Touched by A Dragon: The Exalted Dragons (Book 2)

by K. T. Stryker

  “What do we do?” Ashe asked. She was used to Peter having the answers, of knowing what to do when they were in danger. But she wasn’t his to protect anymore. She was a part of this now. She had her own power and her own responsibility. She was a vampire.

  “Ten, nine...” Landon was counting. Ashe didn’t want to know what would happen when he got to zero. Peter grunted as the door shook behind him.

  “Okay,” she said, taking another glance out the window. “I’m going to try something to get us out of this.”

  She closed her eyes and focused her mind on the message she wanted to send. She had to make sure she could get it to him.

  “What are you doing?” Peter asked.

  Ashe replied, “I’m trying to get Will and the others to come here. They’re vampire hunters, right? They can help us fight Landon.”

  “What happens when the fight’s over? Do you think they’ll just let us go?”

  “We’ll deal with that afterwards,” Ashe said turning away from him. One problem at a time. Though she didn’t have any hope that the people of Morris would find it in their hearts to spare Peter or herself, she knew that without their help there was no way to defeat Landon. Two against a whole army were impossible odds, no matter how decrepit the army was.

  Will, I need your help, Ashe tried to project. She had never used her telepathy on anyone besides Peter. It felt almost wrong to try and reach out to Will in this way, but there was no alternative. She didn’t have his personal number, and the library would be long abandoned by now. She couldn’t contact him any other way.

  Will, I need your help! she repeated more desperately. Landon’s count was slowing as it approached zero, but he would be there soon enough. The door was shaking violently now and Ashe could hear it starting to crack.

  Please help us!

  A—Ashe?

  She heard his voice stutter into her head. It was hard to hear over the banging of the door.

  Will, it’s me. Can you hear me?

  How are you talking to me?

  There’s no time to explain. Vampires are at our house. They’re trying to get in. You have to get everyone over here to fight them.

  Are you...?

  A vampire, yes. I’m sorry. But you have to hurry. We don’t have much time.

  Okay, we’ll be there. Hold on.

  Ashe cut the connection, glad to be out of Will’s head. It felt intrusive to communicate with anyone besides Peter in that manner. She didn’t think she would be using it much in the future. But Will and the others were on their way, and that was what mattered. Peter and her would just have to manage on their own until then.

  “One,” Landon shouted. The door split through, showering the floor with shards of wood. Ashe could see Landon peering in through the wide crack in the middle of the door. He smiled.

  “Now can I come in?” he asked.

  The fractured halves of the door fell inward and Ashe had to jump out of the way not to get hit. Landon strode in, his steps smooth though his body seemed to groan with each movement.

  “Ashe, you’re looking as delicious as ever,” Landon sneered. “Though I have to say you smell different. More dead, perhaps. I guess Peter just couldn't keep his teeth off you after all.”

  He advanced towards her and Peter held his arm out. “Step back,” he growled.

  Landon trotted backwards, chuckling. “I see you haven’t changed.”

  “But you have,” Peter replied. His face was drawn into a deadly scowl. He looked as if he could tear Landon apart with his bare hands.

  “No thanks to you,” Landon said. “When you stuck that stake through me, I thought I was done for. Luckily, I had woken enough of my clan by then. They helped bring me back from the brink of a second death.”

  Ashe recalled Peter telling her about the female members of Landon’s clan lying dormant in a sort of hibernation in the woods around his hideout. Landon had hoped to resurrect them with enough human blood and raise an army. It looked like he had done so, but only barely. He had also managed somehow to resurrect himself.

  “You didn’t,” Peter said.

  “I did,” Landon smiled. “I used the blood of my clan to reconstitute my body.”

  “How many did you have to use?” Peter asked. He sounded worried, almost afraid. It made Ashe uneasy.

  “Who’s to say,” Landon replied with a dismissive wave of his hand.

  Peter took a step back. “You shouldn’t have done that. Consuming another vampire’s blood is dangerous. You’re unstable. All of their powers contained inside of you, you can’t control them for long.”

