by Megan Derr
It didn't take long; the blacks were just no match for two knight dragons and the fiercest flame Ken had ever seen. Blaze moved forward when Erie growled an all-clear, and headed toward the double doors that had been reduced to chunks and splinters.
Ken hastened to catch up to him, Alec close on his heels with his sword drawn, as they strode into Leo's office. He looked around and felt both relieved when he saw that Rafael and Amr were still alive, and sick with rage that they had been beat to fucking hell and back. Amr, he saw, had been placed inside a spell circle. Huh. Maybe Leo wasn't completely stupid.
Ken looked around the room for a moment before he saw Conway passed out by the windows, in human form, and in even worse condition than Rafael and Amr.
Leo stood in front of his desk glaring at them, flanked by four men—one of them a dragon. "I thought you said they were dead," he snapped, and the man on his immediate right blanched.
"Thought they were, Boss."
"You obviously are a fucking idiot," Leo said, eyes still on the group.
Blaze raised his gun; Ken did the same, but Leo only smirked. "If you kill me, they all die."
"What do you mean—" Ken's question was drowned out as Blaze fired, shooting Leo in the center of his chest. He fell, and Blaze strode forward to shoot him again in the head. The men who had been flanking Leo scattered like ants.
Ken twitched his fingers at Nev. He growled and chased after them, Erie at his side. Leaving them to it, Ken rounded on Blaze. "What the fuck man? Last I checked, I was the crazy one. When did you become the hothead? How the fuck did you know he was bluffing? What if he hadn't been?"
"He was," Blaze said flatly. "You get to know the look of someone on a bluff when you do this shit long enough. All the cards he had to play are dead in the hallway. He's dead the same reason Marlowe died: Arrogance. As to being hotheaded ... they fucked with the dragons. Fuck them." He turned away, strode over to Rafael and knelt to check him over.
Conceding the point, Ken went to check on Amr. Kneeling by the edge of the spell circle, he reached out hesitantly—and was not at all surprised when he got zapped. Swearing, he sucked on his stinging fingers and looked at Amr to try and gauge the depth of his wounds—and froze as he caught those dragon-amber eyes staring at him. They were hazed with pain, but did not lack lucidity. Ken scowled. "So I see someone stole the pleasure of beating you from me."
Amr's lips twitched, and Ken refused to be pleased by that, because he didn't ever want 'Amr' and 'pleased' to be in the same thought. "Can you break the circle?" Amr asked, voice raspy and weak. His eye slid shut again, as though just speaking had exhausted whatever energy he had.
"I can," Alec said from behind Ken. He lowered his sword—Ken expected resistance, but whatever had allowed the spell circle to repel him had no effect on the sword. Touching the intricate circle of chalked runes, Alec drew his sword across them, and with a pulse of energy the spell circle broke.
Ken surged forward to examine Amr's wounds. "You look like shit."
"Fuck you," Amr said, and passed out.
Snickering, Ken checked his injuries over again and determined that while Amr was probably going to be even more of a whiny bitch for the next forever, he'd have to be extremely talented to die of his wounds.
"We need to find Cam," Blaze said from behind him. "He's not here."
Ken nodded and stood up. "Right. Alec, can you take care of them?"
"Yeah," Alec said. "Go find the Holy Pendragon because if you don't get your hands on it soon, the clans will." He smiled tightly. "I really prefer the clans not get him."
"Why?" Ken asked.
"Because tradition fucking sucks," Alec said with a tired, bitter smile. "Go find him."
Ken nodded, deciding questions could wait, and strode off after Blaze.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Rafael felt like shit. He could not remember the last time Leo had beaten him so badly. He was even having delusions; he was certain for a moment that he'd seen Blaze.
"We need to find Cam."
That was Blaze's voice. Rafael dragged his eyes open, aggravated that even such a small action seemed to take so much effort. He stared at Blaze, who looked amazing in just a tight black t-shirt and well-fitted jeans, every inch a fierce pit fighter with his dragon at his side and a gun in his hand.
Rafael couldn't believe he was there. Hadn't Blaze been killed? Was he delusional? Where was Conway?
