by Jaime Rush
No way. No friggin’ way could a Carnelian do that.
Paul hit the ground, and the Carnelian came at her. Kade intercepted, bringing his dagger down with its arc of magick electricity. It cut into the Carnelian’s back but didn’t slow her momentum. Her fangs grazed Violet’s shoulder before the Carnelian let out a scream and jerked back.
A white light roughly the size of a bowling ball shot up to float above them, shedding light across the area for Kade, who couldn’t see in the dark like a Dragon could.
The Carnelian’s vertical irises widened on Violet as she took a defensive posture. “You.”
“Who are you?” Violet asked.
The Carnelian pulled another scale and sent it flying at her. Like a mini-missile, it changed its course when Violet ducked to the side. She’d never fought a Diamond Dragon, only knew the legend about their scales.
The legend was true. Hell of a way to find out.
Kade tried to deflect the scale, but the damned thing was too fast. He sent a cloud of magick at it, his arms outstretched as though to ward off the hit. Blue arcs of electricity shimmered over his body, incredibly beautiful and dangerous all at once.
With Kade’s focus on the scale, the Carnelian came up behind him. Before Violet could warn him, he was body-slammed into a nearby tree. Then she came at Violet. She met her halfway, slamming her armor-plated body into the bitch, who wasn’t expecting that. The Carnelian fell to the ground but was on her feet and coming at her again.
“Why are you doing this?” Violet screamed. “Why are you starting a war?”
The bitch smiled. Her narrow tongue darted out to lick her lips. “Oh, Violet, it’s too late to play the little peacemaker now.”
Yeah, the bitch knew her, all right.
“Papa!”
They all turned at the sound of a young girl’s voice. She stood next to Paul’s body, horror on her face. She was too young to know of the past violence of the Fringe, hadn’t suffered loss. She turned to them, and fear gripped her.
The Carnelian smiled at the girl as though she were a tasty morsel.
“Run!” Violet shouted at her. “Get out of here!”
She froze for a moment, and Violet heard the Carnelian inhale, ready to singe her. The girl bolted, and Violet rammed the red Dragon before she could unleash her Breath. Most Fringers were quick on their feet, and this girl was no exception. Before long, she was out of sight. She’d be alerting her family, and they would come with a vengeance.
Kade stabbed the Carnelian in her rear flank, but she stifled her scream of pain. No, she didn’t want others coming. Violet didn’t either. The Slades would see them all as the enemy. She knew only one other thing about Diamonds: they were vulnerable where they’d removed their scale.
This Carnelian not only had the powers of a Diamond, but she was also one of the most powerful Dragons Violet had ever been around. This was how she killed those other Dragons—including Arlo—ambushing them and using powers beyond the norm.
Which meant she had killed a lot of Dragons and absorbed their power.
Violet engaged her while Kade climbed the tree behind her. He rubbed his fingers together in the way she well remembered—the taser. The Carnelian looked for him as she spit fire at Violet. Kade hooked his legs over the branch right over her head, swung down, and reached for her forehead.
She ducked away from his hand as though she knew exactly what he was trying to do. Then she reared up and struck him. He went with the momentum, spinning midair and landing on his feet.
Pure friggin’ grace.
He’d only just landed when the Carnelian spun, whacking him with her tail. He kept his balance and swept his dagger in an arc, cutting a swath of lightning from the tip of the blade. A regular dagger wouldn’t have made any difference, but Kade had his own magick. Like a welder’s flame, it cut into the scales. She threw her weight back, landing on Kade and crushing him.
Violet barreled into her, stabbing a claw into the hole the missing scale left. The Carnelian hadn’t taken a scale from anyplace crucial, but having something the size of a knife sunk into her flesh would hurt like hell.
“Bitch,” the Carnelian hissed, swinging her head at Violet, who ducked just in time.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Violet said, clamping her mouth around the Dragon’s arm. The need to kill charged through her blood, tingling in her fangs.
