dragons breath 01 - stalked by flames (38 page)

Mirrikh went after me again, barreling forward this time. I’d barely finished standing before he crashed into me like a bulldozer. There was no time to duck or leap out of the way. I hit the ground hard on my back. His momentum kept him going with one of his back feet stomping on my right arm, crushing it. I screamed as the worst pain imaginable rain through me and my vision began to blacken. I contained a whimper and rolled to my side.

In the nearly dark sky, I saw second green dragon approaching the neighborhood. Mirrikh must have called in reinforcements. Aidan had told me they could do that if another one of their kind were nearby. I rose onto my left elbow and waited for my vision to stop spinning. How in the hell was I going to take on two of the creatures when I was already getting knocked around badly by one?

My right arm was bent out of shape and hung limply, but with each moment that passed my adrenaline dulled the pain to a tolerable level. I had no idea if that was normal or part of my dragon-slayer abilities. Reaching over with my left hand, I took hold of the fallen sword. Aidan had taught me to fight with both arms for a reason. I wouldn’t give up until there wasn’t a limb left to use.

The green dragon landed a short distance down the street. Mirrikh roared at him, his attention momentarily diverted. His buddy roared back and headed toward a house where several people were skulking in the dark around the side of a house. One of them had a dog who pulled on its leash and started barking loudly. I squinted. Was that a German shepherd?

As the snarling creature approached, a man lifted something on the ground and his companions scrambled into what appeared to be another foxhole. Grunting, I forced myself to get up. I had to do something to save them. Just as I was halfway to my feet, a red dragon arrived. I recognized him right away—Aidan. He leaped onto the green one, wrapping one of his scaly arms around its neck. With his other arm, he clawed at its eyes.

I wanted to watch him fight, but Mirrikh was coming for me. Feeling a sharp pang in my ankle where I must have twisted it, I settled for crouching low. The dragon thundered toward me, shaking the ground with every step. I narrowed my eyes and pushed all the pain away. Maybe I was beaten and broken, but I wasn’t dead yet.

He opened his jaw and let loose a roar of fire. It engulfed me so completely I couldn’t see anything through it. Not knowing if he’d attack me from high or low, I made a quick judgment call. I angled my body sideways and thrust my sword straight out to where the dragon had been. My fingers gripped it as tightly as they could, preparing for impact. Mirrikh ran right into it, jerking the blade. To my surprise, the sword sank into soft flesh. My vision returned as the flames died around me.

I looked over and found my hand nearly in the dragon’s mouth. The blade had gone straight into his throat. Mirrikh gurgled. I twisted the sword and a stream of blood spilled from his mouth. The light wasn’t out of his eyes yet. I kept twisting and digging deeper until almost half my arm was between his teeth. The gurgling stopped and I jerked my sword out just before he fell over.

He stared at me and dug his talons into the ground in a weak attempt to get up. I crawled around his legs and stabbed him forcefully in the stomach. It took all the strength left in my good arm to tear it open. I dropped the sword and shoved my hand through to the part where Aidan had told me the heart would be located. He’d said with the older, more powerful dragons destroying it was the only certain way to kill them.

Digging around, I hunted for it. There was a lot of icky stuff to get through first. I’d told him once that there was no way I was digging through a dragon’s stomach. He’d laughed and told me I better get over it.

Now that the time had come, I wanted to finish the man-eating dragon off in whatever way it took. His legs still twitched and one of his back paws inched toward me, its claws fully extended. I needed to get this finished. The pain was starting to return and black dots were beginning to cloud my vision again.

“A little more to the right,” Aidan said, coming to my side.

Was it pathetic that I was glad to see him even after our little argument earlier? I moved my hand to the right and felt it, the erratic beating of a heart in distress. I closed my fingers around it, dug my feet into its belly, and pulled with all my might. With only the briefest snag, it came straight out and I fell onto my back. Lifting my arm, I held it up.

“Got it,” I wheezed.

Aidan’s face appeared above me. “I see that. Now eat it.”

Was he joking? After everything I’d just been through I was hardly in the mood for dinner and certainly not a dragon heart.

“I’m not hungry.” My gut twisted at the very thought of it.

