Skyfire Dragon

by Natalie Kristen

  She shivered when she looked at the man’s eerie red eyes. But she told herself to get a grip. Many paranormals in Shadow Point had glowing red eyes. Some vamps and shifters had blood red eyes, but they were some of the nicest people she knew.

  “Sorry,” Leia mumbled, lowering her fists. Growing up in Shadow Point meant that Leia went to school with a whole bunch of paranormal kids. Some of the shifter kids got bullied and laughed at when they were just learning how to shift. Leia knew better than to judge someone by their appearance. The man’s appearance and behavior might be strange and awkward, but that didn’t mean that he was evil.

  She turned and began to hurry away, but the man followed her. Leia looked over her shoulder and the man stopped and cocked his head at her.

  There was something odd about his gait and movements. Leia cleared her throat. “Excuse me, but why are you following me?” When the man didn’t reply, she frowned and asked, “Do you need help? Are you lost?”

  The man continued staring at her, making odd jerky movements with his head.

  “Can you speak?” Leia said gently.

  She looked him up and down. He was dressed in a white shirt and black pants, but Leia noticed that his feet were bare. Was he homeless? He was pretty well-dressed for a homeless guy. He was a few inches shorter than Leia but she couldn’t tell his age. He looked clean and groomed, so why couldn’t he afford shoes?

  Leia approached the man slowly, holding out her hands. “Hey, just nod if you can understand me. I won’t hurt you, okay?”

  The man narrowed his eyes at her, his red eyes shining with an unnatural light. He peeled back his thin lips, and Leia glimpsed sharp, golden fangs in his mouth.

  She stumbled back in shock. “What...?”

  Before she could move away, the man’s hand shot out and clamped around her throat.

  Leia found herself pinned against the wall. She flailed and kicked out but the man simply tightened his fingers around her neck and squeezed.

  Leia tried to scream but she couldn’t even breathe. She clawed desperately at his thin, cold hand, struggling to free herself. But she was no match for him.

  Her vision wavered and blurred and Leia flicked her gaze down. Maybe if she looked away from those awful red eyes for an instant, she could tamp down her panic and think clearly. Her survival depended on her presence of mind.

  Leia froze when she caught sight of the man’s feet. She blinked quickly and stared again.

  His feet now looked like talons.

  And there were black claws curving from those talons.

  Leia let out a strangled cry. The man had fangs and talons. Was he a vampire, a shifter, or some other paranormal she had never come across before?

  And he didn’t appear to be able or willing to speak. The creature simply made a strange yelping and gobbling sound as he dragged her into the dark alleyway.

  Leia felt something sharp digging into her neck. His hand...his hand had turned to talons, and his black claws were piercing her skin.

  Leia struggled harder, forcing herself to look into her attacker’s face. Leia’s eyes bugged as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.

  The man’s nose was disappearing, leaving only two slits. He had no nose, no ears, and she couldn’t see the whites of his eyes at all.

  He didn’t look human. Leia’s scream was cut off when the monster smashed her head into the wall.

  For a moment, all Leia could hear was the ringing in her ears. When she could open her eyes again, the first thing she saw was a horrible, yawning mouth.

  The golden fangs glinted just before they plunged into her neck.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Sky drove down the street, scanning the deserted sidewalk. His palms felt sweaty and his heart was hammering too loudly. He’d never had a panic attack before, but it felt like his mind and body were going to explode if he didn’t get to Leia.

  A muscle worked violently in his jaw as he drove down the street. He had to find Leia. He had to save her.

  From what?

  Sky didn’t know. He didn’t even know how he knew that she was in danger. He just knew.

  When he couldn’t see Leia in the restaurant, he had asked Mrs Chow where Leia was. He had almost roared at the lady when Mrs Chow told him that Leia had left. How could you let her leave?

  Sky had simply rushed out of the restaurant and jumped into his truck. He had to go to Leia. Something told him that she needed him.

