Never Dare a Dragon

by Ashlyn Chase

  He wants to see me again. Yay!

  “I know you have a dentist appointment, but I was wondering if you were free for lunch. We can get sticky buns and destroy all your hygienist’s hard work.”

  She loved his sense of humor. Just the right amount of irreverence. “I’m going to tell her you said that.”

  “And get me in trouble with the ADA? You wouldn’t.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. You’re probably already walking a fine line with them for not flossing.”

  “So where and when do you want to meet?”

  She wanted to say “Right here, right now,” but that would sound desperate. “How about if I call you when I’m done?”

  “That works.”

  “Same number you just called me with?”

  “Yup. Or I could just go with you…”

  “Huh?” Now who’s sounding desperate?

  “Turn around.”

  Kristine halted and whirled around. Another pedestrian on his cell phone almost walked right into her. He mumbled some profanity, then swerved around her. About twenty feet behind him a familiar tall, dark, and smirking guy sauntered up to her.

  “Were you following me?”

  “Nope. I was heading toward the TV studio and recognized you as you were crossing the street two blocks back.”

  She didn’t know how to feel about this “coincidence.” If he had been following her around, that would be a little creepy.

  He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I figured I’d see if I could get two tickets.”

  They resumed walking at the city clip they both seemed used to. The explanation sounded reasonable. But… “Why didn’t you just call and ask them?”

  “I did. They said first come, first served. I was going to call you when I got there and ask if you were interested. Then I saw you and thought I’d have a bit of fun.”

  “You’re all about having fun, aren’t you?” She didn’t mean to sound so judgmental.

  He shrugged. “Firefighters work hard, so we should play hard too. The more fun we can have during our time off, the better.”

  “Like what we did last night? That kind of fun?”

  “Ha! I wasn’t talking about that. Like I said, I’m picky.”

  She was relieved to hear he wasn’t bed-hopping. “So, what else do you do for fun?”

  “I own a fishing boat. My brothers and some of the guys I work with enjoy fishing. We don’t go after the big fish. We’re not equipped to land swordfish or tuna or anything like that…mostly mackerel, but there’s nothing like being on the water on a nice summer day.”

  The subway entrance loomed ahead. “I’m getting on the subway here,” Kristine said.

  He slipped his arm around her waist and swooped in for another kiss…this one a toe-curling, tongue-seeking, hot lip-lock.

  “Whew.” She stepped back and shook her head to clear the daze. “I’ll tell my hygienist to hurry.”

  * * *

  Jayce was glad he went early to pick up the tickets. They were almost out. Kristine had called to say she wanted to stop at home before going for sticky buns—or possibly a salad.

  His phone rang, and he was happy to hear the ringtone he had already programmed in for Kristine: “Too Hot.”

  “Hey, hot stuff. You ready?”

  “Um… Actually I have to cancel. I’m really sorry.”

  What? “Cancel? Did I freak you out this morning? Running into you really was a coincidence.”

  “Oh, yeah. I know that.”

  But maybe she didn’t believe it. Rather than jumping to conclusions, he asked, “Then why?”

  “I—it’s my mother.”

  “Is she sick?”

  “I can’t talk right now.”

  “Okay. I can tell something has you upset. I’m here for you if you need me.”

  “Maybe it would be better if you just spend the rest of your vacation doing the tourist thing. Then just go home and forget about me. We knew a long-distance relationship wouldn’t work anyway—”

  “Whoa. You’re not making sense. We agreed to try it. Something is very wrong. Tell me what’s going on.”

  “I can’t.” Her voice wobbled. Then the call disconnected.

  “Shit!” He cursed out loud and then glanced at the pedestrians within earshot. No one even blinked.

  How could he pretend he hadn’t heard the desperation in her voice? He’d go to her apartment and demand to know what had her so spooked—but he didn’t know where she lived. He didn’t want to ask her firefighter buddies in case she already thought he was a stalker. He tried the Internet, hoping some information might lead him in the right direction. There was nothing. What the hell could he do?

  A little rule-breaking might be in order.

  He jogged to a nearby parking garage and made sure he wasn’t being observed and there were no cameras to record his actions. Then he stripped, stashed his clothes behind a large cardboard box, and shifted into his phoenix form. His tail feathers were too colorful to be ignored, even in New York, so he found a pile of dirt and rolled in it. Fortunately, if he needed to refresh his camouflage, there was no shortage of it.

  Now that he was less ostentatious, he flew to the Hell’s Kitchen firehouse. Kristine lived somewhere in the area. He could scope out the neighborhood from above, hoping to spot his beautiful redheaded firefighter coming out of an apartment building. If nothing else, she was due back to work in a couple of days.

  A couple of days. If he had been able to groan in phoenix form, he would have. He’d age like a regular bird. Three days in a bird’s life was approximately one year in a human’s. However, with a lot of flying, the aging process ramped up even more. At the moment, he was willing to age two or more years if it took all week to find her. Something was drastically wrong, and he had to know what was frightening her.