“You must eat it.” His expression turned grave. “You cannot complete the rite of passage without doing so and your arm will never heal properly otherwise.”

I didn’t want to look at my arm. Once had been enough for me. If my choices were to stay disfigured for the rest of my life and never become a full slayer—or eat a heart, I knew what I had to do. That didn’t make it any easier, though.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” I asked, my voice getting weaker as the pain in my body flooded back.

“Because we both know you wouldn’t have wanted to hear it.”

I lifted my head and stared at the bloody red heart that was almost the size of my head. It didn’t look appetizing in the least. “All of it?”

“No.” He shook his head. “A few bites should suffice.”

Closing my eyes, I imagined it was chocolate cake and bit into it. The taste wasn’t at all what I expected. It was like eating chicken giblets, which I actually enjoyed. I swallowed and felt the lump go down to my stomach.

To my surprise, it didn’t upset it and instead I felt a surge of power run through me. That was strange. I took a couple more bites until Aidan said I’d had enough. He took what was left and tossed it aside with a faint look of disgust.

Odd sensations ran through my body as I laid my head back on the ground. Dizziness came next. Something was going on inside of me, but I couldn’t figure out what it could be through the pain. Nothing else seemed to matter now that the fighting was over.

“Bailey, oh my God,” Trish said, crouching over me with a horrified expression on her face. “Are you okay?”

I blinked, unable to believe my eyes. “How did you get here?”

“We’ve been here since the attack on the library,” she said, squeezing my good hand. “I’m so happy you’re alive.”

More familiar faces popped up, including Earl, Justin, Danae, Miles, and Jennifer. I wanted to feel excited that they were alive and well, but the pain coursing through my body made that difficult. A dog licked at my face and I managed to pet its fur with my good hand.

“I’m glad to see you all are alive, too,” I said weakly.

Justin kneeled next to Trish. “How in the hell did you survive the dragon fire?”

Of course, he’d be more concerned about that than my injuries. “A banana a day will do the trick.”

He frowned.

“Bailey was born a dragon slayer,” Conrad explained. He was standing at my feet, gripping his wounded side. “She can’t be burned by fire.”

“And what about this one? I saw him go from dragon to human!” Earl said, pointing at Aidan.

“Don’t concern yourself with me, human,” the shape-shifter growled.

All their faces were turning fuzzy. I wasn’t sure I could hold on for much longer. “Aidan, I’m not feeling that good.”

Forcing everyone aside, he gently lifted me into his arms. I snuggled into his heat and he cradled me closer. When his face gazed down at mine, I could see the concern there. Had he feared for my life? Would it have upset him if something happened to me, aside from his needing me for his plans?

“Show me somewhere I can take her,” he demanded.

“Forget it,” Earl snapped. “I ain’t lettin’ no dragon man handle my girl. Give her here.” He stepped closer as if he intended to take me from Aidan.

“Leave him alone, Earl,” I managed to whisper.

“Aidan is scary, but he’s a good guy,” Conrad confirmed. “He just wants to help Bailey.”

“But he’s…” Justin began.

“If any of you care about her at all, you’ll show me a safe place to take her now. Can you not see she’s wounded?” Aidan shouted, shutting everyone up.

“Listen to him,” I said with the last of my strength.

Earl cleared his throat. “Fine. You can bring her to my house.”

People moved out of the way as Aidan carried me past them. I was surprised to find several more familiar faces in the crowd—ones I had thought died in the library. I might have thought I’d died and gone to heaven if not for all the pain. Aidan moved carefully across the street, trying not to jostle me, and into a dark house I knew well.

“Bring her back here,” Earl directed.

A minute later my body was lowered onto a soft bed.

“Rest, Bailey. The next two days are going to be difficult,” Aidan said in as gentle a voice as I’d ever heard him speak.

I shut my eyes and drifted off.

Chapter 41

Aidan

“Let me look at her,” Danae demanded, glaring at Aidan.

He crossed his arms and blocked the bedroom doorway. The blonde woman was getting on his last nerve. For the past two hours since he’d put Bailey to bed, Danae had been demanding to see her. He’d learned her name and several others as he guarded the room.

