Dragon Aflame

by Leela Ash

Love.

  It thrilled her to think that she truly was tied to this Dragon. That he might put his life in danger to save her. That she meant more to him than life itself.

  Her captors still pondered their conundrum. “The Dragon had a boy,” the Rat suggested. “Perhaps he needed to remove the child to safety first?”

  That stopped Alester in his tracks. “Good point. Family would be as dear as Mate to a Dragon.”

  Something Tess couldn’t deny.

  “Right. You need to move fast, Dorrissey. I’m shocked you’re not dead yet.”

  Tess wasn’t a bloodthirsty person, but damn that sounded good to her! Her spirits soared to think that rescue was at hand.

  Alester’s next order, however, brought her mood crashing to the ground. “Fortunately, the information we need is in those rocks, not the Dragon’s Mate. Dorrissey, send the stones and the man to me. Kill the woman.”

  “What?” Tess yelped. “Hang on a sec. You know I’m his Mate. If you kill me, he’ll spend the rest of his life making you pay.”

  “He’ll have to find me first. And trust me.” The aristocrat gave a cold, tight smile. “We Worms are hard to locate when we put our minds to hiding.”

  Dorrissey bowed and said, “Arnage. Do it.”

  The Bear drew his hunting knife… then hesitated. “Why are we…?”

  “Do you want to face an angry Dragon?” the Rat hissed at her reluctant henchman. “No? Well, he knows where his Mate is, at all times. Get rid of her before she leads him to us.”

  Time. Tess eyed the wincing Bear. She needed more. Should she run? Fight?

  Or trust in decency when she saw it?

  “Arnage.” Hands low, unthreatening, Tess turned to face the Shifter. “You don’t have to do this. You know it’s wrong.”

  “Yeah, but…” His nervous eyes flickered to his outraged superiors. “I’m sorry. I don’t have a choice.”

  “You do. There’s always a choice!”

  He shook his head slowly. “You don’t understand what they’ll do.”

  “We’ll protect you. My Dragon and I.” Tess stepped within arm’s reach, close enough that the Bear could snap her neck if he wanted. Because she knew, deep inside, that he didn’t. “You’re not a bad man. I can tell just by looking at you.”

  “No.” Bone-deep sorrow clouded his voice. “I am. I failed them, my Family. I… I deserve the Fangs.”

  She’d only been stalling, trying to buy time to save her own life. Suddenly, Tess found that she cared, passionately, about this. She wasn’t the only one with a terrible past.

  “What you deserve is a second change.” Conviction, pure and absolute, echoed in her words. “My Dragon taught me that. Everyone can change. The past doesn’t…”

  Movement, behind Arnage.

  Tired of waiting for obedience, Dorrissey drew a gun and pointed it at her.

  For one second, Tess froze. Saving Arnage had so consumed her that she’d lost track of the Rat. And that one single second let Dorrissey squeeze off three shots.

  But even if she had forgotten the treacherous spy, Arnage hadn’t. Woken by her compassion, his true Bear nature stirred. Without thinking, he stepped in front of Tess to shield her.

  Three bullets slammed into the big man, rocking him back on his heels. Tess wailed, expecting him to crumble to the ground.

  Instead, a bestial roar split the air. Arnage shimmered, grew, and suddenly an enraged Kodiak bear loomed over Tess. Dorrissey screamed in horror as her former servant turned toward her.

  Chaos broke out around them. From the computer screen, Alester shrieked impotent orders. Gun shots and howls of fury filled the air as Rat and Bear tore the room apart. Faintly, Tess thought she heard gunfire from outside the building. But she didn’t have time to worry about that. She needed to grab her stones.

  She darted toward the desk, steering clear of the berserk Bear. Arnage wouldn’t deliberately hurt her, she was sure. But in his blind rage, he could kill her before he knew what he was doing. Fortunately, Dorrissey sprinted for the door and the two of them plowed through into the bar’s main room. A woman’s scream rang out. Tess winced as she snatched up the box that held her soul stones.