  He flapped his powerful wings, gliding on the wind. He only hoped that when he finally found her, he wasn’t too late.

  * * *

  Kristine lowered herself onto the couch with a thud. How long had that note been on the floor? She tried to remember the last time she saw her mother. Had she knocked the paper off the sofa table when she tossed her clutch there?

  “I was getting ready for my date last night, and she seemed fine then,” Kristine mumbled. “I was gone for about five hours…”

  Remembering how she’d thought she was lucky to have dodged her mother’s questions around midnight, she wondered if her mother had even been in the apartment. Right now she’d give anything to see her mother—even if she wanted to know every last detail of her date.

  Kristine focused on the note in her shaking hand.

  We have your mother. Do not call the police. Your mother will be okay as long as you don’t do anything stupid. We don’t want your money. Just a favor only you can do. Wait for our call.

  Had they already called while she was out at the dentist—or flirting with her new boyfriend? Would they think she was being uncooperative, not answering the landline when they called or, worse, doing something “stupid” like having the police set up recording equipment and wiretaps?

  “Oh God!” Kristine dropped her head in her hands and began to cry. “I don’t know what to do.”

  Suddenly the phone rang. She grabbed the receiver sitting next to her and said a rushed “Hello.”

  “Are you alone?” a male voice asked. She suspected the caller was speaking through one of those voice modulators.

  “Yes,” she answered.

  The voice, sounding like it was coming from underwater, asked, “Have you called anyone? Spoken to anyone?”

  “No.”

  “Are you sure? The line was busy a few minutes ago.”

  “I had to cancel an appointment.”

  “So you did talk to someone. You lied.”


  “No! I didn’t mean to lie. I just thought it wasn’t important. I didn’t say anything about the note to anybody. I swear.”

  The phone call ended abruptly.

  Her hand flew to her mouth. What have I done? What if I just caused them to hurt my mother?

  She was worried enough already. If she knew Amy Scott, she’d be wailing and throwing herself on the floor. Icy chills traveled down her spine as she realized no kidnappers would put up with that. Her mother must be bound and gagged.

  Kristine wanted to wail and throw herself on the floor too. But she had to keep it together.

  The phone rang again. She grabbed it.

  “Did you learn your lesson?” the odd voice asked.

  “You’d better not have hurt my mother!”

  “She’s still alive. Not happy at the moment, but alive.”

  Dear God. If she’s giving them a lot of drama, Lord knows what they’ll do to her. “Let me talk to her,” Kristine demanded.

  “Certainly. After you’ve done what we ask you to do, you can talk to her all you like.”

  She wanted to yell “No. Now!” But she took a deep breath and tried to sound logical. “How do I even know you have her?”

  “You don’t.”

  “Then why should I do…whatever it is you want me to do? What is it, by the way?”

  “As a firefighter, you have access to many businesses in the area.”

  She had a sinking feeling but didn’t dare lie again. “Yeah…”

  “We simply need you to retrieve something from one office building after hours.”

  “I could lose my job!”

  “Or you could lose your mother. Your choice.”

  Dear Lord… “You know it’s not going to be easy to do that without getting caught, right? Most places have cameras.”

  “Well, that’s where your special skills come into play. We not only know who you are, we know what you are,” he said in an ominous tone.

  His implication stopped her words in her throat. Was he talking about her being a dragon shifter? How could he possibly know that?

  “I—uh…I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

  “Smart girl. You didn’t try to deny that you’re fairly unique. Not exactly one of a kind, but probably one of a tiny handful—your mother being one too.”

  Oh crap. He knows our secret, but how? Her mother was the one who impressed upon her the need to keep their supernatural natures absolutely private. She wouldn’t have told anyone—unless maybe under torture…

  “I demand to speak to my mother. Right fuckin’ now!”

  “Oh, you want Mommy’s permission to talk about your powers?”

  “Kind of, yeah.”

  “Okay. We’ll put her on the phone, but only for a second. Not long enough to exchange any secret signals or anything.”

  Secret signals? “What does that mean? We don’t have any secret signals.”

  “That’s good. You won’t be chatting long enough to use them anyway.”

  Kristine had heard of family members who’d picked a code word to indicate they were in trouble and to follow certain previously agreed-upon instructions. Such tactics were usually used with little kids. Right now she wished she and her mother had some kind of code in place. They’d have to set something up later, if her mother came home.

  “Honey?” Her mother’s voice came over the phone.

  “Mom? Are you all right?”

  “I’m okay,” she said, her voice trembling. “Do whatever they say. I’m afraid they’ll—”

  Then the monster who had her mother came back on the phone. “See? She’s okay…for now. We’re watching your place. If we see cops or any kind of monitoring equipment entering the building, she’s toast.”

  “But what if they’re here for someone else? There are a dozen apartments in the building!”

  “Not my problem.” He ended the call.

  Kristine slid to the floor and cried her eyes out.