  Driven by pure adrenaline and instinct, Sky hunted Leia down. He could almost taste her scent in the air. Sky didn’t stop to analyze this. He didn’t stop to think how he seemed to be able to track her down. He just followed her trail. All that mattered was that he got to her in time.

  He finally saw her.

  Sky slammed on the brakes when he saw Leia being dragged into an alley by a skinny man. The man was slightly shorter than Leia but he seemed brutally strong.

  As his truck skidded up the curb, Sky tore out of the truck and ran after them.

  Charging into the alley, Sky saw the man bending over Leia, his mouth on her neck. The front of her blouse was soaked with blood, and she was struggling weakly, trying to fight her attacker off. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw him. She mouthed his name just as he flew towards them.

  With a roar, Sky grabbed the man and pulled him off Leia. Whimpering, Leia dropped to the ground, pressing her hand against the wound in her neck.

  The man turned to face Sky with a snarl. His face was smeared with blood, and he bared his bloodstained fangs at Sky.

  Sky’s fist flew out, but the man blocked him. The man slashed at Sky with his black claws, raking gashes across his chest.

  Sky ducked just in time. Those black claws would have taken out his eye had he moved just a fraction of a second later. He dodged his attacker’s blows, staring at those deadly black claws that whizzed past his face.

  Sky fought back, his rage giving him strength and speed. He slammed himself into the monster and tackled him to the ground. Claws sliced into his arms but Sky ignored the pain and kept his hands around the man’s neck.

  As he stared into the man’s beady, gleaming red eyes, he saw those golden fangs grow and twist into something else.

  “What…? What the fuck…!”

  The man’s mouth disappeared as a golden beak grew in its place. Sky roared in pain as the man used his sharp beak to stab into Sky’s wrist.

  Sky rolled away, clutching his injured wrist. The man got up, and Sky saw that his arms were covered with feathers.

  So, not a vampire.

  Sky had initially thought that Leia’s attacker was a rogue vampire.

  But vampires didn’t have beaks, feathers and an inhuman face.

  This was something he had never seen before.

  But Sky didn’t care what it was. His sole aim was to destroy it. He would destroy anything and anyone who hurt Leia.

  The monster spun round suddenly. Leia screamed when a claw sliced her arm open and blood poured forth. The monster dipped its horrid beak into her blood and drank greedily.

  “Get away from her!” Sky roared, lurching forward to tear the monster to shreds.

  “Don’t touch her! I will kill you!” he swore. “I will fucking kill you!”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  As Sky ran at the monster, he could feel a searing heat coursing through his entire body. His blood seemed to be boiling in his veins and every cell pulsed with fire. The white hot pain spread through his body to his fingertips and he had to blink quickly to clear his vision.

  When he blinked again, he saw something sharp and shiny stab out from his fingers.

  Claws!

  He had wicked sharp claws curving from his fingertips.

  Sky’s eyes widened when he saw scales running down his arms. But he didn’t have time to think about the changes that were happening to his body. He had a monster to fight, and he seemed to have acquired some handy new weapons to aid him in his fight.

  Sky wasted
no time testing his new, razor sharp claws on the enemy. He slashed at the monster and a few black and white feathers fluttered to the ground.

  Sky saw the surprise on the monster’s face. The monster opened his grotesque beak to let out a blood-curdling screech and backed away. The creature was now covered with black and white feathers and he didn’t look human at all.

  Sky stared into the monster’s red eyes and saw nothing human about those eyes.

  Those red eyes were swirling with blood lust and fear.

  Fear? What was the monster afraid of? Him?

  Sky glanced down at the shimmering green scales on his arms and scowled.

  So he wasn’t immune after all.

  He had the same symptoms as his brothers. But while Storm and Seath only had scale-like patterns on their skins, he actually sprouted scales. Real, hard, glimmering scales.

  Like a reptile.

  But reptiles were cold-blooded, right? Sky could feel his blood boiling and bubbling in his veins. Every part of his body was burning up, pulsating with heat and power.

