by Megan Derr
Ken nodded and worked on his burger for a minute, chasing it with a swallow of beer. "Where are we going to find Rust? Not another skyscraper I hope."
"He does have high rise offices, but no, his real syndicate work is done in the backrooms of the pits. He'll probably be there, surrounded by more muscle than we could ever overcome."
"So I guess we're going in anyway?"
Blaze nodded, finishing his first burger and starting on the second, pausing only to wolf down a few fries.
Ken snorted. "Last I checked, I was the reckless one."
"Never said I wasn't, man," Blaze replied, digging out paper napkins to wipe off his fingers. "I'm just more circumspect than you about it."
"Circumspect?"
"Fuck you."
Ken snickered and finished his own food. "So basically we're screwed. I don't suppose you know something that will give us an edge?"
"Not really, I was going to play it by ear," Blaze said. "Rust is a show-off, though. He likes to make a scene and he likes to be the star of it. So he won't just shoot us, he'll use us to teach everyone else a lesson, make it clear he's still master of the masters."
"Gotcha." Ken gathered up all their trash into one bag, then dropped the bag by the tiny trashcan next to the TV. "So we go in, kick ass, shoot Rust. I've worked with less of a plan."
Blaze snickered. "I would be impressed to know you worked with any sort of plan even once."
"Fuck you," Ken retorted congenially. "Unless you want to stay awake, I say we crash. Going to be a long fucking day tomorrow."
"Crashing sounds good to me," Blaze said. He went to the far bed and sat down to remove his shoes and socks, then dropped his t-shirt on top of them. He waited until Ken and Nev were settled in one bed, Erie in another, then killed the lights and slid in next to Erie.
"Night," Erie sang out, then cuddled close to Blaze and almost immediately fall asleep.
*~*~*
"What in the fuck are you doing here?"
Blaze snapped awake, sat up and reached for his gun—then saw who Ken was shouting at, rolled his eyes, and laid down to catch a few more winks while they bickered.
"You are still severely injured, and the two of you are not enough to go up against the entire syndicate," Amr said, and Blaze didn't have to open his eyes to know Ken was gritting his teeth and tensed to launch himself at Amr.
When Ken let out a sharp, "Hah!" Blaze sighed and opened his eyes, giving up on any chance of sleep, and just watched the show. Ken jabbed Amr's in the chest, smirking in triumph when Amr winced. "You're the one who got his ass beat nearly to death, don't go fucking telling me I'm too hurt to go anywhere. You can barely stand. You should be with Raf, recovering. Stupid Mordred."
"Being Mordred has nothing to do with this."
"I agree," Ken said almost cheerfully. "You're stupid, no matter whatever else you are."
Blaze stared at them as they continued to argue, Ken all motion and volume, Amr still and quiet, their eyes never straying from each other. It was the strangest thing he'd ever seen, really.
Weirdly, it made him miss Rafael. He could not wait to be rid of Rust once and for all, and go back. Go ... home, perhaps. Throwing back the blankets, Blaze climbed out of bed and headed for the bathroom to take a piss and brush his teeth.
By the time he finished, Ken and Amr had reached another standstill. Blaze pulled on his clothes and shoes, slid his gun back into its holster. He looked Amr over critically. "You can barely stand."
"Barely is good enough," Amr said, gold eyes flashing, a faint smirk curving his mouth. "Remember the effect we had on you before I nullified it?"
Making a face, Blaze said, "Yeah."
"Multiply that by a very large number," Amr said.
Blaze laughed. "I see." He shrugged into his jacket and took the overnight bag that Erie brought him. "Where is Cam, anyway?"
"Still in the car," Amr said. "The meeting with Clan Cross left him tense, and he is going to be put under quite a bit more stress before this is all over."
Ken scowled at the words, making Blaze curious as to what he'd missed. "I'm surprised your family didn't tag along."
"They're going to stall the rest of Cross," Ken said. "Dealing with Rust is going to be easy, compared to the fucking drama that will go down when someone finally pins us down long enough to try and take Cam. Not that they will, but getting rid of them is going to be fucking irritating."
Blaze sighed. "I want a fucking vacation."
