Kissed by Fire

by Shéa MacLeod

  “You’re sure?” Alister’s voice still had that strange edge of eagerness. It made me uncomfortable, though I couldn’t put my finger on why. My Spidey senses didn’t really work with humans.

  “Yes, I believe so.” I ran my thumb over the warm surface and felt a little thrill run through me. I was holding a real dragon scale. “Interesting, though, since dragons are supposed to be extinct.”

  Alister didn’t comment and Kabita narrowed her eyes at him. “According to the Hunter records dragons were hunted to extinction nearly four hundred years ago. You have anything to add to that? Dad?” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. Kabita was really good at sarcasm.

  Alister gave her a look before calmly returning to his curry. “Not here, Kabita.”

  I glanced around at the other diners. They looked harmless enough in their Saville Row suits and Manolo Blahnick heels. Plus we were sitting pretty far away from anyone else. He was right, though. Too many eyes and ears. Very cloak and dagger, but anyone could be hiding in the crowd.

  Even if the restaurant was spy-free, there were still plenty of innocent, ordinary citizens who’d be none too thrilled to hear there were dragons on the loose. If there were dragons on the loose. Murder wasn’t exactly dragon style. Full out mayhem, certainly, but not murder.

  I turned the scale over in my hands again, for once completely distracted from my dinner. What I held was something akin to a scroll from the lost Library of Alexandria. If I weren’t actually holding the thing in my hands, gliding my fingertips over its smooth surface, I would have never believed it was real.

  I glanced back up at Alister. “You want to find out who killed your niece? We’d better get some answers. Soon.”

  He gave me a regal nod that was just a tad too theatrical. “Soon,” he agreed. “Soon.”

  I glanced at Kabita. Her expression was stony as she focused on the plate in front of her. She didn’t want to rock the boat? Fine. But this was a boat that needed to be rocked. I was starting to get tired of all the non-answers. Kabita’s dad or not, I was going to have to get bitchy.

  It wasn’t the British way to get all up in someone’s face, but I’d been away from London too long and this was too important to play the game of being civil. Because if I was right, a lot of lives were in danger.

  “By soon, I mean today. You don’t want to talk here? Fine, I get that. I can’t speak for Kabita, but if you want me involved in this thing, and trust me you do, you’d better get us somewhere you can talk. Now.”

  I didn’t know who was more surprised. Kabita, because someone finally talked back to her dad, or Alister himself because someone had the cojones to call his bullshit.

  “What’ll it be, Alister?” I let the dragon scale catch the light, reminding him of what was at stake.

  I’m not sure what he saw in my eyes, but whatever it was must have convinced him that I was one hundred percent serious. And I was. Between Trevor Daly’s obnoxious meddling, the crap with Jack and the Atlantis thing, I’d had my fill of secrets and lies. I wanted the truth and Alister Jones could either give it to me, or he could shove off.

  “Fine.” His voice was rife with irritation. “Dex, go get the car.”

  I smiled as I slipped the scale into my purse. No way was I handing it back to Alister Jones. I didn’t trust the man. Not by half. Something about him didn’t add up.

  Dex, looking somewhat bemused, tossed his napkin on the table and headed for the front door while Alister glanced at the head waiter. Within minutes the bill had been paid and we were on our way out the door. I guess that was the kind of service you got when you dined Michelin.

  Kabita hopped into the front with her brother, so I settled myself in the back with Alister. I started to speak, but he held up his hand. “Not here. One never knows who is listening. Dex, head for the Bridge.”

  I could deal with that. I settled back into the plush leather seats, determined to enjoy the ride as we headed down Embankment, the wide street that ran alongside the River Thames.

  It wasn’t a long ride. Fifteen minutes later, Dex was pulling into St. Katherine’s Dock and Alister was ushering us from the car. I’d always enjoyed St. Katherine’s Dock. Best view of the Tower Bridge in London. Tourists usually thought it was the London Bridge because it was the fanciest one, but it was named after the London Tower which lurked at the base of the bridge.

