Charred Tears (#2, Heart of Fire) (8 page)

Gunner blinked.

“Give the woman your … robe,” Chace told him.

Gunner shook his head and whipped off the space blanket, handing it over to the woman. She circled it around her shoulders and wrapped it around her body.

“What year is this?” she asked, gaze on Chace.

“What year do you think it is?” he asked.

“When they found me, I was in the court of my father, a vizier for the Turkish Empire.”

Chace and Gunner exchanged a look.

“So about a thousand years ago,” Gunner estimated.

“Who found you?” Chace asked.

“Where did all these dragons come from?” Gunner asked simultaneously.

The woman appeared annoyed by the questions. She looked around their campsite, disapproving of the meager accommodations.

“The Protector sent me here, so I assumed Gavin would be here,” she said, ignoring both. She breezed by them to the fire and sat.

Gunner shook his head, the expression on his features as baffled as Chace felt. Chace sorted through what little Hala said, not understanding what was happening or where to start.

“You know Gavin,” he said slowly, returning to the fire.

Gunner ducked inside their tent.

“You
don’t
?” the woman asked pertly. “Gavin is the head of the dragons. But you should know that, since you belong to the Protector.”

“I feel like we’re talking in two different languages,” Chace said with a frustrated sigh. “Who is the Protector and why did he send you
here
?”

She assessed him critically, her eyes flashing deep, mysterious purple. After a moment, she tossed her long, purple-black hair over one shoulder and took a deep breath.

“You should know this,” she said and turned her gaze to the fire. “Gavin is the leader of all shifters and dragonkind. As is tradition, his daughter becomes the Protector, a human with dragon blood who can use our magic to safeguard us. Dragons are the strongest of the shifters, so the Protector must be born to a powerful dragon. The Protector always mates with a dragon, the strongest alive at the time, in order to ensure the line of strong Protectors is never broken. The chosen dragon safeguards her, becoming the king at his queen’s side. It’s been this way for thousands of years.” Her last sentence was icy, pointed.

“Is this shit in a book somewhere? Because no one bothered to tell me!” Chace snapped in response.

“You should just
know.
You’re a shifter.”

“I’m starting to hate shifters!”

“Whoa, dragons,” Gunner said, re-emerging. “Y’all are always wound up so tight. Here.” He tossed clothing to the newcomer. “You can change in the tent.”

She rose, the space blanket dropping from her shoulders.

“Or right here works, too,” Gunner added, watching.

Chace’s attention was on the fire, the flames taking the edge off his anger. If he’d known any of this … if someone had just
told
him one part of the destiny he was supposed to fulfill … Instead, he’d been given some kind of blind test, one he failed.

No wonder Gavin hates me.

“Skylar is the Protector,” he started. “She takes care of us. I take care of her.”

“Yes.” The woman’s voice was muffled as she pulled on the thin but warm thermal shirt Gunner had given her.

Shit.
He reviewed what he’d learned from Skylar about her mother, working hard to connect all the dots with his tired mind.

“When the last Protector disappeared, the shifters started disappearing, too, because she wasn’t there to help them?” he questioned.

“It started long ago. There was an internal war with the shifters, one I assume is not still happening?” the woman asked.

“Not that we know of,” Gunner answered.

“Good. Four of us were caught in it and put into sleep for inciting a rebellion of sorts.” She motioned to the sky without looking upward. “Dragons have always been the most scarce of the shifters. I came here with twenty-one others. All of us were freed by the Protector this night, so I believe there were eighteen dragons captured since Gavin’s Protector went missing. No telling how many other shifters from the other clans.”

“Hundreds,” Chace murmured. “Those remaining could fit in a small building.”

“So many.” The woman’s haughty carriage fell. She appeared worn down by the news.

“Where did you go for a thousand years?” Gunner asked.

“I was put into a deep sleep.” She shrugged.

“I’m Gunner, by the way. This is Chace.”

“Hala.”

“Skylar … the Protector sent you to me?” Chace questioned.

“She sent us away,” Hala answered. “Where else would we go?”

“You could track me.”

