Scorched [Pain & Love 3] (BookStrand Publishing Romance)

by Ashlei D. Hawley

  “Vamps burn. Normals get brought here,” she said, shrugging into a loose-fitting T-shirt and a pair of old sweatpants. They’d be burned or torn by her transformation soon, she figured. “You need to stay here,” she said to Dan. “Help the ladies.”

  “I’m not a Fallen anymore, but I’m not useless, either,” Dan protested. “I need to stay with you.”

  She kissed him firmly on the mouth and then pushed him toward Daria. “You need to stay safe. I can’t lose someone else tonight. I can’t.”

  “He’ll stay,” Daria insisted.

  The iron in her tone was uncharacteristic, but Lydia trusted the new wedge of steel the night had wedged into her softest sister’s personality. Her only sister now, she corrected herself. Tears threatened to choke her, but she stifled them with rage. Henry needed to burn. They only had the night.

  “Watch over Junior,” Daria commanded Dan, and then turned to speak with Heddy about the best way to organize the refugees. Reluctantly, Dan nodded and made his way to the kitchen to make more soup for the injured officer.

  “Let’s get moving,” Lydia ordered. She didn’t seek out Dan for a good-bye kiss. She couldn’t handle another good-bye.

  Luke Senior had already gotten into his vehicle and driven away. Lydia slid into her own driver seat and pulled away from the wisewoman’s house. Most of the area around the lake would be made safe for their plan. She needed to go slightly farther out and handle the small community near the lake.

  She drove too quickly to be legal, but under a truly reckless speed. It wasn’t like there were any other officers on the road to pull her over. The one who’d survived was out of commission. She didn’t fear a ticket. The only thing she did fear was the possibility of missing someone before she turned the town to smoldering tinder. If she were honest with herself, she could admit it wouldn’t pain her conscience as much as it might have an hour before. All she wanted was for Henry and his vampires to be eliminated. The town was already lost. If part of its innocent population burned in the battle, she wouldn’t hold herself accountable.

  By the fourth house, Lydia hadn’t seen a single living soul. Or a dead one, for that matter. It was possible Henry had gathered all of his fanged underlings to him for some other crazy plot.

  The fifth house turned up an elderly woman who used an oxygen tank and had a hard time hearing Lydia. Refusing to waste time arguing with the woman, Lydia hauled the oxygen tank and a half-packed suitcase into her backseat and took the old woman along. Houses six through eleven were empty of living residents, but three of them had dead and drained bodies within. Sickened by the death and destruction, Lydia grew even more convinced of the necessity for her plan of townwide immolation.

  A boy of fourteen and his younger sister joined the older woman in the backseat on the next street over. Lydia knew there were two other streets in the tiny group of homes, but she’d run out of room except for her passenger seat. If she found another person who couldn’t drive, she’d have to head back to the lake house to drop off her human cargo before going back to town.

  Lydia and her two young charges made quicker work of the house-to-house search than the Dragon woman had on her own. She parked at a corner, and they all hopscotched houses, pounding on the doors just long enough to give potential occupants a chance to come outside and speak to them.

  Lydia was the only one who chose to enter any of the domiciles. She broke locks on doors with tremendous ease. The return of her Dragon strength intoxicated her. She felt like she could do anything in the universe. Anything except the most important thing, to save Jade before Henry destroyed her heart. Dragons were strong and powerful, but they held no sway over time.

  A couple in the third to last house had hunkered down in their basement, waiting for the chaos to blow over. Lydia sent them in their car to the edge of the small subdivision, where she told them to wait so they could follow her back to the lake house. She thought about transferring the old woman to the couple’s car but didn’t want to waste the time. Seconds were precious. They couldn’t waste one moment of the night.

  Lydia didn’t find any other residents who’d chosen to stay behind. She didn’t feel guilty when she drove out of the subdivision with the couple following in their car. She led them back to the lake house. Dan assisted the old woman in getting her things out of Lydia’s car. As soon as the teen boy and his sister had exited the vehicle, Lydia was off again. There were plenty more homes to check for members of the town.

