The Seven: Four tales of passion, danger and love (50 page)

Grace felt a scream building, one of fear and madness. This couldn’t be real. What he said couldn’t be true. “That’s bullshit.” She had to argue it away, had to make it a lie.

“It is true and I am here to enlist your help. She put the tattoo on your body and then she vanished, but her control over you did not. She can call you to her at any time and you cannot resist. You are her creature to control, Grace. The ink she used contained her blood and it is now part of you. You cannot resist her.”

“That’s a lie.” She tried to sound brave even if she was retreating, trying to work her way to the bedroom door in hopes that she could make a dash through the living area and to the exit.

“You know it is not. Not only are you under her control, but so is he. Even if I can help you break free of her control, she will use him to pull you back in and I cannot let that happen.”

“Why? What difference does it make? I’m no one special.”

“Do not be so sure. I’m sorry, Grace, but I cannot allow you to fall to her power. Either let me help you, heal and hide you from her or I have no other option than to kill him.”

“Why? Why on earth would you want to kill him? What has he done to you?”

“Why, nothing. But as I said, he belongs to my adversary and she will use him to control you.”

“You’re insane.”

“I wish” The tone of his voice made her skin crawl. “Nyah will stop at nothing to see the will of her Dark Lord fulfilled. Oh, but wait. He does not know her as Nyah, does he? Let’s see, what does he call her? Orelia?”

Grace inched over to the bedroom door, turned and ran headlong into someone. She was jolted back by the impact and stared in shock at the tall black man staring menacingly at her, swirling tattoos covering every visible inch of skin.

She whirled at the touch on her shoulder to face Severin. “Leave. Please, just leave.”

“I can’t do that. Please, I beg you, let me protect you.”

She shook her head and his face took on an expression of sadness. “Consider my resolve, Grace. Despite the damage it will do to my soul, I will burn this town down, kill him or as many others as it takes to have what I want, to keep her from having you.”

“She doesn’t have me you lunatic! I haven’t seen her since she inked me.”

“But you will.”

“No!” She felt a brief surge of anger and latched onto it. If she could transform, she could escape.

“Phobos, take her!” Severin commanded.

Phobos?

She whirled around in shock to see the giant at the door grin just before his hand shot out at her.

Then the world went black.

*****

Walker ended the call and frowned. He and Grace had agreed to meet for lunch yesterday, but every time he called he got her voice mail. She wasn’t responding to his texts either.

What had happened? Had he imagined the connection they’d formed?

He had no more time to ponder as the alarm sounded. Dan ran by. “Shit’s hit the fan, man. Six houses on fire.”

“Six?”

“Three on the north end and—and three in your neighborhood.”

Walker didn’t wait to hear more. He was already headed for the apparatus bay. In less than a minute, he was fully outfitted in his turnout.

All four trucks rolled out less than two minutes later, headed for his neighborhood..

Walker felt like his heart had jumped up and lodged in his throat when they reached the scene. His house, and the ones on either side of it, were in flames. But it was Mrs. Willis’ house that captured his attention. It was literally engulfed.

“Anyone in the houses?” he asked one of the other firefighters.

“One.” He pointed to Mrs. Willis’ home. “Neighbors said they heard a woman calling for help. Said she was calling for Walker.”

That hit him like a punch to the gut. He started for the house, heedless of the calls from fellow firefightersto stay back. He had just reached the sidewalk when someone grabbed his arm.

Walker’s momentum kept him and whoever had hold of him moving forward another couple of steps before he stopped. His captain stepped in front of him. “You’re not indestructible, Walker. That’s suicide.”

“There’s an old lady in that house. One that was calling for me. I have to go in.”

“I can’t let you do that, son.” He looked behind Walker and nodded. Before Walker could react, two firefighters had hold of his arms, dragging him back.

“Get off me!” He tried to jerk free but they weren’t about to let go. Another joined the effort and the three of them muscled him back to the truck. He unclipped his helmet, snatched it off, and bullied his way past his fellow firefighters to face his captain.

“You have to let me to in after her. I can do it. I can save her.”

“The answer is no. Open your mouth and I’ll have you removed from the scene. You got it? Either help us contain this or leave. Your choice but you’re not going in.”

Walker bit back a curse and headed for the rear of the truck where he’d spotted Dan. Before he reached his destination, someone stepped in his path.

An older man with silver gray eyes blocked his path. Walker thought to brush around him but something in the man’s gaze changed his mind. “Can I help you?”

“Grace is in there.”

“In where?”

“Mrs. Willis’ house.”

“What…how…how can you know that? Is Mrs. Willis in there?”

“No.”

“How can you know that?”

“How I know is not important. That I know is. You must get her out.”

Walker took the man’s arm and led him away from the truck. “Look, mister…?”

“Friendly. Walton Friendly. I’m Grace's friend.”

“Yes, she talks about you all the time, Mr. Friendly. And look, I don’t want to call you a liar but I can’t believe that Grace is in there, and even if she was—”

“You think she can survive the fire because of her dragon and I wouldn’t argue that, but it’s not the fire that you need to fear.”

Walker suddenly felt as cold as if he’d stepped into a freezer. Cold as death but with sweat springing from every pore.

Mr. Friendly lowered his voice. “Listen to me, Ellis. Her tattoo has been altered and the ink tainted. It will leave her vulnerable to a particular acid—sulfuric acid. Her dragon nature will protect her from the fire, but when the floor collapses, it will deposit her into a vat of acid stored in the crawlspace beneath.”

