dragons breath 01 - stalked by flames (17 page)

She turned and smiled at me.

“Oh, good. I’m glad you’re here.” Her voice filtered through my half-open window. She sounded friendly enough.

I found myself opening my door and stepping out to meet her across the grass lawn. “Um, aren’t you worried about the dragons seeing you out here?”

It was all I could think to say.

She lifted her gaze to the sky and gave it look of disgust. “No, I’m not. They won’t come to this place.”

The woman had a faint Irish accent. As if she’d been born and raised in Ireland but had moved to America a long time ago. There was a sense of utter confidence about her, yet there were also secrets in her hazel eyes. It made me think she had answers to questions I didn’t even know to ask.

“Okay,” I said in a hesitant voice. “Look. I don’t know why I’m here…”

She held out her hand. “I’m Verena. And you are?”

Against my better judgment, I shook it. Her palms were rough but warm. She tightened her grip on my hand for a moment before letting go. I had the urge to rub my palm on my pants, but managed to refrain.

“I’m Bailey. I’m not sure why I stopped here.”

Verena cocked her head. “I suppose it’s because I wanted you to. Where are you headed?”

My mind turned hazy, as if my thoughts were somehow being clouded—or directed. “Um. To the lake?”

“Ah. You’ve made your decision, then. I’m glad to hear it.”

“Decision?” She couldn’t possibly know anything about me.

“You’re going to train to be a dragon slayer. A wise choice.” She nodded approvingly.

“How could you…?”

“We’ll meet again soon.” She smiled. “Next time I’ll have a gift for you.”

This was some sort of twisted dream. I was sure of it. “What will you have for me?”

“You’ll see.” She waved me away. “Now run along. You’ve got a long day ahead of you.”

Before I could ask anything more, I found myself heading for my truck. Though I tried to stop, my feet wouldn’t cooperate. In less than a minute, I found myself back on the road, driving east again. The fog in my head lifted about a mile after that. When I looked in my review mirror, there was no sign of the house I’d just visited. I couldn’t even remember what happened there.

Chapter 17

Bailey

Lindsey Street ended with the road turning north just as Aidan had said it would. I worked my way over to where it started again off of 84
^th
Avenue and continued until I reached the end of the paved road where a solitary red sign stood. Beyond it, there was nothing but thick bushes and trees. A couple of gravel roads branched off to the north and south, but closed gates blocked them.

I’d come to the right place. The only problem was I’d arrived a little early. I pulled the truck off the road and parked it under a row of trees, shutting the engine off. The stillness around me was almost unnerving. Birds chirped nearby and insects buzzed around, but there were no signs of people. It had been a long time since I’d felt this alone.

I looked up through a break in the trees and caught sight of a dragon flying in the distance. It was red like Aidan, but a little bigger and the coloring was darker. When it continued south, I relaxed in my seat.

With every minute that passed the heat grew more oppressive. Sweat beaded on my forehead and no amount of fanning my face helped. The rain had stopped about a week ago and it had been getting hotter ever since. Yesterday someone found a temperature gauge. We were reaching temperatures of up to one hundred twenty degrees in the mid-afternoon. Oklahoma could get hot in the summer, but not that hot. It had to be the latest side effect of the dragon world colliding with ours.

My eyes drifted shut as I thought of better times. Days when the heat got to be too much back on the ranch. When it was really hot my brothers and I would go out to the creek, swim to cool off, and take naps afterward under the trees. Sometimes we’d speculate on how it would be when we grew up. All of us had planned to live at the ranch forever. We’d loved it there. Back in those days I never imagined life would become this complicated—or dangerous.

Please, God, let my family be okay. I’ll get to them soon if you’ll just watch over them for a little while longer.

***

A loud bang woke me some time later. I gripped the armrest and sat straight up. Everything around me was shaking and there was a tree limb on my hood. The earthquake wasn’t as bad as the ones that struck around the time dragons first invaded, but enough to bring me to full wakefulness. When it ended, I took a deep breath and let it out. Sometime soon I hoped the extreme weather and regular earthquakes would stop.