  Sky forced air into his lungs and his throat burned. He could feel the fire burning through him, and he could taste the flames.

  The fire burned hotter, churning through his body and igniting the wrath of his beast. Power exploded through his body. Raw, scorching power. There was a beast in him. He could feel it.

  And the beast had awakened. Sky roared in both agony and ecstasy as the power ripped through his body. It was as if something had finally broken free inside of him.

  An ancient beast. A sleeping predator.

  A fearsome monster.

  Sky stalked towards his enemy and sniffed the air. He could smell fear and blood. And the scent made him hungry. He wanted more. He wanted the blood of his enemy.

  The golden beak, feathers and talons had disappeared. The enemy had taken human shape again. The man cowering in front of Sky looked very small. Had the man shrunk, or had Sky grown bigger?

  Sky huffed and a puff of smoke burst from his nostrils. He opened his mouth and more smoke billowed forth.

  The man shrieked in terror as Sky reared up and took a deep breath. It was as if the man knew what Sky was about to do.

  Sky felt the scorching heat churning in his gut. The heat spiraled up his throat and exploded from his mouth. A stream of fire spewed from his mouth and Sky heard nothing but the roar of fire.

  A streak of lightning slammed into the ground in front of Sky. Light exploded on the backs of his eyelids and Sky fell to his knees. He heard the echo of that terrible roar in his head, and everything went black.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Leia gasped and clapped her hand to her mouth. She felt dizzy and weak, but she was sure her eyes were working fine.

  Did Sky really do what she thought she saw him do? Did he just breathe fire?

  The man was running past her, trying to run out of the alley. Leia summoned all her strength and pushed herself up.

  “Where do you think you’re going,” she hissed, making a grab for him. “I don’t know what you are, but I won’t let you get away!”

  She snagged his thin arm but he twisted free and made a mad dash for the exit. Leia stumbled after him but he was too fast. In a blink, he was gone.

  Leia swayed on her feet, hoping the nausea and dizziness would pass. What the hell was he? A man? A bird? A birdman?

  Whatever he was, he was evil and dangerous.

  “Sky,” she cried suddenly, turning around and stumbling to Sky’s side. He was lying on the ground and he didn’t seem to be breathing.

  Frantic and terrified, Leia shook his shoulders. “Sky, wake up. Open your eyes, please,” she begged. “Don’t leave me, Sky. Please, please...”

  Not knowing what else to do, she pressed her lips to his. She meant to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Instead, she kissed him. She kissed him through her tears, willing him to wake up, to open those gorgeous green eyes and look at her.

  She’d only just met him. She couldn’t lose him. Not now, not ever.

  Leia didn’t want to stop kissing Sky. A part of her was so afraid that when she surfaced, Sky would still be lying there, not moving, not breathing.

  She held him and kissed him desperately, feverishly. She could taste her own tears as she clung to him and wished with all her heart that she could kiss him back to life. Like in the fairy tales.

  Leia gasped when she felt Sky’s lips move. He was kissing her back. She opened her eyes and stared into his brilliant green eyes but before she could pull away, strong arms wrapped around her and clamped her to his hard, hot body.

  They lay on the ground in the dark and kissed for a long time. They didn’t want to let each other go. Not when they had so nearly lost each other.

  When Leia finally broke the kiss, she grabbed Sky and hugged him fiercely. “I thought...oh God! You scared me, Sky. You scared the hell out of me. I didn’t know what happened to you. You…you just...” She pulled away and searched his face. She looked him over and saw no injuries on his body.

  Gingerly, she touched his arm and whispered, “I thought I saw scales on your arms. But they’re gone now...”

  Sky sat up and looked around. “Where is he?” he growled. “Where is that piece of shit?”

  “He ran off.”

  “I will destroy him,” Sky vowed. “He won’t get away. I will hunt him down and make him pay. He hurt you.”

  Sky stared at the wounds on Leia’s neck and arm and scowled. “Come here,” he said.