“Her dragon nature won’t shield her?”

“Not with the alteration to her tattoo. You must get her out. Now.”

Walker didn’t wait to be told again. He turned and ran. Hands tried to grab him and at least two people tried to bar his way, but he plowed through them like a linebacker and headed straight into the inferno.

Grace was aware of the fire, but it didn’t frighten her. She knew it would not hurt her. If anything, it made the transformation easier. She didn’t even have to think about becoming a dragon.

The pain associated with the transformation had her screaming, though. And just as the first scream ripped from her, she became aware that someone else was in the fire with her.

Her first thought was that it was
him—
her enemy, the one who had taken her, had made her scream as he’d inked her. That fear sent a surge of energy through her that sped the transformation process. She felt the chains around her ankles and wrists and roared, pulling the bolts from the floor that secured her.

Then she turned on her enemy. She swiped at him with one clawed foot, but he dodged and suddenly he was no longer a man, but a dragon. Grace roared a challenge, wanting battle. She flew at him, jaws snapping and claws raking.

The other dragon let her clash into him, his own razor sharp teeth scoring her neck. She hissed, bit at him and raised both back legs to gouge at him with the long claws of her feet.

His roar was enough to shake what remained of the house. His teeth locked on her neck and he pushed his superior weight on her, pinning her to the floor. Grace hissed, roared and beat at him with feet and wings but could not escape.

“Grace, it’s me.”

The sound of Walker’s voice in her mind had her body going still. The dragon who had her pinned rose, his eyes meeting hers.

“Walker?”

“Yes. It’s me. We have to get out of here.”

“But how?”

“You must fly, children.”
Grace heard Nyah’s voice, and from the way Walker cocked his head, so did he.

“Come to me
,
”
Nyah’s voice urged.

“We’ll be seen,”
Walker argued.

“It is of no consequence. No one will believe what they see.”

“But we’ll never be able to show ourselves again. Everyone will think we died in the fire.”

“Trust me. Now fly! Follow my voice and come to me.”

Grace waited, watching Walker. He looked from one side to the other and then at her.
“What do we do?”

“We fly.”
She didn’t know if she even could but she was sure going to try.
“Come on, Walker. Let’s go.”

He nodded and turned, making his way through the fire to the window. Once there, he spread his wings, then fanned them down. Fire billowed in the massive movement of air and his body rose from the floor. One more beat of his wings and his body shot forward, through the wall of fire where the window had once been.

Grace had no clue if she would succeed, but mimicked his actions and miraculously, her body was propelled forward. In fact, she moved far faster than anticipated and nearly collided with Walker as he rose in the smoke above the house.

Two more beats of her wings and she was soaring. It was incredible. She moved her wings faster and shot upward.

“Now is not the time for play.”
Nyah’s voice rang in her mind.
“Come to me, child.”

Grace didn’t have a clue how it worked, but she banked and turned, pulled as if by an invisible thread. She flew through clouds, felt the cool air on her scales and looked down at the earth so far below.

It was amazing.

What felt like mere seconds later, she heard Nyah again, urging her to land.

Grace was the first on the ground and turned to watch Walker alight. Two seconds after his feet were on the ground, he was in human form. A tall, well built man, completely nude. It was a sight that stirred her blood even in the midst of all she’d experienced.

She felt the transformation back to human form far less painful and the thought crossed her mind that maybe one day it wouldn’t be painful at all.

Just then, Nyah walked through the door of the house set on the lovely manicured grounds of the estate. She approached, carrying two lightweight Egyptian cotton robes and handed one to each of them.

Grace slid her arms into the robe, then belted it around her waist. The fabric was butter soft against her skin, light and comfortable. Nyah waited until Walker was covered, then gestured toward the house.

“Come, refreshments have been prepared.”

“Refreshments?” Walker blurted. “We just changed into dragons and flew out of a burning house in front of hundreds—”

“Hundreds?” Nyah arched one delicate brow.

“Okay, dozens. The point is, someone had to have seen us, and now everyone will think we’re dead—at least until the fire is out and they don’t find a trace of us. And then…”

It was clear to Grace that he didn’t know how to finish the sentence. What
would
happen when there were no bodies found? And had anyone seen them in dragon form? She reached for Walker’s hand in a gesture of comfort, then looked questioningly at Nyah.

“I will explain. Please come inside.”

Grace and Walker followed Nyah inside the house, into a large sunroom. Two deeply cushioned white wicker couches sat opposite one another, between which a glass and wicker table stood, the latter laden with trays of fruit, cheese, breads and a pitcher of what appeared to be fruit juice.

Nyah took a seat on one sofa. Grace and Walker claimed seats on the other.

“Okay, explain.” Walker’s voice was something of a bark until Grace cut him a pleading look. “Please,” he added in a more conciliatory tone.

“As far as anyone at the scene of the fire is concerned, you, Walker, rescued Grace from the fire. There is footage of you carrying her from the house, wrapped in your coat. You are once again being touted as Fire Walker. Both of you were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation and to be generally checked out, but I don’t imagine you’ll actually make it into the ER.”

“We—I—hold on.” Walker held up a hand. “How is that possible?”

“I do have a great many…followers.”

“Dragons?” Grace asked.

“Some, yes.”

“But how did they make people think it was us?”

“My people have powers you do not realize. For example, dragons possess the ability to blend in with their environment. Be chameleons, in a manner of speaking.”