  Landon’s smile flagged for a brief second. When it came back, it was much less convincing. Peter must have been telling the truth. Ashe wondered if what was happening to Landon was similar to Ashe’s transformation with the earrings. All of that power was sapping Landon’s strength.

  Landon said, “I don’t need long. I don’t care about immortality. I only wanted to come back long enough to get rid of you and your pet human. It won’t be as much fun now that she’s not human anymore, but I’ll find a way to make her hurt just the same.”

  Ashe could see something snap inside of Peter. He used his telekinesis to fling Landon backwards out onto the front porch. Landon landed with a sickening thud. Peter advanced on him.

  “You’re not touching her,” he growled.

  Landon tried to get up but he was held down by an invisible force. Peter loomed over him. Behind them, Landon’s army was inching closer though they seemed hesitant to make a move without the command of their leader.

  A shot rang out, then another and the street was soon full of the sound of gunfire. Landon’s clan was dropping like flies, and it took a moment for Ashe to spot Will and a group of men barreling down the street in the back of a truck. The vampires seemed to catch sight of them at the same moment and they sprang towards them with an inhuman speed. Ashe reached out to Will one last time before the fighting broke out in earnest.

  Thank you, she said.

  Peter lost his grip on Landon as the first shots rang out across the street. Will must have come to help them after all. Peter felt his back slam against the outside wall of the house and stick there. He felt like he was being crushed as Landon’s new powers burst forth in full force. He knew that Landon was barely keeping a rein on his abilities and soon they would be completely out of his control. They would tear him apart from the inside out, as well as anyone in his vicinity. He might take out the whole town when his psychic bomb finally exploded.

  Peter gritted his teeth against the force of Landon’s power. A bullet whizzed inches past Landon’s head and lodged into the wall beside Peter. Landon didn’t even look startled. He must have seen the bullet coming already. But there was a momentary lapse in his concentration which allowed Peter to gain the upper hand. He charged and Landon and they fought one another hand-to-hand. Landon seemed to be trying to regain his grip on his powers but Peter could sense them slipping. A tree in the yard cracked in half as Peter flung Landon by the collar out into the street. Peter could sense the energy in the air radiating off Landon like a nuclear bomb. One false move and the street would be obliterated along with everyone on it.

  As Landon struggled to pick himself up, Peter chanced a glance around. The townspeople were fighting Landon’s clan fiercely, but he couldn’t tell who was winning.

  “On your left!” Ashe shouted, and Peter spun around just in time to catch one of the vampires coming at him. He caught the woman by the shoulders and shoved her away from him. A bullet passed through her chest and she crumpled to the ground. Peter felt sick, knowing that same fate could be his at any moment. But the gunman was already off chasing another vampire and did not pay any attention to Peter.

  Peter heard Ashe scream. He turned to see that Landon was holding her to him, threatening her with his teeth against her neck.

  One move, Landon’s words filled Peter’s head, and I tear her to pieces.

  Ashe whimpered as Lando
n leered over her. Peter could sense fragments of Landon’s thoughts like shrapnel flying through the air. He was losing control of his borrowed powers with every minute that passed.

  Landon backed slowly down the street with Ashe held in front of him like a human shield. Peter wanted to save her but he knew Landon would make good on his promise if Peter so much as moved a muscle. Peter felt powerless as he watched Ashe grow farther away from him. There was nothing he could do. So he would have to do something desperate.

  He waited until Landon and Ashe were close to one of the thick telephone poles across the street. Peter focused his mental energy, willing the pole to move. If he was lucky, incredibly lucky, the pole would hit Landon or at least startle him enough to let go of Ashe without hurting her. If not, it would get them both. The weight of the pole would pin Landon long enough for Peter to finish him before tending to Ashe. This kind of plan would not have been possible if Ashe had still been human. As a vampire, her life was much less fragile.