"I'm sure your new boy toy will be more than happy to take you to some sandy beach," Ken replied, smirking.
Amr cut in before Blaze could reply to that. "Come, the sooner we do this, the sooner we can move on to more important things. I know Rafael will not rest until you return to him."
Ignoring his own flushed cheeks and Ken's snickering, Blaze hefted his bag and headed out to his car. Erie was quiet during the drive, so lost in thought he did not even turn on his music. Blaze let him be, as it would probably be the last quiet they enjoyed for a long time.
The three hour drive to Rust's territory seemed both to take forever and no time at all. Blaze parked his car well away from the warehouse, and waited for Ken and Amr to join him, checking his gun as he waited. "Ready, Erie?"
Erie growled, stripping off his clothes and throwing them into the car. Shutting the door, he shifted into his dragon form, late morning sunlight gleaming over his scales. Already the temperature around him had increased slightly. Blaze reached out and stroked his head, fingers sliding along the smooth, hot scales. Erie growled, the sound soft and deep, vibrating through Blaze.
Blaze knelt, and Erie rubbed against him, rested his head on Blaze's shoulder, nearly too hot to touch. He growled again as Blaze caressed his scales. "You're beautiful," Blaze said softly.
The scuff of boots drew his attention, and he slowly stood up as the other four approached. Silver and gold scales caught the sunlight and flashed like well-polished metal. All three dragons rubbed and pushed against each other, and Blaze shared a faint smile with Ken and Amr.
Amr nodded his head toward the warehouse. "I'll lead the way, just tell me where to go."
"Dead ahead, past the pits themselves. There's a door in the very back that leads to a narrow hallway. Rust's office is the third door on the right, all the way at the end. But chances are he'll stop us at the pit floors."
"Let's get it over with then," Amr said, and walked out. Dressed in a black three piece suit with thin gold stripes and a black and gold striped tie, complementing his dusky skin and dark hair, he looked every inch a boss.
The cluster of men who were waiting for them inside froze the moment Amr and Cam entered. Guns slid from nerveless fingers and dropped to the floor, all of them staring wide-eyed as they fell to their knees and bowed their heads.
"That's something else," Ken muttered as he and Nev moved forward to deal with the fresh group at the far end of the warehouse.
Three black dragons and ten various elemental dragons all came out of the back rooms of pits—the holding pens, and to judge by the way their gold eyes were covered by a thin green film ... "They've been drugged," Blaze warned. "Someone injected them with Frenzy."
"I've never heard of that," Amr murmured, right as the dragons attacked Nevada.
Blaze gestured to Erie, who immediately joined the fray. But two dragons, no matter how talented, were not going to be a match for thirteen, especially when those thirteen were Frenzied.
He could even the odds by taking away the masters, though. It was cruel to break a dragon that way, but as drugged as they were, they were already lost. Blaze drew his gun.
"Wait," Amr said, holding a hand out, the other resting on Cam's head. "Cam—"
They both stopped as the main doors banged open behind them—and swore as still more dragons spilled in, at least another fifteen of the bastards.
Blaze raised his guns—
More doors flew open, connections to other warehouses, the treatment rooms, until they were all surrounded
by more dragons than he could fucking count. With a jerk of his head, Blaze called Erie back to his side. Erie came, the air around him waving from the heat, blood and scratches marring his scales, more blood dripping from his jaws. His tail lashed furiously back and forth.
"Can't you do your freaky shit again?" Blaze demanded, gun ready, Blaze growling at his side. They formed a ring with the others, Nev and Cam growling loudly, Ken with gun drawn, Amr standing around as though waiting for a waiter to take him to his table.
"Soon," Amr murmured, looking amused as men piled into the warehouse behind the dragon, calling out taunts and crudities.
The back door flew open, and Blaze stared as Rust walked toward them, as casual and laidback as Amr. Blaze wanted to roll his eyes. As Rust drew close, Blaze said, "I wasn't your fucking snitch."
"You were still going to betray me," Rust said. "That much is clear by now."
"I was just going to run. I wanted to give Erie a better life than fighting in this hell hole."
Rust laughed coldly. "You're a pit fighter, Blaze. What the fuck else are you good for? I've been better to you than anyone else."
