Lincoln (Ember Quest Book 3)

by Arcadia Shield

  “I’m still whole.” He slumped into the seat next to the incubator.

  “It’s nothing serious?”

  He shook his head. “It’s nothing. A pulled muscle that’s taking its time healing.” He rested a hand on her shoulder. “You should get rest.”

  “I’m fine,” said Anastasia. “I’ve showered and eaten. I’m happiest here, with Skyler.” She saw Lincoln’s jaw clench. “You look like you could do with some rest, though.”

  “I’ve had all I need,” said Lincoln.

  “You could do with more. It might make you less grouchy.” What had made him change so quickly? Maybe he was hiding some ailment, something more serious than a pulled muscle. “Did Clarissa say anything more about how Skyler’s doing?”

  He gave a quick shake of his head.

  “If there was anything wrong, the tests she’s running would show it.”

  “Guess so,” muttered Lincoln, his fingers gently brushing Skyler’s arm.

  Anastasia’s brow lowered. “And you’re sure there’s nothing wrong with you?”

  “I told you, I’m fine.” He reached out a finger and Skyler gripped it.

  “Spend time here, then,” said Anastasia. “Being around this little cutie pie is enough to get rid of anyone’s bad mood.” Again, she saw his jaw clench.

  “I’ll have to go soon. But I can stay another five minutes.” Lincoln’s wrist comms beeped. He lifted it to his mouth. “Go ahead.”

  “Just got word of more captive dragon hybrids,” said Heath.

  “Where?”

  “The fight club had a new intake just after you got out with Damson and Caitlyn,” said Heath. “Jude picked up activity in that location and sent a drone to take a look. The truck is still there. We think they’re trying to figure out what to do with the dragon hybrids, now that the club isn’t operating.”

  “They’ll kill them.” Anastasia was already on her feet. “We need to collect them. Bring them back here.”

  “It’ll be risky,” said Lincoln. “The State have already got their attention pinned to that site after everything we’ve done.”

  “Even more reason we get the dragon hybrids out,” said Anastasia.

  “We need a quick extraction,” said Heath. “You and Anastasia up for it? You know the building layout if you need to go in. But from the heat signatures Jude’s detected, the dragon hybrids are still in the vehicle.”

  “I can go.” Lincoln looked at Anastasia. “You stay.”

  Sophia walked into the room. “Are you both still here? Skyler needs rest.”

  Anastasia looked from Lincoln to Skyler, torn between staying with the baby and helping the dragon hybrids.

  “Stay with Skyler,” said Lincoln. “It will be good for you to spend time together.”

  “She’s almost asleep.” Sophia checked the port screen, before resting a finger on the baby’s head. “She won’t miss you for an hour or two, if you need to go. And, frankly, you should go, you’re cluttering up the place.”

  “Anastasia needs to stay,” said Lincoln.

  “Why?” Her hands clenched.

  Lincoln’s gaze shot to Skyler. “Don’t you want to be here?”

  “I love being with Skyler,” said Anastasia. “But I don’t want to impede her recovery.”

  “Or get under my feet,” muttered Sophia.

  Anastasia nodded. “There’ll be plenty of time when I get back. And she needs to rest. If I’m hanging around her incubator, it will disturb her.”

  “You need to move,” said Heath, his voice tinged with impatience. “We only picked up on the truck ten minutes ago. They won’t stay long, once they’ve realized what’s happened.”

  “We can leave right away,” said Anastasia.

  Lincoln opened his mouth, his expression stern, but then snapped his jaw shut and gave a swift nod. “We will be back within the hour.”

  Anastasia studied Lincoln’s face. He was hiding something. He’d barely met her gaze since returning from his chat with Clarissa. Now he was trying to force her to stay behind.

  “Then move out, you two,” said Heath. “Let me know when you’re on your way. I’ll update you as to any movements of the dragon hybrids.”

  “Will do.” Lincoln lowered his wrist comms, concern clear on his face. “You sure about this?”

