“You okay?” he asked.
“Just dandy,” she said. She still had one thing left to do—a promise to Mya, so to speak. Francesca felt around for the necklace the witch had given her until she found it in her other pocket. She held it tight, then softened her hold as her thumb worked around at finding the pendant switch.
A hand on hers stopped her from moving. Even in the dark, she could feel Charlie’s disapproval.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t stop me,” she countered.
“She gave you what you wanted. Let the shifters handle her.”
“I only have what she gave because of the map,” she argued. “I owe Mya my loyalty.”
“You owe her nothing,” he said.
“I owe you nothing.”
The words were out of Francesca’s mouth before she could stop herself. It was the wrong thing to say. It was the most stupid thing to say, because she owed Charlie too much to count. As soon as she said the words, she felt him withdraw his hand, felt him withdraw completely from any contact.
“Do what you have to do,” he said—politely. It matched his earlier tone with Red, and her heart lurched.
But she needed to do this.
With a deep breath, Francesca stubbornly held on to her loyalty. She pressed the pendant.
Nothing happened for the first few seconds. Then the cave shook, lurching Francesca forward until she was banging against Charlie and they were falling down. He held on to her automatically as another sucking sensation pulled them up—then brought them down, smack into the ground and the light.
Pain slid down Francesca’s knee, the one she used to break her fall. Her world turned, but she managed to see her surroundings after blinking a few times. The cave was gone, and they were back in Los Angeles, with Charlie beside her and Mya in front of them.
On the other end of the magic shop lay Red, covered in blood.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Charlie was dimly aware they were back in the magic shop in Los Angeles, even before he could see the place itself. He had closed his eyes during the odd travel, trying to maintain his balance and control whatever dizziness he may have had. He could hear the buzzing of the crowd outside—haggling wares, delighting over some fascinating discoveries and discussing prices like they had all the time in the world. He’d heard all these before, just a few days ago.
He opened his eyes.
The first thing Charlie saw was Mya’s smile—as beautiful as it was deadly, spreading dangerously across her face, like she had gotten hold of the best secret in the world.
Maybe she had.
The smile was directed at Charlie at first, before glancing at the unconscious Red, then finally settling on Francesca. Francesca herself had a shocked look on her face, her eyes focused on Red.
“Very good girl,” Mya praised silkily, sauntering towards the bleeding body and leaning down in satisfaction. The movement had her skirt riding up and flashing bare legs in their direction, which he was sure was deliberate. Ignoring her, Charlie turned to Francesca and made a move to help her, even while she was scrambling ahead to stand up. Her brown eyes went to Mya, then back to Red, as if she still couldn’t quite comprehend the situation.
“Is she all right?” Francesca asked, making a move to approach Red. Charlie’s hand snaked out to grab her wrist before she could. At the same time, Mya stepped in front of Red, one brow raising.
“She’s quite fine. I just gave her a dose of what she deserves. Just a teensy dose. Now, you.” Mya smiled a bright smile, holding out her hand. “My pendant? I think we both got what we wanted.”
Charlie realized the necklace Francesca had pressed in the cave was still in her hand, held tightly and still glowing. She didn't loosen her grip. She also didn't remove her focus from Mya.
“What did she do?” Francesca asked.
A glint came to the witch's golden-green eyes. She glanced at Charlie before turning to Francesca in delight.
“Oh, you didn't know?” she asked innocently.
“Didn't know what?”
“Red here has murdered your lover's dragon leader. That's why the shifter community wants her so bad.”
Francesca's eyes widened. She turned to Charlie, who didn't confirm or deny anything. Then she turned back to Mya.
“Last I checked, you're not part of the shifter community, Mya.”
The response was perhaps the least expected from Francesca, and Charlie couldn't help his surprise. Still, he kept his poker face on as Mya went on to answer in her usual style—with lots of evasion and charm, but no actual answer.
He was worried about Red, and it was hard not to show it. While said witch was an enemy, she was also the former mate of Malik—and mates were bound by blood. He couldn't just abandon her like that, unconscious and in the hands of a very deceitful witch.
Charlie's resolution came at the same time that the body behind Mya stirred. Francesca didn't seem to notice, too busy frowning at Mya. Doing his best not to indicate he saw anything, he took a step forward.
Mya's expression hardened. “Where are you going, lover boy?”
Charlie matched her expression with a stern one, and he felt Francesca's nervousness rise.
“I don't think we should—”
Mya's attack happened before Francesca could finish her sentence. She yelped as Charlie yanked her down hard, then covered her body with his own just as a series of sparks singed the area where his head had been. Another series of sparks flew, this time aimed for the ground. With a curse, Charlie rolled and took Francesca with him, avoiding it just in time.
Then he leapt for Mya before she could make a third strike.
The witch blocked his move with an effective shielding spell, one that would have had him impressed if Mya weren't the enemy. He came at her again, and was blocked once more. The noise of the collision would have rendered anyone shocked, but the level noise outside told him that a ward was in place to block the sound and have no one interfere.
Which meant he had to create a commotion.