“Of course. The Protector and her dragon can be found by any shifter, more so after they’re magic is connected. It’s the nature of their bond.”

“Like how they found the bar, no matter where it was,” Chace mused. “How did Skylar wake you up?”

“I don’t know. The golden rope put me to sleep. The Protector woke me up. It’s all I remember.”

“Those lassos are no joke,” Chace grunted, recalling the effect one had on him. “We have a problem, Gunner. Freyja said –”

“Freyja?” Hala interjected. “She’s been asleep almost as long as I have. She disappeared right before I fell asleep.” Hala’s features were hard to read, a sign there was more to the story than she was telling.

Chace stared at her.

“You’re sure?” Gunner asked.

“Of course.”

“I saw her in a dream,” Chace said. “She told me to come here tonight.”

“This is good,” Hala replied. “You are strong, if you can communicate with those who are asleep. This means your Protector is strong, too. You must do well together.”

“Not so sure about that.”

Hala frowned at the note in his voice. “Why are you not with your Protector?”

“It’s complicated,” he muttered. “I don’t have any magic, either.”

She studied him, gaze dropping to his heart, as if she was able to see through his clothing and skin to the core of him.

“That is not good,” she said finally. “You must go to Gavin. If he lives, he is the strongest and oldest shifter alive.”

“Oh, he lives.”

“He probably doesn’t want anything to do with Chace right now,” Gunner added.

“Long story,” Chace said at Hala’s perplexed look. “Somehow, Skylar freed twenty two dragons from some sort of deep sleep. She wasn’t with Gavin when she did this?”

“Gavin was not there,” Hala reported. “Another man was, though.”

Chace stiffened. “Who?”

There was a thoughtful pause. “She called him Mason.”

“One of the slayers. What is she doing with them again? Why isn’t she safe with Gavin?” Chace absently touched the wound on his head.

“Maybe she’s trying to help the shifters,” Gunner suggested. “She woke up all the dragons.”

“I think it’s more likely she’s trying to help the brainwashed slayers. She doesn’t know about Dillon, and we don’t know if Mason is trustworthy either.”

“Mason is a shifter,” Hala said. “If the shifters are no longer at war with one another, then she is safe.”

Unease trickled through Chace. Dillon, too, was a shifter, a griffin with a bad attitude. Gavin warned him that whoever was behind the brainwashing of slayers was close to Skylar. What if Dillon and Mason both were manipulating her?

… the mastermind still hides.
Freyja had said in his dream.

Caleb was brainwashed and Dillon too hot-tempered. Chace realized he knew nothing of Mason, the third person who had made up the inner circle around Skylar.

“Maybe this shifter war isn’t over,” he said out loud. “Maybe it’s started again, this time using the children of shifters to track down their enemies and put them into this strange sleep. Or kill them, in my circumstance.”

“Your death would be a great boon to any enemy, shifter or otherwise,” Hala agreed. “Without you, the Protector is vulnerable. Without her, the shifters as a whole are.”

“Whoever is behind this used Skylar to find Chace, so they could take him out then take her out then destroy the shifters,” Gunner summarized. “Or some of the shifters. Depending on who the enemy is here.”

“Very much a possibility,” Hala said. “Without Chace and the Protector, there is no one to safeguard the shifters.”

“That’s why I’m alive,” Chace said. “Gavin knew all this, didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

What an asshole.
Chace said nothing, understanding Gavin’s reasoning more than he cared to while also realizing he’d made a few, horrible life choices that resulted in leaving Skylar vulnerable.

“Does being the Protector’s other half have any perks?” he asked, half-joking. “Can you get us off this mountain?”

“Yes.”

“What’s the plan?” Gunner asked.

“Warn Skylar,” Chace said. “Find Gavin and get our magic back.”

The idea of seeing her again made his blood race and his heart pound.

“I’ll prepare myself,” Hala said, standing. She stripped out of the clothing Gunner brought her and dropped it in place, then strode away from them. When she had enough room to change, she dropped to all fours.

“Right now, I wish I wasn’t celibate,” Gunner said, eyes on her ass.

