“Even so, I was too late. The village was razed. No one survived the fire. Standing in the ashes, in the blood, I saw the fucker who’d done them in. Its snout was covered in gore. Smoke leaked out its nostrils. Blue and red scales covered the thing, as big as a house. It spread its scaly bat wings and took to its roost—a smoking crack in Mount Hood. The thunderbird was real. But I knew it by a different name.”
“Dragon,” Kayla whispered.
Blood gazed into his wine. “It took things from me I never knew I might have. Hope. A future. Love. I scaled that wintry mountain to kill the son-of-a-bitch. I reckon it saw me coming. Maybe it didn’t even take note of a single man on its trail. I watched it fly off across the ocean.
“For a long time, I considered staying on the mountain until the weather took me. I never realized I had nothing to live for, until I finally found something—and it was taken away. But the blizzard couldn’t match the fury in my heart. I came off that mountain, eyes to the west. I vowed to take that monster down before it could murder another man’s happiness. Another man’s…”
He stopped talking, knocking back the last of the rye. Kayla still watched him, not speaking. Blood could almost hear the wheels turning in her head.
“You think I’m crazy?” he asked.
She swirled the wine in her glass. “That depends.”
“On what?”
“The rest of the story. You only told me half.”
***
Kayla couldn’t completely dismiss Elathan’s tale. She didn’t quite have a grip on it, but she knew that the strange objects she’d found in the lodge were clues. What she really needed to know was the part that Oscar León had uncovered during his investigation.
“Tell me about your friend, Sally’s grandfather.”
“The son-of-a-bitch turned on me.”
“How did he double-cross you?”
Elathan tipped the wine bottle, but nothing came out. He frowned. “The fool fell in love.”
“With a woman you had designs on?”
His brows lowered. “Not the designs you’re thinking of.”
She blushed a little. “What then?”
“Let’s back up a little. My friend’s family bought a plot of land on top of the dragon’s lair. They ran an orchard. Except my friend’s brother died in the Great War, his ma and pa were taken by the grippe, and he was alone in the world.”
“Just like you,” Kayla said.
He conceded with a lift of his brows and a slight pout. “Except, unlike me, he wanted to remedy the situation. That’s how I baited my trap.”
“The man built a bar.”
“A bar is often called a watering hole. I needed a place where the animals gathered, to attract the predator. At that time, there were hardly any people here. A few farms, logging camps, all of this spread out over miles. I knew that if I could draw people together, it would attract her. These were already her hunting grounds. I just became a sort of game keeper.”
The wine slowed Kayla’s reaction. “By game, you mean people?”
Blood nodded. “Shifters, specifically. Dragons produce a kind of narcotic musk. It draws its prey in, keeps them content, like the sap of a pitcher plant. The prey was already on their way—I just speeded up the process. And she took the bait. I didn’t realize it until it was too late.”
“What do you mean?”
Blood twirled his empty glass. “Dragon musk is toxic. Get too close, and it’ll make you sick, kill you even.”
Oscar’s file came to mind. “Sally’s grandfather was diagnosed with tuberculosis.”
“That’s what the doctors came up with. Truth of the matter was, he had dragon fever. I should have known. The man came up with all kinds of money for fancy things. The works of a saw mill, a fine home, fancy furnishings. It didn’t come from the bar or the orchard. When he was on his deathbed, I understood. He was in cahoots with the dragon.”
Kayla shook her head. “But you turned him, in order to save him.”
“I turned him to find out the truth before he died. The truth of it was, the dragon-shifter was a woman, and he was in love with her.”
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Chapter Fifteen
Blood wanted another drink, even though his mind was spinning with liquor already. The story was almost too much to tell. “It would’ve been more merciful to let him die. Even with all I knew of dragons, I didn’t realize she wasn’t out for the hunt—she was looking for a mate. By turning my friend, I gave her one. Now, the monster had taken my only love, and now, my one friend.”
Kayla seemed to hang on his every word. Did she believe him, or was she sizing him up for a mental case. “What did you do?”
“There were few single women around at the time. Three of them had stayed over at the tavern. They were nurses, on their way to work at the sanatorium. Two of them had taken ill with the dragon plague. Thus, the third was my target.
“I thought to storm the nurses’ quarters, but it would mean innocents dying. So I bided my time. Soon, I knew my friend and the dragon must meet for a tryst. I caught him stealing from the bar one night, and followed. In a clearing halfway between the bar and the hospital, they met. As I watched, they kissed. And at that moment, I was attacked.
“Two robed figures ambushed me, stabbing with silver knives. More of the dragon’s slaves, bewitched as my friend had been. I sustained serious wounds, both in animal and human form. I had no choice but to run.
“By the time I healed, my plans were ruined. My friend, realizing he had led me into a deadly trap, took his own life. Or attempted to, anyway. Somehow, his inner bear rescued him. But she was gone. The nurse friends she arrived with were gone from their ward. No doubt, these were her servants, magically recovered from the dragon plague.
“Once again, I had nothing but my anger, my vow. Once again, I went on the hunt.”
