Charred Tears (#2, Heart of Fire) (14 page)

“You sure you’re okay?” Mason asked, his gaze warm.

He’d been an awesome friend as long as she was able to remember. He’d supported her every step of the way down this new path, too, sharing his own experiences with her.

“More or less,” she said and sat with a sigh.

“I’ve got extra clothes,” he said and crossed the room. His movements were jerky as he pulled the extra clothing out of his gym bag. He held them out to her.

“Mason … you’re not telling me everything,” she said, accepting them. “I saw Caleb.”

He looked away.

“Did you do that?” she whispered. “You can tell me, Mason. If you got in a fight and things got bad …”

“We’ll talk about it,” he replied. “You want to change first?”

She nodded, almost sighing in relief. Mason was the friend she knew him to be. She rose and crossed to the bathroom, pausing.

“I’m glad Chace let you in,” she said with a small smile.

“Chace?” Mason echoed.

“Oh did he stop standing guard in the hallway?” she asked. Was she happy or disappointed he’d just left?

“Maybe. I didn’t notice. Got a lot on my mind.”

Skylar frowned. “Mason, whatever is going on, we’ll get through it together. Like we said.”

He met her gaze, a shadow crossing his expression.

Something’s wrong.
She waited.

“You’re a good person, Sky,” he said finally. “You give me some hope.”

“You’re welcome. I think,” she replied, puzzled.

“Go get changed.” He gave her a winning smile. “We’ve got a lot to get through.”

Starting with who he got into a scuffle with. Why he killed Caleb. Where he disappeared to.
She retreated into the bathroom and mentally listed off the things she wanted to know from him. Getting dressed was painful and took her much longer than she wanted.

When she was done, she opened the door.

Mason was gone.

“No, no, no, Mason,” she whispered, tears in her eyes once more. “
Please
be the one I can trust.” She wiped her eyes and went to the door, opening it.

Chace stood opposite the door, leaning against the wall. He looked up, and she found herself unable to remember what she wanted to ask him. Mesmerized by his dark gaze and the crackling tension between them, she leaned against the doorframe. His muscular frame was relaxed, and she wished she knew what he was thinking, if she could trust him.

“You need anything?” His offer sounded forced.

She didn’t know what to think. He was in her hallway, clearly guarding her door, yet there was reluctance in his voice.

“I was looking for Mason,” she replied.

He tensed.

“He was just in my room. I changed clothes, and he was gone,” she added.

“Hmm.” Chace clenched his jaw, as if to keep from saying what was on his mind.

“Do you know where he went?”

“Haven’t seen him all night.”

“Not when he entered?”

“Nope.”

This
Chase she recognized. He was bristling and angry.

“Maybe he flew up to the balcony,” he suggested.

“No.”

“He got up there somehow. I’ve been standing right here.”

 “No,” she said more softly. “He’s the only one who hasn’t turned on me.” She whirled and stalked back into her room.
Not Mason.

Chace had been right about everything so far. Skylar grudgingly went to the balcony and leaned over to see the pool area.

The clothing Mason was wearing a few minutes before was in a pile next to the pool. The sight hit her like a ton of bricks to the gut.

Skylar’s tears fell, her ears buzzing and mind racing.

Maybe he’s afraid to tell me. Maybe he’s ashamed about Caleb …
Possibility after possibility went through her thoughts. The only thing she knew for sure was that Mason was a shifter, and he’d killed Caleb. That didn’t make him bad, though.

It meant that the final piece of her reality the past six years really was shattering, revealing how fragile and fake her world had been.

“I hate being right,” Chace’s whisper came from behind her.

She pulled in a deep breath, his scent filling her senses. It calmed her and stirred her blood simultaneously. He rested a hand on either side of her on the railing, the light brush of his body against her back elevating her awareness of the chemistry between them. It had started weeks ago as a spark. Standing on the balcony with him, she realized whatever was between them had only gotten stronger. It was now a flame – a combination of burning emotion and near-crippling need.

