Veiled Threat by Shannon Mayer Read Free Book Online Page B

spine. “Stay out of my head, Blaz.” I snapped.
    He had the gall to laugh, a deep rumble slipping through him and into me as he dove. I clenched the leather and Alex let out a series of excited yips and howls.
    Liam said nothing. Smart man, he knew when to wait for me.
    We dropped in large, lazy circles, the two dragons mirroring one another. From where we were I saw the city of Portland. I Tracked Sas and the ogres, felt them pulling me away from the city proper. My gut clenched. I knew where they were. Fuck it all, I did not want to visit the place where Orion had almost broken free. No choice, I had to speak to the ogres, had to see if they were with us or not.
    Time to suck it up.
    “All right, kiddos, we’re going to Mt. Hood.”

Chapter 5
    T he ground was thick with cooled and blackened lava, and the mountain was bare of trees and wildlife. Ophelia and Blaz didn’t seem bothered by it, landing on the edge of the lake where the flow was the thinnest, the surface cracking under their weight.
    Erik slid off Ophelia’s back and glanced around. “Let me guess, you had something to do with this? Untrained, you cause a lot of problems, don’t you?” The second bit was not a question but a statement. Asshole.
    I gritted my teeth against the flood of heat climbing into my face as I slid off Blaz’s back. Embarrassment wasn’t something I was used to and it irritated me. Which made me angry, a much more familiar emotion. Liam hopped off behind me and we stepped out in front to meet Sas head on.
    “Not on purpose,” I said.
    Erik snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. “Rarely is with someone like you.”
    Damn, he was pissing me off. Screw it, I would ignore him, get him to show me what I needed and then send him on his merry fucking way. I Tracked Sas and felt her moving toward us. To say she was not happy was an understatement. A self-righteous fury slipped along her threads into me. Yeah, this was going to get interesting real fast. At least we wouldn’t have to look for her.
    Liam lifted his face to the breeze rolling down Mt. Hood. “The whole mountain is quiet now. Almost like it never tried to kill us.”
    “I wouldn’t worry about the things that aren’t ogre shaped and carrying weapons right now,” I said, shifting my stance to face the oncoming ogress, and of course, she happened to be headed our way through the only clump of trees and bush left standing. Even if it was all dead. I saw her in the distance, her violet skin catching the light here and there. Or maybe that was a weapon the light danced off. That was more likely. Behind Sas was a veritable army of ogres, the colors of the different gangs’ skin catching the light as they drew closer.
    And it wasn’t just Sas who was angry; the whole of the group was geared up for a fight. Suddenly I was very glad Ophelia had come along. Two dragons were a hell of a lot more intimidating than one.
    Blaz glared at me.
    I’m not intimidating enough for you?
    “The more the merrier and all that shit.” I pulled my sword from my back and uncoiled my whip with the other hand. A little bit of distance wasn’t a bad thing with angry ogres.
    Thirty seconds passed while we waited, weapons out and tension high.
    Thirty one and a half seconds, and Sas raged in front of us, battle axe raised high above her head, fury lighting her features. I didn’t move, didn’t even change my breathing, though my heart was pounding like an oversized jackhammer.
    I tipped my chin up a fraction of an inch. “Hello, Sas.”
    “I can’t believe you’d dare come here. You are stupid.” She slowed her steps, her eyes only on me. Fortunately, the gang of ogres behind her wasn’t quite as single-minded; they formed a long line, their eyes glued to the two dragons.
    Hell yes for back up. I would never complain again about Blaz coming along.
    About damn time.
    I ignored him and struggled to find the right words, words I’d been working over for the last month. “Sla