  “Of course,” said Anastasia. “Let’s get the hell on the road and help more dragon hybrids.” She gave Skyler a kiss on the cheek, inhaling a lungful of her gently fragranced head, before following Lincoln out of the medical bay.

  He didn’t speak on their way to the weapons room, nor as they got kitted up and grabbed their guns.

  “You sure there’s nothing wrong?” she asked him as they strode to the vehicle bay.

  He slowed and turned toward her. “There’s nothing wrong. Not with me.”

  “Good to know,” said Anastasia. “So there’s a problem between us?” Doubt shot through her, as she watched his eyes flicker around the vehicle bay as they entered. Was he having doubts about them being together? What they were building was fragile, with so much unspoken. Had coming back to base given him a sense of reality, shaking him awake as to what life would be like sharing the same bunker as her? Had he decided he didn’t want that? Her heart curled in on itself at the thought.

  “We can talk later.” Lincoln led her to the Cobra, and climbed into the driver’s seat.

  Anastasia hopped inside, shoving against her frustration. Now was not the time to argue with Lincoln. They’d made progress. She’d thought they were heading in a positive direction. This sudden aloofness was terrifying her.

  She sucked in a deep breath. She couldn’t focus on that now. They had a mission to deal with, and dragon hybrids to help. But she’d always been an all-or-nothing kind of woman and wouldn’t accept anything less from Lincoln.

  Chapter 18

  Lincoln ground his teeth together so hard his jaw ached. How much should he tell Anastasia about Skyler? There was still a chance she could recover and fight off this infection. But he recalled seeing the sadness in Clarissa’s eyes. What little hope he had drained away.

  Skyler would die. That would kill Anastasia, just when she was coming to life and revealing her true self to him and everyone else.

  Clenching his fingers around the steering wheel of the Cobra as they shot through the streets, he forced himself to focus. Everything would be okay. If the worst happened, and Skyler didn’t make it, he’d be there for Anastasia. He’d give her whatever she needed to get through this. He would not lose her just after he’d found her.

  Lincoln opened the vehicle’s comms link to the bunker. “Give us the situation in the club.”

  “It’s a single vehicle,” said Heath over the comms link. “Two soldiers and six dragon hybrids on board. The soldiers left the vehicle ten minutes ago and have been inside the club ever since.”

  “It won’t take them long to figure out what happened, if they haven’t already,” said Lincoln. “Their boss burnt to a crisp. No one to give the orders.”

  “You need to be quick,” said Heath. “Backup has already been requested.”

  “They’ll report up the chain,” said Anastasia. “We might find out who’s giving them their orders in the State.”

  “Good thinking,” said Heath. “We’re already listening to all comms channels, to see who they report to next.”

  “Would be good to know who’s running this trafficking ring,” said Lincoln. “We could find out what exactly they want with the pregnant dragon hybrids.”

  “Whatever it is, it won’t be anything good,” said Anastasia.

  “Hold on a second,” said Heath. “There are more vehicles arriving at the club.”

  Lincoln cursed under his breath, as he slowed the Cobra and waited for more information. He didn’t want to face a whole State militia troop. He wasn’t bothered about his own safety, but he damn sure wasn’t prepared to put Anastasia at risk. Even with her fire-breathing talent, she wasn’t indestructib
le.

  “You have a problem,” said Heath. “Two more vehicles have arrived with more troops.”

  “How many soldiers?”

  “A dozen.”

  “Shit,” muttered Lincoln, as he slowed the vehicle even more. He looked for a suitable place to turn around. “We’ll go back.”

  “No way,” said Anastasia. “We’re wasting time if we go back to the bunker. And we’re risking the lives of the dragon hybrids.”

  “We need more weapons and reinforcements,” said Lincoln.

  “We can take out those soldiers,” said Anastasia. “None of them are immune to fire.”

  “Anastasia has a point,” said Heath. “The longer we leave those dragon hybrids there, the greater the chance of them being exterminated.”

  “We aren’t going to let that happen,” said Anastasia. “Let’s keep going. At the very least, we can check out the situation. See what’s going on. Could be we can get the dragon hybrids out without the soldiers even noticing. They’ll be too busy investigating the site, and won’t see us slipping in.”

