Kissed by Fire (22 page)

“I’m a Hunter and I can’t sneak up on you
like that.”

“She’s different.” He caught my eye and gave
me a look as though willing me to understand. “Her skill set is
different than yours. She’s a Dragon Hunter.”

I whirled and gave the girl a hard look.
“Jade?”

Her head snapped up. “How do you know my
name?”

I stood up and stalked toward her, leaving
Kabita to finish fixing up Inigo. “You’re Jade Vincent, originally
named Dara Boyd. Born in London, England. Disappeared five years
ago.”

“My name is Jade.” Her voice was stubborn
with just a hint of petulance. There was still a lot of the child
about Jade Vincent.

“Fine. Jade.” I squatted down to her eye
level. “You know Alister Jones.”

She shrugged. “Yeah. He’s like, my godfather
or something.”

Kabita and I exchanged looks. She obviously
hadn’t known about this godfather business. Must have been part of
Alister’s cover.

I nodded. “He sent you to live with the
Vincents as soon as you turned eighteen.”

A nod. “Yeah, how’d you know?”

My turn to shrug. “I have my ways. So, tell
me, Jade, why’d you go back to London? Let me guess. You wanted to
help out your godfather, Alister.”

She smirked.

A light bulb went off. “You killed Alison
Reynolds.”

Jade settled herself more comfortably on the
dirty floor, though I couldn’t imagine it was too comfortable with
her hands cuffed behind her back. “Bravo. Got it in one. Alison
knew too much. And when she started calling police departments
asking questions, she had to go.”

“What sorts of questions?”

She shrugged. “Unsolved murders. Little
favors I did for my godfather.”

“So Alister brought you out of hiding to take
care of his problem. Cover his ass.” Fury was riding me, but I beat
it back. I needed to think clearly. “How did you do it? Slice her
open like that?” It would have taken some doing to mimic a dragon
claw.

“Trade secret.”

The bitch just smiled at me. Gods, how I
wanted to slap that smug look off her face.

“Why did you frame the dragons?” Trevor
interrupted.

She gave him a bland look. “Hello! It wasn’t
Alison’s fault she had to die. Her death shouldn’t be without
meaning. What better way to die than to die serving your country
and bringing down our enemies, restoring MI8 to its rightful
place.”

It made sense. While the other agencies
carried on officially, MI8 languished in obscurity. So part of it,
at least, was Alister’s driving need for power. He wanted MI8 back
at the top of the intelligence food chain. Unfettered by ethics and
laws. A race war with the dragons would do that, hurried along by
the fears of a nation. Fears fueled by lies.

I shuddered at the thought of it. If Alister
had accomplished his mission, he’d have no doubt been given
complete power over all the supernatural races. Gods knew what
Alister would do with that kind of power, but I’d bet my life it
was nothing good.

“Dragons are evil,” Jade hissed at me. “They
need to be destroyed before they destroy us.”

“Did Alister tell you that?” Inigo snarled.
“The dragons have been the guardians of human kind, not the enemy.
That’s Alister’s twisted reality, not the truth.”

Something slid through Jade Vincent’s eyes.
Something not quite human and very definitely crazy. “The stories
are true, then.” My voice was quiet. “Without the Rogues to Hunt,
the Dragon Hunters went insane.”

“We were bred to kill dragons,” she hissed.
“And we will not rest until every last dragon is dead.”

“Yet you are the last of the Dragon Hunters.
It’s over, Jade.”

“It’s never over. Alister will finish what we
started.”

Trevor gave her a grim smile. “Alister’s days
are numbered. He won’t be in power for much longer. Even as we
speak, the authorities are moving in.”

I cast a quick glance at Kabita. She was
lounging against the stove, relaxed now that we’d found Inigo. She
nodded. “Dex has been appointed lead investigator. He’ll do what’s
necessary.”

Wow. Go Dex.

“Good.” I turned back to Jade. “What about
Bob?”

“Bob?” She gave me a blank look.

“The vampire. The one that killed me three
years ago? And that other one that attacked me in Hyde Park?”

“Oh.” Her laughter was a light tinkle, so at
odds with her bag full of crazy. “That was just a distraction. I
figured they’d keep you busy or kill you. Either way worked for me.
It would keep her out of my hair,” she nodded at Kabita. “Plus, I
figured if anyone could track me it would be another Hunter.” She
gave me a scalding look. “Never figured you were so slow.”

