Serpent's Kiss: A Dragonfire Novel (24 page)

A vulnerability wrought of their birth.

Keep the pledge and defeat the foe,

So the Dragon’s Tail brings triumph not woe.”

This
Pyr
alliance
was underlined, then in Lorenzo’s writing, there were the names of four
Pyr
, including his own. Lorenzo. Erik. Thorolf. Brandon. It looked as if another hand had added Brandon’s name as well as Marco to the list. There were check marks beside Lorenzo and Marco’s names and a question mark beside his own.

Erik recognized that three of the others had been targeted by Chen. It was personal.

“Looks like there’s hope after all,” Eileen murmured.

Erik looked at the sword, determined to see it as an opportunity and not a failure. To his surprise, he was able to do it. He felt lighter and younger, energized by a new optimism. He had to join the others in Bangkok as soon as possible, and he had to take Thorolf the means to triumph. “How am I going to get this sword through airport security?”

Eileen only laughed. “You’ll find a way. You always do.”

* * *

There were more details than that to be arranged before Erik could leave. He knew he couldn’t take Eileen and the children with him, as carrying them into what would surely become a battle would only make them vulnerable. His departure, however, might leave them vulnerable here. He marched out into the living room with the sword in its case, planning quickly.

Eileen clearly anticipated his concern. “I’ll stay behind the dragonsmoke barrier with the children,” she said. “We’ll be fine.”

“No.” Erik shook his head. Jorge and Chen couldn’t cross his dragonsmoke barrier without permission, but they both had the ability to spontaneously manifest elsewhere. They could manifest inside the protective barrier of dragonsmoke. “That’s not good enough.” He closed his eyes and summoned Donovan, Quinn, and Delaney in old-speak. It wasn’t a command, but a request for their counsel, for they were the three
Pyr
closest to Chicago. He would have liked to have commanded all the
Pyr
to defend his mate and lair, but he had surrendered authority to Rafferty.

“The sound of subway trains when there aren’t any,” Eileen said, her hand on his arm. “What did you say in old-speak?”

By the time Erik sat down in front of his laptop, Donovan had already set up a Skype conference call and Delaney was signed in. Quinn joined them a moment later.

“Counsel about what?” Donovan asked, his manner wary.

“I’ve been trying to call you,” Quinn said. “But Eileen said you couldn’t be disturbed. Sara and I remembered part of the prophecy.”

Erik interrupted him. “I have it,” he said. “Lorenzo sent it to me.”

“Lorenzo?” Donovan echoed.

“I felt the firestorm,” Delaney said. “Whose is it?”

“First, I no longer lead the
Pyr
,” Erik admitted, noting their surprise. “I surrendered command to Rafferty, who has taken Sloane to Thorolf’s firestorm. Niall’s also on his way there. He’s probably already arrived.”

“Then Thorolf’s turned up again,” Donovan said with excitement. “That’s good news.”

“Not really. Something’s very wrong with him. He’s turning
Slayer
right before our eyes.”

“Sloane wants to heal him,” Quinn guessed.

“I fear it’s a trap, set by Chen,” Erik admitted.

“The firestorm could be his chance,” Delaney said immediately. “That’s why Rafferty wanted to help him, I’m sure.”

The firestorm had healed Delaney, destroying the Dragon’s Blood Elixir in his body. He’d been forced to consume it and it had begun to turn him
Slayer
, but Ginger and the firestorm—and Delaney’s own will—had allowed him to push back its darkness.

Erik realized that his concern was based upon uncertainty as to Thorolf’s will. He’d never seen that
Pyr
really try to achieve anything. In contrast, Delaney had struggled mightily against the Elixir and only just defeated it.

“Chen has to have a weakness,” Delaney said. “There has to be something we can use against him.”

“That’s what the prophecy indicates,” Erik said and read it to them. “I think an alliance of those with an affinity to air can defeat him.”