  “Your optimism is charming,” muttered Lincoln.

  “Glad you finally noticed.” She smiled at him. “Now let’s go kick militia butt.”

  “I’ll scramble Arlo to help,” said Heath. “He’s twenty minutes from your location, doing a supply run.”

  “Is he armed?” asked Lincoln, relieved at having backup in the lethal shape of his younger brother.

  “When is Arlo not armed?” said Heath. “I’m pretty sure he sleeps with his bombs.”

  “Well, he’s not sleeping with anyone else,” said Lincoln, knowing Arlo’s interest in explosives bordered on the obsessive.

  A chuckle shot down the comms line. “I’ve sent him a message. He’s on his way.”

  Lincoln sped up again. He glanced out the corner of his eye at Anastasia. She was focused on the road ahead, her fingers clenched around the door handle. He wanted to tell her everything about Skyler. Hell, he wanted to tell her everything about how he felt, what he wanted to do with her. How he wanted both her and Skyler as his future.

  Once the dragon hybrids were free and Skyler recovered, they would create their own strange little version of a family. His heart warmed at the thought of having Anastasia and Skyler as his own, immediate family. He had his brothers and he loved them, but what he felt for Anastasia was different. It was intense and passionate. They just needed to get through this. Everything would be fine.

  He slowed the Cobra as they neared the fight club, a plume of gray drifting from the rooftop, indicating that the fire Anastasia had started was still burning.

  Pulling the vehicle to the side of the road, he grabbed his gun. “We’re in position. What’s the location of the soldiers?”

  “Three outside by the vehicles,” said Heath. “The rest are inside. Hard to track their heat signatures because of the fire.”

  “We’ll take those outside. Then wait for Arlo before we go in,” said Lincoln.

  “I’m two minutes away,” came Arlo’s excited voice. “Ready to bomb the shit out of these morons.”

  “Always glad to have you and your bombs by my side,” said Lincoln.

  “So long as his aim is good,” muttered Anastasia.

  Lincoln grinned at her. “He has a unique way of doing things. And he’s not always the best at telling you when he’s about to blow something up. Stay alert when you’re around him. And when he says heads up or duck, do it, because you’re seconds away from an explosion. And his explosions are rarely discreet.”

  “Good to know.” Anastasia’s eyes narrowed as they both slid out the Cobra and peered around the side of the building toward the entrance to the club.

  A cold drizzle soaked into Lincoln’s clothes and his skin tingled. “We don’t want to be out in this for too long.”

  Anastasia grimaced and glanced at the slate-gray sky, full of heavy yellow clouds. “Acid rain.”

  “Just a gentle acid bath at the moment, but we never know when that will change.” He pulled up his collar and checked around the corner again. The three soldiers looking after the truck had their weapons by their sides. Two were leaning against the truck and the other was pacing slowly in front of the door of the club.

  “You take the one by the door,” whispered Lincoln. “I’ll shoot the other two.”

  “My fire has a wider reach,” said Anastasia. “Why don’t I take those two and you focus on the single guy?”

  “Do you always have to argue with me?”

  “Makes life more interesting.”

  He had to admit, it did. “Fine. You take the two guys.”

  They swapped places. He lined up his kill shot. Just as he released his pulse laser and hit the soldier, Anastasia’s fire shot out. The soldiers she’d targeted were slammed off their feet in a fiery mess.

  They ran toward the trucks, keeping a lookout for any soldiers emerging from the building.

  “I’ll take the front two trucks and you check this one,” said Lincoln.

  Anastasia nodded as he hurried away. The first truck was unlocked and empty, but the second one had two dragon hybrids inside.

  Gritting his teeth as he checked them, he knew he was too late. Their bodies were riddled with laser blasts and their eyes blank. They wouldn’t heal from those injuries. He closed his eyes for a second, the scent of burning flesh and blood making his mouth dry, before jumping out the truck. He spotted Anastasia beckoning him over.

  Lincoln ran to her side. “You found something?”

  “Pregnant dragon hybrids.”

  “Alive?”

