“Well, at least we discovered how to disable the machines,” Raea said, then timidly tried to explain. “I mean, at least temporarily. You see, apparently the machines shut off when you—”
“I am aware of what it takes,” Nic said before she glowed fuchsia from her embarrassment. “You discovered that passion overloads their systems and shuts them down.”
“It has to be in very close proximity, though,” Raea added hesitantly. “We found it out by accident.”
Nic snorted. “I’ll bet you did. Very well, I’m convinced you have told me everything you know and are not here to threaten the clutch.”
Raea squealed and gave off a puff of sparkles. “The dragons are incubating a clutch? After all of these years, more dragons are to be hatched?”
Damn, he should have more carefully governed his tongue. These two were not his enemies, but his enemy could use them against him. It would be child’s play to retrieve this knowledge from them should they fall under someone else’s control. Even now, here he was with his defenses down and this entrance lying open. The clutch could be in grave danger and he had just informed two strangers of its existence. He’d not incur further risk by being careless with his words.
“The Dragonrealm does share our plans,” he announced. “If you wish to prove yourself my friends, then you’ll leave and go directly back to your Fairyrealm, never mentioning my presence here. The storm is dying down now; you should be safe to travel. You suspect you know the manufacturer, correct? Focus your efforts there, and stop the supply, if you can.”
“This thing is so much larger than we bargained for,” Kyne argued. “And our own people are working against us. You must want to end this as much as we do. Why not assist us?”
“My duty is to my own kind,” Nic reminded them. “You tend to your people, and I will tend to mine.”
“Fair enough,” Kyne consented. “We’ll see what we can do, if anything. But be careful, Nicolai. We might be on our own in this, but it appears you are, too. Unless your woman there is going to support you.”
“She will never remember any of this,” Nic assured them. “I will keep her safe. You need not concern yourself with her.”
“I hope we can trust you about that,” Raea said. “Do you promise to take care of her?”
“She’ll be fine. Now go. I will keep your secrets if you will keep mine.”
Kyne grumbled. “That’s easy for us, since you haven’t exactly shared much.”
The female fairy gave Lianne a long, careful look to reassure herself that everything was as Nic said. They seemed like noble creatures, and he was relieved not to have been forced to blast them into oblivion.
The mysterious storm had lost much of its lethal force. Apparently whatever had been behind that threat had given up. Nic ushered the fairies out and peered into the night after them. Lightning flashed with a muted glow now and the thunder no longer shook the whole mountain. Wind still whipped at the rock face, but it was nothing like it had been. If the fairies had negotiated that, they would certainly be able to move around freely in this.
He watched them flutter off into the dark, then he turned back to Lianne. She slept soundly, propped up against the glazed wall of this passageway. Heat had formed this tunnel, heat from the dragons who had built it and made the place ready for the clutch. Their blasts had melted through the solid mountain, polishing the rough volcanic stone as they went. The rock walls were cold now, but not as cold as the outside of the mountain. Here, even at this distance from the core, the clutch gave off a slight warmth. Lianne would be fine. He hated to leave her, but he needed to go check on things below, and, for her own safety, he was not about to take her down there.
Other than the safeguards being down, there was no indication of intruders. He could sense no one lurking about, but he needed to make certain. This clutch was his utmost priority—nothing could deter him from that, not needy fairies and not even Lianne. His body ached from his battle with the storm, and his energy was rapidly being depleted by all of his efforts, but he drew in a deep breath and headed for the darkened passageway that led deep, deep into the mountain.
There was no need to heat up his scales or blow up a flame to light his way as he went. He knew it well. He may have presented himself as a human for many years now, but this was his home and he had forsaken it too long. He had no right to be comfortable anywhere else, or with anyone. Especially not a human.
Chapter Fourteen
Raea followed Kyne as he cut his way through gathering wind. The storm clouds were dark and furious over the horizon, overtaking the sky. Flashes of lightning ignited the air, and thunder growled low. Raea shuddered as the rumble rolled through her body. This was an alien place and she could not wait until they might leave it.
What sort of storm was this? She could have sworn those lightning strikes earlier had been specifically targeting the dragon. He’d barely gotten himself and the woman to safety. Would they encounter trouble out here? Even the dragon seemed concerned by it. Who could be controlling something so vast as the weather?
“Have you seen anything out here that might have been used to create this storm?”
“All we’ve found is that equipment in that shed and then several of those small sensor things. Wouldn’t any machinery powerful enough to control weather have to be much bigger than that?”
“I would think so,” Kyne replied. “I don’t know where you could hide something like that, especially if there’s been a dragon prowling around.”
“If there was equipment like that nearby, you’d think he would have found it,” Raea agreed. “Maybe we should go back to your father and show him what we did find.”
They’d resized some of the parts from that machinery in the shed and were carrying them tucked in their pouches. She hoped Baylor could answer some of their questions. Those machines were powerful, but nothing they’d encountered so far appeared capable of manipulating the weather. If this wasn’t just a natural storm, then they’d probably be smart to get as far away from here as possible. Soon.
