Fury and the Dragon (Redwood Dragons Book 8)

by Sloane Meyers

  “What, exactly, are you suggesting we do?” Violet asked.

  “We go to Saul’s headquarters, using the underground tunnel. As far as we know, he’s still unaware that the tunnel exists, so we should be able to get pretty close before he realizes we’re coming. We’ll have to use a masking scent so their shifter guards don’t smell us approaching from a mile away. How effective that will be depends on how well trained his shifters are in detecting masking scents.”

  “Hopefully not very well,” Violet said, sitting up straighter. Her heart was starting to pound with a mixture of fear and excitement. This mission sounded dangerous, but thrilling.

  “Hopefully not, but we can’t be too sure,” Weston said. “All we can do is be as careful as possible and keep our fingers crossed for good luck. Once we get to enemy headquarters, we’ll sneak in under the cover of an invisibility spell and head to the bat cave. Thanks to Nick’s surveillance videos, we know exactly where it is.”

  “And once we find it, how do we destroy it?” Violet asked.

  Weston shrugged. “Lots of dragon fire? Wizard laser beams? I’m sure we’ll figure out something.”

  Violet shook her head, half in amusement and half in incredulity. “You’re crazy.”

  “Maybe,” Weston said. “But my crazy plan actually has a good chance of working. I’m told that bat cloning is dependent on having one master bat. The master bat is a genetically engineered bat that takes a bit of time and expertise to make. But once that master bat is made, you can clone rapidly from it. The catch is that the bat clones have to stay near the master bat for the first twenty-four hours of their lives, drawing on her energy, or they’ll die. So the master bat is vital to any bat cloning operation.”

  “This all sounds pretty farfetched to me,” Violet said, frowning.

  Weston laughed at her. “Says the girl who does magic. Cloning is all based in science, you know. It has perfectly logical explanations, whereas this hocus pocus magic stuff you do does not. It’s just weird shit.”

  Violet grinned sheepishly. “Fair enough, I guess. So your plan, I’m assuming, is to destroy the master bat.”

  Weston nodded. “If we can do that, Saul’s bat cloning operation will come to a grinding halt. It will take quite some time and energy for him to get another master bat. Even if he does decide to try again, we’ll have a period of time we’re he’ll be unprotected by his obnoxious little bat army.”

  Violet considered all of this. “I get what you’re saying about now being a good time to catch Saul off-guard. But even so, this is still going to be really dangerous.”

  “I know,” Weston said. “But it’s a calculated risk. There’s a good chance we’ll be killed, but there’s an equally good chance we’ll pull it off.”

  “Have you told Knox and Peter about this plan?” Violet asked, even though she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.

  “Um…” Weston said. Violet rolled her eyes. He had not.

  “You know they’re going to be furious with us if we go without telling anyone and get ourselves killed.”

  “So what? If we destroy the bats they will be happy enough that they’ll get over being angry pretty quickly. And if we’re dead then who really cares if they’re angry at us.”

  Violet sighed. “You’re out of your mind.”

  “I know,” Weston said. “So what do you say? Are you coming with me?”

  Violet peered at him through the darkness. She could only see his outline, but she didn’t need to be able to see his face to know that it had a hopeful, mischievous expression on it right now. She took a deep breath, trying to figure out what the right thing to do here was. She knew that what Weston was suggesting was risky, but she also knew he wouldn’t ask her to go if he didn’t think she was up to the task.

  She was still feeling badly about the way things between them had gone yesterday. She knew they had both just been standing up for the course of action that they each believed in, but she still didn’t like the strain that had filled the air between them since yesterday. Perhaps this secret mission was a good way for them to get back on the same page. They worked well together in the heat of battle, and this had the potential to be their greatest battle yet—a secret battle, intended to take down those horrid bats that Saul seemed so intent on using in his disgusting, evil war.