I ignored the insult. “What about Inigo?” I
demanded. “Why him?”

Her laugh held an edge of that crazy. “God
you’re thick, aren’t you? Just like Alister said. We were going to
use him to call out the dragons, but then Alison got her nose stuck
in where it didn’t belong and we had to kill her.”

“Why did you take her heart?” The thing that
had clued me in. The thing that didn’t fit. I found it hard to
believe after all that planning, she’d screw up so
phenomenally.

“What are you? Some kind of idiot? Everyone
knows that when a Hunter eats the heart of her prey, she takes on
the prey’s power. It’s an honor.”

It was so bizarre it took a few seconds for
it to click.
Ew. Gross
. I was pretty sure my face mirrored
the look of horror on Kabita’s.

Jade frowned. “Her death was supposed to do
the same thing, stir up fear, blah blah. But it didn’t work, thanks
to you. So, I had to go back to the original plan.”

“I still don’t understand what this has to do
with Inigo.” I tried to get my brain back on track. Erase the
horrific image she’d put in my mind.

She rolled her eyes. “He had to die just like
the others. Inigo Jones is a freaking dragon.”

I blinked. Then I started laughing. I
couldn’t help it. It was just so damned ridiculous. “OK, fine, you
don’t want to answer me. Whatever.”

“I think it’s time I take the bitch to jail,”
Trevor interjected.

“You think a jail’s going to hold her?” I
couldn’t quite keep the disbelief out of my voice.

He smiled. “A regular jail? No. But I’ve got
something special lined up for our VIP.”

Huh. I guess sometimes it did pay to have a
brother in high places.

Trevor’s backup had finally arrived and they
hustled Jade out to a waiting van. The thing looked more like an
armored truck than any sort of regular transport. It made me feel
better somehow. The crazy bitch was going away for good.

Trevor and I hugged each other and said a
quick goodbye before he hopped into the front seat and headed out
with his team. He didn’t say anything about meeting up, but I
figured we’d see each other soon enough. We were family.

“What, you guys are all cozy all of a
sudden?” Kabita sounded less than pleased. Apparently his help
hadn’t appeased her one iota.

“Yeah, well, we sort of have to get along
now. He’s my brother.”

Two pair of eyes, one blue and one brown,
stared at me like I’d just grown a second head. “Excuse me? But did
you say Trevor Daly is your brother?”

I could hardly blame them for their
shock.

I told them the whole story, or at least what
Trevor had told me. I imagined there was still more to it.
Especially the part about our father’s murder.

“Oh, my,” was all Kabita managed to say.

“Holy crap.” Inigo was a succinct as
ever.

“Damn, am I glad you’re OK.” I gave him a big
hug. I decided to forget all about our weird incident from a few
weeks ago. I knew he’d never hurt me and whatever had happened,
we’d figure it out later.

“Easy.” His breath was warm against my ear.
“I just got beat up by a girl.”

I giggled like a moron and snuggled into the
warmth of him. Gods he smelled good. Like campfires and autumn and
hot chocolate.

My mind stuttered to a halt, remembering the
smell of the Drago. He, too, had smelled of campfires and
chocolate. S’mores in his case. My brain simply didn’t want to deal
with how those numbers stacked up. Coincidence. Had to be.

Except Jade had said Inigo was a dragon. And
while she might be crazy, she was still a Dragon Hunter. Oh,
gods.

“That poor girl really did go nuts, huh?” My
words were muffled against Inigo’s chest, his arms still wrapped
around me as if he wasn’t quite ready to let me go. I didn’t mind.
Neither did my hormones. They were very happy indeed. For once, I
didn’t even care that Kabita might figure out I had the hots for
her cousin.

“What do you mean?” His voice was a little
rough.

I pulled back a little. “Oh, come on. That
crack about you being a dragon? I mean, how ridiculous.” I waited,
praying he’d tell me what I wanted to hear. That it was a mix up. A
joke. Anything but the truth I feared it was.

He and Kabita exchanged a look. “Yeah, it was
a pretty stupid comment.”

“See.” I tried to snuggled back in, but his
next words froze me into place.

“I’m only half dragon.”

***

I scooted back out of Inigo’s arms and
staggered to my feet, my gaze dodging wildly between him and
Kabita. “Stop messing with me.”