Fluttering against the wind, she brushed her windblown hair out of her eyes and scanned the hulking silhouette of the mountain. It was as dark and deserted as before. No sign of anyone, magical or otherwise.
“I just don’t see anything,” Kyne said, calling to her over his shoulder. “Maybe we should do what the dragon said and head back.”
“Do you think he knows more about what the machines do than he told us?”
“Who knows? I’m getting used to being lied to.”
“I would never lie to you, Kyne. And I think maybe the dragon was telling us the truth. I got the idea that he even cared a little bit about that woman.”
“He sure put himself through hell to get her to safety. And he could have burnt us to a crisp, but he didn’t. Raea, watch out!”
She jolted as another burst of lightning flashed a bit too close for comfort. “He could have let us wait in his nice safe cave for a little while, though. This storm is getting worse again. I really don’t think this is just a random weather pattern we’re seeing.”
Kyne was tempted to agree, but he knew too much about weather to even begin to guess how anyone could control it. “Not even fairy magic could create a storm like this. Magic and nature work together; one never controls the other.”
Raea struggled against another gust. “Unless maybe someone figured out how. Baylor said the machines collect all the magic, but then they must do something with it, right?”
“They’re supposed to put the magic back into the Veil, but…Hey, what’s that out there?”
He pointed off toward the dark line of horizon, past the mountain and beyond the craggy cliffs overlooking the fjord. A narrow sliver of ocean could be seen, and as Raea hovered in place to peer into the night, she realized what he was indicating. A bright light blinked on the water.
“Is it a low airplane?” she asked.
“I think it’s a ship.”
“It�
��s coming into one of the fjords. In this weather, that could be dangerous, couldn’t it?”
“It could. Either that ship is drifting out of control, or it is intentionally approaching the rocks.”
“Do you think someone is coming after us?”
“Or after the dragon.”
He caught her gaze with his. She’d never seen him so dark and serious.
“The storm seemed to be targeting the dragon, too,” she commented.
“It did. You really don’t think it’s possible that…”
He didn’t finish his sentence, so she did it for him. “Whoever is controlling the weather might be out there on that ship?”
It was farfetched, but there wasn’t anyone else around right now. It looked like a pretty big ship…like a warship, maybe. And those lightning bolts had acted like weapons, targeting the dragon and his female companion. Maybe a ship was just the place for someone with a magical machine that could control the weather. They could create all sorts of havoc here, then simply sail off to their next target.
It was a horrible possibility and definitely ought to be checked out.
“We should go take a look,” she announced.
Kyne swore. “You’ve been in enough danger already.”
“Kyne, we have to.”
“I know. All right, we’ll go a little bit closer to see if this is just an average, ordinary ship about to crash on the rocks, or if it’s part of the plot.”
“Whatever the plot really is.”
“If it involves controlling the weather, it’s a plot everyone needs to know about, I’m afraid.”
“Then we should totally get as close to that ship as possible and look it over.”
He shook his head. “You know what being around one of those smaller machines does to us. Imagine being close to a whole ship full of machinery powerful enough to control weather.”
She realized what he was saying. It probably shouldn’t make her grin like she was. Yes, imagine, indeed!
“We need to go check out that ship, Kyne.”
Chapter Fifteen
Holy hell. She was alone in the dark…again. She wasn’t in their vehicle, though. This time she was sitting on a hard, glassy floor. It was slightly warm, and not quite flat. The floor actually curved upward behind her. Was she in a room? No, it seemed more like a tunnel.
She felt along the walls, getting her feet under her and standing. Yes, this was a tunnel, and some sort of breeze tossed her hair and brushed over her face. Hmm…that felt familiar.
Oh, that’s right. A breeze had come up, and it turned into a storm…a storm with horrible wind and lightning. She remembered now…she’d been on that damn mountain! So how did she get here? Unless maybe this was still the mountain.
She must have made it into that void, that dark cleft she had seen. Ah, that would make sense. She’d been trying to get to the opening in the rock face, to get out of the storm, when…
And now she was laughing at herself. A dragon. Yeah, dragons and UFOs. What kind of crazy hallucinations was she having? Man, but she must be so much worse off than she knew. Thankfully she’d somehow gotten herself into here and she must have passed out. How long had it been?
Her head still ached a little, but not like before. She could tell from the direction of the breeze where the opening of this cave was, so she felt her way toward it. The cave was incredibly smooth and level inside, but she figured that was probably because at one time it had been a lava tube. She’d never seen one like this, but she wasn’t really much of a geologist.
How had she gotten herself inside? That storm was so fierce…and those damned hallucinations. Well, at least her imaginary dragon was gone now and she could think straight again. She’d find her way out of this cave and back down from the mountain. Maybe Nic was out there somewhere, hunting for her. Or maybe not.
Either way, the guys back at the jobsite would realize something was wrong and come looking for them. She needed to get herself out into the open so that at first light, she could be found. Then they’d discover Nic’s fate. God, but she hoped he was okay.