  “Definitely. How about you?”

  A quick shake of his head. “Two bodies. Both female and were pregnant.”

  “The babies?”

  “They can’t have survived,” said Lincoln.

  Anastasia’s eyes glowed red. “They’ll pay for killing them.” She turned toward the club, her fists clenched.

  “Let’s get these dragon hybrids out and leave while we can,” said Lincoln, grabbing her arm.

  “They deserve to be punished.”

  “They’ll be punished enough when they lose these dragon hybrids,” said Lincoln, keeping a tight grip on her. “I get it. I know they’re hurting your kind. We get back at them by rescuing these captives, and giving them a safe place to live. But only if we leave now.”

  The ground rumbled under his feet. Lincoln raised his weapon, but lowered it as a familiar bike turned the corner and speed toward them. It was Arlo. He was packing a shitload of explosives across his chest.

  He slid the bike to a stop and pulled off his helmet, running a hand through his cropped hair. “Not too late to the party, I hope?”

  “You’re right on time,” said Lincoln. “The building is full of militia.”

  “Always a pleasure to serve.” Arlo climbed off the bike and nodded a greeting at Anastasia, before unstrapping a wrap of explosives from his chest and fiddling with the wires.

  “Any time now,” said Lincoln.

  “Never rush a genius in his work.”

  Anastasia snorted. “Let’s get the females out.” She hopped onto the back of the vehicle.

  Lincoln followed, and discovered four female dragon hybrids. Two had short, dark hair and the other two had such pale-blonde hair it looked translucent. All four were heavily pregnant. He flashed them all a smile. “How are you all doing?”

  “We want to get the crap out of here,” said one of the dark-haired dragon hybrids.

  “That’s what we’re here for,” said Lincoln.

  “Hold on. How can we trust you?” asked the dragon hybrid. “We got yanked from the place we knew by those animals and dragged here. Where are you going to take us that’s any better?”

  Anastasia stepped toward the woman and touched her hand to her chest. The dragon hybrid gave her a startled look before copying the gesture. “I’ve seen the horrors the State have imposed. I wouldn’t take you anywhere that wasn’t safe. You’ll be looked after a
nd taken care of. No one will harm you.”

  The two women closed their eyes at the same time and a growl slid from their lips.

  Lincoln had never failed to be amazed at the complexity of the dragon hybrids’ behavior. He sometimes forgot Anastasia was more than human. Her abilities were astonishing and so otherworldly, that they surprised the hell out of him at times. But then, she could also be so human, so female, and vulnerable. Like when she’d been sitting with Skyler. Just the thought of that sick baby back at the bunker had his heart pounding. He shouldn’t keep Skyler’s illness from Anastasia. She needed to know the truth, even if that truth wounded her.

  Anastasia turned and nodded at Lincoln.

  Between the two of them, they helped the dragon hybrids out the back of the truck. Their progress was slow. Lincoln forced himself to remain calm, knowing every second they stayed increased the risk of them being discovered. He knew not to rush a pregnant woman, though, especially not one who could singe your eyebrows off at twenty paces.

  He looked over his shoulder to where Arlo was securing bombs to the front of the building. He heard him humming under his breath as he worked. That guy loved his explosives. He’d never seen him so passionate about anything else. Not a hobby or another human. And definitely not a woman. He couldn’t remember the last time his brother had dated seriously. He was younger than Lincoln, so he had plenty of time to get settled and find the love of his life, but Lincoln worried he was too interested in destroying things to pay attention to anything else. Arlo lived and breathed destruction. He hoped his fascination with obliteration wouldn’t end up burning him.

  Lincoln had settled the two blonde dragon hybrids in the Cobra, and Anastasia was helping the others, when he heard voices coming from the building. He spun around and raced toward Arlo. “Are you ready?”

  Arlo skipped away from the building, a smile on his face. “Always ready for a bit of flash and burn.”

  A soldier appeared in the doorway, his eyes widening as he spotted Arlo and Lincoln. He opened his mouth, but Lincoln shot him with his pulse laser. The soldier slammed backwards into the corridor.