Movement down the south gravel road caught my eye. Aidan was in his human form, wearing the same black outfit as the last two times I saw him. He walked toward my truck with the grace of a predator who knew he was at the top of the food chain.

As he drew closer, I noticed his expression was stormy. Maybe he’d had a bad day? I was half-tempted to start the truck and take off, but I resisted the urge. Aidan came to stand next to my open window, appearing more intimidating than ever.

“You’ve decided?” he asked.

There was something in his stance and voice. It was like he was almost feral.

“With conditions,” I replied.

His jaw hardened. “What conditions?”

“When this is over and your clan has control of the area I want you to take me home.”

His brows furrowed. “Home? Where?”

“South to Texas,” I said, speaking in a firm voice that meant business. “My family lives down there, but there’s a huge chasm between us now so I can’t get to them. I’ve been stuck up here ever since you crossed over from that other dimension.”

A few seconds passed.

“Pure dragons rule down there. It would be better if you stayed here.”

“I don’t care.” I gave him a determined look. “My family is in danger down there and I can’t help them if I’m up here.”

He shook his head. “It’s impossible.”

“Then we’re done here.” I reached for the keys in my ignition.

He reached out and grabbed my wrist. “You don’t understand. What you ask is too dangerous for both of us. The clans down there are large and they patrol the chasm regularly. No matter how well I train you there is no way we can face that many. It would be suicide.”

Maybe he was right. I hadn’t been down to the chasm since it first opened up. A lot of dragons had crossed over since then, but I couldn’t give up that easily.

“Then give me another option,” I demanded, jerking my arm free. “Some way to help my family.”

His face turned stony. “You will train with me and we’ll think on a solution. It will be months before you’re ready to fight—more before my clan will hold this territory. Other possibilities may open up for us by then.”

Thinking of my family and how even now they might be dying made me desperate. I didn’t know if they’d make it out of the dragon attack today, but I had to do whatever it took to reach them if they did survive.

“I need a promise, Aidan. You have to swear you’ll do everything in your power to help me return to my family. I can’t do this if I can’t see some kind of light at the end of the tunnel.”

He let out a heavy sigh and turned away. His back was rigid. I could see defined muscles where his leather-like clothing didn’t cover the ends of his shoulders. Though I didn’t doubt his strength, it still amazed me a man of his size could turn into such a large creature. Where did the rest of his mass go when he was in human form?

Long minutes ticked by. The only sound was of bugs swarming around. The birds had turned silent and no other wildlife came close. Aidan’s presence must have scared them all off.

Hesitantly, I opened the door and climbed out of the truck. The fact he was even considering my plea told me he needed me more than he was letting on. Somehow, his plans hinged on me. I could use that to my advantage so we both got something out of the deal. I touched his shoulder lightly and he turned around.

“Do you have family?” I asked.

He studied me for a moment, then nodded.

“Do you care about them? Enough that you would protect them?”

He worked his jaw. “There are some I would die for.”

“Then you have to understand how I feel.”

His eyes blazed. “You ask a lot.”

“No more than you’re asking me,” I pointed out. “Before you and the other dragons showed up I had just finished school. I was about to go back and help manage my stepfather’s ranch. Now you’re asking me to become some kind of warrior woman who faces down creatures up to ten times her size.” Bigger, if you counted their wings and tail.

He looked up at the sky. “In the old days you would have been raised with the knowledge of your heritage. It runs in the family and they would have taught you.”

It couldn’t have been my mother—she didn’t have a fighting bone in her body. That left my father. He’d already proved he didn’t want anything to do with me by leaving soon after my mother got pregnant.

“Where are the others of my kind? Why choose to work with me?” That question had been running through my mind for days.

His gaze turned guarded. “There were some of them living in the other world. I know not whether they’ve crossed yet, or where they may have gone. Only that none of them are near here.”

