“I’m taking these out of here,” I told Selinger and began to climb the stairs.
“You can’t,” he said. “I have this room completely sealed. But when he finishes, and I finish him and that beast, then run for it.”
I nodded and finished climbing to the top. At that point, I hit the ward he had set and couldn’t go through the open door. Beyond, I saw Dorina, Göndul, and Cassiel. Dorina said something, but I couldn’t hear a sound other than Verichenko’s chanting.
Since I couldn’t get away, I turned back to face whatever might come at me. Anything that came up the stairs, whether mage or Dragon, had to negotiate that turn at the landing, and that would give me time to react.
After about five minutes, Verichenko said a Word. Silence fell, and it felt like the world just before a lightning strike—buzzing with pent-up energy ready to be unleashed. The silence and the tension stretched. And stretched. I fought the temptation to go look.
“Kill!” Verichenko’s voice came up the stairs, tired and weak. I heard flapping noises, a shrill screech, and then the moist, sickening sound of a sword cutting through flesh. A thud. Then a brilliant flash of light, and the whole building shook. The ward behind me, between me and the upper floor, dissolved.
A couple of minutes later, soft footsteps started up the stairs. I braced, but the footfalls were so soft that I knew they had to be Elven. Selinger reached the landing and started up the stairs toward me. Thick, viscous, dark maroon-colored blood dripped off his sword.
“It’s over,” he said.
Chapter 24
While Selinger and I were in the basement, the Paladins had skirmished with some of Verichenko’s men who were playing cards in the garage. We assumed they were supposed to be guarding the house, but it was cold outside. The result was that we were able to make it back to our cars without any further problems.
Once we got out of the mountains and I could get mobile reception again, I called Antonio.
“What’s going on with the Dragon?” I asked.
“Nothing, so far. It just sits there.”
“I’m shocked.”
“So am I,” he said. “They have spotlights set up, helicopters flying overhead, thousands of people out on the streets watching. It acts like it’s waiting on something.”
I felt a chill.
“Me, probably. I have two Dragon eggs.”
Silence on the other end of the line. Then, “So Verichenko didn’t manage to hatch the egg?”
“He did,” I said. “The hatchling died, but he had two more eggs. Antonio, do you know anything about clairvoyance or precognition?”
“I’ve known people who claimed to see the future,” he replied.
“Do you suppose Dragons have something like that?”
More silence. Finally, “You’d better hope not.”
To find the Dragon, all we had to do was stay on the highway into the city. Highway One ran right through the plaza where the Arcul was located. Of course, that would have been too easy, and the police had no intention of letting anyone drive anywhere near the Arcul.
We found a hotel about a mile away, and Göndul bribed the attendants to let us park our cars.
“What do you think we should do?” I asked as we walked toward the monument in the distance. The Dragon could easily be seen on top. Antonio had exaggerated a little. Yes, it was the size of a corporate jet, but not the jumbo jetliner I had imagined. Still, as we drew closer I estimated it was eighty or ninety feet long, nose to tail tip. Large enough to eat an elephant for dinner and still have room for dessert.
“What was your original intention when you found the egg?” Roger asked.
I shrugged and turned to Selinger. “I was just going to give it to you or tell you where it was. What did you plan to do with it?”
“Return it to Draegar,” he said. “We discussed alternatives, but no one was sure how to destroy it. Obviously, dropping it into a volcano wasn’t an option.”
All of the Elven communities in Earth’s realm had portal mages. As opposed to a realm walker, a portal mage could open one of the great portals directly to any destination where he or she had the address—that address being a rune.
We worked our way through increasingly thick crowds to the line where the police closed off further progress. Cassiel stood directly behind me, pressed by the crowd against my back. His solid presence was comforting.
“It’s big,” Göndul said, shielding her eyes as she craned her neck to look up at the Dragon. Green and red and gold scales formed a pattern foreign to the Elven eye. Its belly was the shimmering color of rose gold. The lights trained on it flashed and reflected from its scales. Other than a leisurely turning of its head, and flicking of its tail tip, it didn’t move at all.
“Yes, they tend to get rather large,” Selinger said. “I would guess that’s a female. They tend to be larger than the males.”
“Yeah, well, I still don’t know what to do with the damned eggs,” I said.
As we watched, one of the helicopters swooped close to the Dragon. From the writing on the side I guessed it was from one of the TV stations. Casually, the Dragon opened its mouth, and a gout of flame poured forth and engulfed the helicopter. It caught fire, then its gas tanks exploded, and it plummeted to the ground. The Dragon watched until it hit the ground, then went back to looking around as if nothing had happened.
The people watching were far less sanguine. The crowds immediately turned into a fleeing mob. Even many of the police and military ran. In five minutes, we stood almost alone on the plaza. Looking behind me, I saw the bodies of people who fell and were trampled in the panic.
“Okay,” I said, “let’s make a decision. We can take the eggs out there and put them on the ground and run. Or, we can run, haul the eggs back to Ireland, and talk someone other than me into taking them back to Draegar. Or, we can take them someplace and bury them and pretend none of this ever happened. Any better ideas?”