"No," Blaze said quietly, thinking of Rafael: his smile, his kisses, the way he always put the dragons first. The way he'd told Blaze to be careful, to return. "I found someone better. We'll figure out what else dragons can do."
"I'd be amused to see how the fuck you get out of—" Rust stopped.
"Kneel," Amr ordered, and even Blaze felt the ripple of that order.
His jaw almost dropped when Rust obediently knelt, as well as every other man and dragon in the place.
"The Frenzied ones won't last long," Amr said, voice sounding faintly strained. "Do something about them. No one will challenge you."
Blaze nodded. "Can you order their masters forward?"
"You heard him," Amr said sharply. "Master of the Frenzied, rise."
Thirteen men stood up and moved forward. Blaze looked at them. "Can any of the dragons be saved?"
One of the men shook his head, the others just kept their heads bowed. Blaze fought an urge to shoot them. Instead, he gestured to Erie. "Kill them, Erie. Do it quick."
"Nev, go help," Ken said, voice tight.
Ken made a soft, rough noise as Nev and Erie began to kill the broken dragons, tearing out their throats while the dragons remained tethered by Amr's power. Blaze watched throughout, but made no comment when Ken finally had to turn away.
When the dragons were done and returned to their sides, scales smeared with blood and their eyes dull with agony, Blaze raised his gun and put three bullets in Rust. "I'm leaving," he said. "I'll get my shit some other time."
Not waiting for a reply, he strode out of the warehouse. He could feel the eyes on him as he left, but ignored them all, breath tight in his chest until he left the warehouse. When they finally reached his car, Blaze sank to his knees, gun tumbling from his fingers as he wrapped his arms around Erie. "I'm sorry, Erie. Thank you."
Erie whined and growled, so hot that touching him hurt, would probably leave Blaze just short of burned. Blaze held him tightly a little while longer, until the heat left him unable to breathe. Finally withdrawing, wiping sweat and blood and tears from his face, he stood up. His clothes were covered in blood, and he gave a tired laugh. "What a mess. We'll get stopped for sure if someone sees this. Come on, let's hose off." He opened the car long enough to grab the duffle bag, then led the way to the yards on one side of the warehouse.
Stripping off his clothes, he turned on two of the outdoor showers and quickly rinsed off, helping Erie to scrub away all the blood and gore clinging to his scales. When they were more or less clean, he quickly pulled out clothes and got them dressed.
He shivered in the brisk breeze blowing off the water, and increased his stride back to the car. Reaching it, he opened the passenger door and threw the bag into the back. Erie growled softly behind him, and Blaze turned, bracing one hand on the roof of the car as he drew Erie close and kissed him slow and deep. "Good Erie," he murmured, so close his lips brushed against Erie's as he spoke, drawing him back into another kiss.
"Good Blaze," Erie said when they finally drew apart.
Blaze smiled and ruffled his hair. "Let's go home, huh?" He waited until Erie was comfortable in his seat, then closed the passenger door and walked around to the driver side. Sliding into his seat and doing up the seat belt, Blaze started the car and drove off.
He expected ... something, as they left the city behind. But his only thoughts were for Amr and Ken, hoping they didn't have too much trouble doing whatever they intended. He should probably stay and help, but he was fucking done with the place.
When they stopped at a gas station a few minutes outside city limits, Blaze pulled out his phone and sent Rafael a text. On way back, will arrive late. He lingered a few extra minutes at the gas station, tidying up the car and pretending he wasn't waiting for a reply.
Sighing at himself, and out of reasons to stall, he finally got back on the road. Erie quickly fell asleep in the passenger seat, occasionally rumbling or growing softly. Blaze reached out to ruffle his hair, smiling fondly.
By the time they reached Rafael's house several hours later, Blaze was ready to fall over. He parked in the same spot he'd taken before and fumbled open the door. Finally getting it open, he half climbed, half fell out of the car, holding onto the door for balance. What the fuck time was it?
Probably should have stopped for the night, but no fucking way did he want to stay away longer than necessary. He stumbled toward the front door—and froze reflexively as lights kicked on, reaching for his gun before his brain caught up and realized it was only Rafael on the stoop.
