by Milly Taiden
“Right,” Frost said, “but what can make large amounts of land thaw at one time?”
Ice felt blood drain from his face. “Fire. Burning the field.”
“And where is there a ground burning?” Frost asked.
“Fuck me.” Ice pictured in his head the thousands of acres burned around the oil rig just outside of town.
Somewhat hidden behind the landscaped signage reading “Welcome to Antler,” Frost and Ice slipped their clothes on.
“Maybe we should get a second vehicle,” Frost said. “If Raven stays with us, we’ll probably need another.”
“What do you mean if,” Ice grunted. “There is no if in my dictionary. She’s staying. Done deal. Without her, I have no reason not to sleep. She is everything to me.”
Frost was afraid of that. They had to find a way for their mate to fall in love with them both. He was positive she liked the sex. What female wouldn’t want to come several times in one night? With two men, she practically never stopped climaxing until she passed out from exhaustion.
But love...they hadn’t been together long enough for that. He thought anyway. He wasn’t sure how human women worked. Not like she could sense the link between them and know they were meant to be. He needed to talk to someone who’d know. He should call Gerri. She might be able to help him.
“Ready?” Ice asked.
“Yeah.”
Ice smirked. “You thinking hard or just constipated?”
Frost would’ve smacked his friend upside his stupid head if he hadn’t been too far away. “Shut up. I’m thinking about how to get our mate to stay. If she has to deal with you, you can kiss any chance of that goodbye.”
Ice’s face scrunched in a scowl. “She’s our mate. She won’t want to go.”
“She’s human. How can you be sure?” Frost knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Ice grunted but said nothing. They would have to wine and dine her. He’d heard flowers were good. And chocolate. Oh, better yet, chocolate donuts for their mate.
Not far from the diner, he saw their SUV in the parking lot. Good, she was still there. He slapped Ice on the chest. “See? Told you there was nothing to worry about. She’s probably eating pancakes.”
Ice, as usual, grunted when he had nothing to say.
Down the street, they heard a helicopter and saw one take off above the trees. It looked to be the same chopper that landed at the drilling well yesterday when they were on the iceberg. He wondered if the man in the suit owned it, that being a Mr. Riggs. Raven and Ice told him about their useless meeting with the oil tycoon. He wondered if the owner knew of the connection between the burning permafrost and release of mercury into the ground, air, and bay.
The guys stepped into the warm diner and unzipped their coats. As they looked around, Marge said to sit wherever they wanted. The place was about half full. Frost eyed the men sitting together who all looked like death warmed over.
“Marge,” he called out.
“Yeah, sweets.”
He stopped close to the owner. “Do all those guys at that table work out at the rig by the bay?”
Marge looked around his wide body. “They do. Why?”
Frost smiled and shrugged. “Just curious. Seems a lot of folks from town work out there.”
“Over half the population.” She snorted. “Who else is here to employ anybody? As soon as they get started on the next well, they’ll need even more.”
“Next well?” Ice butted in. “How many do they plan to dig?”
“As many as they can, which won’t be enough, as far as any of us are concerned.” Marge turned and headed back into the kitchen.
Ice mumbled, “Wonder how much more land they plan to burn? This town has to be a ticking bomb ready to explode with poison.”
“Agreed,” Frost said, scanning for Raven. “I don’t see our mate.”
His friend’s head turned for one side to the other. A deep growl vibrated Ice’s chest. “I smell her. She was here.”
Annie came out the swinging kitchen door, arm lifted with tray of food balanced on her hand.
“Hey, Annie,” Frost said, “this morning, did you see the lady who was with us last night? Raven?”
She stopped in her tracks. “Yeah, I heard her telling Marge about protecting everyone in town. That she would spend all her money to make sure of something. It was sorta strange. Ask Marge.” Annie tilted her head to the side, gesturing to the older woman now refilling coffee for the sick looking men.
In a heartbeat, Ice was at the table where Marge stood. “What did Raven tell you this morning?”
