Ash Bringer (A Storm of Fire: Paranormal Dragonshifter Romance Book 1)

by Courtney Leigh

  Beside the cage, flames were surrounding the truck, eating at the metal and heating the gas tank. I stumbled toward the prisoners, looking around for something to use on the lock. Beside me on the ground, the man with the spike in his eye was burning like a slab of meat on a grill, his clothes shriveling off of him. I could smell his fat sizzling in the air, mingling with the smell of burning wood, smoke, and ash. I rolled him over, searching for a gun or a tool to open the cage, but of course he was the only one without a single weapon on him.

  Looking around again, bodies were falling left and right. Those who weren’t on fire were running around in a panic, screaming over the ruckus, but unsure where to direct their defenses. Another beastly roar tore through the air again, this time from directly above the camp, but through the smoke and fire I couldn’t see anything. I could feel it, though. Massive gusts of wind as the dragon passed overhead.

  The loud clap of a gun being fired pulled me out of my focus. The bullet hit the ground just inches from my knee. I flipped around to see Tek, his head half burned and glossy with blood, his six-shooter trained right at my head. He began stomping toward me just as another gust of wind bled over the flames, sending them dancing in all directions. Tek’s eyes froze wide, his jaw dropped with horror, and he pivoted, fleeing toward the woods. On his belt I saw a small key ring. I gave chase.

  Despite my injuries, I caught up to Tek in barely five steps, leaping toward him and tackling him to the ground. He was in a complete fright, breathing wildly and struggling to get away. I had wanted to rip his head off myself, but all I could think of was getting those keys. Tek twisted, managing to elbow me in the head hard enough to make my ears ring and throw me off of him. Glancing toward the camp in that second, I saw it. The massive shadow of a beast that could haunt a child’s nightmares for a lifetime.

  The dragon dropped into the remains of the burning camp, crushing the entire outpost. This beast was immense with red scales so dark they almost looked black. Red ridges lead down its spine and a pair of mammoth wings began to fold inward, providing support for the broad, front half of its body. It let out a deafening roar, back hunched with aggression. I could smell the smoke in its breath, even from where I was in the woods. It’s eyes were like flames, with narrowed pupils that sliced the color in half. Its teeth were sharp as switchblades.

  As a burning body stumbled past it, the beast lunged, its jaws clamping down on the rebel, nearly devouring him in one bite. With a shake of its horned head, the dragon ripped the body in two, throwing the legs one way before it tossed the torso the other. Smoke shot from its nostrils just as it let loose another terrifying roar. It was filled with otherworldly tones that layered together in a way that no other animal on the planet could conjure. It’s mouth dripped some kind of liquid like it was salivating, but as the liquid hit the ground, each drop flashed with a burst of flames.

  The beast snorted a billow of smoke as its body began to bleed fire from between every scale and crease. I was frozen in a fearful awe of the monster as it became consumed in a bright, flaming energy. The moving cocoon of light began to dissipate into pieces of ash and red embers, blowing away with the wind until the massive dragon was shed and the equally menacing man stood in its place. His eyes were bright and the remnants of the transformation lingered in the dim glow of veins on his neck and around his face. My heart stopped, turning to stone behind my ribs.

  Draven was a demon among the flames. The fire barely touched him as he walked, as if it feared him as much as I did. He stepped across the wreckage, cutting down rebels as he moved with little more than a swipe of his hand. He sliced through three men before I could regain my focus. Lukan stepped out of the flames after him, appearing with the same, fierce aggression that Draven had. I hadn’t even seen the second dragon. Lukan saw the caged captives and moved toward them. With one yank on the cage door, the iron broke loose. He tossed the metal aside, but Draven’s voice drew my attention.

  “Everly!” he bellowed.

  There was fury in his primal tone. I rolled over to my hands and knees, trying to find any ounce of strength left in me, but before I could stand, Tek’s crazed shout tore toward my ears. I glanced up at him just in time to find his knee against my cheek. Once more I was on my back, my head spinning. I couldn’t tell which part of me was in more pain now. It all seemed to melt together into one giant ball of extreme discomfort.