  The telephone pole creaked and groaned, seeming to bend at an impossible angle before cracking into two. Wires snapped as the pole crashed down on top of Landon, pinning him to the concrete with the added weight of Peter’s telekinetic power holding it there. Ashe rolled out of the way just in time to miss the same fate. She landed hard but seemed relatively unhurt.

  Landon scrabbled against the concrete trying in vain to free himself. The pole seemed to vibrate but it didn’t budge. Peter was too strong, and Landon’s powers were growing highly unstable. The very ground seemed to shake with psychic energy.

  “Give up,” Peter yelled.

  Landon screeched like a caught animal. He seemed to flicker for a second, then double, before resolving back into a solid form. The shaking in the ground got worse.

  Peter gritted his teeth and the telephone pole sank a little lower. Ashe stood frozen watching the scene. She wanted to help Peter but feared getting any closer to Landon. She looked around but the others were too busy fighting Landon’s army. They couldn't help her.

  Peter shouted at her, “Ashe, you have to leave!”

  She could hear Landon’s voice in her head crying out in agony. Terrible images started flooding her head and she had to make a conscious effort to build a wall around her mind to block them.

  “Ashe, just go!”

  Ashe knew that Peter was sacrificing himself for her, but she couldn't bear to leave him. They would defeat Landon together or they would both die trying. An eternity without Peter by her side would be meaningless. It was all or nothing.

  “Hold on,” she shouted back to Peter then ran to the truck. She flung open the door and reached across the driver’s seat to the cigarette lighter and pushed it inwards to start it heating up. While she waited for it to heat, she went to the back of the truck and hauled out the red gas can that was luckily half-full of the incendiary liquid. Then she ran back to where Landon was and started dousing him with gas.

  “You don’t have to do this,” Peter said. “You should just go.”

  There was an electric humming in the air, and cracks appeared in the asphalt below where Landon lay. Landon himself was babbling incoherently. He seemed to have lost his mind.

  Ashe ran back to the truck to check the cigarette lighter. It had just finished heating as she was opening the door.

  “Get back!” she yelled to Peter as she pulled the lighter from its socket.

  Peter sprinted towards Ashe as she threw the lighter at Landon. It looked like it was going to land too far away, but it corrected itself mid-course no doubt guided by Peter’s telekinesis.

  Peter made it to the safety of the car door just as the explosion sounded. He shielded Ashe with his body, bearing the brunt of the shockwave as the flame from the gasoline hit the fumes in the air and ignited. The truck rocked on its tires, then wobbled to a stop. Even with Peter’s cool arms around her, Ashe could feel the heat from the blazing fire that the explosion left in its wake. Ashe peeked carefully out from behind the truck’s door. There was little left of the telephone pole besides a charred black mass, and even less of Landon remaining. Peter helped Ashe to her feet and hugged her tight.

  “It’s over,” he said, and Ashe hoped that this time it truly was.

  CHAPTER 6

  The street, which had until recently been a battleground, was now eerily silent except for the last embers of flame which were crackling along the ashen remains of the telephone pole. The bodies of Landon’s relatives lay motionless in the street, along with several members of the town who had come out with Will to help fight them. The remaining townspeople were regrouping slowly around the site of the explosion. Peter watched them with a wary eye, keeping Ashe hidden behind him. They had run out of bullets and most now carried improvised weapons they had picked up in the course of the fighting. Peter had no doubt they were planning to use those weapons on himself and Ashe.

  A few of the townspeople had taken notice of Peter and were now coming his way. Peter knew the look on their faces, the fear and hatred that made them blind to the reality of what had just happened. Peter and Ashe had saved the town. If Landon hadn’t been stopped, he would have blown half the town of Morris into smithereens.

  Peter tried to keep Ashe hidden as the hunters approached, but she stepped out from behind him and held on to his hand. She hadn’t left him when he was fighting Landon, and she wouldn’t leave him now. They were in this together until the end.