Kade grunted as he got to his feet, the only indication that he’d been hurt. He lifted his dagger above his head, muscles rippling with his grip as blue sparks ran up the length of his arms to the dagger. It flashed with the same brilliant blue as he brought what looked like a bolt of lightning down at the Carnelian. The bolt hit the tree first, slicing it in half vertically. The Carnelian dodged the bolt but the half-trunk hit her, knocking her off-balance.
“The hell with interrogation,” he muttered, charging up the dagger again.
The Carnelian gained her footing as Kade brought the bolt down again, slicing into the top of her head. Blood poured down her face, and several of her “feathers” fell to the ground.
The air around her shimmered with a magick that blocked the bolt as it came at her again. She gritted her teeth, forming a shield Violet had never seen a Dragon create. The veins in Kade’s neck bulged with the effort to push through the shield. They were both going to burn their magick out, which would leave them weakened. Then Violet would swoop in and kill the Carnelian.
Kade’s bolt crackled and fizzled at the same moment the shield evaporated. Violet charged the Carnelian, who blasted her with a powerful stream of fiery breath. Violet fell backward, the fire singeing right through her scales, the heat stealing her breath away.
She blinked through watery eyes as the bitch readied another blast of Breath. Magick shimmered over Kade’s body as he leaped with unnatural speed and height and landed on her back, grabbing the spikes along her spine. Only one small puff of smoke came out before she thrashed in her effort to knock him off. He used the spikes to climb along her back.
Be careful! One wrong move and you’ll have a spike right through you.
He knew what he was doing. He moved fast, got a grip around her bloody neck, where the scales were thinner and more flexible, and drew back his dagger. He obviously knew where their kill spot was, just beneath their chin. As the tip touched the spot, the Carnelian rammed him into a tree so hard she heard something crack in his body. Gods, she felt it. One of the spikes missed him by half an inch, spearing the bark. He fell on the other side of her, out of Violet’s view.
The Carnelian turned and lifted her hand, ready to drive knife-like claws down on him. Violet Breathed a stream of darts at her. The darts hit her shoulder, her arm—and Kade, who’d leaped up in the form of a shimmering tiger with huge claws of his own.
The Carnelian blew out a firestorm, obliterating the sight of Kade and forcing Violet to close her eyes or be blinded. She opened them as soon as she felt the heat diminish. The Carnelian was gone. Kade lay on the ground. Violet Catalyzed back to human and raced over to him, kneeling by his side. The violet glow of her spike pulsed at the center of his chest where he’d been hit. She’d been named for that color.
“Where’s the Dragon?” he asked in a tight voice.
“Gone. You injured her pretty bad. She retreated. Are you all right?”
“What the hell did you do to me?”
“That’s my version of your taser, only it paralyzes you physically, not magickally.”
“That’s right. I don’t fight many Amethyst Dragons.” He probably knew a lot about the different Dragon types, which was unfair because Deuces weren’t as cut-and-dried.
But this Carnelian wasn’t cut-and-dried either.
He could barely turn his head. “Weren’t you taught to always look behind your target when shooting?”
“Of course! I heard something in your body break.” Her voice had risen higher at the memory of that sound. “How was I supposed to know you’d be leaping up in the fri
ggin’ air?”
“I think I cracked a rib or three, but that kind of thing isn’t going to stop me. This”—he tried to move his arm but only his fingers twitched—“will.” He gritted his teeth and sent sparks over his body. She watched in fascination as they shattered her magick and dispelled the glow. His hands moved first, then his arms.
She held out her hand to help him up. “I’ve never seen a Dragon do what she could do.”
He grasped her hand but stood up under his own power. “And she knew about the magick taser.”
Violet gathered up the tatters of her clothes. “She knew me. She said my name, that it was too late to be a peacemaker. But I don’t know who she is.”
The sound of a weak whistle drew their attention to Paul, still lying on the ground. He was calling for help; that long call was universal. Footsteps pounded in the near distance, along with angry shouts.