  * * * *

  Mallory and Leigh ran through the streets, only detected by the human eye when they slowed to inspect a scent or a sound that could indicate human presence. Mallory hadn’t eaten enough throughout the day, and she found most of the remaining town’s residents using the draw of her hunger. It was a dangerous game, treating them as prey when she was supposed to be their road to salvation. Leigh worried for her, but she managed to control herself admirably.

  By the time Mallory’s father reached the news station to broadcast instructions for all remaining humans to meet at the lake, the two vampires had directed more than a hundred people that way.

  Leigh slipped his cell phone from his pocket and thumbed to Lydia’s number in his contact list. They’d found two small children in a house without their parents. Blood on the front steps told an unpleasant story. The two children would need to be picked up. Leigh gave Lydia the address, and he and Mallory ran again.

  In homes across the small town, fewer than two hundred people still watched their televisions. Of those two hundred, nearly half were asleep for the night. The others still watching absorbed the information warily. Most of them took the warnings issued by Luke, who was a cop many people knew and respected, to heart. Had it been a stranger, the message would likely not have gone over well at all. They claimed weapons for defense, observed the surrounding area for potential threats, and took to their vehicles with plans to make it to the lake.

  Though the army had given a rough estimate of eight hundred remaining citizens, there were in truth less than half of that. Henry’s dark work had depleted the town’s supply of humans, and the evacuations had done the rest. The numbers at the lake began to swell like a fourth of July town picnic. Before an hour had passed more than half of the remaining residents—too stupid, too scared, or too stubborn to go when the evacuations called for it—had organized together on the lakeshore.

  Dawn crept ever closer as Lydia moved from one subdivision to the next. She lost count of how many people she sent toward the lake, toward protection. Hopefully, she thought. If she couldn’t get back before Henry and his crazy vampires got wind of what they were doing, the gathering at the lake wouldn’t do them much good at all, except to get all of the bastard’s food in one easily accessible place.

  When Lydia hit Spruce Street, she turned around and headed back to the lake. Mallory and Leigh had started their search at Spruce. Lydia had done all she could do to warn and protect the town’s remaining population. Now, it was time to destroy.

  “Heading back,” she texted Leigh with one hand while she drove with the other. Her body felt restored and wonderful, including her previously broken fingers. Transforming healed the human flesh, which was a benefit she felt grateful to have returned to her. “Seen any vamps?”

  “Not a one,” Leigh typed back. “We have one more street, and then we will return.”

  Lydia found it crazy how much area they’d managed to cover in the short hour and a half they’d been at the current mission. Vampire speed was something she didn’t have to be jealous of anymore, she realized as she put her phone down on the passenger seat and upped her speed. In Dragon form, she could cover the same amount of area with two strong flaps of her huge wings. Only because the operation needed to be discreet had she taken any more time than the vamps had.

  Cars were lined up and down the road when Lydia drove back to Heddy’s house. Parking at the far end, Lydia jogged toward the wisewoman’s home. It looked like a party, and it was almost time to st
art the bonfire.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Lydia swept into Heddy’s home and found Junior sitting up and Dan feeding him soup. A wave of relief passed over her, followed quickly by a surge of bitterness. She fought it down and offered Junior a genuine smile.

  “Back from the dead,” she said. “I’m glad. How are you feeling?”

  “Like I was hit by a train that had teeth,” Junior whispered. His throat was scratchy and sore from the multiple vampire bites and he winced after speaking.

  “He tried to tell us what happened in the den,” Dan informed Lydia. “He can’t talk much because of the pain, but he said the vampires who tried to feed from him died almost immediately. Heddy said your mother left something for him that made his blood super pure. It’s like the vampires took a shot of silver, holy water, and freaking sunlight all at once when they ingested Junior’s blood.”

  It made sense to Lydia. Though the previous matron hadn’t been a fire Dragon, she had had tricks and talents of her own when it came to destruction and purification. It was a part of the Dragon heritage, embedded in their magical souls as their gift, and sometimes curse, to the world.