  “It’s him,” Jerry said stopping short of the truck. He held a wooden stake in his hand whose tip was stained black. His hands were wet with the same color. Peter remembered the days he had spent working side-by-side with the man. It all seemed so long ago.

  A woman Peter recognized as one of their neighbors waved towards Ashe. “You can come with us, sweetie. Don’t worry. We won’t let him hurt you.”

  Ashe held more tightly to Peter’s hand, squeezing until he could feel the bones shift. He squeezed back reassuringly.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Ashe said. “And I won’t let you hurt him.” She pulled her lips back into a threatening grin. Her new vampire fangs shone white in the flickering firelight.

  The woman gasped. “She’s one of them!”

  Jerry took another step forward. “We’ll just have to kill you both, then.”

  “No we don’t.” The blond man from Ashe’s memories appeared out of the crowd, his face streaked with soot and the gun in his hand bloody along the barrel. It was the first Peter had seen of Will since the battle’s start. He had kind eyes and a stoic expression, and Peter could see why Ashe had found a friend in him. If things had been different, maybe Peter could have too.

  Will put a hand on Jerry’s shoulder forcing him back. Peter saw a black look cross Jerry’s face, but Will didn’t seem to notice. Will turned to face the group of hunters.

  “They’re no danger to us. We should let them go.”

  There were shouts of dissent. The hunters were too keyed up from the battle. They had lost friends, maybe even family in the fighting. They were not about to let two vampires walk free.

  “Those things we fought tonight,” Will said, wiping blood from a gash on his lip earned during the fighting with the vampires, “are not the same as the two people who stand in front of you. We know Ashe, and Peter, and they’re good people. No one has gone missing since they moved here, and not one of us has been turned. This isn’t twenty years ago. Not all vampires are bad.”

  Jerry didn’t seem convinced. He shoved Will to try and get past him. Will countered with a punch to the jaw that not only stopped Jerry but quieted most of the others as well.

  He turned to Ashe. “Go, while you still have the chance.”

  Ashe stood rigid. She seemed to still be in shock from the battle. “Come on,” Peter tugged at her arm. “He’s right. We have to go.”

  Ashe let Peter lead her away from the truck, back towards their own house and the car still parked in the driveway. The battle was over, and their time in Morris was at a close. Ther
e was nothing to do but get in the car and drive far, far away.

  They were back on the road, but this time there was a destination in mind. Shortly after leaving the house, Peter had called his parents. They had already made arrangements for Ashe and Peter to meet them in Europe, after finding out about Ashe’s transformation from Winnie and becoming concerned about the repercussions it would have with the rest of the clan. Ashe was glad to be leaving the country. She needed a change of scenery, a new life. She promised herself that this time things would be better. It couldn’t always be bad. Ashe wouldn’t let it.

  Ashe watched the streets of Morris roll by for the last time. The theater was nearly finished, with its grand re-opening less than a month away. It was too bad Peter would not be able to see the result of all his hard work, though after finding out about the theater’s past it would have been impossible for him to enjoy being there anyway. A little while later they passed the library. The trees out front looked even more sinister in the gloom than they did during the day, but the building itself was beautiful as ever. The clock face on the building showed an early hour of the morning. Ashe felt weary but didn’t want to sleep. She needed to know the town of Morris was far behind her before she could close her eyes.

  The night sky warmed as the stars gave way to the glow of dawn. The miles blurred together as they tended to do on long car trips, but still Ashe watched the scenery out her window. She wanted to keep Peter company as he drove. It didn’t matter that they were too tired to talk; just knowing that they were sharing the same view of the sun coming up through the fog on the horizon was enough. Once the fog cleared, they would have to change direction to be out of the direct path of sunlight, but for now they could enjoy the experience.

  They had been driving for a few hours when they stopped at a small roadside gas station. It reminded Ashe of the one in Morris, where she had made her decision to stop their running and try and make a life for themselves. She had still been human then, and naive. Now she knew what the world was like for people like Peter. Now she was one of them. She would never make the same mistakes again.