“It doesn’t mean he’s bad,” she said, wiping her face.

“Funny. There was a time you would’ve insisted he probably makes fried chicken out of people.”

“Be quiet, Chace,” she ordered in a tight voice. “In the morning, I’m going back to being pissed at you. But right now ...”

His arms wrapped around her, pulling her securely into his strong body. Skylar sighed, at home, even if she didn’t know what to think about him. He nudged her head aside with his and placed a warm kiss on her cheek.

He made no further moves on her, simply held her. She relaxed and closed her eyes, resting against him. He supported her without question, his hug warm and tight. In his arms, the world didn’t seem so scary.

“I learned a little bit more about what’s going on.” Chace’s chest rumbled as he spoke.

Her pulse quickened, and she started to tense, not certain she wanted to hear what he had to say.

“I can wait,” he said gently, hugging her.

“No. I need to hear it.”

There was a pause. “Every generation has a Protector, a woman whose job is to protect and help the shifters,” he started. “She has a guardian, the strongest dragon in existence, who’s supposed to safeguard her while she protects the shifters.”

Skylar listened closely, recognizing the truth of his words. Her mother had said similar in a dream. For a moment, she experienced familiar panic, a need to deny what he was saying and to return to her old life.

My old life isn’t real. Mason was the last pillar, and he just crumbled.

“I’ll let you guess who is who in this story,” Chace said.

“You forgot the part where the dragon sells out the Protector and loses his magic. Oh, and that she’s been brainwashed and tried to capture and kill the shifters she was supposed to protect.”

He said nothing.

She was tense again. Skylar drew a deep breath. Chace’s heat moved through her, helping her relax once more. His breathing was steady, along with his heartbeat.

His explanation disturbed her.

“So we both messed up,” she murmured. “I hurt the shifters by capturing them and you betrayed me.”

“We even?”

“No.”

“Didn’t think so.”

“What kind of shifter is Mason?” she ventured.

“I don’t know.”

“He’s not bad.”

Chace was quiet. This time, she sensed he disagreed.

Skylar twisted in his grip. His hold around her remained, and she gazed up at him, breathing in his warm scent. His hair was tied at the base of his neck. The light from the pool area created shadows beneath the sharp lines of his chiseled jaw and high cheekbones.

She rested her hands on his chest, able to feel the heat of his body through the soft sweater. He held her close enough for their lower bodies to be pressed to one another, and the evidence of his arousal was long and hard against her belly.

Chace’s gaze was steady, and her eyes slid to his full lips. They’d roamed her body many times, and the memory of their time together made her body warm from the inside out. Intoxicated in his heat, scent and strength, her anger at him melted into desire.

“I want to kiss you, but I don’t think you’re in any shape for where that’ll lead,” he said, cupping her face with one hand. His palm was calloused but his touch gentle. The pad of his thumb slid across her lips. “Why don’t you get some rest.”

Skylar hesitated.

“I’ll stay with you. We’ll call this a temporary truce. You can go back to being pissed at me in the morning,” he teased, a spark lighting in his eyes.

Heat crept up her face. “I have a good reason,” she reminded him.

“I know.” Chace’s hand dropped away. He leaned down and lifted her, carrying her over the threshold into the hotel room. He set her carefully on the bed then lay down with her.

Skylar almost objected, certain she didn’t have the energy for one of their long nights of lovemaking.

“Go to sleep,” he ordered. He wrapped one arm around her and pulled her once again into his body.

His nearness and strength at her back made warmth pool in her belly and race through her body. She closed her eyes, doubting she’d be able to sleep while so turned on.

He’s my dragon.
Regret and sadness went through her, along with relief that he was safe. Another emotion was growing in her breast, one she didn’t want to feel. The sense she belonged in his arms and he belonged at her side were stronger, despite all they’d been through.

She cared about him. Too much to send him away.

Chace kissed her temple and she drifted into the sleep of the exhausted. The darkness of slumber soon retreated, easing her into another of the memories.