He pulled himself up, too, using the stove as
a crutch. “I’m telling you the truth. My father was a dragon. My
mother was human. I am a Halfling.”

My eyes wide, I searched his face. He seemed
sincere, but it was all too mad. I turned to Kabita.

“It’s true.”

I shook my head. “You said he was your
cousin.”

“He is. Of a sort. My many times
great-grandfather had a sister. She was raped by a Rogue dragon in
human form. When Inigo was born, it was clear that he wasn’t
entirely human. It was also clear she had to hide his true
nature.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Dragons kill Halflings.” Inigo’s voice was
hard. “Especially those sired by Rogues. We are considered impure
and a threat to the continuation of the race. My mother and her
family hid me from the dragons. They’ve been protecting me ever
since.”

I was trying really hard not to
hyperventilate, but it was all too much. “How ... um, how old are
you?” Gods, this was like Jack all over again only worse. At least
I’d known what Jack was from the beginning.

“Only four hundred years.”

“Four hundred.” It came out a mere
squeak.

“I’m sorry that I lied to you, Morgan.”
Kabita stepped toward me. “But I had to. As Inigo’s protector, I
was sworn to secrecy. As was each protector before me. To keep him
safe from the dragons, everyone had to believe he was human. That’s
my job. I didn’t want you in danger. And knowing the truth would
have put you in danger.”

I swallowed hard. The truth was that I did
believe them. I just didn’t want to. “Too late. Alister saw to
that. How did he find out?”

“He’s always known. He’s family,” Kabita
said. “Obviously he was just biding his time until he could use our
secret.”

And he had. To try and start a war.

Inigo heaved a deep sigh. “It’s time, Kabita.
What she knows can’t be unknown. I might as well show her.”

Her face was strained, but she nodded. “I’ll
give you some space.”

I just stood there feeling lost and alone as
she exited the kitchen. My best friend had been lying to me for
three years. Inigo had been lying to me. Gods, I didn’t know which
was worse. I completely ignored the fact that I’d been lying to
them, too.

He reached out and cupped my face in his
hands. “Morgan.” His voice was warm and smoky and held just a hint
of pleading. It wrapped around my heart, begging me to understand.
“I’ve wanted to tell you for so long. Since the moment I set eyes
on you I’ve wanted you to know who I really am. What I really
am.”

His pupils slowly elongated, his irises
morphing from blue to gold. I sucked in a breath. I’d seen those
eyes before.

“That night. The one I can’t remember. Your
eyes did that.”

“Yeah.” His voice was a sigh. “I can usually
control the shift, but something about you ... I can’t always
control myself.” His laugh held an edge of wildness.

I swallowed hard. “Do you remember that
night? What we did?”

He leaned his forehead against mine and the
world went away. It was just the two of us wrapped in the scent of
campfires and hot chocolate and the gold glow of Inigo’s eyes.
“No,” he whispered. “I wish I did, but I don’t. I remember nothing
after the kiss.” His lips brushed my, velvet soft. “After that all
I remember is heat. Then darkness. Then nothing at all.”

“So you don’t know if we ... ” My voice
trailed off. I wasn’t sure what I wanted the answer to be.

He shook his head. “I don’t know. I hope we
didn’t. I want to remember our first time together.”

I blushed. “Oh, OK.” I felt like a frigging
teenager on her first date.

His thumbs caressed my cheeks, his breath
warm as he touched his lips to mine. “Stand back and watch
carefully.”

I did as he told me. I felt cold without his
warmth, so I wrapped my arms around myself. My mind was having
trouble grasping on to the situation and I wasn’t sure if I should
be hurt or angry or what. All I felt was confused.

I watched as Inigo’s skin began to shimmer
and glow, turning a golden hue. His body shifted, elongated, the
glow growing brighter and brighter until it hurt my eyes. Then
suddenly, in the middle of that dingy kitchen, stood a dragon the
size of a large horse. My mouth dropped open.

He looked exactly like the dragons in
fairytale books with a long spiked tail and wings kind of like a
giant bat. Except that Inigo’s wings were cerulean dusted with gold
and looked as soft as brushed silk.

His scales were similar to the one I still
had in my pocket. Only his had the rich blue, green and purple hues
of New Zealand abalone. He was incredibly beautiful.