid on his back, working to sabotage the device. Liquor dripped on the ground next to his muddy red boots. “Pass me the wrench.”

At their entrance, Doyen stepped back and pulled two blades from his waist. Barrel instantly dropped his arms and hulked his way toward Jaxx. Burn grabbed the laser wrench from on top of the still and charged Payton.

Barrel swept his arms inward to pound Jaxx’s shoulders from both directions. The movement carried with it the sound of landcraft hydraulics. Jaxx grunted as pain shot through him at the man’s inhuman strength. If not for the dragon armor, his bones would have cracked under the impact. He drew his hands upward and thrust out, reversing Barrel’s attack.

Payton inhaled sharply. The unmistakable smell of blood hit Jaxx. He saw Payton move in the corner of his vision and didn’t take his attention away from the brute before him. She was still standing and would call out if she needed him.

Barrel’s long-sleeve shirt made it difficult to tell, but as they exchanged blows, Jaxx quickly began to suspect the man’s arms were bionic with tubes and metal replacing bone and muscle beneath synthetic skin. Barrel’s chest felt like punching stone, and each swing of the man’s fist crashed into Jaxx like the blast from a spaceship.

Payton roared and slashed her claws.

“Kill them,” Doyen ordered.

Barrel laughed and brought his fist down to crush Jaxx’s skull. Jaxx darted to the side and stabbed his talons into the man’s neck. He ripped wiring, slicing the synthetic flesh. The man’s arm dropped as blood and bionic fluid flowed from the wound. Soon Barrel was on both knees, appearing stunned that he’d been beaten.

Payton had Burn on his back, claws extended. The third follower had scrambled to his feet and leaped for Payton’s arm to stop her.

Doyen came at Jaxx with both blades, keeping him from helping Payton. Jaxx’s arms were heavy from Barrel’s heavy blows. His shoulder popped when he lifted his arm but he ignored the pain. Doyen’s knife sliced into Jaxx’s forearm.

Jaxx grunted as he grabbed the man’s wrist and flung him over his head. Doyen crashed into the metal wall. The sound he made reverberated over the small enclosure.

Jaxx surged toward Payton, sweeping his leg to kick Burn in the stomach to stop his advance as she handled Red Boots.