Violet ran to his side, ready to Catalyze and Breathe healing energy into him. She felt his energy die before she could even try. “We’d better get out of here. If they find us—”
Kade pointed. “Look, she left tracks from Stramaglia land.”
“Another setup. We have to get rid of them.”
He sent a wave of magick across the dirt. “It’s easier to cover something like this than, say, a dead body.” He pulled off his shirt and handed it to her. “You obviously didn’t have time to strip first.”
“Sometimes Catalyzing is more important. I brought my bag of clothes. I’ll need to grab it on the way back to the car.” She pulled on his shirt, surprised by the way it felt comforting somehow. The same way his hand felt as he led her back along the property line. Though part of her wanted to pull away, because she didn’t need him to guide her, the other part liked the feel of his hand wrapped tightly around hers.
And that was not a good thing.
Chapter 11
Ferro was sound asleep when he heard a commotion. The front door slammed shut, echoing in the foyer. Loud footsteps plodded across the marble floor. Dragon footsteps. It was probably Onyx. He took no chances, Catalyzing and stalking down the wide hallways he’d designed so he could manage them in Dragon form.
“Ferro!” She limped toward him, wincing.
Like the time she’d come to him so many years ago, injured and in need of him. She was the first being who had touched his heart. The only one. Funny, in his whole long life he’d always suspected others of getting close to him because they wanted something from him. Onyx had wanted something, too—his protection. For some reason he had accommodated her, and they’d grown very close these past years. He wasn’t sure if he loved her. Wasn’t sure what love was. But the thought of her dying struck fear in his soul.
He held her upright. “What happened?”
He saw at least part of the problem, a line seared across the top of her head, as though a blowtorch had been used in an attempt to cut her in half. He eased her gently to the floor. “A Dragon didn’t do this.” It was too sharply defined for a Dragon’s breath. “Let me Breathe into you.”
Dragons could heal faster and better when in their beast form, but Onyx needed some help. He sent his healing Breath into her, as he’d done that day she’d come to him. It bothered him on another level, her getting hurt like this. She had amassed so much power. Too much, but she would be handing much of it off soon.
Her shallow panting breaths calmed. He was dying of curiosity, yet he waited patiently for her to heal.
After a while, she struggled to sit up. “I had Paul Slade right where I wanted him,” she said in a weak voice. “I think I killed him but I didn’t get to Breathe him. Violet Castanega ambushed me.” She spewed the name as though she were spitting out poison. “And one of your Vegas. A Deuce.”
Violet. He knew she’d be trouble. She shouldn’t even be alive. If Kade had only— The rest of what she’d said hit him. “A Vega? Are you sure?”
“I saw the V on his arm. And he was skilled, tried to taser me.”
His chest felt heavy. “They were fighting…together?”
“Yes, definitely. I couldn’t believe it. First, that she was there and seemed to know I would be there. They were ready for me.”
He thought back to when the chit had been in his office, looking at the map. Had she deduced what the pins meant? She’d figured out there was something going on beyond restless Fringers. And Kade, he’d been questioning the order to kill her right from the beginning. Putting Ferro off, making excuses. Still, he hoped. “Describe him.”
“Six-two, very fit, dark blond hair. Square chin with a cleft in it.”
“Kade Kavanaugh.” The name grated off his tongue.
“Wasn’t he the one whose father tried to break out a prisoner twenty years ago?”
“Yes. Can reckless infatuation be inherited?”
Stewart Kavanaugh had been anything but reckless though. Other than defending his son’s rash actions and pushing his opinions in general, Stewart was the epitome of a stellar member of the Crescent government. Ferro didn’t know much about the situation, only that the prisoner made serious allegations against a member of the Concilium. Shortly after, she succumbed to the mental illness from which she clearly suffered. Ferro suspected there was more to it, but it wasn’t his concern.
“Rest, dear. I’ve got to go into Headquarters. I’ll be back.”
“I want to kill her.” Venom saturated her voice. “I deserve to kill her.”