  “This is your fault!” Tek yelled. “You stupid bitch!”

  “Everly!” Draven shouted again, his voice so loud it shook me to my bones.

  I didn’t want to go back to the estate. I didn’t want to continue being his prisoner, but there was so much more to the picture now. I knew in my heart that there was much more to the story between Taurus and Valerio. To all of it. I was overwhelmed with questions and the only way I knew to find answers was to survive. To survive, I needed Draven’s help.

  Tek rolled on top of me, straddling my body. His hand pressed down on my throat, cutting off air. I reached up, clawing at his arms, but my body was in a state of confusion. Smoke was clouded inside my lungs and the adrenaline was wearing off.

  Gripping at whatever energy I had left, I bucked against Tek’s legs trying to knock him off of me, but my efforts were weak. I jutted my arm out as far as it would go and dug my nails into the soft, burnt flesh on Tek’s face. He let out a psychotic, piercing scream and drew away. When his hand came up off my neck, I tried to wrestle him off of me. On his belt, I felt the hunting knife in its leather sheath. I grabbed the wood handle and tugged it from its confines, plunging it into Tek’s neck just as I felt the hot barrel of his six-shooter against my ribs. At the same moment that the knife crashed into his jugular, the gun fired. The sound was so loud it shook my brain in my skull, but it was the explosion of pressure in the side of my abdomen that made my body seize.

  Tek rolled off to the side, reaching toward the knife in his neck as he tried to crawl away, still dragging the gun. Glancing toward the flames, I saw Draven, his eyes burning so hard into me that I thought for sure I’d burst into a pile of ashes from his stare alone. Gods, despite everything, though, Draven was almost a welcome sight. He was like a hurricane rolling in and I felt like a leaf in the heavy winds.

  Rather than coming to me, Draven made his way toward Tek. As the man swiveled the gun in his direction, he reached out toward Tek’s head. Tek fired. The bullet just missed Draven and he took hold of Tek’s head in both hands. With an abrupt twist, his neck snapped with an ugly sound like dry sticks crumbling underfoot. I watched as Tek’s skin tore, blood spraying from his now empty neck. With a snarl, Draven tossed the head to the side and let the body fall at his feet.

  I was afraid. I was wounded and regretful and felt utterly foolish. My eyes felt more open than they ever had, but it was not a pretty picture I was seeing. I was seeing horrible possibilities and unpleasant truths.

  All around me was dirt and noise. Smoke and fire. I couldn’t even tell which direction I was facing anymore. Was I even still awake?

  Then, through the smoke and dust, Draven was standing over me like an animal claiming its kill. I felt stripped to the core, my body destroyed, broken, and defiled in ways I wasn’t prepared to endure.

  Draven was no comforting sight now. He was strong and, in that moment, I was nothing. I was shattered. I shook, cold despite the heat. I stared up at Draven’s massive form, backlit by destruction. He glowed with an ethereal menace and suddenly there was a tiny sliver of appreciation that spawned in me.

  I took a deep breath, tainted with pollutants from the burning camp and the shooting agony in my side. I heaved to one side, biting back the pain that coursed through every inch of my body.

  Draven watched, stoic, confirming that he had no real concern for my well being as I struggled to get to my feet. His eyes, however, showed the slightest twitch when my hands slipped and he saw my ripped shirt and exposed undergarments. His jaw pulsed with tension before he raised his eyes back toward mine, but he was turning bl
urry now. The world was moving around me despite the fact that I was standing still.

  As soon as my foot moved, nothing seemed right. My muscles cramped, pulling me down. I landed in Draven’s solid embrace, which kept me from hitting the ground. He pressed his hands to my shoulders as if waiting for me to catch my balance, but I was only growing more limp.

  The world around me faded into darkness. My head was floating and suddenly sounds were nothing but distant echoes. Next thing I knew, Draven’s furious breaths were muffled against my ear. They rolled in the hollow of his chest like the low growls of a beast. Slowly, I opened my eyes to see him hovering over me. I should be dead. I should have bled out already, gone into shock, but I didn’t, and I was staring up at the reason why. It was the same reason I could walk through fire. That shackle around my wrist was keeping me alive. He was keeping me alive.