I looked around, and everyone seemed to want to look anywhere but at me. As the silence lengthened, Cassiel said, “I think that about sums it up.” Others nodded or murmured assent.
I took a deep breath and looked up at the Dragon. It seemed to have gained interest in what was going on down on the ground. All the helicopters and planes had fled. The majority of the people on the ground were gone. In fact, our group was one of the largest gatherings visible.
“Do you think your shield will withstand a Dragon’s breath?” I asked Selinger.
He grinned. “There’s only one way to find out.”
“I think my shield may have some special properties against chaos,” Cassiel said. “I’ll come with you, too.”
Feeling like I had a target painted on my chest, I stepped forward with an Elven battle mage on one side and a Nephilim on the other. I felt their magic as they cast their shields, but nothing was visible. We walked across the wide street to the base of the Arcul. I aimed for the side of the monument closest to trees and buildings. I figured if we had to run, we might have a chance if we could find some shelter.
The Dragon watched us. I supposed that was natural. We were the only things close to it that were moving.
When we reached the base, I knelt down and put my bag on the ground. I looked up. The Dragon was leaning forward, its long neck curved down, and eyes the size of truck tires staring at me. I almost peed my pants.
Reaching into my bag, I shook so hard it was difficult to get hold of the egg. I pulled out one of the eggs and set it on the ground as gently as I could. Without pausing, I pulled out the other egg and set it down. I stood and began walking backwards away from the eggs. The Dragon tracked our progress, and other than slight movements of its head, not moving a muscle.
A movement under the Arcul caught my eye. A man dashed out, grabbed one of the eggs, and ran back under the shelter of the arch.
With a roar that shook the ground, the Dragon bathed the area where the remaining egg sat with fire. It hopped off the monument and lan
ded by the egg. Extending one of its front legs, it grasped the egg in its hand and dropped it into a pouch on its belly that I hadn’t seen before.
We were running. I glanced back over my shoulder to see the Dragon stick its claws inside the doorway leading to the stairwell that went to the top of the monument. The next thing I knew, huge chunks of granite were flying everywhere as the Dragon began tearing the Arcul apart.
“Who in the hell was that idiot?” Cassiel gasped as we reached the shelter of the trees across the street.
“Mondranar,” Selinger said. “I thought you said he was dead.”
“No, I said that Dorina buried him, and we hoped he was dead,” I answered.
“Tell her to bury him deeper next time,” he growled.
The sounds of destruction ceased. Half of the Arcul was destroyed, but the Dragon had stopped dismantling the structure. It reached in with one hand and came back with the second egg in its grasp. It carefully tucked it into its pouch.
“Did you know that Dragons had pouches like kangaroos?” I asked Selinger.
“No. But until two years ago, I didn’t know what a kangaroo was, either.”
The dragon dropped to all four legs and turned away from the Arcul. It walked out into the middle of the road, spread its wings, crouched, then sprang into the air. Beating hard and stirring up winds and dust devils on the ground, it slowly gained altitude. Then it turned slightly to the right and disappeared. I knew it had parted the veils into another realm as its first move in finding its way home.
I clapped Selinger on the shoulder. “Mission accomplished. I believe you’re buying the drinks, my lord?”
He laughed. “I’m not a lord, but I’ll stand for the drinks.”
We started our trek back to the hotel where we’d parked the vehicles. As we came around the first corner, a bolt of energy hit our group, blasting a hole in the street and blowing bodies in all directions. I flew through the air and landed hard on the edge of a curb. Pieces of pavement rained down around me, and a piece the size of my fist clubbed me in the head.
My vision was blurred, and the air was filled with dust. Sharp pain shot through my ribs and back on my left side, and it hurt to breathe.
Out of the dust, a dark figure emerged and stood over me. The sword he held dripped blood.
“You stupid verstagrel,” Mondranar said in Elvish. “You’ve caused me more trouble than you’re worth. But this is the end of your meddling.”
He raised his sword to deliver my death stroke. I tried to move, to roll away, but the pain from the ends of my broken ribs grating together almost caused me to pass out.
Something invisible hit Mondranar, hurling him through the air and completely through the wall of the building next to us. The wall collapsed, and bricks fell on him.
From the shadow of a tree, a short figure shuffled forth. Antonio slowly made his way to where he could see the Dralf. He stopped ten feet away, raised his fist, and brought it down as though hammering a nail. I saw Mondranar’s chest cave in. His eyes bulged, and then continued to stare at infinity.
“Men such as that have no honor,” Antonio said as he turned and knelt down by me. “Only a coward would hit a woman. It is not right.” He touched my head, and the pain receded. “Sleep now, sweet Kellana,” he said. “I shall take care of you.”
“She’s awake.” The voice was beautiful. I would have said it was like an Angel’s, but I’d never met an Angel. I couldn’t imagine that an Angel could be more beautiful than Cassiel, though.
I fought to open my eyes, but it seemed so bright.
“Ah, she is a fighter, that one,” a second voice said. Antonio.