  Scratch one Rat…

  Not something she wanted to see, but that door was the only way out. Clutching her box, Tess turned…

  And found Dick standing behind her, holding the knife Arnage had dropped.

  “Lord Alester,” he purred, “allow me to prove my loyalty to you.”

  Time slowed as the blade slashed toward her neck. This attack didn’t catch her by surprise, however; some part of her soul had always expected treachery from the Adanai. Tess snapped the box into the air, blocking Dick’s attack, then shoved forward, plowing into him. The slender man staggered backward.

  “You jackass,” she hissed as she tossed the ruined box aside. “You always were a snake.”

  Dick glared and raised his blade. Tess circled away from him, summoning what memories of combat she could. Hand versus knife was bad, but she could do this… couldn’t she?

  A roar froze both Adanai, one so loud that it dwarfed Arnage’s howl. The ground shuddered as something enormous slammed into it. Screams and shouts filled the air, and the sound of a building shattering.

  Tess’ mind struggled to make sense of this new assault. Had a plane crashed? A bus?

  Then great scaled claws tore through the wall, and she knew what it was.

  Not what. Who.

  A Dragon.

  Her Dragon. Her Mate. Come to wreak vengeance on the people who had hurt her.

  One blow shredded the wall, sending boards flying through the air. A Dragon’s enormous golden head thrust through the gap and, with a flick, flipped the roof aside. Tess gaped, stunned speechless by the sight. She had never dreamed of such power, such strength, such fury.

  This was her Guardian. Her Protector.

  Heaven help anyone who raised a hand against her.

  Today, however, Heaven did not choose to shield those wrongdoers. Dick’s blade fell from his numb fingers. With a shrill wail of terror, he fled.

  Darian’s paw lashed out. And with one blow, he ended the man who had betrayed her.

  Chapter 16

  “I still think I should have done something about that Bear,” Darian growled.

  Tess smiled at his protective urge. She felt dizzy, almost drunk with joy because after dispatching the Fangs, they’d flown back to her shack in the woods.

  Flown. On Dragon wings.

  The memory of that held her in a delirious cocoon. Air, whipping through her hair as shreds of cloud tore past. His control, his mastery, as he banked and soared. The intoxicating joy of entrusting herself to him, completely.

  Once home, they collected the few belongings they’d left behind. Tess had dragged her battered lawn chair out for one last time.

  Now she relaxed, watching as Darian paced the last of his adrenaline away.

  “Arnage is okay. He saved my life, remember? Letting him go was the right thing to do.”

  “He joined the Fangs.”

  “He made mistakes,” Tess corrected. “Like we did.”

  “Very well. You may be right.” His grimace showed that he agreed. Yet he never stopped moving. Back and forth he strode, hands balled into fists. “We’ll give him a second chance.”

  Why didn’t he calm? They were safe now. She patted the chair beside her. “Come sit down.”

  “I can’t.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  That halted him. With a harsh bark of laughter, Darian turned to face her. “What’s wrong? You left me, Tess. You Claimed me. You promised to be my Mate. Then you dropped a note on my pillow and walked out of my life. Now I don’t know if you’re back for good or if you’re going to leave again.”

  This was it, then. Tess drew a shaky breath and said, “You’re right. I owe you an apology. Sneaking out was a cowardly, shitty thing to do. I knew I couldn’t persuade you, though, and… and I had to go.�
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  “Why?” The anguish in that one word broke her heart.

  He deserved the truth. Without it, he would blame himself. Honesty was the last present she could give him before she left for good. “Because when I recovered those memories, I learned something about myself. Something bad.”

  “So? We both knew you’d made mistakes. You wouldn’t have dumped those memories if they were good.”

  “These aren’t just mistakes, my love. I’m…” She hesitated, unsure how to explain the depth of her evil. “I’m not a good person. My Kind? We’re foul. We’re the ones who closed the portals between the worlds. The Wellsprings died because of us.”

  “So?” Darian scowled, hands planted on his hips.

  How could he be so dense? Tess rose and scowled back at him. “So the Wellsprings died because of us. Dragons lost their power to find Mates because of us. Darian, my people fought Dragons and killed them.”