  My lungs were on fire. Perhaps from the smoke or perhaps from exerting myself when I had no energy to spare. Every breath pumped more blood from my wounds and dried my throat. Despite how much I didn’t want things to be like this, my survival was entirely in Draven’s hands. I needed him.

  I’d fallen unconscious numerous times before I found myself back at the estate. I was cold. Shivering. The only warmth I felt was whatever Draven’s body was giving off and though it was far more than any human body could provide, I still shuddered with discomfort. My head fell against the leather of his coat and I could smell smoke, but still, under the scent of fire, I smelled that soothing, woodsy aroma. Gods, I was a fool for letting it comfort me. For letting anything about him put me at ease. He was almost as much a monster as Tek, and yet he held me tenderly and he walked with even steps to avoid jostling my injured body.

  “Oh my…” Keera’s voice echoed through the foyer as we entered the manor. I couldn’t open my eyes to see her. “Everly?”

  “I’ve got her,” Draven said over her, his voice much more gentle than I remembered.

  He continued on until his footsteps became muffled in a narrower hall. I felt him ascending stairs and turning corners before he nudged a bedroom door open with a soft kick of his foot and took me inside. I forced my eyes open a sliver to see that it was my room.

  Next thing I knew, Draven was setting me down atop a soft mattress, but rather than leave me, he removed his coat and sat beside my body on the bed. This wasn’t even the same man anymore as he cradled me in his lap and cleared my sweat-dampened hair from my forehead.

  I breathed with a wheeze, every intake of air a chore. I felt sand in my throat and in my lungs, whittling down the walls of my insides every time I moved. Prying my eyes open further, I saw his hazy face looking down at me. I wanted to run from everything with every part of my being, but I was stuck there under the weight of my torn muscles.

  Draven reached over, taking my branded wrist in his hand, and held it over my stomach near the bullet wound. I felt a heat resonating from his touch that was uncomfortable at first, like my arm had been dipped in boiling water. I winced, clenching my teeth to hold back a soft cry, my muscles tensing against the sensation.

  “Shhh,” Draven said, holding me tight. “Calm your breathing.”

  Who the hell was this man? I felt the heat turn to something relaxing that traveled up my arm and splintered through my chest like a firework. I went rigid again as my lungs opened up to a deep breath of cool air. The razor heat kept going until every cut and hole on my abdomen began to sizzle and burn. I could smell it and feel it like fresh brands on my skin.

  I jolted, balling my fists against the pain while Draven held me steady, squeezing my wrist even tighter. My other hand grabbed his arm, clutching him with a grip that would have been painful to anyone else, but he seemed unaffected.

  Finally, the burning reverted back to something calming and comfortable, like I was immersed in a warm bath. My muscles melted in Draven’s arms, my head pressed against his chest, listening to the air wash through his lungs. His pulse tapped against my forehead, his bicep hard beneath my neck. His warmth surrounded me like a blanket and thrummed through me.

  I shivered as he finally took his hand from my wrist and the heat subsided, returning me to a vaguely normal state. Still weak enough to pass out, I curled against Draven’s broad chest, like a child seeking comfort, and felt my breath clean the smoke and dust from my previously chapped lungs. I opened my heavy eyes again, feeling drunk and weak, and felt the tears rising. Draven was looking down at me, his eyes almost beautiful in their many shades. I almost thought it was all a dream.

  “Why did you come for me?” I whispered, unsure if I was really speaking to Draven or just a hallucination.

  He didn’t answer. Maybe I really was dreaming. Maybe I’d passed out again. I had to take a few more breaths to make sure I was alive.

  “Taurus didn’t kill Valerio,” I said so quietly I questioned if I’d spoken out loud at all.

  When I felt Draven shift slightly, I knew he’d heard me. He was there and not a figment of my imagination. I looked up at him again, still unable to see clearly, and spoke in a small whisper.

  “I think...he just took the fall for it. They hate him. Said he was a traitor. He and Valerio…” I trailed off as I fell into an unavoidable unconsciousness.

  21

  Everly

  . . .