The sight of the beautiful woman’s rear did nothing for Chace. He turned to face the opposite direction, his thoughts on when he’d had Skylar in a similar position. Seconds later, he heard the sounds of muscle tearing and bones breaking, an indication Hala had started to transform herself.

“You uh, think you should see Skylar before you have your magic?” Gunner asked quietly. “In case, you know. She wants to use those ropes on us.”

“I don’t know if Gavin will unlock my magic. If I’m going to make things right – or try to – then there’s no better place to start.”

“I’ll let you do the talking. Might give me a chance to escape.”

Chace rolled his eyes, hearing the empty threat. Gunner would never abandon him.

He’s a better person than I am.

The impatient cry of a dragon informed him that him Hala was done shifting. Chace got to his feet and pushed off the space blanket, turning to see her again. The purple dragon was waiting.

“Let’s get this over with,” Chace said, a combination of dread and hope in his gut. He approached her, followed by Gunner. “Hala, take us back to wherever it was the Protector freed you.”

The dragon bowed its head to show it heard.

“I hate heights, and I hate flying with dragons,” Gunner moaned. “Panthers don’t fly!”

Chace laughed. “C’mon scaredy cat. Let’s get going.”

Chapter Eight

“Caleb?” Skylar pushed the door to his house open. All of the lights appeared to be on, and the foyer was quiet. She spotted droplets of dried blood on the ground leading from somewhere in the house, down to the library where she’d been earlier then out the door.

Approaching the intersection, her attention was compelled towards the library once more. The shifter magic was still strong, even though she thought she’d freed all the dragons she found. Had she missed some?

Logically, she knew she should follow the blood trail into the house, but the pull of shifter magic didn’t let her. She obeyed her instincts instead and returned to the library. Like the rest of the house, it was quiet, aside from the whir of air conditioning.

Skylar searched the case at the center of the library once more but didn’t spot any more dragons. She eased the door opened and picked up the figurine closest to her. It was a tiger. Clenching it in her hand, she counted to ten, not expecting her dragon magic to work on any other kind of shifter.

Like the dragons, the tiger came to life in her hand.

Startled, she almost dropped it. Skylar moved away from the collection and set the tiger down in the middle of the library. She backed away quickly, putting a table between the two of them.

Uncertain what to think of the feline shifter, she watched it grow from tiny figurine into a white tiger with black stripes and eyes that glowed almost teal. It growled as it expanded rapidly, eclipsing the size of any wild cat she’d ever seen on television or at the zoo.

The size of a propane tank, the powerful animal stood perfectly still in the center of the library, its skin quivering and its nose up, smelling the air.

Skylar eyed a bookshelf nearby, wondering if she’d have a chance to climb it, if the cat spotted her and wasn’t friendly.

She inched towards it, drawing its attention. It turned, stalking towards her with the effortless, deceptively simple walk of a predator.

“Nice, kitty,” she said and held her hands out. “I brought you back or … uh woke you up or … whatever. From there.” She pointed to the case.

It stopped walking to look, and she tried to remind herself there was a human somewhere inside the animal.

“No fried chicken here, kitty,” she murmured.

The great cat stared at the collection then switched directions. With a sudden roar, it leapt up and smashed into the glass, knocking the case over. It shattered.

So much for being discreet.
Skylar shielded her face from flying glass. When the tiger’s bellow turned to a purr, she lowered her hands.

The tiger sat beside the shattered case and its scattered figurines, tail flicking back and forth, as if it was waiting for something. When she didn’t move, the teal eyes moved to her, and it growled.

“Okay. Agreed. I need to free them. But you’re really not helping me here,” she told it, looking around for all the figurines. “You just made a big mess.”

Its growl turned to a low rumble. Leaning down, it plucked up one of the statues carefully between its teeth and tossed its head, flinging it into the air to her.

Skylar caught it. “Another tiger. Great.” She closed her hand around it and counted to ten. When it began to move, she set it down and stepped away.

The tiger picked up another and flung it to her.

“No, you have to wait,” she said firmly. “I’ll fix all of them. But I came here to find someone.”

Another growl.

“Look, I deal with dragons normally. So you can throw a tantrum all you want, but you can’t beat a dragon’s hissy fit.”