“Whe…” I tried to ask where I was, but my mouth and tongue were stuck together. A hand lifted my head, and something cold and wet touched my lips. Ice chips slid into my mouth, and they were the best thing I’d ever tasted.
“You’re at my home, Kellana,” Antonio said. “Your friend with the wings has healed you, but it will take some days for you to regain your strength.”
I took a hesitant breath, then a deeper one. Nothing hurt.
“How bad?” I managed to ask.
“Broken ribs, punctured lung, lacerated spleen, and a cracked skull,” Cassiel said. “Nothing major.”
“The others?”
Cassiel’s face came into focus. His expression was grim.
“Mondranar did some damage before Antonio stopped him,” he said. “Selinger and Dorina are dead. So are two of the Paladins. He seemed to focus on Elves and half-Elves. He walked right by Göndul when he could have killed her, but he was focused on you.”
“Is she all right?” I asked.
“She’s resting. She was injured fairly badly.”
I turned my head to see Antonio. “Thank you.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Pfaw. I am old and slow. I should have stopped him sooner.”
“What were you doing there?”
He shrugged. “I had never seen a Dragon. At my age, how many chances will I get? Watching the television wasn’t the same. Ah, what a magnificent beast. The personification of chaos. How could I pass up the opportunity?”
Chapter 25
After a week, Cassiel judged Göndul and I healed enough to get out of bed as long as we took it easy. Antonio surprised us by flying us to Constanta in his private jet. I knew he was well off, but I hadn’t realized he was rich. Judging from the jet and his villa on the beach, he was really rich.
We hung out there another couple of weeks, gradually getting our strength back. The second week, I started running on the beach and swimming in the sea for a couple of hours a day. Considering it was January, the beach wasn’t crowded. Even Göndul wouldn’t go in the water with me. I thought a Valkyrie would be fine with the cold, but she told me I was crazy.
I thought I was, too, but I felt restless and weak, and I needed to get back in shape. It also helped me to sleep. Mondranar standing over me with his sword had joined my nightmares of Germany in 1945. And sometimes late at night, I admitted to myself that I was sad that Cassiel would be leaving.
One morning at breakfast, Göndul announced that she was moving on.
“I’ve booked my ticket to Stockholm,” she told us. “From there I can join a group of Paladins that’s going to Vanaheim, and from there I’ll go on to Valhalla.” She smiled. “I’ve been gone three years, and I need to spend some time at home.”
Something about her phrasing seemed off to me, but I couldn’t figure out exactly what it was.
“And you,” Antonio said to Cassiel, “will you be flitting off somewhere, too?”
Cass gave him a small grin. “As much as I’m enjoying my time here, I’m beginning to feel as though I’m taking advantage. Since my patients don’t need me anymore, it’s probably time for me to move along, also.”
Antonio harrumphed, and said, “Well, just know that you’re welcome anytime. Here or in Bucharest. An old man gets lonely sometimes, and I do enjoy your company.” He pointedly looked at me. “I think other people also enjoy your company.”
“Aren’t you going with Göndul?” I blurted out.
Cassiel gave me a blank look. Göndul briefly showed surprise, then started laughing.
“Although Cass is always welcome at my home, I think he finds it rather boring. He and my husband get along all right, but Cass isn’t much for children.”
I blinked at her and felt rather stupid.
“You’re married?”
“Yes,” she laughed, “and I have a young son. I’m sort of a part-time Paladin nowadays.”
“So, what are your plans?” Antonio asked Cassiel.
“I thought I’d go visit my sister,” Cassiel said. “She’s also a Paladin.”
“Oh, really?” I said brightly, trying to cover my embarrassment. “Where is she?”
He looked at me very directly, those gorgeous, unique blue eyes staring into mine. “Washington, D.C.,” he said. “I have developed a very keen interest in what that city might h
old for me.”
My self-control slipped. Elves have never understood the Human crime of rape. In Elves, the male’s hormones are triggered by the female’s interest. No interest on her part, no action on his part. But Cassiel was only half Elf, and Angels were renowned for being rather lusty. When he looked at me like that, my hormones exploded. I saw his eyes and nostrils dilate.
“Perhaps we can talk about it. I know Washington rather well,” I said, standing and walking to the door. I turned, and when I saw that he was still sitting at the table, raised an eyebrow. With a slow smile, he got up and followed me.
I walked out on a balcony overlooking the sea. When he came up behind me, I turned to face him. Putting my arms around his neck, I pulled him close and kissed him. His lips felt every bit as wonderful as they looked, his kiss as passionate as those full lips promised.
After the first kiss, I whispered, “If you need a place to stay in Washington, I have an empty bed.”
“My lady, I thought you’d never ask.”
The second kiss was even better.
###
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Books by BR Kingsolver
Dark Streets
Gods and Demons
Dragon’s Egg
The Chameleon Assassin Series
Chameleon Assassin
Chameleon Uncovered
Chameleon’s Challenge
Chameleon’s Death Dance
The Telepathic Clans Saga
The Succubus Gift
Succubus Unleashed
Dragon's Egg (Dark Streets Book 2) Page 19