I wished I could have met another dragon slayer like me.

“And even if they were near here…” I crossed my arms and gave him an accusing look. “They wouldn’t work with you, would they?”

“Does it matter?” His tone was implacable.

“Yes, because I still don’t think I can trust you.”

“And what would it take to earn your trust?” He took a step closer, gazing down at me. “I have not harmed you in any way and I’m willing to teach you secrets for how to kill my kind. There is as much risk in this alliance for me as there is for you.”

The top of my head barely reached his chin. Considering I was 5’4”, he had to be about six feet. I felt rather insignificant standing in front of him. Aidan wasn’t bulky, but he had a way of appearing bigger when he stood close.

I wanted to back away, but I didn’t. “Swear to me that you’ll never hurt me and that you will do whatever it takes to help me reunite with my family. That would be a start.”

He muttered something in a foreign tongue under his breath. Then he drew a dagger from his belt with a blade about six inches long. The metal was black with red veins running through it, unlike anything I’d ever seen before.

Aidan held it out to me like an offering. “Take it.”

“Okay.” Reaching out slowly, I grabbed it.

The handle was wrapped with smooth black material and fit well in my hand. I barely felt the weight of the weapon.

Aidan pulled at the laces binding his top. I blinked and almost looked away. There was something very intimate about watching him work his fingers down the vest, loosening the garment. His chest was serious eye-candy—better than any guy I’d dated.

Why couldn’t his human skin be rough and ugly, rather than smooth? I backed up a couple of steps. He was a dragon and I couldn’t let myself see him any other way—even if the package he presented was easy to look at. I might make a deal with him to train me, but that was it.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

He finished unlacing the vest and set it on the hood of my truck.

“You asked for my oath. We do not give such things lightly or without sacrifice.” He took a knee and looked up at me. “Now you must cut your finger.”

“What?”

His expression was devoid of emotion. “Only enough to draw a little blood.”

His request was more than a little strange, but if it meant I could get his promise, then I’d go along with it. I aimed the tip of the dagger and cut a small slice across my left index finger.

“Give me your hand,” he ordered.

I held it out and he took it, using my finger to smear my blood across his forehead. After that, Aidan held my hand between his palms in front of his face.

“In the name of
Zorya
,” he said in a reverent tone. “I swear that I will never harm this woman and I will do my best to assist her in reuniting with her family after she has helped my clan take control of this region.”

He let go of my hand.

“Who is Zorya?” I asked.

Aidan’s brows knitted. “The dragon goddess. She was the first of our kind who we’ve worshiped since she ascended many thousands of years ago. I can assure you no dragon would swear on Zorya’s name unless he plans never to break his oath.”

“Oh.” I hadn’t considered they might have their own religion. “Are we done then?”

“No, there is more.”

I stiffened. “What do you mean?”

“For an oath to be binding there must be a show of faith and trust.” He hadn’t moved from his position on the ground.

“What do we do now?” I asked, suspecting I wouldn’t like it.

He dropped his arms to his sides. “You will use my dagger to strike me and I may not defend myself.”

“Like a cut?”

“No.” A muscle ticked in his jaw. “It must be much deeper than that.”

“But that’s barbaric!”

He grunted. “It is dragon tradition.”

Great, I had to follow his brutal way of doing things. “How vulnerable are you in this form? Where should I aim?”

I didn’t want to hurt him and yet some primal part of me did want exactly that. Was the dragon slayer part of me surfacing? In his human form, he didn’t trigger my instincts as much, but they weren’t gone entirely. I could still see him as the enemy if I stared into his animalistic eyes. That brought out the urge to hurt him in any way I could.

Aidan hadn’t moved a muscle, but he was watching my face closely. I could have sworn he knew what I was thinking. “Avoid my neck. I can handle a strike in my gut and heal from it within a few days.”

My hands tightened on the hilt. “Are you sure?”

“Get it over with, slayer, before I change my mind,” he growled.