With that in mind, Charlie shifted. He didn't shift fully, considering the lack of space and his size, but he put most of it on his arms, legs, and torso until he was all but covered with hard scales. Mya's eyes widened, but he didn't give her enough time to recover or adjust her spells as he charged firsthand in her direction.
A scream came from behind. The sound made Charlie glance, and he froze at what he saw. A spell had hit Francesca straight on her shoulder, and the clothes she wore were now charred on that area. A rush of fury rose up in him, unexpectedly strong. He used that to fuel his next lunge, which Mya warded off again just as a thud came from behind him. Francesca. Changing direction at the last second, Charlie went for the wall—and with his hard scales and partially shifted body, he managed to force it to crack and break.
The crowd outside seemed to have frozen at the sight of him, naked at the top and back to his human form. Then they looked at the crumbling walls, and people started murmuring.
An explosion sounded from inside the shop, followed by the rise of fire.
People now started screaming. Panic ensued.
Charlie saw Mya headed towards him, at the same time he saw Francesca moving in the background towards Red. Then the huge man named Lloyd appeared with a dagger glinting in his hand, and Charlie had no choice but to defend himself as the weapon slashed his way. For a human, Lloyd was fast—but Charlie was faster, and he managed to evade just before the dagger could stab through his artery. He punched the man, who went down cold on the ground in an instant. He ran back inside and tried for Mya again, but Mya was simply standing calmly, smiling at him.
“You'd have made a great bed partner, lover boy,” Mya purred throatily. Her hand went up.
Then she pointed it in Francesca's direction.
Charlie tensed.
“What do you say you and I strike up a partnership and leave this bitch alone?”
Francesca tensed as well. Then her coffee eyes na
rrowed as Charlie calmly stood up, almost as if he was considering the idea. Mya saw his expression, pleasure blooming in hers. Charlie held out a hand, expression cold as he walked closer. “Sounds about right.”
“Oh, goodie. You do agree with me. Let me get rid of her.”
Sparks flew, directed at Francesca's heart. Charlie dropped his act and moved as fast as his body could take him, intent on either rolling them both to the side or taking the hit for her.
Instead, the dizziness hit him again, and his world shook.
Someone had pressed the pendant.
*****
He fell in the cave with a hard thud, lurching on cold, rough stone and rolling down right after. Charlie's hands reached out for purchase, but everything was too slippery. He kept on rolling, kept on hitting stones until he finally dropped at the very bottom.
Moments later, he heard a familiar female voice whimpering her way down and panicking. Quick as lighting, Charlie reached out just in time to stop her fall. The impact of catching her had him toppling to the ground on his back, with her on top of him.
Silence. Then...
“Ouch,” she groaned, her head buried in his shoulder. Francesca tried to disentangle from him, but the more she moved, the more she slipped and landed back on him.
“Stop moving,” he growled, keeping his arms on her elbows to keep her still.
“I pressed the pendant,” she blurted out.
“I figured.”
“I didn't get Red,” she mourned. “I had her in my hands, but she slipped.”
Which explained the slight smell of blood on her fingers.
“I actually didn't know if the pendant would get us back here, but I had to take the chance,” she babbled on. “Her spell was going to hit you, and I couldn't have that.”
The raw sincerity in her voice hit him hard, and he pulled her closer. He realized she was shaking, her body trembling with adrenaline. Belatedly, he remembered the scarred shirt near her shoulder, and felt around in the darkness towards it. She stilled against him.
“Hurts,” she muttered.
It wasn't bleeding, thank goodness. And nothing seemed to be broken as of yet. With a sigh of relief, Charlie slumped back on the ground, still slightly dizzy from the magical travel. He kept his thumb on her shoulder, alternating between soft soothing and patting.
The silence went on as they rested against each other, seeping each other’s' warmth. The coldness around them started to seep in as well, and the darkness kept on. Charlie couldn't feel a draft anywhere, which meant there was no exit or entrance to the outside world nearby. His best chance was finding the entrance they used earlier, which would have been easy had he known where they'd landed.
It would have also been easy had he not lost the flashlight.
Francesca's continued silence was a bit disconcerting, so Charlie pulled her even closer to check on her breathing. The movement caused her to start, her hands gripping his shoulders and her mouth just settling near his chin. He denied the temptation to move his head just a tad bit closer. Instead, he moved, too, a signal for her to move back.
Instead of moving back, Francesca merely moved again, her hips settling against his and causing his cock to stir. His blood started to flood with a certain kind of rush, and he gritted his teeth against the sensation. In response, Francesca only trailed her mouth until it rested on his neck, where she emitted harsh, even breaths. He felt her grow warmer, finally starting to realize the reason why.
She was asleep.
And she had a fever from the shoulder hit.
It was like a douse of cold water, so to speak. The desire to touch left him automatically as he forced them both into a sitting position. Francesca sighed and murmured something unintelligible, but made no resistance. Charlie touched her shoulder again, and this time she didn't protest as his fingers hit the tender area. She'd been burned quite efficiently there. A quiet rage crawled up inside him at the thought of how Mya had used her all these years. He had to get her away from that witch.
