Stone Guardian (13 page)

Elspeth sat up in her seat and screamed. “Stop!”

Surprised by the outburst, Ember lost control of the car, and its wet tires spun on the asphalt, sending the car into a fishtail. She wrestled with the wheel to get it back under control. The smell of burned rubber filled the interior as the vehicle screeched to a stop.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Ember stared at the little girl.

Elspeth released her belt and pulled the lever, jumping out as the door swung open. She disappeared around the back of the automobile. Ember looked up into the rear view mirror and saw a man approaching her. There hadn’t been anyone there earlier. She threw her door open and sprinted for the child, but the man had stopped and the two seemed to be evaluating each other.

The kid broke the silence. “I know who you are.”

The man cocked his head. “Do you, now?”

“Yes.” Elspeth half turned to stare up at Ember. “We need him.”

Ember studied the guy. His black hair hung straight with a touch of blue at the temples. He gazed back at her through slightly slanted, clear gray eyes, which was her first indication that he may not be completely human. She was learning that shifters as a whole were just plain beautiful. He was tall and slim, almost serpentine in his posture.

She narrowed her eyes. “What are you?”

His smirk didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Right to the point. I like that. I’m a dragon.”

“Good gracious, exactly how many of you are there?”

He snorted. “There are numerous clans. I belong to Tarasque.”

The name was familiar and a tingle of awareness slithered down her spine. “Why are you here? Better yet, where did you come from?”

“I’m from the west coast.” He dropped his gaze and watched Elspeth. “You’re a seer, aren’t you little one?”

Elspeth’s smile bloomed on her face and dimples appeared in her cheeks. “Uh-huh, but I’m not very good yet.” Her smile faltered.

He chuckled. “I have no doubt you’ll get the hang of it.” He held out a palm to her and she placed her small hand in his and shook it. “I’m Jax.”

Elspeth looked up at Ember. “This is Jax.”

“Yeah, I got that,” Ember responded dryly before continuing. “So what can we do for you, Jax?”

The child answered for him. “We need him as much as he needs us.” Elspeth swung around and pointed at him. “He will not die by your hand.”

Chapter Twelve

The sun’s rays bled across the horizon in myriad red and orange colors. The blazing orb slowly disappeared from sight, and dark shadows elongated and blended together. Night had finally come. Released from his stone prison, Timur rolled his shoulders and stretched. He walked to the edge of the building and inhaled. Crickets chirped, and other nocturnal animals started to sound off in their evening orchestra. Timur closed his eyes and reached out for Ember. This was all new to him, and since he had no one to ask he was relying on instinct. He was guessing, but it seemed like the most likely explanation was that as his mate, he and Ember shared the most intimate of contacts, telepathy. He sighed. Some days it was a real bitch being the last of a kind.

She was close. He raised his head and watched as a beat-up old car turned between the rock pillars that marked the cemetery’s entrance and rambled down the weed-choked road. The car stopped at the cross lanes at the center of the property. He unfurled his wings and extended them, and catching an air current he stepped off the ledge to float to the ground. Ember’s agitation brushed his senses and he shook off the emotions, instead sending her feelings of warmth and calm through their tenuous tether.

The driver’s side door was flung open, and she jumped from the vehicle and started running in his direction. Thunder cracked in the distance. He planted his feet. As her hair bounced on her shoulders he couldn’t take his gaze off her. A flash of lightning crisscrossed the sky and briefly illuminated her form. She plowed into him and climbed up his body, locking her legs around his waist and cupping his face with her hands.

Ember stared into his eyes, and her lips lifted up in a grin. “I was worried about you.”

He splayed his hands across her ass cheeks, hiking her higher. “Baby, that’s an understatement.” Timur dipped his head and pressed his lips to hers.

Her sweetness filled his mouth and he greedily swirled his tongue around hers. He felt her hands travel the expanse of his back and across his shoulders. His scalp tingled where her nails scratched the back of his head. He flexed his hands and wiggled his hips to fit his cock against her pussy. Even through the denim and cloth he could feel her heat.