The first glow of early morning moonlight crept into the cave. She could see the opening ahead, the sky still a spread of roiling clouds. The storm was not nearly as violent as it had been, though. Thank heavens things were calmer, and it was still before dawn. She’d not been unconscious too long. Perhaps Nic had simply found someplace on the mountain to wait out the storm. There was still hope for him.
She scooted to the edge of the opening and peered out. Steep! How had she managed to drag herself in here, half-insensible and fighting against that horrible storm? Good thing that she had, though. Already she could feel a huge difference in air temperature, just from the spot where she’d been inside the cave and here, at the opening. She pulled her coat tighter and shuddered. Her toes tingled from numbness. She’d be useless if she tried to go after Nic now.
Maybe she’d wait until daylight to venture back out there. Surely no one was looking for them yet, and she’d stand a much better chance of getting herself down from this mountain safely and locating him if she had a little more light and whatever heat the Icelandic sunrise could bring. For now, she really ought to just wait here and clear the fog from her brain.
She moved back toward the interior, out of the cold air blowing in, but not quite all the way back into the darkness. The smooth walls made it easy to navigate, and she found a comfortable spot to sit down. Her feet ached in these damn new boots, so she slipped them off. It would be good to get some blood flowing into her toes again, so she sat cross-legged on the cave floor and rubbed them. Ah, that felt better already.
Her brain was running over all the possible scenarios for what might have happened to Nic last night, and none of them were good. Unfortunately, some of them included such ridiculousness as dragons and space aliens. Damn, but those hallucinations had been so real! If she hadn’t sworn off her doomsaying doctor, she might be tempted to call him and see what he said about them.
She leaned back against the cave wall, wriggling her toes. Was it wise to abandon medical science and ignore what was happening to her body? No, probably not. But she knew as well as the doctors did that nothing would change the inevitable outcome of this tumor. It was her choice to make and she’d made it. She would live out her life on her terms, even if it meant there’d be slightly less of it to live.
It was funny, actually, and she had to laugh at herself. If she’d stayed home for another round of useless treatments, she’d have totally missed out on this. All in all, she guessed she’d much rather be taken out by a freak storm on a mountain in Iceland than to die hairless and suffering in some hospital bed with her friends and family feeling sorry for her. It was kind of invigorating, actually, to realize she’d cheated that storm, despite all its best efforts.
She stared out the opening of the cave, at the swirls of galaxies and stars glowing in the midnight of the sky. Yeah, she’d beat that damn storm and sent it back wherever it came from. She decided to take credit for that, and she smiled.
Her smile faded when she realized that a tiny dot she had noticed in the sky through the cave opening was not one lone star peeking through the clouds, but something heading directly toward her. Whatever the odd little light was, it was clearly getting brighter and brighter. An airplane? Helicopter? No, given the way her night was going, it was probably nothing that innocuous. With her luck, this was a meteor with her name carved right on it. Hell, it would just about figure, wouldn’t it?
She grabbed up her boots and scrambled to her feet. Her eyes never lost sight of the glowing dot. Thankfully it seemed too small and too close to actually be a meteor. But it was definitely not an airplane, or even a helicopter that might be searching for them, either. It was very much like…those orbs she had hallucinated last night on the mountainside.
Crap! She was doing it again. Unless…maybe she wasn’t. Maybe this was something real. But how could it be? She couldn’t even tell fact from f
iction anymore. She felt panic rising inside and she instinctively pressed up against the side of the cave wall. She found a slight ridge to tuck herself behind, where she could peer out and watch the oncoming glow-ball, but not let it see her.
If glow-balls had eyes. What the hell was happening to her? She had to struggle not to hyperventilate.
Just as she had almost convinced herself with repeated internal chanting that this was not real, this was not real, the object began to take form. It was in the opening of the cave now, about half a foot in diameter, hovering there until it slowly descended to the cave floor. Silver and blue glitter seemed to emanate from it, sparkling against the smooth cave walls, and she could make out a tiny form there inside of the glow.
A fairy. She held her breath and stared. She was looking at a fairy, a tiny blue-glowing fairy. And not some pretty little princess thing, either. No, this was a guy fairy and he did not look very friendly. Even from where she hid in the darkness, she could see a sneer on his face.
But then he held up some kind of device. Was that a tiny cell phone? No, it couldn’t be. What would a fairy need with a cell phone? But then he spoke into it and she had to admit that maybe her first guess was accurate.
“I’m in,” the tiny creature said. “The safeguards are off. No sign of Vladik or any of the others. We can go ahead and send the next shipment down.”
A voice crackled back on the tiny device, but it was too small and too far away for Lianne to make any sense of it. Not to mention that she couldn’t make sense out of anything right now.
“All right,” the fairy continued. “Contact me when they’re close by. I’ll wait here for the signal.”
He must have finished his conversation, because he tucked the device into a little bag that he carried at his side. Lianne stared, but then he took a few steps into the cave and his gaze shifted her way. She sucked in a breath when he spotted her and they made eye contact.
Licked by the Flame Page 16