But first, he had to keep her alive.
Francesca's burns needed some treatment or else the infection would grow worse. If he didn't find the cave entrance soon, he needed to find Red's abode—if it let him in. The tricky part was navigating in the dark with the half unconscious woman in his arms. Even his shifter-sensitive eyesight couldn't get a good feel of the place.
Which meant only one thing.
He had to navigate on his own, then come back for her. The thought was sickening in itself, and every instinct in his body rejected the idea of leaving her alone, defenseless. But the thought of taking her with him, and slipping into some abyss in the complete dark with her was even more outrageous. He would just do her more harm than good, especially since he didn't know the cave's actual layout.
Silence surrounded them, and the dizziness was gone. Grimly, Charlie lay her down on the floor. As an afterthought, he set up a trap around her and took out some of his blood to place it around the trap—so he could scent it from afar. The trap was simply in case they weren't alone.
She was still asleep when he positioned her by a wall—and her body had started trembling from chills. Charlie placed his hand on her cheek, murmuring that he would be back. She sighed again, then fell back asleep.
He set off right away.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
When Francesca woke up, she felt cold, and everything was dark.
It took her more than a minute and a couple of feeling around to determine that she was back in the cave—lying down on the cave floor, to be exact, feeling dizzy as hell and weak. It took her another minute to deduce that she couldn’t hear any sound, save for her own breathing, which was getting harsher as panic slowly set in.
She was alone.
Francesca tried to fight off the panic right away—an instinct that set in once she’d lived on her own and tackled many problems without anyone’s help. She called out Charlie’s name once, and her voice echoed through the walls twice, a hollow sound. There was no response. She didn’t dare call out his name again, terrified that she was going to rouse something else in this unfamiliar ground.
Charlie was either gone, or he hadn’t been sucked by the pendant like she was.
He was probably still in Los Angeles, fighting off Mya. Rescuing Red.
Or he was dead.
The thought sent a stab through her heart, painful and sharp. She ruthlessly held it in, knowing now was not the time for such thoughts.
Feeling more determined than ever to get out of here, Francesca tried to sit up. Almost immediately, pain hit her on the shoulder—hard. With a gasp, Francesca was brought back down as the sensation traveled from her shoulder to her chest, then down until it reached her legs. Panic tried to claw forth once again, and she mentally screamed at herself to take it easy.
The first step was to even out her breathing, or else she was going to hyperventilate. With slow, steady breaths, Francesca focused on being mechanical, fighting off every negative thought and keeping her mind blank until her breathing slowed and her heart rate went back to normal. Once that was done, she tried to use her fingers to assess her body, feeling up here and there to determine where exactly the pain was stemming from. While her legs and chest ached, her shoulder was the most tender, and she couldn’t touch it without having to bite her lip to keep from yelping out at the pain it induced.
She remembered the spell Mya hit her with earlier, anger rushing up inside her at the betrayal—at the witch’s proposal for Charlie. A possessive streak surged up inside her, dashed abruptly when she was reminded he wasn’t here.
He’d saved her life, and she probably killed him. God.
Thinking about it wasn’t going to help her. Determined more than ever to get out of here and get hold of reality as soon as possible, Francesca tried sitting up again, gritting her teeth and fisting her hands as the pain steadily increased. She was able to sit upright for half a minute before dizziness overtook her, and she had no choice but to
go back down and feel completely helpless. Frustrated tears started flowing from her eyes, and she wiped them off with her hand and tried to steady herself.
The silence bore on, as cold as her surroundings, and she realized this was how people went crazy. She felt herself going warm as she kept her breathing in rhythm with the throbbing pain. A few minutes later, she felt like she was in snow, too cold and uncomfortable. Chills. It had to be chills.
Her mind conjured up images of someone else finding her here. But instead of Charlie, her mind supplied the image of her vampire stalkers, sneaking in like the silent killers they were and pouncing for her blood before they tore her apart. Then the vampires were replaced by Mya, who tracked her to murder her.
The pain flared and went to her head, and she bit back a scream. Francesca slid her nails so deep in her palms that she felt them bleed, but couldn’t stop as the pain kept going, and going and going.
A memory of Charlie came to mind again—him murmuring that he’d be back, here in this cave. Realization came that he did make it with her.
Then all thoughts left her as unconsciousness seized her once more.
*****
When Francesca woke up again, she felt warm, and everything was still dark.
The only other addition was the sound of clicking beside her, which rendered such a state of panic in her that she almost screamed bloody murder. She recognized it as footsteps, kept light and subtle. Then her nose kicked in, and she scented a familiar scent that had relief flying in spades.
Followed by relief was a sudden rush of anger.
Without thinking, Francesca sat up and instantly launched herself at the direction the scent was located, and she was met by a hard wall of warmth. Yes, definitely him.
“You bastard!”
Her hands fisted and pounded at his chest, and he let her do so once or twice before his own hands came up to prevent her from continuing. His grip was strong, and she wasn’t able to break his hold, but he handled her tantrums very gently.
Dragon: The Clan Legacy Series Page 34