  I woke with a jolt, the sound of Tek’s revolver going off ripping me out of my sleep. When I realized I was in my room at the manor, I was only marginally more at ease. Looking down, I was still in my soot-stained, bloodied clothes, my hair crusted with dried sweat and filth.

  Sore and a little dizzy, I rolled over and put my feet on the floor, leaning forward to catch my breath. My chest felt tight and the skin on my entire midsection was tender, but when I lifted my shirt, the flesh was smooth. I ran my fingers across my stomach and ribs in disbelief. Though it felt sensitive, like I’d severely burned it in the sun, there were no marks. I vaguely remembered Draven carrying me to the room, and the sensation when he took my branded wrist in his hand, but everything was mostly just a big blur after the camp was destroyed.

  I brushed my hair back and unbuckled my boots, putting my feet on the cold tile to lessen the ache in them. Walking slowly to the bathroom, I nearly lost my balance more than once, like I was treading along a thin ledge and couldn’t quite find my center. I managed to get to the shower and turn on the water, and although I wanted desperately to sink into a tranquil bath, my body was so covered in filth that a shower seemed more practical.

  It was more trouble than usual just to undress myself. I slipped off my torn shirt with a groan only to remember how close I’d gotten to being raped. Even Draven’s threats hadn’t seemed as real as the hungry eyes that surrounded me in that camp.

  Stepping into the stone shower, I closed the glass doors and moved under the warm stream of water. A mix of browns, blacks, and reds cascaded down my body and swirled through the drain as I gently rubbed away the layers of grime. It felt so good to be rid of it. To feel that weight washing off my body.

  I let the warm water comb through my hair and down my face and massaged the lavender soaps all over. It soothed my muscles, but as time passed I started to feel the fear creeping up on me once more like a wraith haunting an old house.

  Tek. Draven. Taurus. Me. I wasn’t sure how much a body could take. How much more my mind could endure. I wasn’t sure which thought frightened me more. The sadistic Falcons, Draven’s thirst for cruel games, or the idea of Taurus lying to me my entire life.

  I felt more broken than I ever had in my life. Ashamed that I had been so foolish and naive. Mortified that I had given suicide even the tiniest thought. I was stronger than that. I was stronger than my oppressors. Stronger than the girl who was crying in the shower, using the hot water to hide her tears.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered to myself, apologizing both to me and to Taurus’s memory.

  Despite the revelations, he was still the good man that raised me. The man that stole me from the flames and taugh
t me how to survive. Whoever he was before had no bearing on how he brought me up. Or at least that’s what I told myself.

  I washed twice just to be sure I was fresh again before I finally forced myself to step out of the water. Still a bit unsteady, I treaded carefully onto the slick marble and reached for a towel from the glass shelf just outside the shower. As I turned, I caught a tall figure in the doorway, leaned casually against the doorframe, arms crossed over his broad chest. I gasped, covering myself with the towel.

  As the steam from the shower cleared, Draven stood there, unreadable. He wore a fitted, black shirt with sleeves rolled to the elbows. Leather bracelets covered his wrists and a pair of deep, red pants brought out the warmth of his eyes, which moved slowly up my body. He gave me the subtlest of smirks, his copper hair pulled away from his face in a half ponytail. My body suddenly felt hot, inside and out. I blamed it on my extra hot shower.

  I stood straight and took a deep breath to hide the shake in my grip where I held my towel closed at my chest. Draven’s hands dropped to his sides where he hung his thumbs loosely on his pant pockets. He watched me cautiously move to the counter where I subtly used the edge for support.

  “What do you want?” I asked.

  Draven shrugged. “I came to see if you were awake.”

  “Good. You saw.”

  “And?”

  “And what?”

  “How are you feeling?”

  I raised a brow. “Why? You bored? Need something to torment? You here to tell me how stupid I am or how I have no one to blame but myself for all this? Go ahead.”

  “You are stupid,” Draven said, his voice less pointed than his actual words. “But I’m starting to get that it’s not your fault. Taurus didn’t teach you a damn thing, did he? Not really. It’s pretty careless of him if you ask me.”