  Chapter 4

  Jayce had spent the better part of the day flying over and searching Hell’s Kitchen. His vision was sharp, even at night, and he had no plans to quit. The only reason he’d have to pause, and only briefly, would be to grab a bite to eat. Rat wasn’t his favorite meal, but he’d spotted some scurrying down a side street. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to resort to that.

  As he was thinking about his empty stomach, he caught a break. Kristine exited a building on Eleventh Avenue. It wasn’t a pretty area, but it was certainly convenient to the places she and her mother frequented. Kristine had told him that her mother was now an acting coach at an acting school on Ninth Avenue. Kristine was a firefighter on Eighth. Did her mother need her rent that badly?

  As he followed Kristine from above, he thought about how her neighborhood compared to his refurbished condo in gentrified Charlestown. It was on the river, and even though it was a ground-floor unit, he had access to a deck and a great view. He could walk to his firehouse on Beacon Hill. Granted, it was a longer walk than hers…

  Speaking of walking, where was she going?

  She was making impressive progress, walking at a good clip and heading toward Times Square. Then she cut over to Madison Avenue. Stopping in front of a tall building that could house anything from businesses to apartments, probably both, she eyed it carefully.

  She also peered up and down the street, searching for who knows what. Then she walked around the nearest corner and eventually studied the same block from the back. What could she be looking for?

  Jayce continued to circle high above her but not high enough to escape notice. Through a ninth-story window, someone pointed to him and ran off for a moment, only to reappear with binoculars. He flew higher and checked his tail feathers in another window. Sure enough, the dirt was mostly gone, and his bright-yellow and red tail feathers were peeking through.

  He headed for the roof and found some grime to roll around in. Hoping he hadn’t lost Kristine, he hopped onto the edge and peered over. She seemed to be heading home.

  Now that he knew which building was hers, he could shift quickly, redress, and hopefully find an apartment labeled “Scott.” Although, if her mother was an actress, she might not go by her real name. He’d just have to follow Kristine as closely as he could without getting caught. Maybe a light would go on in one of the units and he’d spot her inside.

  He knew he was grasping at straws, but at this point he’d do whatever it took to locate her place and get her to let him in. Then he landed near the cardboard box where he’d left his clothes…only there was no cardboard box. Or clothes!

  Shit!

  * * *

  Kristine had returned to her apartment and was beginning to cook dinner by rote habit. She wasn’t particularly hungry. As she ruminated over her mother’s and her situation for the hundredth time, a knock at her door interrupted her thoughts. “Who the hell could that be?” she muttered.

  Realizing it must be a neighbor since no one buzzed from the outside, she wiped her hands on a towel and strolled to the peephole. When she saw Jayce standing there, she almost dropped the towel.

  How did he… Mixed feelings swamped her. On the one hand she was angry he hadn’t listened to her and left her alone to deal with her problems. On the other hand, she was glad he hadn’t listened and badly needed him to hold her and tell her everything would be all right.

  After a few seconds of hesitation, she opened the door. He probably wouldn’t go away if she didn’t at least talk to him. Just as she was about to ask him what he was doing there, she took a good look at him and gasped. He was wearing a pink sweat suit several sizes too small. His face was smudged with dirt, and his hair stood on end. “What happened to you?”

  He glanced down at himself and casually asked, “What? You don’t like my new look?”

  She grabbed his arm and
yanked him toward her. “Get inside before anyone sees you.” After slamming the door shut, she stared at him.

  He looked like he was trying to suppress a smile. “I was going to tell you I lost a bet, but I really do want to be honest with you. I had a slight accident.”

  “An accident?” Her anger fled, quickly replaced by concern. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. But I was worried about you and may have been distracted. Are you all right?”

  “Yeah. I—I’m fine.”

  “Sure you are…” His sarcasm was hard to miss.

  As she was about to argue, her phone rang. This time it was her cell phone. “Hello.”

  The underwater voice said, “I trust you came up with a plan…” Her mother must have given them her cell phone number. Maybe that was a good thing and meant her mother was still alive.

  How the hell did they know I was finished scoping out the place? Oh yeah… They’re watching me. She glanced at Jayce, took a deep fortifying breath, and willed herself to stay calm. “It’s possible, but it’s not going to be easy.”

  “If it were easy, we’d do it ourselves.”

  How could she make them understand how tricky it would be? “Look, by ‘not easy,’ I mean there are many, many things that could go wrong.”

  “Like?”

  Shit. How could she talk to them without Jayce figuring out what was going on? Her hesitation left her caller to fill in the blanks.

  “Are you thinking you might be seen by people or by cameras?”

  “Uh—both, and if anyone is carrying a phone—”

  “But there are no security cameras on or pointed at the building?”

  “N—not that I could see…”

  Jayce tipped his head, and she knew he was listening to her side of the conversation. Before he could overhear the other voice, she strode away and put the couch between them.

  “You sound nervous. Is anyone else there?”

  “No!”

  “I don’t believe you. Hang up. I’ll call back on Skype and have you pan the room.”

  “Ah. Okay…” She disconnected the call and told Jayce in a hurried voice, “You have to leave.”