“Raven?” she said. “I haven’t seen her today.” She moved to another table, asking about their coffee. Frost smelled her lie, and from the men at the table, he scented...fear?
The rumble in Ice grew deeper and stronger. This was not good—the dragon was nearing the surface.
He’d try again. “Marge, we know she was here. Our SUV is in the parking lot.”
She kept her back to them, going toward the counter. Ice followed, fists clenched.
One of the men at the table stood and said, “Marge, tell them.” Frost was overpowered by the smell of fear, anger, and anxiety. “I heard what the girl said to you. We all did. She’s right. Something is going on here. And it’s only getting worse.” Several of the men agreed out loud, but not all of them.
She set the coffee pot on the counter and held her head down. With a sigh, she looked up with teary eyes.
“You got a right nice lady there, boys,” she said. “She cares for others, even those she doesn’t know.”
Frost stepped toward her casually, not wanting to seem threatening. Ice was enough of that for both of them. “We agree, Marge. Raven is a great woman with a big heart.”
Behind him, a chair scooted across the floor. Another one of the men stood, one that agreed with the first guy. “Your woman said the oil rig was the cause of something. I tell you, she’s right. Ever since they started burning the land, people have been getting sick.”
More supportive grumbling went around the room.
Frost turned to the customers. “Juliet, the geologist who is missing, discovered that the burning of the land releases deadly amounts of mercury that has seeped into the groundwater and bay, poisoning the fish and then you.”
Ice added, “And if you breathed in the air out there, you’ve been poisoned, too.”
“Are you saying Riggs lied to us?” Marge asked.
Ice and Frost whipped around to her. “Lied about what?” Ice said.
She sighed. “Riggs came into town, promising jobs and money to everyone to keep quiet.”
“He paid off the town?” Frost said, incredulous.
Ice added, “For what?”
“I’m not sure, exactly,” she answered. “He gave us all money. Families could barely afford to eat, houses were falling down. I don’t think anyone really asked too many questions. We never thought anything dangerous could come out of it. You think Riggs knew?”
Frost didn’t know how to answer. Could’ve gone either way. “He’s obviously hiding something. The burning and drilling need to stop regardless of anything else.”
Frost watched everyone’s reaction to his statement. Just about everyone was in agreeance.
Marge nodded. “You’re right. I told your girl to go to the sheriff’s office. Let him deal with her.”
Ice stepped forward. “Deal with her?” Frost put a hand on his arm, hopefully stalling his aggression.
Marge shuffled back, fear in her eyes and scent. “He was holding the blonde woman in jail until he decided what to do with her. I figured he’d put your lady with her.”
Annie burst through the kitchen door. “You sent her there on purpose? How could you, Aunt Margie? When you said you could finally pay me to help you, I thought you’d turned the restaurant around. But you haven’t, have you?”
“Annie,” Marge said, “you don’t understand—”
The waitress untied her apron. “Darn righ
t, I don’t.” She threw her smock on the counter. “And to think I was proud of you.”
Ice headed toward the front entrance, and he followed. They’d get their mate and her friend home and go from there.
19
Ice was going to rip off the sheriff’s fucking head. Then slowly gut the bastard. Gnaw off his legs while still alive—
Frost smacked his arm. “Chill out, man. I know what you’re thinking.”
“No, you don’t,” he replied.
“You’re thinking about ripping the sheriff’s head off, gutting him, and chewing on his limbs,” Frost said.
Ice stopped and looked at Frost. All he could do was grunt at him. So many times, his partner left him absolutely speechless. The guy was overly smart, read too much, and was his perfect match. Without Frost cooling his temper, he would’ve killed more people than he could’ve possibly hidden the bodies of. Nature created them to be together with their mate.
He continued up the sidewalk, nothing else on his mind except taking his little mate home and never letting her out of his sight again. Ever.
