by Juniper Hart
“Wait,” she protested. “You’re supposed to heal quickly.”
He whirled on her. “How about this, Slayer. I’ll cut a hole in your foot and then ask you to go for a run? Sure, your foot will heal in time, but you really can’t do much in the moment.”
She scowled. “I didn’t know.”
Actually, she was starting to learn that she didn’t know a lot about dragons. Storm was teaching her so much. It turned out that dragons had a conscience, and they could be really good kissers.
That last thought made her chuckle.
“What, you think this is funny?” he growled.
“What? No! I was just thinking—” She didn’t want to tell him what she was thinking.
He exhaled deeply. “Sorry,” he growled. “I need to sit down. Climb yourself out of here if you want to,” he scoffed.
With that, he went about fifteen feet away and sat down on a ledge jutting out from the wall. Lilith couldn’t believe what she was seeing. They were stuck in an icy cave with no feasible way out. All she had was her whip. No food or warmth. She was already shivering. It had been plenty cold when it was just her walking around outside. Then, she’d gotten several tons of snow dumped on her, some of which had snuck into her clothes and soaked her to the skin. As if that wasn’t enough, she now had a hole in her suit that was totally exposing her to the cold.
She patted her clothes for her phone and remembered that she’d forgotten it back at the hotel. “Do you have a phone?”
“No. Besides, I doubt you’d get any service down here.”
She sat nearby, hugging her body to warm herself up. “Great. Just great.”
“My men will come looking for me soon,” he assured her. “We’re not going to die in here.”
She met his eyes, hopeful. “How long is soon? An hour? Two?”
He cleared his throat. “I’d be getting comfortable. I go on many long walks. They don’t get worried until nightfall. Although, hopefully they will come looking a little sooner because of the avalanche.”
She pursed her lips. “Please tell me you aren’t serious. Hours?”
They still had another few hours until nightfall, and even then, it’s not like his men would know exactly where to look for him.
A killer and her target. Alone in a small cave for hours. Together.
Awkward.
“I’m serious,” Storm replied. “I don’t know why you’re so upset. You should be dead right now.”
“So should you,” she reminded him. “I could’ve shot you.”
“Could’ve, but wouldn’t have. I saw it in your eyes.”
“You know nothing about me,” she snapped.
Why was she fighting him? Minutes earlier, she was ready to have sex with him. She looked down, feeling defeated, and began to shiver uncontrollably as the adrenaline wore off.
His hard expression softened, and he shrugged off his warm coat. He extended it towards her. “Here.”
She looked at him, then at the coat. She wanted to take it. She was miserable and freezing, and that coat looked awfully warm.
She steeled her mind. No. She wasn’t going to do that. She was not going to stoop to begging. She’d rather sit there and freeze.
“No, thanks,” she said.
He shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He put it on the rock beside him. “My offer stands.”
“You aren’t cold?”
He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. His throat glowed dramatically like he had swallowed a fireball. He had changed out of his suit from the hotel and put on a warm sweater. She could see his chest glow through the fabric. It reminded Lilith of someone putting a flashlight on their palm and illuminating their hand.
He exhaled smoke. “I can warm myself up.”
She glanced at the coat, then back at him. Her body shuddered as the cold, wet fabric stuck to her body.
“I’ll take the coat,” she finally conceded. She was just being stubborn. She wasn’t proving anything by suffering. He didn’t care if she was uncomfortable.
He tossed it to her, and she caught it. She wrapped it around herself and immediately felt better. It was incredibly warm, like it had just been removed from the dryer.
She snuggled up in it, inhaling his intoxicating scent. “Thanks.”
“Well,” he said, leaning back with a sigh. “What’s my rate up to now?”
“What?”
“What’s my bounty?” he asked.
“Ten million,” she answered, almost embarrassed.
His eyebrows raised. “Wow. I’m a popular guy.”
“Yeah.”
“And you turned it down out of the kindness of your heart,” he said. “That sucks.”
“Probably should’ve gunned you down,” she replied. She wasn’t in the chatting mood. “I would’ve avoided this whole mess.”
“Yup,” he told her with a sarcastic, biting tone. “Because you’d be dead with thirty tons of snow on top of you. I’d say that sounds like one hell of a plan.”
A moment of silence passed, and the two sat awkwardly. She reached for her whip and laid it on her thighs. It warmed up at her touch as the enchantment activated.
“So,” he said. “I’ve have to ask. How long have you been coming after me?”
“Ever since you killed Raven a year ago,” she replied. “You’ve very difficult to find.”
He mulled that around. “A year, huh? Some have pursued me their whole lives and never found me.”
“So, what next?” she asked.
“We wait,” he responded matter-of-factly.
“Are your men going to kill me when they find us? I won’t go down easy, and I’ll make sure to lop your pretty boy head off before I fall.”
He snorted with amusement, like the very idea entertained him. “Of course not. I offered you mercy. You accepted. The deal stands.”
He shook his head and laughed as he looked her up and down. “So...”
“So.”
“So, you’re Red Shadow,” he said slowly in a sing-song voice.
