Battle Bond: An Urban Fantasy Dragon Series (Death Before Dragons #2) - Lindsay Buroker Page 0,43

strength of my father’s blood, three hundred pounds was too much for me to lift from a dead stop. I pressed Chopper’s blade against his neck again.

“Get out. We’re going to have a chat.” I glanced through the broken windows, expecting the other orcs would come running up.

“Got nothing to say to the Ruin Bringer,” the orc growled.

I yanked off his ski mask, revealing blue-tinted skin and a short snout full of pointed teeth, including two tusks that hung over his lips, giving him a lisp when he spoke English.

“You attack me just for fun or were you after something else?” I could question him here as well as anywhere, but the wail of sirens in the distance promised it wouldn’t be long before the police showed up. I kept my ears and my senses open so I would know when the other two orcs came close.

“Not for fun. To kill you.”

“I take out some relative of yours?” I’d killed two orc rapists the winter before—they’d sworn a biological imperative forced them to take women to breed and repopulate their species here on Earth—but none since then.

“You hunt the magical, you tray— traitor— traitorous bitch.”

“You shouldn’t use vocabulary words too big to get out around your tusks. And I’m not a traitor. Earth is my home, and these are my people. I’m protecting them.” I thought of the people dropping below their tables and wondered how many had been hurt in the shooting, hurt because these jackasses had been after me. I pushed my blade deep enough to draw blood. “What prompted you to shoot me today?”

“The Pride’s got an extra good bounty out on your head. Freshly issued. You better stay out of town, bitch.”

“Thanks for the tip. Very magnanimous considering you were trying to shoot me thirty seconds ago.” I started to lean back—I could sense the other two orcs coming, only two blocks away and running toward us—but I paused. “You know where that silver dragon is living?”

“Screw you.”

I dug Chopper in deeper, not enough to sever an artery, but I bet I was tickling his glottis. He hissed with pain.

“I have no qualms about killing someone who opened fire on a restaurant and probably put people in the hospital—if not the graveyard. But if you give me a lead on the dragon, I’ll let you live.”

“How should I know? Dragon lairs are in caves, not in cities. You want a lead, go for a hike.” He jerked his head away, banging it against the window hard enough to knock out the already-shattered glass.

But there was nowhere for the orc to go—that side of the van was flat against the street. He roared, yanked out a knife, and twisted in his seat, lunging toward me. I had little choice but to defend myself, and with Chopper already near his neck, I sank it in, cutting his throat. His body stiffened, and the knife fell from his fingers as his life’s blood spurted from his neck.

Frustrated with the situation, I climbed out of the van and leaped to the sidewalk. Pain erupted from where the bullet was lodged in my hip. I swore and barely kept from screaming and pitching to the ground.

Why couldn’t I protect humanity without being at war with every magical being on Earth? The irritatingly familiar tightness came to my chest, but I couldn’t stop to dig out my inhaler yet.

My senses warned me seconds before the other two orcs ran around a corner and into view. I was waiting with Fezzik out and pointed at their chests and Chopper in my other hand, blood darkening the blade. It glowed a soft blue, always pleased when it had the opportunity to do battle.

I kept my injured hip turned away from the orcs, hoping they wouldn’t notice it, though I knew they would smell the blood. They should smell their dead comrade too. Maybe that would make them pause.

The orcs saw me and stopped altogether. I had no idea what expression was on my face, but it must have promised their impending death. They lunged back around the corner and ran back the way they had come.

As the sirens drew closer, I walked toward the nearest alley. My grimace deepened as I sensed another magical aura, this one sailing in from above. By the time I was halfway through the alley, Zav had landed somewhere close and shifted into his human form.

When he stepped into the end of the alley, he was impeccable, as always,