  “We’re all right here?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Yes. We should be fine.” He sighed. “I suppose I should tell you about the dragons, first.”

  “Yeah, that would be a good place to start.” I leaned my elbows against the cold metal railing and let my gaze wander out across the Thames. I still didn’t entirely trust the man, but I wanted to hear what he had to say.

  “Very well, I shall go back to the beginning.” He leaned next to me while Kabita and Dex sat on a bench nearby, chatting quietly while keeping watch.

  I nodded. “Also a good place to start. Where’s the beginning?”

  “About seventeen hundred years ago.”

  “So, not a short story, then?” I let a thread of amusement color my voice.

  “Not really, no.” Alister smiled, but there was an edge of tension to it. I was beginning to realize that Alister was not a very comfortable man. “Let me try to hit the important bits.”

  He was quiet for a moment, staring out over the water, gathering his thoughts. “About two thousand years ago this country was being ravaged by dragons. Most of the world, in fact, lived in fear of the creatures. It had been going on for millennia. Between the dragons’ monstrous appetites for flesh, both human and animal, and their vast intellect, our somewhat primitive ancestors didn’t stand a chance.”

  Not really something one learned in history class. “Something obviously changed,” I prompted. “Or we wouldn’t be here.”

  He nodded, silver hair gleaming in the dim orange light from a nearby street lamp. That was one thing it had taken me a while to get used to when I first moved to London. Street lamps in the UK were dim orange instead of bright yellow or white. Energy saving or something. “Yes. Something did change. The first Dragon Hunter was born,” Alister said.

  I blinked. I liked to read and the histories of the Hunters made for some interesting reading, but I’d never heard of a Dragon Hunter. I opened my mouth to say so, but Alister held up his hand.

  “I realize you’ve never heard of Dragon Hunters before. There were reasons they were expunged from history. I’ll explain later. First, let me tell the tale in my own way.”

  I nodded in agreement. Patience wasn’t exactly a virtue of mine, but I figured I’d better start exercising it.

  “The first Dragon Hunter was born to a poor family in Athens in the year 311 AD. His name was Georgos.”

  No freaking way. “You mean, Saint George? I thought he wasn’t around until the Middle Ages.”

  Alister shrugged. “Every legend has its roots in reality. Even the legend of Saint George and the Dragon, which was based on a real man born nearly 800 years earlier.”

  “So, George was real and he was a Dragon Hunter?” Weirder and weirder.

  Alister gazed up at the bridge, but I wasn’t sure he was seeing it. “Yes, he was real. Born at a time when it seemed the human race was doomed to extinction. To this day we don’t know where the dragons came from. It’s possible they may have evolved here on earth, but how they existed for so long without annihilating everything … we just don’t know. They were so incredibly destructive.

  “In any case, when Georgos was a small boy, his village was razed by dragons, his entire family killed. The local monastery took him in along with a few other boys who survived, but it wasn’t long before they discovered he was different. Much different.

  “One particular monk had been trained as a Vampire Hunter. He recognized the signs of another Hunter, so he began to train Georgos. The boy was a quick study. By the time he was fourteen, he’d surpassed his teacher.

  “One day Georgos came running into
the chapel while the monks were at prayers, screaming at everyone to hide in the cellars. The monastery was under attack by a dragon. Then he took up a sword and ran to the courtyard of the monastery. There, within the shadow of the chapel walls, he fought and killed his first dragon.”

  “Surely people had killed dragons before.” I wasn’t gullible enough to believe Saint George was the only person who’d ever killed a dragon prior to that day.

  “True. Others had killed dragons before, but never a single man. Always it had taken whole villages or large numbers of heavily armed militia to take down one of the beasts. Never a man hardly more than a child armed with nothing but a sword. And there was something else.” He hesitated, but I already knew.

  “He could feel them. The dragons,” I said. “He felt it coming, that’s how he was able to warn the monks.” Just like I could feel vampires. The thought made me shiver.