Tears stung his eyes then, as he suddenly recalled exactly what had happened to Conway. Leo had ordered him beaten to death, and then started on Rafael. Even then Leo might have let him live if Rafael hadn't let slip about Marianne. He'd never seen Leo that angry, and he'd seen Leo really damn pissed over the years.
He didn't care anymore. Conway was dead. Marianne was dead. Blaze, Nev, Amr … all dead. He was so tired of people dying, and for no good reason.
Rafael heard more voices speak above him, one of whom he thought might be Ken, but Rafael let them wash over him. Then silence. He was just starting to drift off again when a hand slid under his head, tilting it up, and a warm voice said, "Drink this, it'll help you get back some of your strength for a bit."
Rafael tried to protest, but a flask was pressed to his lips and liquid poured in his mouth, and his only choice was to choke on it or swallow. He drank, then slumped forward, wanting just to sleep.
But after only a few moments, he could feel heat pouring through him, energizing him, and dragging his eyes open again was not as difficult as it had been before. He stared up at the man holding him. "Who are you?"
"Name's Alec, I'm with Ken," Alec said. "The tonic won't last forever, but for a couple of hours you should feel a little better. Enough to move around. Come on, try to stand."
Rafael hissed with pain, but it wasn't nearly as bad as he had expected. By the time his vision cleared and the room stopped spinning, he felt like he'd had a few days to recover from the beating. Not great, but bearable. He'd definitely endured worse.
When he could stand on his own feet, relatively confident he would not fall over, he immediately sought out Conway. Making a rough noise when he saw the still figure by the windows, Rafael walked slowly over to Conway, his movements stiff, and sank to his knees. He examined Conway for injuries, tears stinging his eyes to see all the blood and bruises. "Conway," he murmured.
Conway's eyes opened slowly, the amber color dulled, slightly hazy. "Raf ... "
"You'll be okay. I order you to be okay," Raf replied, gently petting his sweaty, blood-sticky hair. "I mean it, lizard."
"Bossy," Conway whispered, then lapsed back into unconsciousness.
"Conway!"
He jerked, startled, as Alec touched his shoulder and then tried to hand him something. "Give him a couple of swallows of this. He'll be all right. I've seen dragons take worse beatings. He's still cognizant, that counts for a lot."
Rafael took the flask, gingerly tilted Conway's head up, and got him to drink the contents of the flask bit by bit. By the time he was done, Conway was far more awake and Rafael wanted badly to hug him in relief. "Are you okay, Conway?"
"Raf okay, Conway okay," Conway said gruffly, sitting up and hugging him, nuzzling against him, rumbling as he repeated softly, "Raf okay."
Drawing back enough to kiss him gingerly, Rafael replied, "Yes, I'm okay. I think we'll both be sleeping for a week straight once we get somewhere safe, but I'm okay. Can you stand?"
"Yes," Conway said, and slowly did so, wincing slightly but refusing Rafael's assistance. "Others?" he asked, growling as he looked around the room. His nostrils flared as he saw Alec and ... Rafael realized there was another dragon. A steel—knight—dragon, at that. The way it brushed against Alec made ownership obvious. Conway growled.
"He helped us," Rafael said, caressing him soothingly. "Can you try to stand up? We need to get out of here."
Conway groaned, but obeyed. He held himself stiffly, and looked as though a mere thought could knock him down again. Rafael sympathized. They j
oined Alec and Amr, who stood waiting by the office doors. "Where's Cam?" Amr asked hoarsely.
"Blaze and Ken went to find him," Alec replied.
"They're alive?" Rafael asked.
"Yeah," Alec said with a smile. "I get the feeling it'll take a hell of a lot to put those two down. They're banged up but still kicking. Now, we'd best get out of here; you three will be more hindrance than help right now." He laughed as they all made faces at him. Rafael moved first, hand twined with Conway's, unable to let him go. Every step hurt, but nowhere near as bad as he knew it should.
Whatever Alec had given them, he hoped it held until they reached his house. As he stepped off the elevator and turned toward the lobby, Rafael saw the crowd of people and stopped. Conway growled and tensed. Rafael let go of his hand to rest it on his shoulder, squeezing lightly.