Blood stopped speaking, scanning Kayla’s face.
“Do you believe me?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I’ve had too much wine to think. I need to lie down.”
Kayla stood, legs wobbly. Blood took her arm to steady her. Together, they walked upstairs. “I’ll see you in the morning,” she said when they reached her room.
Blood pushed her against the door. “I ain’t a man to force myself on a woman. But I think you want me to.”
Kayla placed her hands on his chest. Her eyes gazed into his, lips slightly parted. When he heard her breath quicken, he took her chin in one hand, guiding her into a kiss. Her hands slid over him, around his neck, pulling him firmly into the embrace.
Blood reveled in the heat of her mouth, the softness of her body against his. He had not felt this way for such a long time. Denying himself for so long only made him crave her touch.
The hands again moved to his chest, and she pushed him away. “I can’t.”
“Share my bed. I know you want to.”
He saw the hesitation in her eyes, and knew she did want to.
But she shook her head. “It’s not a matter of what I want.” Her voice was raspy.
“Of course it is.”
“I have responsibilities, a code of ethics. I’ve already broken it, but I have to stop. It’s the only way for both of us.”
Even tipsy, Blood knew there was no way of talking her into it. The sex after the crash happened out of the stress of nearly dying. He understood. The same feeling had swept him away.
“It’s not only my career at stake, but your freedom.”
He nodded, backing away. “I get it. I don’t want to. But I get it.”
“Elathan—”
His index finger touched her lips to silence her. “This is a distraction. Let’s call it a night, Miss Hart.”
Her eyes looked bright and wet as she nodded. “Goodnight, Elathan.”
Blood watched her open the door to her room and watched her close it. For a while, he stood in the hall, hoping she might change her mind. When it becam
e clear she wouldn’t, he moved to his own door.
A distraction, he thought. Even if he was causing her to lose focus on the upcoming trial, he realized that his own goals would be sidelined by taking up with Kayla. Whatever else occurred, he could not be deterred from destroying the monster before she destroyed all of them.
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Chapter Sixteen
With a rental from her insurance company, she dropped Elathan at his primitive digs. The two of them barely spoke a word during the drive. Kayla put it down to her hangover. She didn’t want to think too much about the previous night.
She thought about his story. Would any of it go toward his defense? Kayla thought it was all too crazy for a jury. Still, she needed to better understand his motive. Was it real, or was the man delusional?
Stiff from the crash, she eased herself into the chair in her cubicle. Taking the tomahawk and medallion from her drawer, she examined them while her computer booted up.
As wild as Elathan’s story was, it didn’t take long to confirm parts of it. Kayla found documents online about the Lewis and Clark expedition, the Corps of Discovery, it was called. It included the text of one of the soldier’s diaries.
10, Jan. 06: Came upon a razed village of an unknown tribe. Speculation among the men was that an enemy tribe burned them out, or the smoking mountain above had released a charge of flame. A sole survivor of the attack claimed it was the doings of a creature our interpreter called thunderbird, a monster that summoned storms and lightning. According to the surviving brave, our earlier discovery of the beached whale was proof of the monster’s existence, as thunderbirds and whales were enemies. This goes to show that the Injuns in these parts do not live in the present, but in a timeless and legendary state.
11, Jan. 06: Man deserted during the night, not a regular member of the corps. As I noted earlier, the man has shown all the signs of going native for near a month now. My belief is that he intended on remaining in this wild country even after the Corps departed.
Kayla pondered the entries. It could well be that Elathan had read them as well, and concocted his own story based on these. As she considered this, she fingered the silver medal, the decorative tomahawk. Right now, she didn’t have time to worry about it either way.
She wrote up two motions to suppress the cell phone evidence obtained by the police. These were supposedly used by Elathan to lure Thorn to his death. Yet neither one was obtained through a warrant. If she could get the cell phones thrown out, she’d be a long way toward a successful defense.
“I can’t believe that whack-job is out on bail.”
Blake Brighton appeared, her printed motions in his hand. The other arm was in a sling, a bandage across his nose beneath two black eyes.
Startled from her thoughts, Kayla struggled for words. “I think there’s more to this case than meets the eye.”
She noticed Blake staring hard at the silver medal and the tomahawk. Puzzled, he faced her again.
“He beat the shit out of me, even handcuffed. You need to be careful around this guy, Kayla.”
“I am,” she lied. “Could you do me a favor? Check my motions, and make sure I’ve got the i’s dotted and the t’s crossed?”
He shrugged with one shoulder. “Sure, kid. Not that I think it’ll do any good. Putting that psycho in front of a jury will sink him for sure.”
“I still have a job to do.”
“Yeah, I suppose. If they look alright, I’ll send them to the judge, okay?”
“That would be great. Thanks.” She looked over her case file notes. “Oh, one other thing. Who’s our explosives expert witness?”
Blake bit his lip in thought. “I think we have a retired ATF guy. I’ll check with Jerry and get back to you.”
“Thanks, Blake. Sorry you got hurt.”
“My own stupidity, I guess. You just make sure to watch yourself, okay?”
“Will do.”