  Besides, Violet could not deny the way her heart beat faster whenever Weston was around. Even when she was angry with him, she couldn’t hold back the desire to be with him. It was almost as if they were magnets, drawn toward each other. There was some sort of weird connection between them, a pull that Violet could not escape. She craved the sound of his voice, the casual touch of his hand on her skin, and the sight of his handsome face crinkling up in a smile. If he was going to face danger, she wanted to go with him. Perhaps she was a fool to agree to run straight into enemy territory, but if Weston was going, she sure as hell was going with him. In her heart, she knew that they could do anything together.

  “Alright,” Violet said, before she could change her mind. “I’ll go.”

  Weston let out a whoop. “Yes!” he said. “I knew you wouldn’t let me down. I know we’ve had our differences over the last couple days, but you and I make a pretty kickass team.”

  “Yes, we do,” Violet said, a smile crossing her face at Weston’s excitement. “So when are we leaving?”

  “As soon as possible,” Weston said. “Let’s get dressed and then meet in the living room in ten minutes. We’ll go over our plan and then get moving. It’s already almost three in the morning, so we shouldn’t dilly dally. The middle of the night, with its darkness, gives us an advantage for sneaking in. I don’t want to wait too long and be caught in the light of day.”

  “Alright,” Violet said, already pushing back the covers and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. “I’ll get dressed and then come meet you for a powwow.”

  Her mind screamed at her that she was crazy, but she pushed the thought away. She was getting pretty good at doing that, considering all the crazy things she’d done lately. Love and war both required you to act in ways you normally didn’t, and if Violet wasn’t caught up in the middle of a battle these days, she was caught up in a confusing mess of emotions regarding Weston. There wasn’t a whole lot of space in her mind left over for rational thought.

  Perhaps that’s why, when Weston leaned in to kiss her again before heading out of her bedroom, she didn’t pull away. This time, in fact, she might have actually kissed him back.

  Her lips tingled and her heart sang as she rushed to put on her military uniform. One way or another, she had a feeling that this was going to be a night to remember.

  Chapter Seven

  Weston couldn’t remember the last time that he’d been this excited about a mission. Despite the danger he knew lay ahead of them, a smile curled up his lips as he crept through the dark tunnel. Occasionally, he glanced behind him to make sure that Violet was still alright. Every time he looked at her, she gave him a smile and a thumbs up signal. She seemed to be enjoying this almost as much as he was.

  Weston was glad that Violet had agreed to work with him on this mission. He had hated the way he felt all mixed up inside when they argued. It had surprised him how much her unhappiness affected him. He wasn’t used to caring so much about what anyone else thought, but Violet was special. She meant something to him. Something big.

  He had said he loved her in such a fit of urgent passion, thinking he might be dead soon. But now that death was no longer imminent, he’d realized that his feelings were still the same. He loved Violet. He didn’t care anymore if everyone teased him about being a softy. He didn’t think there was anything soft about loving a woman and wanting to protect her, anyway. Heck, if anything in life was worth fighting for, it was the love of a woman.

  These thoughts all rolled through Weston’s head as he crept forward through the tunnel. In some ways, it didn’t make sense to bring Violet along on this mission when he wanted nothi
ng more than to keep her safe. This mission was going to be a dangerous one, after all. He couldn’t guarantee that either or both of them would make it out alive. But everything was dangerous these days. One never knew when or where Saul’s next attack would be. At least if Weston was with Violet, he could see if she was in danger and protect her.

  They walked a few more minutes in darkness, until Weston felt Violet reach forward and touch his arm. He nodded and stopped, waiting for her to put a flying spell on her broomstick.

  Weston hadn’t wanted to fly at the very beginning of the tunnel. He’d wanted to walk for about half an hour, to make sure that there were no guards or surveillance cameras in here. He’d been carefully smelling the air, using his sharp dragon shifter nose to search for the smell of any enemy soldiers, or any masking scents. So far, he’d smelled nothing. His keen dragon eyes had roved back and forth across the walls and roof of the tunnel, looking for hidden cameras that might indicate the area was being watched. Again, nothing. It appeared that Saul was still unaware of the existence of this tunnel. If the evil dragon wizard had known it was there, he would have at least had guards or surveillance at the Blackstone entrance. But since Saul was unaware, the secret passageway between the outskirts of Blackstone and the far outskirts of Sandview would give Weston and Violet a way to sneak right up to Saul’s headquarters unseen. Violet would still use an invisibility spell of course, but that wasn’t a guarantee of anything these days. The dark magic that the wizards were using easily saw through many invisibility spells, but Violet still wanted to attempt to use one. At the very least, it might cause a delay in the ability of the enemy wizards to notice them. And, hopefully, the masking scent Weston was using would keep the enemy shifters from smelling them. Between the tunnel, the invisibility shield, and the masking scent, they might just pull this off.