  “Where’s Mallory?” Junior asked.

  His hoarse voice almost made Lydia wince. She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “They’re out looking for survivors,” she told him. “They’ll be back soon.”

  The door opened, and Lydia checked to see if it was the blonde vampire and her maker. Luke entered and Annette went to him for a hug before she returned to sit with their youngest child. Luke nodded at Lydia. The news broadcast had been recorded and even now played on repeat. Following him in one of the vans, everyone who’d been at the station had made their way to the lake house. Lydia followed Heddy and Daria outside to explain things to the confused and frightened group of residents.

  * * * *

  Mallory and Leigh hadn’t seen any human hostages in the live feed Henry had shown them when he destroyed Jade’s heart. For this reason, they decided against checking the arena where Jade died. As they turned to run back toward the designated safe area, Mallory tipped her head to the side, listening. She knew she’d heard something. Her new vampire senses didn’t lie.

  “I think there’s a baby,” she told Leigh, urgency coloring her tone.

  He nodded, trusting her hearing. As an ancient, his had refined to keep him from going insane, as the senses of all vampires eventually did. It was hard for him to return to the all-absorbing aspect the elevated senses had originally operated with on undergoing The Turn.

  “This way,” Mallory said as she ran. The house she led Leigh to was locked, but she broke the door with ease. Inside, a mocha-skinned woman who’d once been beautiful had been left to rot at the table. Her husband sprawled on the floor, a pistol still gripped in his bloated hand. He’d obviously died trying to defend his family.

  The crying came from upstairs. Mallory flew up the steps and flung open the first door she came to. The child she saw had obviously been in the crib for too long. She squirmed with discomfort, pain, and hunger.

  “We don’t have time to change or feed her,” Leigh insisted as Mallory looked around for what the child needed. “Gather some things quickly and we’ll take her to the lake house. She can be cared for there.”

  With a nod, Mallory shoved some of the baby’s possessions into a large bag. She grabbed as many diapers as she could hold and some clothing. Leigh wrapped the girl in the blanket from the bed and looked around the room, hoping to see something that would indicate the infant’s name. A picture frame had the words “Mommy and Me” sprawled across it in glittery pink lettering. It didn’t have the little girl’s name on it, but it did have the only remnant the girl might ever have of her mother.

  Leigh took the framed picture and a pink-and-white book from the dresser. He’d assumed it was a baby book, and found it was an accurate guess when he glanced at the cover.

  Mallory didn’t think anything in what seemed to be the beginning of the vampire apocalypse could make her smile, but Leigh proved her wrong with how tenderly he held the orphaned girl and the things he thought to grab. The man was a sweetheart through and through.

  “Let’s go,” Mallory said.

  They descended the stairs quickly. Leigh shushed the girl, hoping to stop her crying. He couldn’t blame her for her tears, though. He shielded her eyes as they walked passed her parents. He thought she was probably too young to retain memories, but that didn’t mean they should take the risk.

  Leigh’s phone trilled the announcement of a text message, and he fumbled it from his pocket. Lifting it, he read the text from Lydia aloud. “Vamps inbound,” he said. “Going to burn now. Still wearing your necklaces?”

  Frantic, Mallory exclaimed, “Call her! We have our necklaces, but the baby would die!”

  Leigh pressed the button shaped like a phone and heard the ringing that indicated the call was being made. Lydia picked up on the third ring.

  “We have a child,” Leigh said. “We’ll be there shortly, but don’t start the fire until you see us.”

  “You have until the vamps reach the first people,” Lydia said. “Be here before then.”

  She hung up, and Leigh looked at Mallory. “Run.”

  They ran.

  At the end of the street that would lead them to Heddy’s house, a black-and-silver blur crashed into Mallory. Broken from her run by the incredible force of the assault, she landed hard on her side and cried out in pain. Leigh turned to face the threat, already knowing who it would be.