“You need to recuperate. You’re too invested in her death. That’s probably what threw you off.”
“Being ambushed is what threw me off.”
“That may have been my fault. I didn’t think anyone would bother with the map. I should have kept it here or hidden. I will remedy that tonight. And you will rest.”
People obeyed his commands, even if they didn’t want to. He’d worked long and hard to gain that kind of authority. So why hadn’t Kade obeyed him? Ferro should have given this assignment to another Vega the moment Kade questioned the order. Questioned him, by damn. Kade was good, and it was his history with the Castanegas that should have ensured his quick and lethal follow-through. How had Violet Castanega weakened him? She was attractive, but surely that wouldn’t sway a Vega like Kade. Any Vega, really.
Kade would have to die, too. But Ferro had one resource to try first.
Mia headed into the Guard’s headquarters two hours before her shift. Her mouth felt like cotton, her heart like a tight little ball in her chest. Ferro had summoned her with nary an explanation, other than it had something to do with Kade. She was terrified at what he was going to tell her.
If Kade were injured, Ferro would have directed her to the Mundane hospital or the unit housed in Headquarters where magick could be used freely. She’d nixed that possibility. Which left…
He’s not dead. No, don’t even think it.
She walked through the main room, as busy as always. Crescents were more active—and troublesome—at night, when they thought they could get away with it. Those who were assigned to the night shift were more seasoned Arguses. They were the ones waiting for a Vega to retire…or die.
No, don’t think that.
Ferro’s door was closed as usual. The guy gave her the creeps. She wanted to think it wasn’t because he was Dragon. Though they all had an inborn prejudice, you couldn’t afford to indulge it when your life depended on a partner who might be a different type of Crescent than you.
“Come in,” he said in a flat voice when she knocked on the door.
She took in his face, desperately searching for an expression of pity. “Is Kade all right?” she blurted out because she saw nothing and couldn’t wait another second.
“That’s what I want you to find out.” He gestured for her to sit. “Do you know what happened to your father?”
She blinked at the totally unexpected question. “I know a woman escaped the psych ward and killed him.” Even during her stint working there, none of the old-timers would talk about what happened.
<
br /> Ferro picked up a silver pen, regarding her thoughtfully. “It didn’t happen quite like that. I probably shouldn’t be the one to enlighten you.”
“No, tell me. I always knew there was more to the story.” Kade had never elaborated, and Mia had to admit that she was afraid to ask. It had to be something horrible and bloody and gory, and her dear brother was protecting her from it. But she was an Argus now, grown up and tough. Well, mostly tough.
He nodded, flipping the pen with the fingers of one hand. “A woman came in making all kinds of crazy accusations against one of the Concilium members. She was clearly delusional, perhaps schizophrenic. We locked her in the psych ward for her own safety. Of course, we investigated her allegations, as we are obligated to do, but they were unfounded. We realized she was a danger to herself, possibly others, and restrained her with the hopes of helping her. Unfortunately, she got worse.
“Your father went to see her. We don’t know why, as we could find no prior connection between them. He visited her several times, and then he tried to break her out. The woman didn’t kill him; one of our Vegas did when your father wouldn’t halt.” He flipped the pen over and over, pinning her with his cold stare.
She buried her shock and disbelief. Her throat was so dry she could barely push out the words. “Are you saying he fell so terribly in love with this woman that he threw away his career, his marriage—and ultimately his life—for her?”
“We don’t know what he was thinking, only the end result. They say love can blind us, can make us crazy. Perhaps this was the case. I’m sorry that I had to be the one to tell you.”
Her father, in love with a crazy woman? It didn’t make sense. She only had vague memories of her parents, stoic and serious people. Kade had told her how highly regarded her father was, how he’d risen from Argus to Vega to commander and then on to the Concilium. One of them was lying to her.
It hit her then that Ferro was telling her this awful story for a reason. One that was connected to Kade. She swallowed the knot in her throat. “Why are you telling me?”