  “Did you do any of that?” he demanded.

  With a shiver, Tess glanced down at the box of rocks that lay on the grass. “I don’t know. That’s what terrifies me. What if I did?”

  The love and pain in his face was too much. She longed to comfort him, to find the words that would make him understand why they couldn’t be together. “Love,” she finally said turning to face the woods, “you deserve better than me.”

  “Really?” A rough hand, strong and warm, cupped her chin and tilted her face back toward him. Tess flinched, yet in her heart she knew this was right. She needed to say this to his face. To look him in the eye as she left, rather than sneaking off in the night like a thief.

  “Yes, really. For all I know, I could be a Dragon-slayer myself.”

  The sad echo of a smile crossed his lips. “I happen to know that I am a traitor to Dragonkind. A Dragon-slayer might be just the Mate I deserve.”

  “You’re not a traitor!” Her fingers rose of their own accord to stroke his cheek. Tess felt a flash of annoyance with herself. Loving caresses? Seriously? Oh, sure, that was going to make leaving easier.

  His smile warmed at her touch. Rather than falling to her side, her treacherous hand drifted down to his shoulder and remained there. “Yes, I am a traitor. I had my reasons, but the fact remains that I abandoned my Flight. I accept that. I acknowledge it. And I am going to return to them and make amends.”

  Her heart swelled with pride at his conviction, his unflinching honesty. Finally, at long last, he’d remembered himself.

  He was a Dragon once more.

  Somehow, as he talked, her left hand had stolen up to his shoulder too. His arms slid down around her, pulling her closer. Now they stood inches apart.

  Dammit, this was not the way you said goodbye! In another minute, they’d be hugging!

  “Darian…”

  “Tess, listen to me.” Now the space between them did disappear. He held her in his arms, the warmth of his body rousing a longing, an aching need within her. “My Dragon knew damn well what you were when I Claimed you. If you’re so ‘evil’, why would it call you my soul-mate?”

  Words failed her. It was a simple fact, but one she had forgotten.

  He kissed her forehead, lips brushing across her skin. “I love you.”

  Three words. That was all it took to destroy her arguments and defenses. Her eyes burned, then hot tears began to spill down her cheeks.

  “I love you,” he said again. “You are my Mate, my better half. Yes, you made mistakes. We both have. But the past doesn’t rule us. We can be different. We can change.”

  “Do you believe that?” she whispered.

  He kissed her on the cheek, drying her tears with his love. “I do. Together, we can choose to be better. Will you do that? Be my strength, the compass for my life?”

  Oh, she wanted that. Longed for it, with a yearning that made her shiver. But… “Do you really believe I can change?”

  He didn’t answer. Instead, he asked, “Do you believe I can?”

  “Oh, yes! Of course! Hell, you’ve already changed so much, and…”

  “And so have you.”

  She couldn’t see that. But the love in his eyes said he wasn’t as blind. Tess swallowed, wanting desperately to believe him.

  “Don’t you see? This is why we need each other. This is why we’re Mates. Because each of us sees the good in the other. I hold hope for you, and you for me. Apart, we’re flawed. Together…”

  “Together…”

  Silently, they rested in each other’s arms, letting old wounds slowly melt away. Taking the first step on a path that would, she knew, probably take years.

  But they would walk that path.

  Together.

  Chapter 17

  Two weeks later, sitting on a porch and sipping lemonade, Tess decided that this little slice of Upstate New York might be Heaven.

  Ethan tore across the lawn laughing, in the midst of an animated game of tag football. The teen who chased him (Danny? Was that his name) was letting him win with gentle tolerance. But the little boy didn’t notice, too dazed with delight at finally having a playmate.

  “Dad!” he yelled. “Come help me!” Proving that even after months of solitude, dads were still always welcome in any game.

  “In a minute,” Darian called. He sat beside her, one arm slung across the swing’s back.

  A small family farm, neat and homey, surrounded them. Somewhere in the woods beyond it lay the mythical Wellspring. Neither Tess nor Darian had visited it yet. There were still a lot of fences to be mended with his Flight.