Drawing a breath and squaring his shoulders, he walked toward the waiting crowd, pretending that every step didn't make him want to scream with pain. The state of his clothes, torn and bloodied, the bruises and scratches and tears—he couldn't do shit about those. But if he acted like it wasn't impeding him, well, that would work to his favor.
He recognized most of the men and women in the lobby, various and sundry persons that worked for his brother and kept the city under his thumb. They'd certainly wasted no time in getting there; Rafael wondered who had bid them all come. Then again, judging from the bodies and the trails of blood where they'd been dragged out of the way ...
"Where's Leo?" a woman demanded. Rafael recognized her as the favored goon of a bank director.
"Dead," Rafael said flatly, meeting her eyes until she looked away. He glared at everyone else, until they too lowered their gazes. "Leo is dead, and control of the syndicate falls to me. Go home and lay low until I bid you do otherwise."
A man off to the right, at the fringes of the crowd, sneered. "What makes you think we'll listen to you? Everyone knows you're just Leo's punching bag."
"Blade, subdue," Alec said softly. Blade growled and moved forward, slipping around from Alec and Amr where he had largely gone unseen. When he was close, he lunged and knocked the man flat on his back. Blade's tail lashed back and forth, knocking three more people over, and sending the rest scattering like ants.
"You'll listen to me because I control the dragons," Rafael said. "They obeyed me, not Leo. Get out, go home, and await further instructions. Now!" At his side, Conway shifted back to his dragon form and prowled forward, the temperature around him falling fast, sending out swirling mists as hot and cold air collided.
People scrambled and fled, easily herded by the two dragons. Rafael looked toward the security desk, where a man in a shirt that marked him as building maintenance stood gawking. "Call for a car," Rafael said. "There are ten of us, total."
"Y-yes, my lord," the man said, and Rafael wondered idly what sort of abnormal he was that he would slip into the archaic 'my lord'. Leaving him to make the arrangements, Rafael turned to Alec. "When are Blaze and Ken due back, do you know? Any idea where they went?"
Alec shook his head. "Up, is all I can tell you."
"To Leo's condo; it takes up the entire top floor," Rafael said. He hoped they were okay; Leo always kept muscle in his condo to ward off any attempts to break in. "Who killed Leo?" he asked.
"Blaze," Alec said, shaking his head, voice filled with respect as he continued, "Bastard said that if we killed him, then the rest of you would die. Blaze didn't even hesitate, just shot him twice. I don't know how the fuck he knew, but it damn near took years off my life."
Amr sneered. "That was reckless. Those two need constant supervision, I swear."
Rafael's mouth quirked. "You trained him, I would think you'd understand pit fighters better, Amr."
"Oh?" Amr asked, leaning against a wall and grimacing. "I didn't honestly interact with them much. That was the point—Rust wanted Blaze trained different."
"He's still a pit fighter, however he was trained to fight," Rafael said quietly. "As young as Blaze is, he's never known any life but pit fighting. If he's lived this long, and turned out so well, it's only because you gave him something to live for in Erie. But he's still a pit fighter, and they're ruthless. It's the only way to survive in the pits. There is literally no such thing as mercy. Fights are either until your opponent can't take anymore, or until death. If you had spent every moment of your life in, or anticipating, that kind of fight ... do you honestly think that in a fight, you'd fall for a bluff? Never mistake a veteran pit fighter like Blaze for a fool. He'll know sooner than you when you're done."
Alec grunted in admiration. "He certainly is not the one I would choose to piss off. I hope they return soon, because I don't want to leave the three of you to go find them."
"There's the car," Rafael said, nodding at the limo that had just pulled up in front of their building.
"Then let's go wait in the car," Alec said, escorting them out to it, sword drawn, the dragons flanking and warning off anyone stupid enough to try to get close.
Rafael bit back a whimper as he finally sat down again, fighting the pain that made his vision black out for a moment. God, he wanted to sleep for ten years straight. Alec closed the door on them, waiting outside.
"The rest of the syndicate won't stand down for long," Amr said from the opposite seat, eyes barely cracking open to look at him.