“Yes.”
“You’re younger than I expected.”
“Really?” she frowned. “I’m twenty-four.”
“You’ve got quite the rap sheet for someone so young,” he reminded her. He snickered. “I know many, many people who would pay a pretty penny for your head.”
“Let me guess,” she said. “Your brothers? Maybe your father?”
“Yep.”
“But not you. You’re going to let me go.”
“Yes,” he replied.
“I kill your kind for a living,” she said. “I don’t follow your logic here.”
He let out a huge shrug. “You’re twenty-four. You’ve been raised with a Slayer mentality, but I can tell that’s not what you really want.”
She scowled. “I know exactly who I am and what I want.”
She couldn’t make up her mind on Storm. She thought he was a condescending jerk and a kind man at the exact same time, almost as if the two halves of her brain were battling. “Just because you’re thousands of years old doesn’t mean you can talk down to me.”
He laughed. “I’m not talking down to you. I am thousands of years old and still don’t know what I want.”
She frowned. That sounded…wise.
She’d expected that once she’d met Storm, she would have her suspicions confirmed. She assumed he was a party animal, a womanizer, and a senseless beast capable only of destruction. But then she thought back to the scene with the elk in the forest, where the dragon had been so sensitive and gentle despite his tremendous power.
“Well,” Storm announced, standing up. “It’s cold, and I’m going to get warm. You’re free to join me and explore this cave, Slayer.”
She made a split-second decision and stood up. Why not? She didn’t want to be left alone—especially if his men showed up. They wouldn’t know about the deal she made with the dragon shifter. They’d just recognize her as Red Shadow, the dangerous Slayer. She was in no mood
—or condition—to battle anyone. Her best shot was to stick around Storm. And maybe, just maybe, he’d find a way out.
Together, they went off to explore the cave. Lilith kept an eye on the shifter. She didn’t fully trust him. He looked gentle and kind, sure, but she wasn’t a child. She knew better than to trust everyone she saw based off outside appearances alone. She brought along her whip—just in case.
Somewhere, her rifle was buried in snow. There wasn’t anything she could do about that. Her car was likely devoured by the avalanche.
She sighed. Oh, well. She should consider herself lucky that she hadn’t just shot Storm. She’d be dead. The tree would’ve broken, and she would be buried alive if the impact of hitting the ground didn’t kill her instantly. She owed him her life, which bothered her immensely. She didn’t owe people.
She didn’t know how to feel about her situation. She wanted to hate him, but she couldn’t. Instead, she followed closely behind him as they descended deeper into the cave.
6
The cave started to descend into a sharp decline that led into a mass of blackness.
“I don’t know that this is a good idea,” Lilith said, looking around. It felt like the mountain was swallowing them. It didn’t seem like such a clever idea to continue exploring. The earth loomed over them like it might fall through and crush both of them at any second.
“We’ll be fine,” he said. “Or we’ll both die, but neither of us will care if that happens.”
The statement was a bit morbid, but it made sense. “I guess you’re right. But still, we’ve survived an avalanche and falling into a cave. Why take our chances?”
“I’ve survived a lot worse than that,” he snorted. “Mostly at the hands of people like you. You can turn back,” he reminded.
Storm moved along happily. She didn’t know if he could—or even if he would—protect her if danger loomed ahead. He had power over the wind, which meant he could create storms, help ships get back to shore, or maybe even create storms that could win wars. History knew the shifter well. He was usually known as “luck.”
However, caves blocked wind, and he was injured. What power did he have?
Lilith ran her hand along her whip, making it turn on. The glowing spells illuminated their way as they walked. The cave was enormous, which was evident as they continued burrowing deeper. Storm seemed to be getting more and more excited as they walked.
“What are you so excited about?” Lilith asked, eyeballing the dragon.
“I recognize this place,” he said, grinning widely. “When I was very young, my brothers and I used to play down here.”
“You can honestly recognize this?” She glanced around. “It’s just a bunch of rocks.”
He walked over to one of the walls and laughed. He pointed to a series of scratches on the wall. “Check it out!”
She leaned in to where he was pointing to discover a series of chiseled marks in the stone. “What does it say?”
He seemed extremely entertained. “It says, ‘No girls.’”
“You’re a dragon that’s thousands of years old, and you made a boys’ only hangout spot?” She snickered without meaning to. “Nice.”
“Well, I wasn’t always old,” he told her. “I was a kid once, just like you. You weren’t always killing dragons.” He spread his arms to the cave. “I remember this. This used to be where my brothers and I always played. This was a small cave at one time, but my brother, Terran, transformed it into something much more grand.”
She recognized the name Terran, the Keeper of the Mountain. He was like Storm, except he controlled the earth instead of the air.
Lilith couldn’t help smiling at Storm’s obvious joy as he led them deeper into the cave with memory leading his motions. He was grinning from ear-to-ear, laughing. He took everything he saw, from the icy stalactites to the ancient markings scrawled on the wall, with intense passion. He could see something that Lilith couldn’t, which bothered her at first. What was she missing? But then she relaxed and just let him guide the way and teach her about their surroundings. Nothing was commonplace. Everything was special.