“What about the second part, about each of us having weakness in our past?” Donovan asked. “That has to be important, too.”

There was a beat of silence, because none of them knew much about Chen’s past.

“He has a brother,” a fifth voice contributed. It was a familiar voice but not one Erik expected.

Delaney’s expression turned to one of shock. “Marco! When did you get here?”

“It doesn’t matter,” the Sleeper of the
Pyr
said in his characteristically calm tones. He always sounded on the verge of sleep. “The brother is his weakness.”

Erik wasn’t convinced. “But I can sense us all, whether
Pyr
or
Slayer
…” he began.

Marco shook his head and smiled. “There are enchantments that take dragons out of your sight. Chen did the same to Thorolf.”

“But where is he?” Donovan demanded, just as Delaney jumped.

“Gone again,” Delaney said, then shook his head.

“We have to trust that it will become clear,” Quinn said.

“I have to take his father’s sword to Thorolf, to give him a chance,” Erik agreed. “But I have the children here as well as Eileen.”

“We’re on our way,” Quinn and Donovan said in unison.

“We are, as well,” Delaney agreed. “But I’ll leave Ginger and the boys at your place. I’m going to Thorolf, to help him any way I can.”

“Don’t imagine you’re going anywhere without me,” Ginger said, appearing behind Delaney. “Thorolf’s mate might need some help, too.”

* * *

Thorolf’s mate didn’t think she needed help.

She certainly wasn’t happy, though.

On the upside, Thorolf was gone from the sanctuary. Chandra’s thoughts cleared immediately with the absence of him and the heat of the firestorm. She’d been angry with Thorolf and the firestorm hadn’t helped her to decide how best to proceed. She supposed that thumping him and chucking him out of her sanctuary hadn’t been the best choice, but to finally be so close to completing her quest, after centuries of preparation, and to be cheated of victory in that last instant had infuriated her.

She shouldn’t have talked to Viv.

She should have executed her immediately.

She considered that she’d been impulsive and passionate again, acting more like a dragon than a goddess. She refused to think that the firestorm was changing her. She was immortal. She didn’t change. Ever. And she wouldn’t for an annoying dragon shifter—even if his kisses made her forget everything she knew to be true.

She wouldn’t even consider that satisfying the firestorm might be worth it.

On the downside, Thorolf was gone. Chandra wasn’t entirely sure where he would have ended up after her forced eviction, because she’d hurled him out while distracted by the firestorm. Now that she could think straight, she feared that she’d put him in more danger again. She felt badly about that. That was the problem with trying to do two things at once. Without perfect concentration, complications happened.

She was never going to have perfect concentration so long as the firestorm burned. Even now, it tingled at the edge of her consciousness, as if it would guide her directly to Thorolf. Satisfying the firestorm would solve that, but at the same time would be breaking her oath.

Chandra had a feeling she was going to be choosing between better and worse instead of right and wrong for the foreseeable future. She didn’t have to like it. Compromise wasn’t one of her skills, but the firestorm might teach her to do it better.

She was standing in the familiar jungle of Myth, not far from the temple filled with skulls and ghosts. All around her on the ground were shards of the mirror she’d created to trap Tisiphone. The mirror was broken to thwart her victim’s escape from it, and the force of that magic had been easily put to work to expel Thorolf. Piggybacking the magic had seemed like a good idea at the time—when the firestorm had been addling her thoughts—like killing two birds with one stone. She liked that Thorolf’s collision with the mirror had broken it.

The mirror spell was a double-edged one: Tisiphone was trapped in the mirror in Viv Jason’s form, but she was also protected from Chandra while snared within it. She couldn’t shift or escape, which was good, but Chandra couldn’t deal a death blow, either, which was less than ideal. Chandra sighed, acknowledging once again how distracting the firestorm was. She just couldn’t think straight with Thorolf by her side.

She wasn’t doing too well with him gone, either, come to think of it.

