Page 81 of Cops and Robbers

Midnight lifted the gun toward Lewis. Fuck. Helplessness tore at him. As far back as he was, there was nothing he could do to help the situation.

“Okay.” Kate turned her tear-streaked face toward him and grabbed the frail body from the case. As soon as Kate stood with Midnight’s body in her arms, Midnight grabbed Kate into a stranglehold and pressed the gun to her temple.

Midnight’s dark eyes targeted Raz.

He stilled, palms lifting. “We aren’t here to harm you. Let Kate go,” he shouted over the roaring wind and propellers.

Midnight spoke into Kate’s ear, and even through the wind he caught it. “Their blood is on your hands. This time, we’ll die together.”

A tear fell from Kate’s eye. Midnight took a step toward the night sky.

“No,” he shouted.

Midnight pointed her gun at him. He hadn’t noticed until then that he’d stepped forward.

“Don’t be the hero,” Midnight yelled at him. “You’ll only get yourself killed.”

She dragged Kate back another step.

Fight, damnit.

Caige moved. A shot rang out, piercing Raz’s eardrum. Midnight flung herself and Kate out the back.

The bullet thudded into padding behind Raz. Fuck! Raz ran down the ramp. Caige had already sprinted ahead of him and jumped.

Raz dove into the air.

Free fall tickled his lungs. The wind stung his eyes until tears blurred his vision.

He didn’t understand the rules of Kate’s reincarnation, especially when he had a spirit tie to her. But having to wait for her to reincarnate and grow older, no matter how long that took, was a tight chain around his heart. He couldn’t lose her.

Two tangled shadows plummeted into gray clouds: Midnight and Kate. Dark smoke in the shape of a ghostly dragon, long neck and sleek swept-back wings, followed after them. Raz’s Insight flared to life, taking in all the surrounding energies. Birds flew below—but most importantly, no humans were in the immediate vicinity.

Mist wetted Raz’s face, blinding him. He kept his hands tucked at his sides, diving through the air. Focus. Stay balanced.

He cleared the clouds. Rain pelted his body. Black fire streaked across the sky. What the fuck are you doing, Caige?

The mass Caige aimed his dragon fire at separated. One became a speck that Caige dashed after. The other tumbled for a bit before righting into bent arms and legs. Orris and sugar cookies.

Kate.

But past her, green land and dark blue water came into focus. They were too close!

He barreled toward her. The strands of her black hair and the tops of pine trees came into view. He shifted.

Fire blazed along his spine, and he shrank and stretched at the same time. He reached out with dragon claws and grasped her torso before whipping out his wings. The stress tore at his muscles as he felt the wind nearly rip his shoulders from their sockets. He gentled into a glide.

Got you…

Kate grabbed hold of his clawed feet, hands shaking.

He couldn’t spot Caige. The rain misted over the water below. Insight at full throttle, he inhaled the energies of the fish in the lake and the mammals in the forest. As he locked onto Caige’s smoky energy, a plume of debris erupted into the air as if Caige had crashed. A fall like that could kill a dragon.

No.

Dragon fire released from his lungs. He raced to the ground. Trees were knocked over. A mound of dirt surrounded a small imprint. And Caige lay in human form, face up—unmoving.

Raz’s claws released their painful grip on Kate’s torso. She tucked, rolling into a somersault on the ground. Brush pricked at her head and spine. A sharp sting ripened on her shoulder. The fall was farther than she’d anticipated. She halted in a crouch, breathing hard and fighting through the ache in her back. Icy rain poured over her, seeping into her clothes. A blinding light flashed around her as Raz transformed back into a fully clothed human.