"They'll maintain a holding pattern for a little while, if only because anyone who could handle the dragons is dead. Leo doesn't maintain pit fighters that might overthrow him; they're all unfit for their dragons. I'll deal with it all tomorrow."
Amr grunted. "Assuming we can move."
"We won't have a choice."
They lapsed into silence, and Rafael closed his eyes, resting his hand on Conway's head, enjoying the feel of his cool scales. How long he was out, he didn't know, but he was pulled back into consciousness by the sound of Blaze's voice, sharp and brittle—followed by a gunshot.
Rafael jerked awake. Conway growled, and tensed to spring—but when the door to the limo opened, it was only Ken, followed by Nev, Blaze, Erie, Cam, Alec, and Blade.
Cam, in dragon form, immediately went to Amr, collapsing beside him on the floor of the limo, head in Amr's lap. He whined, and Amr whispered softly to him in what Rafael thought was the old French used back in medieval days, or at least some variation of it.
His attention was pulled away from Amr and Cam as Blaze sat down right next to him. He smelled like sweat, gun powder, and blood; he looked like he'd been through a warzone. Rafael wanted to comb through his hair, smooth it down—
And just like that, the moment in the woods came back to him. The way Blaze had tried to kiss him, and how Rafael had flinched back when Blaze's hand had hit his wound. The way Blaze had run off before he could explain.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Fine," Blaze said, not looking at him, all his attention on his gun as he checked it over, then holstered it.
Rafael wished he could move, but he could already feel whatever Alec had given him beginning to fade. "Erie?" he asked.
Blaze nudged Erie with his foot, but Erie was already so dead asleep at his feet that he barely grumbled. "He's fine, too," Blaze said. "Banged up and sore, but he'll be good as new by morning."
"Good," Rafael said, smiling faintly that asking about Erie got him two entire sentences. "Thank you for saving us. I thought Leo's men had killed you. It's my fault you're in this mess at all—"
"Nobody forced me to be here," Blaze said, still not quite looking at him, the barest hint of pink to his cheeks. Rafael hated that he'd made Blaze so uncomfortable around him. A fighter like Blaze wouldn't be comfortable around many people.
He wanted to be an exception, wanted to see Blaze comfortable around him. Rust didn't deserve someone like Blaze, but he wanted to deserve him. Why, he couldn't say, but he was going to lie to himself about what he wanted.
Reluctantly tearing his eyes away, he glanced toward Alec. "Thank you for your assistance."
"Gators?" Rafael echoed.
"I live on an old plantation in Georgia that's given over mostly to some very dubious swampland," Alec replied. "Blade has fun."
"Snap snap," Blade rumbled from where he was settled on Alec's lap. "Funny."
Rafael smiled faintly in amusement.
"So what do we do now?" Amr cut in. "I think Blaze and Alec are the only ones who can stand, and that is not enough man power to face down whatever will come next. As weak as I am, I will not be able to use my magic for days. Cam ... this has all been too much, too soon."
Blaze grunted, fingers twitching. "Then stay out of sight somewhere and rest. I'm going to have a word with Rust."
"You can't go alone," Rafael said.
"I'm not waiting for him to come to us again," Blaze said. "I want to know why the fuck he turned on me like that."
Ken stirred in his own seat next to Amr. "You did turn on him."
"He didn't know that yet. I heard what that one guy said, about me being the leak. I might have been planning to run, but I'm not a snitch. I didn't sell him out; I just ran away." In his lap, Erie growled. Blaze stroked his head soothingly. "I'm going for Rust, probably will leave tomorrow morning after I know things here are tight."
Rafael said nothing, just leaned back, closed his eyes, and let exhaustion take him under.
When he woke up, it was to someone gently shaking his shoulder. He started to sit up, then swore and gave up. "Hurts," he gasped out.
"I'll help," Blaze said quietly. "Just hold tight, we'll have you in bed with pain pills soon." He got Rafael out of the limo as carefully as possible, helped him to the house. They paused just inside to let Rafael get his breath back.
"My house looks like shit."
Blaze snorted. "At least it's still standing, more or less. Guess you can look into a new place, now that your landlord can't keep you here."