Storm clearly wasn’t interesting in fighting with her, and they were alone, so she didn’t feel the need to keep her guard up. Of course, she’d keep their interaction to herself. She’d just explain that she’d lost track of Storm. Nobody would doubt the word of the famous Red Shadow.
Just when she felt herself relax, he opened his mouth and ruined the mood.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“About what?”
“That you were raised by Slayers.”
Subconsciously, Lilith’s hand tightened on her whip. “I’m not. You’ve killed humans for thousands of years. We are making the world a better place.”
“You’ve been fed lies your whole life. I’m like you, just immortal. That, and I can morph into a dragon. But underneath the scales and wings, my soul is like yours.”
“You’ve killed people!” Lilith spat.
“Yes, but only when they tried to kill my kind or were hurting innocent people. Besides, you’ve killed dragons.”
“I’ve only killed dragons because they are a danger to us all.”
“You see?” asked Storm. “It’s all a big misunderstanding.” The dragon watched her carefully. “I wouldn’t be surprised if this was your first conversation with one of my kind.”
Lilith wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe he was kind and that she was wrong. She’d never enjoyed hunting dragons, but she was raised to believe that dragons were evil, cruel, and worthy of death. She’d believed them until she met Storm, who was exactly the opposite of what she’d been told.
“What’s your point? You think I would be a different person if I wasn’t raised by slayers.”
“Well, yes.”
She huffed loudly.
He backed off. “Allow me to say it this way. You’re special,” he said. “And, you’re breathtaking, if you ask me. You’re smart enough to avoid my guards. You’re obviously talented. You could do anything you wanted with your life. You’re bursting with potential.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “So are you criticizing my upbringing or giving me a compliment?”
“Both, but mostly I’m coming around to this.” He hopped down another level of stone. “I have something to offer you.”
“Huh?” She didn’t know what he was talking about. Nevertheless, she was willing to give him a shot. She’d never been offered anything from a dragon before, and she was intrigued.
“Forget your Slayer past.”
“Oh, sure. Here, let me just wipe my brain of twenty-four years of—”
“Do you want to know how your sting today got shut down?”
She paused, irritated that he had interrupted her. “Sure,” she hissed. “Why don’t you go ahead and tell me?”
“I had dreams about you.”
“That’s not creepy at all.”
He laughed. “Well, it’s true. I’ve had dreams about you, Red Shadow, and your partner for the last two weeks. It was an easy thing to send my guards out to find you. I knew you were going to be there before you ever showed up.”
She studied him. No way. Dragons didn’t have fortune telling dreams. That wasn’t a thing. “I don’t believe you.”
“I didn’t think you would. There’s a reason I saved your life.” He leaned in. “Lilith.”
She scowled. “How do you know my name?”
“Part of the dream.”
She cocked an eyebrow. She hid her real name like it was the difference between life and death. Very few people knew her given name. Slayers called her Red Shadow, and she didn’t have friends outside of the Slayer community. If she had to interact with people that weren’t Slayers, she never used the name Lilith.
In the Slayer community, your real name was a secret. It’s a word that embodied your heart and soul. Parents in the Slayer community chose the names of their children very carefully. A name was very intimate and
was rarely known outside of the immediate family. She had no birth certificate, driver’s license, or social security number.
“I’ll bite,” she said. “What else happened in the dream?”
“You changed,” he said. “That is why Night Star is dead right now and you’re here beside me.”
“I don’t understand. How am I supposed to change? I really think you’re giving me too much credit.”
“You didn’t kill me. Do you think Night Star would have put down the gun?” he asked. He turned and faced her with passion in his eyes. “Lilith,” he said. “Do you mind if I call you that?”
“I guess not,” she said.
Normally she would never have allowed her name to pass a stranger’s lips. Something about Storm took her by surprise, and she knew he had more to tell her.
Already, he had shown her that some of her preconceived notions about dragons were wrong. She was led to believe that dragons were not capable of compassion and empathy. That was obviously not true.
Something else surprised her. When she looked at Storm, she felt like she was at home. Her instincts told her to trust him, and more than anything, she wanted to feel his arms around her again.
What is happening to me? Lilith thought. He’s a dragon. You can’t keep thinking about him in a romantic way.
She wasn’t into romance. She didn’t believe in true love at first sight.
“Let me take you away from all this,” he urged. “Allow me to show you all that you’re missing in the world. You’ve been fed lies from people your entire life who are angry, and to be straightforward, they’re evil. I can protect you from anyone who comes for you.”
She smiled at him. Why was she blushing? “I don’t need protection.”
“Of course not,” he said. He reached for her hand. She willingly gave it to him. “That’s what makes you so wonderful.”
He leaned in like he was going to kiss her. Her lips twitched in response, ready to feel his mouth on hers once again.
Instead, he asked, “Will you allow me to do this for you?”
She almost said, I’ll allow you to do anything you want to me. Instead, she said, “I don’t know what any of this means. I can’t just leave my current life. What about my family?”