  Weston watched as Violet tested her broomstick. It was hovering a few feet above the ground now, buzzing with the energy of the flying spell she’d cast. Weston let his eyes run up and down her body appreciatively as she worked. She was wearing a slim-fitting, dark black military uniform. The Falcon Cross military insignia was embroidered over the left side of her chest in gold thread, and whenever the light from her magic ring hit the thread it glittered brilliantly. Weston loved how the sparkling uniform accented her curves and made her look almost like royalty. For a brief moment, he let himself think about how much he’d like to tear the uniform off of her, exposing the soft, smooth skin underneath. But only for a moment. If he thought for too long about taking Violet’s clothes off, he was going to have a hard time concentrating on the mission at hand.

  “We’re good to go,” Violet said, nodding at her buzzing, hovering broomstick. “You ready?”

  Weston nodded. “I’m ready. I’m confident that the tunnel at least is safe. If the Blackstone entrance isn’t guarded, the rest of the tunnel will be unguarded, too. That means we should be able to fly all the way to Sandview without worrying about running into enemy soldiers.”

  Violet shrugged mildly. “I hope you’re right,” she said. She didn’t sound as confident as Weston, but she didn’t sound concerned, either. Weston realized in that moment that she had put her trust in him completely for this mission. She was along for the ride with him, wherever that ride happened to take them. Weston felt his chest puff up with pride and happiness at the thought. It felt good to have Violet trust him, especially when he’d admittedly been the one in the wrong yesterday.

  “Let’s do this,” Weston said. Violet smiled, and nodded.

  “Hop on, Cowboy,” she said. “I’m gonna take you for the ride of your life.”

  Violet swung her leg over the front of the broomstick, holding on tightly to its thick handle. Weston eyed the handle suspiciously, not sure how it was going to be able to support both of them while they flew. But he climbed on behind Violet without protest, trusting that she knew what she was doing, and knew the capabilities of the broomstick.

  To his surprise, as he mounted the broomstick, he felt like he was sitting on a plush bicycle seat instead of merely a circular wooden rod.

  “This isn’t such a bad seat,” he remarked as he wrapped his arms around Violet’s stomach to hold on.

  “It’s the flying spell,” she said. “When you cast it on the broomstick, it gives the broomstick more seating surface. You can’t see it with your naked eye, but it’s there.”

  Weston shook his head slightly in amazement. The things that wizards could do never ceased to amaze him. He’d thought that being a dragon gave him some special abilities—and it did, of course. But magic was another category entirely.

  “Ready?” Violet asked, kicking up her heels. Weston kicked his heels up, too, and was surprised to find invisible stirrups beneath his feet. He should have known there would be magic footrests, too, he thought wryly.

  “I’m ready,” he said.

  “Hold on tight,” Violet said, even though he already was. He definitely wasn’t complaining about having an excuse to wrap his arms around Violet’s waist from behind. It was a strange role reversal to fly behind her instead of having her ride on his back while he flew in dragon form, and he was enjoying the change. His dragon was too large to fly through this tunnel, so Violet had suggested the broomstick. They’d had to do something to speed up their pace. Walking would take far too long, since the tunnel was about twenty miles long.

  “Let’s see what you got,” Weston said, a challenge in his voice.

  Violet accepted the challenge.