Chapter Thirteen

Chace felt her slide into sleep. Her body relaxed in his arms, and her breathing grew deep and steady. Holding her while keeping his hormones in check was torture. Injured and mistrustful, the sleeping woman in his arms let him touch her only because she needed the comfort. What he wanted tonight didn’t matter.

He didn’t think she was far off about hating him again in the morning, but part of him hoped he’d been right in seeing the warmth in her face.

He nuzzled her hair, breathing in her scent. She smelled of the shower she’d just taken, her own scent faint. Her hair was damp from the shower and her face still tight and pale from pain.

Chace touched her injured shoulder lightly.

Skylar murmured and shifted in her sleep.

He removed his hand, concerned. He didn’t want to see her suffer from fever and infection the way he had.

I’d give anything to keep her from that pain.

Resigned to his helplessness, he tucked her deeper into his body, once more angry for not having the magic he needed to help her.

He never thought he’d be this close to her again. Chace’s body relaxed under the influence of the warm power flowing off her into him. She was getting stronger, able to draw off the power of shifters, the way Hala said she’d be able to.

He lifted his head to make sure none of the tiny figurines had moved. The pile of stone statues were where he left them, and he marveled at the power both of them had to bring the creatures back to life. There were few moments in his life that made him proud, but bringing the Pegasus to life was one. Holding Sky was another that made him realize how incredible of a second chance he’d been given, one that touched him in a place he didn’t know existed.

Whatever emotion was blooming inside him, he wasn’t going to forget to appreciate this moment. After all, Skylar was likely to turn him over to her father to shred in the morning. This might be the last night he ever had the chance to hold her.

Chace traced a finger down Skylar’s face, regret deep in his gut. He wanted more than sex from Skylar. He wanted everything: her smile, corny jokes, her spirit. The sense of needing to possess every part of her was stronger as well, a primal impulse to claim what was his and never let go. The instinct had been present since he first met her. He’d shunned it, though, in favor of using her to get what he wanted.

After years of living for himself, he was starting to understand the lesson Freyja wanted him to learn.

This is the woman I love.
Yes, she was the other half of his heart and yes, she was his Sky. But love? The concept was foreign to him, something he hadn’t felt in a thousand years. He could see himself with Sky forever but the idea of loving someone after losing so many friends …

It terrified him.

He lowered his hand and hugged her close, resting his head on the pillow.

To let himself fall for someone was to set himself up for eventual heartache. At least, this was his experience thus far in life. What if Skylar wasn’t immortal like him?

What if they ended up like Gavin and Skylar’s mother? Gavin was an angry, lonely creature who didn’t even know what happened to his love.

Yet with his arms around Skylar and her body curled against his, Chace wasn’t able to think of anywhere else he’d rather be, of any moment that meant more to him, of anything he wouldn’t do to make this a nightly occurrence.

Drowsiness crept over him, a result of his sheer exhaustion. With his heart aching, he nonetheless fell into a deep, dark sleep.

Chapter Fourteen

Skylar smiled at the cake on the break room table of the slayers’ compound.

Happy 16
^th
, Skylar!
It read.

There were no candles, just a small cake with plain white frosting and writing in green. It was her sixteenth birthday, a huge milestone at The Field, where recruits went out on their first missions soon after turning sixteen.

More importantly, Mason promised to teach her to drive.

“It’s small, but we can’t have a birthday without cake,” he said, leaning against the doorway of the break room.

She grinned at him. “You rock, Mason. Thank you!”

“You’re welcome.” His smile fell for a brief moment. “It’s an important day.” The softness of his voice was lost on her in her eagerness to dig into the sweet treat.

“Cake?” Dillon asked, pushing past the dark-skinned friend who’d been like an older brother to her, as long as she could remember. “Sugar isn’t on the slayer diet.”

“It’s a special occasion. Chill, Dill,” Mason said.

“Yeah. Chill, Dill,” she echoed. There were days she didn’t like Dillon and days when she thought he was the most handsome man she’d ever seen.