"You idiot," Rafael said softly, coming down the steps to meet him, dressed in just a loose pair of sleep pants. Blaze stopped, not quite sure what he was supposed to do, but Rafael just kept approaching. When he reached Blaze, he looped his arms around his shoulders and dropped a sleepy kiss on his mouth. "You didn't have to make it all the way home tonight."
Blaze felt his face heat, but embarrassment wasn't enough to keep him from wrapping his own arms around Rafael's waist and submitting to a much more forceful kiss. "I wanted to make it back, wanted it done."
"Glad you came back," Rafael said softly. "Want anything to eat?"
"Food can wait, I just want to sleep," Blaze said, reluctantly drawing back, shivering in the cold night air.
If the cold bothered Rafael, he didn't show it, just led the way back inside. He locked the door behind them all, and they both watched in amusement as the dragons wandered away to curl up together in front of the living room fireplace, where a small fire still burned. "Fell asleep on the couch," Rafael said, and turned off all the lights before leading the way down the hall.
"You seem to be feeling a lot better," Blaze said quietly. "I didn't think you'd be walking around so easily."
"Alec's lover showed up and cast a healing spell," Rafael said. "It was more than a little disconcerting, seeing magic thrown so casually about. Conway didn't like it at all."
Blaze smiled faintly at that, but he was distracted from thoughts of dragons and magics by the sudden realization that he had just followed Rafael into his bedroom. He hovered in the doorway, suddenly unsure.
Rafael paused by the bed. "Something wrong?"
"Uh—" Blaze blinked. "I—where am I sleeping?" he finally asked, feeling stupid.
Smiling, Rafael crossed back over to him and cupped Blaze's face, drawing him into a kiss that left Blaze breathless and incapable of thinking. "Get in bed," he said, and drew back, vanishing into the bathroom. "There are more pants in the bottom drawer."
Blaze sat down to unlace his boots and pull them off, setting them aside before standing up and stripping off the rest of his clothes. The bathroom door opened just as he was fetching pants to sleep in.
Rafael smirked, and went over to the dresser himself. He grabbed a pair of dark blue pants and threw them at Blaze. "You don't have to get dressed again on my
account."
"Don't tempt me," Blaze said, pulling on the pants. "I'm too fucking tired."
Laughing, Rafael motioned for him to get in bed, then killed the lights. Blaze wasn't used to sleeping with anyone but Erie, but it didn't feel anywhere near as odd as he expected to curl up with Raf, head on Raf's chest, his arms heavy and warm around Blaze. "I'm glad you came back."
"I'm glad I could," Blaze said quietly, then closed his eyes and finally fell asleep.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
"So what now?" Ken asked after Blaze was gone.
"Get the dragons locked up," Amr said, and Ken could see that he was reaching his limit. Forcing a hundred men and dragons to their knees was not actually as easy as Amr made it look.
Nodding, Ken motioned to Nev and they slowly began to herd all the dragons out of the warehouse and into the back rooms where the holding pens were located. When the dragons were all locked up, he headed back out to the main warehouse.
Amr looked at him, then turned and started walking. Ken followed a few paces behind him, Nev behind him, guarding the rear until they were well away. "They won't stay that way much longer," Amr said. "Not now that I'm out of sight."
"We'll take your car, but I'm driving," Ken said. "You're in no fucking shape." To his surprise, Amr didn't argue, just tossed him the keys. Sliding behind the wheel of Amr's Lincoln, Ken waited until the others were all settled and then drove off as quickly as he could manage.
He waited until he was fairly certain they weren't being chased down, then turned to ask Amr where the fuck they should go—and stopped short when he saw Amr had passed out. In the backseat, Cam was also out.
Ken shook his head. The next time Amr tried to accuse him of being reckless, Ken was going to punch him in the face. So where should they go? After a moment of pondering, he pulled off onto a side street and pulled out his phone. Pulling up Blaze's number, he hit call.
A few minutes later, he closed the phone again, grinning in satisfaction. Getting back on the road, he drove across the city to Blaze's apartment building. Leaving the car at the curb, all of his passengers still dead to the world, Ken went inside.