He barged inside the department’s front door and down the hall. He’d been there before and knew where the head honcho’s office was. But that wasn’t necessary as White Hawk was coming down the hall. When seeing Ice, the man paled and tried to run the other way.
Not happening. Using his dragon’s speed and strength, he had the cop by the throat and against the wall within a breath. He did his best to keep his animal under control, but he panted out freezing air. Lucky for the sheriff they breathed ice and not flames.
Frost stopped beside him and said, “Good morning, Sheriff. We’d like to have both women now. Hand them over and there will be no killing today.”
White Hawk scratched at the fingers squeezing his neck. Ice didn’t even feel it. He watched as the man opened his mouth and nothing came out.
Frost said, “I don’t know, Ice. What do you think? Should we kill him and take the women or let him speak?”
Ice knew what Frost was up to. They’d done this a million times in the field. If they caught a perp who refused to be of assistance, Ice would turn into the bad cop, leaving Frost as the civilized one. Worked well for him.
He just growled, getting his point across quite well and eased up on his hold. He didn’t want to play around too much. He wanted his mate now.
The sheriff scratched out, “They’re not here.” Wrong answer. Ice squeezed again, wanting to pop his head like a white zit.
Frost replied, “Not here? Where are they then?”
Ice waited until White Hawk’s face turn fire-engine red, then loosened his grip. “Riggs took them in helicopter.”
Normally, Ice would’ve scoffed at such an answer, but remembering the chopper leaving not too long ago, he believed it. Plus, there was no lie in the sheriff’s scent. Ice dropped the man and started toward the front door, ripping off his T-shirt in the process. He knew where Riggs’ ranch was and would be there momentarily.
Ice led the way to Riggs’ ranch with Frost on his tail. An hour had passed since the helicopter left. He hoped nothing had happened to the women yet. There would be hell to pay.
Hearing unusual noise for that height, Ice banked to the side to check out what it was. Topping a low mountain, he saw a man on a flat snowcap running to Riggs’ helicopter. The footprints led back to something left on the snow.
“Frost—” he started telepathically.
“On it.” His partner dove toward the snow to see what the black object was while he tracked the chopper lifting into the air. The helo wasn’t the typical kind with a wide windshield, so he couldn’t see into it to verify the women were inside. He had to assume they were. Though what Riggs was doing out here on a mountain was beyond him.
Within an hour’s time range, Riggs could’ve stopped at his ranch, dropped off the women, and flown out here—
Ice heard pops coming from the chopper and felt a sting on his leg. He narrowed his gaze at the hovering bird and noted the side door was open with a man pointing a machine gun at him. The son of a bitch was shooting him. Shooting at his dragon. What the fuck?
Ice dodged the bullets, wondering how crazy this motherfucking Riggs was. If Ice knew the women weren’t in there, he’d freeze the propellers and let gravity take over. The shooting stopped and Ice watched to see what they had planned next.
“Hey,” Frost said in his mind, “this thing on the snow smells of explosives.”
He thought that was stupid. What would Riggs accomplish setting off a charge on a mountain top? That would just cause an avalanche.
A cold streak washed through his blood. “Frost,” he said, “what’s at the bottom of the mountain?” There was silence while his friend dove to check it out. Holy mother of Zeus. He hoped he was wrong about the bad feeling he had.
“It’s Raven down there!” Frost shouted in his head. “Take the helo down before they activate the bomb.” Frost did a U-turn in midair and launched himself toward the helicopter the same time the shooter rested a rocket-propelled grenade gun on his shoulder pointed at Ice. That would do some damage.
Ice prepared to outmaneuver the rocket when the gun’s aim suddenly dropped and fired. Ice realized what—rather, who—the target had become. Frost. And his partner didn’t know the chopper was armed. Before he could warn Frost, an explosion knocked the other dragon in the back, and a second blast set the snow on the slope racing toward the bottom.
20
Raven lay on the rocky ground at the base of a mountain, her arms bound behind her back and her ankles tied. Juliet was beside her in the same condition.