  With another kick of her heels, the broomstick was suddenly in motion. Weston felt the wind whipping at his face almost instantly, and the walls of the tunnel became a blur. Violet had never been in this tunnel before, as far as Weston knew, but that didn’t seem to slow her down. Despite the fact that the twists and turns were unfamiliar, she navigated them with ease. Weston felt slightly dizzy, and wholly impressed. This girl knew how to fly.

  For the next several minutes, all Weston could do was hold on tightly as Violet flew. At first, he tried to lean left or right with her, to help move the broomstick in the direction it needed to go. But he gave that up after the first minute. He’d never been in this tunnel either, and, unlike Violet, he couldn’t keep up with which way the path was going to curve to next.

  His eyes stung as the wind whipped harder against them, and his heart pounded as the tunnel’s wall frequently whizzed by only inches away from his face. Somehow, though, he knew they weren’t going to crash. Violet had this under control. He pressed his chest against her back, wishing he could spend his whole life this close to her.

  He lost track of time as they flew onward, and sooner than he expected he felt Violet starting to slow down. He knew this meant they were nearing the other side of the tunnel, where it opened into Sandview. Violet would want to go slowly to make her invisibility shield as effective as possible, and to make sure that they saw any trouble up ahead before it saw them. Weston sat up straighter, realizing for the first time how sweaty he had become. This surprised him, since the cave was relatively cool, but he supposed that the adrenaline pumping through his veins had caused his body to heat up a bit more than normal.

  Finally, Violet came to a complete stop.

  “Lucis terminantur,” she said softly, and the light beam emanating from her magic ring went out. The sudden darkness sent a shiver down Weston’s spine, even though he was sweating. Anything could be hiding up ahead of them, but he was going to have to trust his belief that Saul didn’t know about the tunnel yet. He hoped he wasn’t wrong.

  As Weston’s eyes began to adjust to the darkness, he could barely make out the outline of Violet leaning her broomstick up against the wall. He realized that, although the darkness was thick, it wasn’t complete. Their exit to the tunnel must not be too far ahead. How Violet had known this was beyond his comprehension. Now that they were stopped, he could smell just the hint of fresh air, but when they had been moving it had been too difficult to smell something so faint. Weston figur
ed it must be another one of Violet’s magic spells. It still amazed Weston how useful the wizards could be in a pinch.

  “We’ll be coming out to the opening soon,” Violet said. “Are we still sticking with the original plan?”

  Weston nodded. “Nice flying,” he said, and squeezed Violet’s arm as he passed her. It was hard to tell in the darkness, but he thought he saw her mouth turning up in a smile at his words. She didn’t say anything, though. Neither one of them spoke as they moved forward, with Weston in the lead now. The less noise they made, the better. Even though the tunnel’s entrance wasn’t exactly in the heart of Saul’s headquarters, it was close enough that there was always a risk that an enemy patrol might be close enough to hear or smell them.

  Their plan was somewhat haphazard and foolhardy, but Weston thought it was just crazy enough to work. Thanks to Nick’s surveillance, they knew exactly where the bat cloning cave was located. Their plan was to walk right up to it, go inside, and run straight toward the back, where the master bat was likely to be. When they found the master bat, they would destroy it, either with dragon fire or with a magic attack from Violet’s ring. Perhaps both—Weston wasn’t sure which one would be more effective against the bat.

  At some point, the bats, wizards, and other shifters in Saul’s headquarters were going to figure out that intruders had entered the camp. When that happened, all hell would break loose and Weston and Violet would be fully occupied with fighting off attackers. Weston’s hope was that Saul’s guards were weary after the big battle yesterday, and that the number of wizards and shifters available for guard duty was low. The further along in their mission they could get before being noticed, the better chance Weston and Violet stood of actually destroying the master bat and making it out of there alive. Weston thought their odds were good, or he wouldn’t have come on this mission in the first place, let alone dragged Violet along. But one could never predict what would happen, and he and Violet had agreed to go forward with the mission no matter what. They were going to destroy that master bat or die trying. As soon as the master bat was destroyed, Weston and Violet would retreat. Not through the tunnel, though, unless that was literally their only possible escape route. If they could manage to keep Saul from learning of the tunnel’s existence tonight, so much the better.