Someone cleared their throat.

Timur lifted his head and cocked a brow. “Elspeth isn’t the only person you brought along?”

“Elspeth said we needed him or I would have left his ass where he stood.” Ember snorted.

He angled his head to look around her shoulder. Elspeth stood with her fingers wrapped around the hand of another shifter. Another dragon, based on the sense he was getting. Timur rubbed his hands up Ember’s back, and she released her legs to slide down his body.

Timur studied the dragon. He was young, a few hundred years old at most. “Elspeth is a child,” he added.

“True, but children are a great judge of character, and I learned she is a seer. His name is Jax, ” Ember countered.

Holding Ember’s hand, he stepped to her side. “Jax, I know dragons. My best friend is a dragon, so clarify something for me. What the hell are you up to? Dragons don’t act without reason. There is always an ulterior motive for you beasts.”

Jax tilted his head. “True, but doesn’t everyone like to be on the winning side?”

“Who are you, really?”

“Look, there are rumors that Manx the Supreme resurfaced long enough to acknowledge his heir and cite a new Dragonrex. We dragons finally have a ray of hope that this farce of a court Drago has forced on us will soon come crashing to an end, and personally I would like to be a part of that fucker’s demise.” The edges of Jax’s mouth crept up. “Plus, I like to fight. I pledged my life to the Tarasque Clan, but I was born to the Rafi tribe.”

“That’s a matriarchal band.”

“It is.”

“Who’s your sire?”

Jax sighed. “As entertaining as this game of twenty questions is, those Babel bitches are close and making time up quickly. I joined the girls here to protect them if the coven reached them before nightfall.” His implication was clear.

“Yeah, about that.” Ember tugged her hand free and rocked on her toes. “It seems they believe I’m part of their clique and are after me to return to the fold…”

“No fucking way,” Timur grunted.

“Again, all this conversation is cute, but can we get a move on? Not only is Babel after your woman here, but they called in reinforcements. Qui-Ra’s crone is probably at the airport waiting for me to meet them as we speak. Those witches are brokering a deal with Drago, which is why they want Elspeth.”

“How do you know this?” Timur stalked up to Jax.

“I used to work for Drago.”

He felt the change and embraced it. His mouth filled with teeth and his skin took on the gray pallor of his beast. “If you brought those sorceresses down on my mate’s head I will snap you in two.” Timur grabbed Jax by the shirt and lifted him up.

“Weren’t you listening? I was trying to help them.” His scales shimmered in the faint light of the rising moon.

“Timur, put him down. He’s right, we can discuss all this later. We need to move.” Ember gripped his arm.

Elspeth lifted her chin and backed toward the car, shaking her head. “They’re here.”

* * * *

Sheer terror filled the child’s face as her eyes widened and her bottom lip quivered. Ember spun around looking for anything amiss. Jax picked up Elspeth and ran to the car, opened the rear door and placed her in the back seat. Ember saw his mouth move before he slammed the door. Timur grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her along, rushing in the same direction.

Timur reached for the front door handle and Jax grabbed his hand. “Don’t! Elspeth is powerful, even while she isn’t completely schooled in all the ways of magic. The child knows enough to weave a spell of protection. No one will be able to get into that car now. I told her, no matter what she sees, maintain her circle of security.”

“See, this is exactly why I told you to replace my gun,” Ember rounded on Timur.

“Goddess, mated couples are a pain in the ass,” Jax sighed and met Timur’s gaze. “Ember is a witch. She just hasn’t found her motivation.” Out of nowhere three deep gouges appeared in his cheek. He lifted his face toward the sky and yelled, “You want to play? I’ll give you something to play with.” Jax darted away from them.

Ember snapped her head up in the direction Jax had gone. “Where the hell is he going?” She then watched in awe as he shifted.