  When Leia hesitated, Sky held out his hands and said, “Trust me. I won’t hurt you. I will never hurt you, Leia.”

  She swallowed and nodded. “I know.”

  Leaning in, Sky pressed his mouth to the wound on her neck and Leia tensed when she felt heat spread down her neck. She closed her eyes and clung to Sky’s shoulders as he moved his mouth from her neck down her shoulders to her arm. The searing heat flowed down her arm, and Leia whimpered.

  Leia realized she was shaking and sobbing, and she let Sky hold her until her sobs subsided. She just let all her pain, fears and tears flow out of her until she was spent.

  Taking a shuddering breath, Leia wiped her eyes. She felt better, a lot better. “I...I’m not bleeding anymore,” she stammered, staring at her arm in wonder. She lifted her trembling fingers to her neck. “My wounds...they’re all healed.”

  Leia gaped at Sky. “You healed me. You...but how?”

  Sky inhaled a long breath. “I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know how I knew that I could heal you. But I just knew what to do.”

  “And you can breathe fire,” Leia said, staring at him. “I saw that. I wasn’t hallucinating due to blood loss. I did see you breathe fire. Tell me I didn’t imagine that.”

  “You didn’t imagine that. I can’t believe I did that either.”

  Leia leaned against Sky as he wrapped his arm around her and steered her out of the alley. “Can you drive me home?” she stammered. “I’m afraid to walk home alone now...”

  “You’re not going home alone tonight,” Sky said, leading her to his truck.

  “I’m not?” she asked as he closed the passenger door after her.

  Sky slid into the driver’s seat and turned to her. “Your attacker might be lurking around. I don’t want to take any chances. I want you to be safe, Leia. I need you to be safe. You’re coming home with me.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Sky glanced at Leia as he drove home. She sat beside him in his truck in silence. She hadn’t said a word since she got in the truck but she kept turning to look at him. She would open her mouth, close it and shake her head.

  “What is it, Leia? Are you in pain?” Sky asked worriedly.

  Leia started. “What? Oh, no. No, I’m fine.” She looked down at her bloodstained blouse and laughed mirthlessly. “I mean, my wounds have all closed up, thanks to you.”

  She turned and stared at him for a full minute. Finally she said, “How did you do that?”

  When Sky didn
’t answer at once, she went on, “You healed me. And you breathed fire. I...” She gestured around. “I live in a town full of paranormals, but I don’t know anyone who can do that.”

  Sky took a long breath. “I never knew I could do that either.”

  Leia frowned. “You’ve never done this before?”

  “No.”

  Leia waited quietly, letting him order his thoughts. “I never knew I had a beast inside of me,” Sky said at last.

  “You didn’t know you’re a shifter?”

  Sky shook his head. “My mother was human. My dad died when my brothers and I were very young.”

  “So your dad...”

  A long buried memory unearthed itself from Sky’s mind and drifted to the surface. Sky could almost hear his father’s voice again. He blinked. His father was telling him a story, a bedtime story.

  “My dad used to tell me stories about dragons,” Sky said slowly. “I thought they were just bedtime stories. But now I realize that he was trying to tell me...” Sky took a long breath. “Those stories...he was telling me about my ancestors.”

  “What did he tell you?” Leia asked softly.

  “My dad told me that the last Fireblood dragon emerged seven generations ago.”

  Leia’s eyes and mouth rounded. “Your ancestors were dragons shifters.”

  “My father couldn’t shift into a dragon,” Sky said. “Neither could his father, and his father’s father. The dragon gene can lie dormant for generations.”

  “But you have dragon blood in you,” Leia said, her gaze never leaving his face. “You have a dragon in you.”

  “My brothers...” Sky blinked and the pieces all fell into place. Everything made sense now. He knew why his brothers were having those symptoms.

  The doctors couldn’t even tell they were dragon shifters because their dragons had been dormant for so many generations. Their dragon blood and genes had become so deeply buried and hidden under their human genetic code that they appeared fully human.