She couldn’t believe the sheriff was in cahoots with Riggs over this mercury conspiracy. As soon as Riggs walked into the sheriff’s office, they had her up and out the back door, into the helicopter. To her surprise, Juliet was inside. Raven was so relieved to see her friend, her eyes watered with happy tears.
Those drops didn’t last long as she quickly realized they both were in danger. A gunman sat behind them and made a point to show his weapon—a machine gun mounted close to the door. She imagined that if the door were opened, he’d be able to shoot at people on the ground or in the air. And, of course, he held out his handgun aimed at them.
After a few minutes of flight time, they landed at a ranch way too fancy to be a real working ranch. She figured it belonged to Riggs who was too much of a prick to do any hard labor. He was after the image a large ranch gave. Asshole.
The women stayed inside while another man and weapons loaded in, then they lifted off. When the guy started tying Juliet’s hands, both women jumped into fight mode, but were quickly subdued, Juliet being knocked unconscious. Raven remained calm so she could be ready when the opportunity for them to escape arrived.
After they landed at the base of a mountain, the men dragged them out and dropped them on the ground. When they took off, Raven wondered why she and Juliet were simply tied and left there. Were the wild animals supposed to eat them?
As she struggled with the ties, she watched the helicopter fly to the top of the mountain and land again. At that distance, she couldn’t see what was happening. Didn’t matter. They were too far away to do any harm.
Raven continued to struggle against the rope then saw the most magnificent scene she’d witnessed in her life. Over the top of the hill’s crown, two dragons sparkled in the late morning sun. They dazzled the eye. Her heart raced with adrenaline and emotion.
Frost, the white dragon, dove toward them and she screamed as loud as she could to get his attention. She wasn’t sure he heard her, but he arched and banked to the side and shot into the air toward the men and Ice who was close to the helo almost directly above their heads.
Finally, her hands pulled free of the binds and she went to work on her feet and Juliet’s, keeping an eye on the sky overhead.
From the side of the flying army-like vehicle, a line of white smoke shot out, headed for Frost’s back. He couldn’t see it. Then two explosio
ns rocked her. One was against her dragon’s back, sending him into a spiral, and the second on the mountain that started an avalanche.
Both sights were so horrific, Raven didn’t know which to stare at. She chose her dragon man, plummeting toward them. She was sure he was going to crash on top of her and Juliet, his massive body covering a lot of ground. But his head and neck bent to the side and his body followed. His wings opened a bit and he angled, gliding the last several feet into a sliding stop instead of slamming head first.
Raven dragged Juliet’s body closer to the dragon. She glanced up to see Ice and his blue dragon blowing icy air at the chopper’s blades, freezing them. Then she tucked into Frost lying beside her while hundreds of tons of speeding snow beyond his body reached only yards away. They would be buried so deeply, she doubted anyone would ever find them.
Suddenly, Frost rolled his head toward the snow and exhaled, creating a thick wall of ice on the ground, reaching ten feet high. The snow slammed into the barrier but spilled around the sides, completely missing them. Then his head fell to the ground.
Before the avalanche could pour over the top, Ice’s dragon landed next to them and breathed out, adding a curved roof to the wall that extended over them and to the ground on the other side.
With no warning, the ground shook and a loud explosion startled her. That had to be the helicopter crashing. It felt very close.
Pulling out her phone and activating the flashlight function, Raven marveled at the ice igloo they were in. Her dragons were amazing. She also noted there was no service out here.
Arms wrapped her, and she turned in Ice’s naked embrace. He felt so good not only because of his buff body, but because she was still alive. He planted kisses over her face and neck. She felt him shaking and knew it wasn’t the cold affecting him. It was the fact he almost lost her. She could’ve lost them just as easily. Frost!
She tore from Ice’s embrace and scurried over rocks and uneven ground to get to the downed dragon. She placed her hands on his neck, feeling for a pulse or muscle twitch, anything to tell her he was alive.