  Towering over Mallory, Henry smiled at him. He held a silver blade in his left hand. Leigh felt sickened when he recognized the ruby rose that served as the sword’s pommel. He’d commissioned the blade for Henry himself, what seemed like several lifetimes ago.

  “Welcome to the party, Leigh,” Henry said with a smirk.

  * * * *

  Lydia abandoned her human form for the large and powerful body of the Dragon. Anyone who’d doubted the words of Heddy and Daria had been made believers with the transformation of the Dragon sisters.

  In the middle of the lake, Daria stood gathering the power of the water to her. Her wet sapphire scales glimmered. Even the deepest water came up barely over her curved ankles. With a sinuous tail and body that looked more snakelike than Dragon-like and with wings that unfurled like moonlight dancing underwater, she was ethereal.

  Flying above the crowds of clamoring residents, Lydia was as powerful as Daria was majestic. She looked like a creature bred for war with her mane of diamond spikes, clawed golden wings, and thick, talon-tipped limbs. Her long, slender tail whipped around in the air. The silver, razor-sharp tip whistled through the night sky, seeming sharp enough to cut through the diamond-studded darkness. She searched the ground for Mallory and Leigh and found them not far away. Henry had them pinned down.

  Some of the crazed, hungry vampires began rushing the humans farthest from Lydia. Their hunger drove away their rampant fear of the furious Dragon circling overhead. Knowing they’d run out of time, Lydia roared down to her sister.

  All around the lake, a malleable wall of water encircled the residents and homes. The power of the water Dragon encircled the protected area like a giant bubble, settling from clouds to ground without a whisper of sound or a great essence of strength. Lydia, flying above the water barrier, asked forgiveness for at least one innocent life she knew she was about to end.

  Bringing massive amount of air into her lungs, she heated it with her molten core. She roared once more, a sound that shook the night and attempted to warn Mallory and Leigh that they were in their last seconds to get the child to safety. From high above, Lydia watched as Leigh charged Henry. He dropped the girl to initiate the surprise attack.

  Mallory rolled to the side and caught the infant, making the movement smooth and continuous enough to spring to her feet when she snatched the baby girl from the air. Without looking back, she raced toward the water dome. She trusted Leigh to not die on her
as she got the baby to safety.

  As soon as Mallory breached the barrier and slipped inside, Lydia loosed the firestorm from within. The fire spewed forth with all the strength and sound of an erupting volcano. She first coated the advancing crazed vampires in immolating fury, protecting the residents who huddled within Daria’s protective bubble. The flames washed over the water barrier, surging on and around it like the tide over sand. After a few attempts to force its way through, the fire slid off the water Dragon’s power and sought less resistant things to devour.

  Mallory ran to her family, standing near the edge of the lake, and handed the baby girl to Annette. She needed to go back and find Leigh. She had to help him if she could. One breath she couldn’t see him, and the next he was in front of her, holding Henry’s snapping jaws away from her face.

  Leigh’s ancient maker looked rabid. Worse, he looked like a mindless beast who only knew hunger and absolute fury. It drew his once-lovely features in, making him appear to be lupine and feral. Mallory took a step back, and Junior stepped forward.

  Reaching for the blade Henry had implanted in his back, Leigh grunted with the effort of restraining the crazed maker. He couldn’t do it with only one hand. Whether it was his insanity or simply his own strength, Henry was almost impossible to contain.

  Henry broke free of Leigh’s grasp and went for Junior. Whether he was the closest human target or the death he knew in some way would cause the woman he hated most the worst pain didn’t matter. The wounded officer was the one Henry wanted if it was to be his final kill.

  Lydia flew over the town, destroying homes, businesses, wildlife, and everything in between. Fire swept the roads, incinerating the asphalt and turning a once-quaint community into a pit of ash and flame. She knew nothing existed within the fire that could possibly survive it. Not renegade vampires, not Hunters. Everything outside of Daria’s protective circle and within the army blockades was annihilated, cleansed in flames. With a triumphant bellow, Lydia returned to the lake.