She saw there was another downside to her solution. She watched two shards of mirror ease closer to each other, seemingly of their own volition, and watched with concern. Before her eyes, two pieces touched, aligned, then merged into a larger piece of mirror. It wouldn’t take long for the mirror to be reassembled, and then her prey could be freed by someone gazing into the mirror.

This banishment should have lasted for years, not moments.

Was Tisiphone’s sorcery this strong? Chandra didn’t want to think about the implications of that.

She didn’t want to think about Thorolf either, but she couldn’t seem to control her thoughts. In a way, she respected his loyalty. He clearly didn’t know the truth of Viv’s nature, much less what she’d done to him. Chandra had to appreciate that he wasn’t afraid to put himself at risk to do what he thought was right.

It was pure
Pyr
to defend a damsel in distress and to be loyal to the end.

It was pure Thorolf to defend someone who didn’t deserve his protection.

Two more pieces of mirror joined with the others, creating a larger seamless whole.

Chandra was afraid to leave the mirror unsupervised, uncertain as she was of what Tisiphone might manage to do in this place. Because it was of Myth, she couldn’t take a shard with her when she left the sanctuary either.

At least there was no one to look into the mirror. The thing was that Thorolf shouldn’t be loose in any world without protection. Chandra had seen that the firestorm’s spark seemed to help Thorolf. So, all the other
Pyr
, and maybe a number of other people, were in danger when she wasn’t with Thorolf.

The firestorm was a responsibility she hadn’t expected, but then her brother did like to complicate things.

“Not a bad save,” said a man close behind her. Chandra spun to find her brother, looking confident as ever. He was in his guise as Apollo, the eternal golden boy, his gold armor shining with particular brightness in this realm. Snow gave a cry of joy and circled out of the sky, coming to land on his outstretched hand.

He surveyed the mirror shards, then lifted a brow. “But most unlike you to miss. Losing your edge?” They’d always been competitive siblings, always prepared to challenge and goad each other.

He’d also routinely undermined her efforts, making a situation worse just to test her abilities more. And the
Pyr
were his favorite creatures.

Chandra glared at him. “Did you spark the firestorm?”

Apollo grinned, caught at his own mischief. “I thought you deserved a last chance to break that vow of chastity and try the pleasures of the flesh.”

Last chance?

Before she could ask, he flicked a glance upward. Chandra noticed that the sky was darker than it had been and that the air was cooler. “It’s time to go, sister. The portal’s closing.”

The end of an era. It had been foretold for as long as she could remember, but she had a hard time believing that all the deities she knew were going to pass into some corner of Myth forever.

On the other hand, many of them had abandoned interaction with mortals centuries before. They were essentially already gone.

“No, I can’t leave yet. I haven’t fulfilled my quest…”

“You had your chance.” He looked suddenly sad. “Maybe it doesn’t really matter anyway. Maybe our time has been over for a long while.”

Chandra couldn’t stand to see him like this. He was always bold and confident, always filled with laughter and power. “What about your precious
Pyr
? I thought they were your favorites…”

“They’re doomed.”

“No, it can’t be…”

Apollo spun his hand, conjuring a sphere that nestled in his palm. Inside it, a red lacquer dragon breathed fire on an enormous crowd of people, setting them aflame with the help of a dark dragon.

One with black spirals etched on his scales.

Thorolf.

“You picked the wrong champion, sister, and now it’s too late.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way. Just because it looks dark now doesn’t mean the future can’t be changed…”

“Face facts.” His voice hardened as more pieces of the mirror joined. “You missed. You
failed
.”

“I don’t fail!”

“You never used to,” he acknowledged, his voice softening as he studied her. “Maybe that’s just another sign of the end of an era. Maybe it’s just a reminder that it’s time for us to go.” He turned his hand, eliminating the sphere and the glimpse of the future. “Maybe the point is that it’s time to just leave the mortals to themselves.”