She replaced the medal and weapon back in her desk drawer. With a few furtive glances around the office, she went back to her search. This time, looking for information on dragons.
Unlike the ease with which she uncovered the Corps of Discover documents, stuff on dragons ranged from fantasy novels, video games and Arthurian legends. Of course, dragons were the stuff of mythology. Still, she had seen one herself. Surely someone had taken the creatures seriously.
She shut down the search engine and leaned back in her chair. Kayla’s bones ached from the crash. Her dreams had been a mash of the horrific dragon attack, and her love-making with Elathan. Exhausted and bruised, she realized what she needed was to shift and take a long prance in the woods.
The idea pulled at her. She could clear her mind and mend her injuries.
After lunch, she located the expert witness. She faxed him a copy of the fire marshal’s report. Elathan was blamed for an explosion of an old saw mill. In fact, it was the spot where Thorn was declared dead. By the time she finished talking with the expert and typed up her case notes, the sky grew dark.
She clocked out and drove into the woods. This was going to do her a world of good.
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Chapter Seventeen
A blizzard of ash veiled the cave a hundred feet above. Choking on the smoke, Blood climbed the remaining distance, rocks and soil burning through his boots. Sharp stone and falling embers shredded his uniform. His eyes scanned the slope for mud floes or the burning progress of lava. Other than the ashy blizzard, the heat, the mountain seemed dead. Once at the opening of the cave, he drew the tomahawk from his belt. It seemed a pitiful weapon against his enormous foe.
Still, the dragon had just risen. She would be weak, muddled by a long sleep. Her lair was a deep cavern that ran all the way to the smoking heart of the mountain. Blood had to reach her before she doused herself in the volcano and grew to full strength.
The poisonous atmosphere brought him to his knees as he reached the cave. He had to press on. Blood would not let the monster escape. Thoughts of the decimated village—his village—urged him on.
Crawling through the cave, keeping below the smoke, he soon saw a shape emerge from the smoke. Red eyes glowed through the miasma, smoke flowing from nostrils and maw. Those incandescent, intelligent eyes took his measure. It was now or never.
“Dragon!” he screamed. Taking a deep breath, he leapt to his feet. The monster roared, shaking the cave walls, shaking loose a rain of rocks and pebbles. As she inhaled, the very smoke around him swirled with the unnatural breeze.
He had one shot. Blood had to take her out before her fiery breath did him in. With a grunt of effort, he flung the tomahawk at her. The very stone beneath him quivered as the dragon thrashed, the cave throbbing with its scream. Blood had hurt the thing.
The scream became a gout of flame. His hair caught fire, and Blood beat it out with his hands. Lungs burning, he could not gasp another breath. He collapsed to his knees, darkness blacker than the cave swirling before his eyes.
“Elathan!”
A vision stepped from the smoke. He saw Kimama crouch over him. Red cascaded down her pale face, her black hair, her eyes wild. She shook him.
“Elathan, you must run, run!”
She helped him up. All around, the smoke had thickened. He could not see where he came in, where the dragon waited. Kimama swiped the blood from her face, pointing with the red-smeared hand. “Run! Run!”
Limbs shaking, lungs seared, Blood rose in a crouch and moved where his love pointed. He reached back to take her hand. She was gone. A rumble shook the cavern, the force nearly knocking Blood down. He staggered on, finally seeing the light at the mouth of the cave. The earthquake increased in intensity. Rocks rained down, pelting him. As he reached the ledge, the cave collapsed behind him with a—
Knock.
That wasn’t right.
Knock knock knock.
He roused on the cot, breathing deeply, bathed in
sweat. The nightmare again. Someone was at the door. Thoughts of Kayla surfaced in his mind. He could only hope the woman had come up with another excuse to drop by. Blood rolled to his feet.
“You look like shit.” Isabella Marino stood in the doorway. “Nice outfit.”
Blood still wore the borrowed clothes from the lodge. The previous evening left him fatigued, and he had work to do this night. “You’re supposed to be alibiing yourself.”
“You can be my alibi.”
He shook his head. “Consorting with a suspected felon ain’t much of an alibi.”
She huffed, shoulders falling. “I want to know what’s going on here. Any time any shifter stuff goes down, I get sent to my room. But I’m practically an adult. I’m going to need to know this stuff pretty soon. So what’s the deal?”
“You sure you wanna know?”
She leveled her gaze at him. “Did I stutter?”
“Suit yourself.” Blood walked out the door, gazing up at the setting sun. It was nearly time. He walked around to the back of the lodge, the girl in his wake. A makeshift ladder leaned against the eaves. He started up.
“What are you doing?”
Blood attained the top of the mossy roof. For a moment, he remembered watching the sunset with Kayla. Now was not the time to be distracted by pointless longing. He pulled a spyglass out of his pocket and telescoped it. Isabela panted her way to a seat beside him.
“You can see the whole town from here. Not that there’s much of one,” she said.
“Can you see the dead tree?” Blood focused on it, just a few hundred yards from the general store. “Keep your eyes on it.”
Thunder growled in the sky. He didn’t take his eyes from the target.
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