  “Yes. That’s what he told the abbot. Despite his bravery and the fact that he’d saved the entire monastery, he was cast out along with his teacher. The monks claimed his gift was evil, from the devil. Ridiculous, of course, but from then on the two of them wandered Europe together killing dragons.”

  “You said he was the first Dragon Hunter.” I pointed out. “There were others?” I glanced back at Kabita and Dex. They had moved closer in order to hear the story. From the look on Dex’s face, I could tell he’d heard it before. Kabita looked as surprised as I felt.

  “Yes, of course. Just as there are Demon Hunters and Vampire Hunters and so on today, back then there were also Dragon Hunters. Most Hunters were ordinary men specially trained and well armed, but there were a few true Dragon Hunters, like Georgos, who were born with a little something extra. Something which made them nearly invincible. For the first time, people weren’t sitting around waiting for the dragons to attack so they could defend themselves.”

  “They took the war to the dragons,” I guessed.

  He nodded. “Yes. And within a few generations, they’d nearly wiped the dragons out.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Nearly?”

  “Georgos had a son, also a Dragon Hunter. He had a son and so on down the line. Every male in his line was born with the same ability to sense the dragons. Each was a formidable Hunter, and each in his turn became leader of the Dragon Hunters.

  “Sometime around 525 AD, the Dragon King approached the lead Hunter under a flag of truce. By that time the dragons were nearly extinct. If the slaughter continued, they would cease to exist. Like any creature, the dragons wanted to survive, to ensure their children would survive. So, they made a pact with the Dragon Hunters. They would stop killing, remove themselves to the most remote places of the earth, vanish from the world of humans. In return, the Hunters agreed to stop hunting them and act simply as guardians.”

  “They agreed to guard the dragons? Were they insane?”

  Alister shook his head. “It was a tactical move. Many human lives had been lost in the wars. So many towns laid waste. The fighting had to stop before both sides were destroyed.

  “The dragons surprisingly kept their word. They vanished. After centuries, the Dragon Hunters finally withdrew, no longer needed. It’s been over four hundred years and no one has seen nor heard from a dragon in all that time. We’d assumed they had finally died off, there were so few left.”

  I thought for a moment. Things were beginning to click into place. “The records were altered to protect the dragons that remained.”

  “Yes. About a century later. By then it was felt that genocide would be … wrong.” Again, there was something odd in his voice. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something felt off.

  “Unusual for the time. What happened to the Dragon Hunters?”

  “Most of them were assimilated into the other Hunter groups,” he said. I had a feeling there was more.

  “And the others?” I prompted.

  He stared out the window for a moment then heaved a sigh. “The ones who were like Georgos, the ones who were born to hunt the dragons, they didn’t adjust quite as well.”

  “They went bonkers. Didn’t they?” I knew it deep down inside where the part of me that sensed the vamps lived. If I had no vamps to hunt, to kill, I’d probably end up mad as a hatter, too. Fortunately for me, there seemed to be a never ending supply of the suckers.

  “Yes.” His voice was quiet, restrained, as if he felt the pain of men who’d died over hundreds of years ago. “Some of them made Jack the Ripper look like a joke. They had to be eliminated. The others, the ones who weren’t quite as bad, were locked away so they couldn’t hurt themselves or anyone else. Eventually, whatever it was that made them the way they were, it vanished from the gene pool. There hasn’t been a Dragon Hunter born since the Crusades. The historical records were altered, deleting any reference to the Dragon Hunters. Only a single copy was kept and only those at the highest levels could access the original documents.”

  I shook my head. “More lies.”

  “It was necessary, Morgan. Not only to protect the dragons, but to avoid panic. The last thing we needed was a panic over dragons, or worse, another witch hunt. This time against the Dragon Hunters.”

  I sighed and tipped my head back to catch a glimpse of the stars. I couldn’t. The lights under Tower Bridge were far too bright. That was the problem with living in a city. You could never see the stars. Not really.

  Alister was right. Things hadn’t much changed in the past few hundred years. People were still afraid of what they didn’t understand. And what they feared, they tended to destroy. What a frigging mess.

