“Him and those half-breeds are all the same. He thinks he can come in here all high and mighty and order us around? They wouldn’t exist without us!”

The demon had to shout to be heard over the rain as my panic increased. I kept my wings inside my body but allowed my back spikes and claws to slide between my nail beds. Poison dripped behind the cuticle, ready if I needed it. One swipe would at least be enough to slow him down.

“You must perform quite well for him. None of the other breeders get special treatment. Let’s see what he’s so protective of, shall we?”

The demon moved close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from him, despite the cold and the rain.

“You could be nice to me, couldn’t you?” I pleaded.

His yellow eyes leered at me, but I kept my body loose and relaxed like Kieran had taught me. I subtly flexed my claws, then struck. Or I tried to. The collar went viciously tight around my neck, sending panic signals to my brain as my arms twitched uselessly, missing my target.

The demon laughed then, an ugly sound that was taunting. “How much fun we will have.”

I fought him, even with the collar cutting off my air and blood flow, causing my head to pound painfully as I dug my claws into the dirt. He pulled harder on my chain and I flared my wings, pumping them hard to create more resistance against him. Black edged around my vision, and I knew I needed to do something to get the chain out of his hands, or he’d likely choke me into unconsciousness. My claws caught around a decent sized rock and I threw it, not hesitating as I hurled it towards him with all my strength.

It hit him in the face, and he snarled in pain. “Fucking bitch!”

I went psychotic on him, my scales roughly scraping the dirt as I laid my hands on any and every rock around me, making it impossible for him to dodge. The chain loosened, and I sucked in a greedy breath, pushing off with my legs as hard as I could. The demon lunged forward, his fingers just brushing the edge of the chain before I was high enough that he couldn’t reach. He fell face first into the mud, and I gave him a mocking smile as I landed on a large boulder, yanking my chain high out of his reach. My smile died as he reached to his waist and withdrew two knives. I dodged the first, but the second tore through my left wing, pinning me in place to the rock. Agony lanced through my body, and I couldn’t so much as breathe without sending another wave of torment through my body. This was ten times worse than being shot cleanly with an arrow.

My chain dangled down below me, and with a grunt he jumped high into the air, yelling in triumph when his fingers grasped the edges. I managed one screech of anguish before the collar tightened again, my distress call disappearing amongst the torrent of the rain. I twisted around and grasped the dagger, freeing it a split second before he tugged the chain. Had the knife still been in my wing, it likely would have torn it in half. I tumbled to the ground, using my wings to aim for him. The knife was in my hand, and my claws were coated with poison. I fell upon him with the intensity of a rapid animal, crazed enough that he dropped the chain to defend himself.