  And yet, they had received a warm welcome from Brandon Lorde, Darian’s Alpha, and his wife Hannah. Oh, sure, a certain coolness lay between her Mate and his First. You’d have to be blind to miss that. But Hannah had made them feel at home from the moment they’d arrived. Even Brandon was gracious, if somewhat reserved.

  Looking out over the gentle land, Tess felt its peace softening her heart. She could live here. These were good people, people she’d love to aid and protect.

  There were just a few details that needed to be worked out before that.

  The front door opened. Brandon Lorde stepped out, brushing at the sleeve of his shirt. A deep, discontented frown darkened his face. At the sight of it, Darian tensed beside her.

  Tess gulped. What was wrong? Surely, the Flight hadn’t decided to send them away after all?

  Still glowering, Lorde stomped over to them. “I fail to see why I need to change dirty diapers,” he grumbled.

  From somewhere inside, Hannah sang out, “Because you’re her father, that’s why!”

  Tess and Darian both burst out laughing. “I’m afraid it is part of fatherhood,” her Mate confessed.

  “Mmm.” The Alpha’s noncommittal grunt suggested he wasn’t ceding that point.

  Lorde leaned against the railing. Tess expected some pleasantries or small talk, but the Alpha wasn’t a diplomatic man. Instead, he turned immediately to the Flight’s last remaining problem.

  Her.

  “We have a decision to make. You,” he nodded at Tess, “have information that may threaten my Flight and the Wellspring.”

  “Yup.” No sense trying to sugar coat it. “Those weird rocks I brought? They contain many of my memories. The Fangs of Apophis seemed to believe that I know how to make Dragon-killing weapons and close Wellsprings.”

  “Or open them,” Darian added. Trust her Mate to always see the positive in her.

  Lorde ignored him. “And I also understand that you, Miss Everlyn, believe these stones should be destroyed to protect us.”

  “I do.”

  “You’re willing to make this sacrifice?”

  “I am.”

  “You.” Now his piercing gaze turned on Darian. “You believe that destroying Tess’ memories is wrong. Why?”

  “They’re not just memories. They’re part of her soul.” Love, fierce and protective, warmed his words.

  “They’re dangerous,” she countered.

  “They’re you!”

&
nbsp; Lorde cleared his throat and interrupted. “Those two things are not mutually exclusive. Explain – simply, if you will – why this knowledge should not be destroyed.”

  Darian rose to his feet, meeting his Alpha’s gaze with a firm, unwavering stare of his own. Tess thrilled to see his strength. How far he’d come in just two short weeks!

  “I do not think they should be destroyed because I am a Dragon! This is my Mate’s soul we’re discussing. I won’t see any part of it destroyed.”

  “Babe.” Tess stood up and slipped her hand into his. “This is the bad part of me. I won’t miss it.”

  Probably…

  His grip tightened, almost painfully. “I love all of you, not just the ‘nice’ parts. I want all of you beside me. Good and ‘bad’.”

  “That’s sweet, but…”

  With a wave of his hand, Lorde signaled that the discussion was over. “Lady, your Dragon makes an excellent point. I will not ask you to destroy your memories.”

  Tess had to laugh at that, despite the gravity of the situation. “What do you mean, he ‘made an excellent point’? He didn’t make any argument. He just said, ‘I’m a Dragon.’”

  “That was sufficient.”

  Baffled, she stared at the calm Alpha. What the hell did he mean? “Sufficient for what? Look, I’m dangerous. To you guys and your Wellspring. Nothing he said changes that.”

  Lorde never smiled. He simply regarded her with supreme, sedate certainty. “He did not need to change anything. It was sufficient for him to remind me of a fundamental truth.”

  “Which is?”

  The Alpha’s chin rose, proudly. “That we Dragons are not ‘safe’ creatures. And we do not expect our Mates to be ‘safe’ either.”

  Tess blinked, puzzling over the unflinching confidence that lay behind that statement.

  Now Lorde did smile, as he held his hand out to her. “Welcome to the Wellspring, Miss Everlyn. I think you and your Dragon will fit in well.”

  THE END

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