  “I assume you’ve read the real records. That’s how you know all this.”

  “Yes, of course. I am the head of MI8. It is my job to know such things. The dragons withdrew behind Hadrian’s Wall and vanished.”

  “Hadrian’s Wall. No kidding?”

  “You don’t think the Romans built that thing just to keep the Celts out, do you?” There was laughter in his voice.

  I grinned back. “No, I suppose not.”

  “The dragons? You’re sure no one’s heard from them?” It seemed incredible the huge beasts had just simply vanished.

  “As I said, not since the last guardian was withdrawn from Hadrian’s Wall over three hundred years ago.”

  I lifted the scale to the dim light from the streetlamp, turning it back and forth, letting the warmth trickle down my skin. “Well, Alister, they’re talking now.”

  Chapter Five

  Alister sighed as he stepped back from the railing. “I’m afraid you may be right.”

  “Damn skippy.”

  A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. I had that effect on people. “Never the less, it is not what I wanted to hear.”

  I shrugged. What else was there to say?

  He turned and we both walked over to the bench. Alister looked at Kabita who had been studiously avoiding him. “Will you see this through?”

  Her voice held just a hint of frost. “Of course. Alison was my cousin. I won’t let this stand.”

  Boy, I’d have hated to be the person responsible for Alison’s death just then. Kabita sounded downright scary.

  He nodded. “Very good. Well, ladies, I appreciate your time. If you don’t mind, I have a few things to take care of tonight so Dex will see you back to the hotel.” So formal, I had to refrain from smirking.

  “What about you, Dad? Are you sure I can’t drop you somewhere?” I couldn’t tell if Dex was just being polite or if he was actually concerned about his father. The whole family dynamic was just plain odd. Alister was the oddest of all.

  “Thank you, no. I fancy a walk.”

  Dex nodded and motioned us toward the parking lot. As we headed to the car I cast a quick glance back. Alister stood at the rail, staring over the water. I didn’t think I’d ever seen anyone so alone.

  ***

  “I think I’m going to head over to the old neighborhood.”

  Kabita paused in the midst of hanging up her jacket. �
��Do you think that’s wise?” She carefully closed the wardrobe door as I leaned up against the door jamb between our connecting hotel rooms.

  We’d invited Dex to join us for a drink, but he’d politely refused. Probably for the best. Jet lag was starting to take its toll. Still, I knew I wouldn’t sleep. Not yet.

  “Probably not,” I admitted. “But it’s something I have to do.” She didn’t say anything, so I told her. “I dream about it sometimes.”

  She sighed as she sank down onto the edge of the bed. “I’m not surprised. That’s not the sort of thing a person can forget.”

  No. It wasn’t. You generally didn’t forget the day you died. I changed the subject. “You hear from Inigo?” I’d been surprised he hadn’t made the trip with us. Alison was his cousin, too.

  Kabita kicked off her shoes and left them where they fell. Funny. I was usually the messy one

  She shook her head. “It’s still early back home and you know how he is.” She ran her fingers through her hair and her hand shook just a little.

  “You OK?” It was obvious seeing her father again hadn’t been an easy thing, though I’d no idea why. She and Dex had seemed OK, though. I was glad about that. For her sake.

  She waved me off. “I’ll be fine. I’d just like to be alone for a while. We’ll talk tomorrow, all right?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, OK.” I turned and started to shut the door behind me, but her voice stopped me.

  “You be careful out there.”

  “I’m always careful.”

  She rolled her eyes. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

  ***

  I had the cab driver drop me off at the top of the street. This was it. This used to be my street. A couple minutes walk and I’d be home, back in my flat at the top of the old Edwardian with the tall wooden sash windows that rattled constantly in the wind.

  Except that I didn’t live there anymore. Not since that night three years ago. After I’d recovered from the attack, Kabita had moved me into her place for a while so she could train me properly. Shortly after that we’d moved to America and I’d bought my first house. The little flat in Northwest London was nothing but a memory.