Though the slayer had talked about them before, he didn’t know these people or trust them. He would have flown Bailey to the lake house if her injuries weren’t so severe. But if they were attacked along the way, she wouldn’t be able to defend herself. He couldn’t risk that.

Not to mention Mirrikh was highly respected in his clan and there would be those who would seek revenge for his death. His scent was all over Bailey at the moment, especially since she ate his heart. That would take days to pass.

Aidan had already told Earl he needed to dispose of the dragon remains. Otherwise, it would attract attention to the neighborhood. If the humans poured some of their strange chemicals on the street that would help cover the scent of blood as well. Just to be safe, though, Aidan would have to remain close until Bailey recovered.

“She needs rest,” he said, glowering right back at Danae.

The woman took a step closer. “Several of us saw you change from being a dragon to a human—and your eyes give you away. I don’t know what is going on, but that’s my friend in there and you have to let me help her.”

There was something off about her scent, causing his inner dragon to roar inside his head. He leaned closer and took a whiff. The faintest hint of magic surrounded her. Aidan drew back and snarled. “Sorceress.”

“What?” Her jaw dropped.

Conrad poked his head through the bedroom door. “Nah, she ain’t no sorceress. I’ve never seen her do any magic.”

Aidan had allowed the dark-skinned man to see Bailey since he knew Conrad would not harm her. “What do you know about sorceresses?”

“Um.” He grimaced. “I can’t say, but I can tell you Danae isn’t one.”

Aidan wasn’t all that surprised Conrad couldn’t talk about it. Sorcerers were a treacherous race of beings who manipulated people’s minds. Most of them couldn’t be trusted, except for a few at the fortress, but they were confined to a tower where only a few shape-shifters with resistance to their magic interacted with them.

Somehow, Conrad had run into one recently. Aidan had to hope Bailey didn’t come into contact with the sorcerer as well. His resistance to their magic was weak and he would have trouble helping her.

“This woman smells like one,” Aidan said. He took a few steps closer to Danae, forcing her to retreat farther from Bailey’s room.

“I do not!” She appeared outraged.

Aidan cocked his head, finding her response too genuine to be faked. “Perhaps you haven’t realized it yet.”

He’d heard Earth had been without magic since sending the dragons away. It only started coming back with their return. If all the magic had been gone, it served the sorcerers right for banishing them in the first place.

“Look,” Danae said in an appeasing tone. “I served as a combat medic in the army. If you just let me see Bailey, maybe I can help her.”

Conrad stepped up next to him. “Come on, man. It’s cool and all that you’re being protective, but Bailey needs help. You saw how bad she looks.”

Aidan wavered. Soon Bailey would begin the two-day transformation process that would make her body stronger and more resilient. He’d heard it was very uncomfortable. She would heal as part of the process, but it would add to her pain. He didn’t want Bailey to suffer any more than necessary.

“You may see her on one condition,” he said, staring down at Danae. She wasn’t as short or small as Bailey and looked strong for a human woman.

“What?” she asked.

Aidan bared his teeth, allowing them to extend to sharper points. “I will go in there with you and if I don’t like anything you’re doing I will rip your throat out. Do you understand me?”

Miles came rushing down the hallway, holding up a gun. “Don’t you dare threaten her!”

“Come one step closer and I’ll kill you, human,” Aidan snarled.

The beast inside him roared. He did not like so many strange people surrounding him or the vulnerable woman lying in the bedroom. The dragon clawed at his mind and urged Aidan to get rid of them all. Miles took a step closer. Aidan decided the man must not value his life much and reached out to grab his throat.

Conrad jumped in front of him, knocking his arm away. “Don’t. He’s just protecting his girl.”

He growled. “Move.”

“She’s not my girl,” Miles denied. “I just won’t let you hurt her.”

Danae came around to face Aidan. “I’m sure as hell not, but you better not touch him or I’ll be the one killing you.”

He resisted the urge to grab both their heads and smack them together. Aidan could smell their attraction to each other a mile away. The humans he knew in the fortress were more obvious in their affections, but perhaps these two were different. That might explain the reason they denied their attraction. Dragons loved a good game of “hard to get” as well.