In the blink of an eye his body quadrupled in size then doubled and his neck lengthened until he looked like one long mass of rippling muscle. Massive wings unfurled from his back, stretching so high into the sky they blotted out the moon. No wonder he’d moved. Big boy was bulky and had crushed the lot markers beneath him.

Timur shook his head. “Close your mouth woman and stay close to the car,” he bellowed, shifting into the living embodiment of the statue she’d seen on the roof.

His hair hung from his head in a bushy mane of red and flowed down his back. The clothes split at the seams as his muscles bulked up. He tripled in size as his wings shot up into the air and unfurled. The ground beneath him sank under his weight. Talons curled out from his fingertips and his jaw protruded from his face, accommodating the rows of teeth filling his mouth.

Ember realized she’d never seen Timur completely transform. It dawned on her that he’d been holding back on her by only showing bits and pieces of his animal, an incomplete picture. He tossed his head back and opened his mouth. The roar that passed through his lips rent through the night air. He was gloriously savage in his appearance. Black clad forms flickered. She saw them from the corner of her eye before they disappeared. Ember swiveled her attention between Timur and Jax. They swung at invisible foes. Fighting hard, they appeared to battle multiple enemies.

Something grabbed her by the neck and spun her around, knocking her head into the top of the car. Pain ricocheted through her brain. Her braids were pulled at by the roots and she threw her palms up to keep from having her face slammed into the metal again.

Elspeth knocked on the window and mouthed words. Ember tried to read her lips through blurred vision. Her faced was shoved into the glass, pain shot through her nose, and Ember finally heard Elspeth.
Call on your power
.
Kill the crone.
Ember gave a shake of her head that sent sharp, shooting spikes of pain down her neck. She swallowed the hurt and started throwing her elbows back. The wet crunch she heard told her she had connected with someone’s face.

Flames illuminated the area as Jax rotated his neck and blew fire. Briefly, she saw the witches. Like insects, they seemed to be coming from everywhere en masse, crawling along the ground and over objects. She was yanked back by unseen hands. Her spine was jarred and her teeth knocked together when she fell back on her ass. She scrambled to get up, sitting and pulling her feet under her. A swoosh of air flowed over her face as if someone had kicked at her head and missed the target. She blindly reached out and caught an ankle. Ember tugged and felt her invisible assailant slip from her grasp as she fell back.

Getting to her hands and knees, she glanced around seeking Timur, and watched as he soared up in the air. A few of the witches appeared to be hanging from his arms as they shimmered in and out of view. He closed his wings and spiraled down. The ground shook, and she was distracted as Jax tumbled to the side. Ember sprang to her feet, opened her arms wide, and yelled for her mate. All her frustration poured out in that primal scream. Thunder silenced the battle sounds and multiple bolts of lightning struck the ground around her, connecting like an electrical spider web.

She could feel the currents flowing through her, making the tiny hairs on her arms stand up. The energy jumped into her palms and flowed through her body. She heard her name but ceased listening to anything but the roar of the power surrounding her. The skies opened up and a deluge of water fell like sheets, drenching her in seconds. She took a step and her shoe squished into the mud. Rain sizzled around her, evaporating into steam. Timur was her sole focus. She had to get to her mate. Pure evil had taken hold and it felt slimy, stroking against her skin like an oozing sore of unadulterated hate. The coven had immersed themselves in the dark arts. A soulless black void surrounded them, and she tossed a bolt into the air, illuminating the cemetery.

Jax had managed to get to his feet. She turned her head and saw Timur. He held a figure high in each hand, snapping their necks with a flick of his wrists. He was cutting through the mass with brutal proficiency, dropping them and moving on to the next attacker.

A few assailants appeared before her, vanishing when she looked at them directly. She couldn’t see them but she could feel them, their darkness making her stomach queasy.
Kill the crone
. Elspeth’s words came flooding back to her. She didn’t know who the leader was. Someone attempted to hit her, and she raised her palm deflecting the blow and sending the woman sailing through the air.