by Jadyn Chase
I burst out laughing in sudden relief. “It’s phenomenal.”
“That’s what living in the woods does to a hog. Hogs and pigs weren’t designed to live in pens. They need to roam the woods and eat all kinds of mushrooms and acorns and rotten meat and a bunch of other disgusting stuff. That’s what makes the meat taste so good.”
I snorted with laughter, now that tension diffused between us. “Fantastic.”
He pointed behind us. “See that? That’s the Ridge. That’s Kelly territory.”
I gazed up the Ridge to a dark mass of hills and valleys all twisted in complicated convolutions of terrain. It exuded mystery and secrets. “And you were born and raised there?”
“Yep.”
“I’d love to see it someday,” I told him. “It looks so inviting and interesting.”
“You can see it right now if you want to.” He grabbed his crutches and braced his arms against the rock.
“Not now!” I seized his arm and yanked him back down. “You’re not going anywhere, Mister. I won’t be responsible for you straining yourself more than you already have.”
He beamed at me and his eyes twinkled. “Maybe another time, then.”
I settled back down. “I would love that.”
He leaned toward me and bumped me with his shoulder. He mimicked the movement I used a few minutes before. Somehow it became so natural that we should touch each other like this, in the most intimate but casual way.
Every time he looked at me, that infectious smile of his insinuated itself into my heart and soul. The danger and the ongoing threat of the Lynches couldn’t dampen the easy camaraderie between us. Not even his injuries and the pain that kept flickering across his face diminished the friendly atmosphere we shared.
When did I ever feel this way about anybody? I couldn’t remember a time in my life when danger and threat and violence didn’t darken my world. When I looked back on my life at home with my family, horror and black despair clouded the years as far back as I could remember.
Now, today, for the first time, the sun broke through the clouds. I could see as far as the distant horizon. The woods and ridges and mountains invited me to explore them, to discover all the hidden intricacies of life in this wilderness. I faced the future with a modicum of hope, and I had Kylen to thank for that.
A curious silence settled over us. We didn’t talk much for the rest of the picnic. We ate our sandwiches and admired the countryside. A pungent breeze blew over the forest and whispered its enigmas into my brain.
I shared this moment with Kylen, and that moment of togetherness and peace made me profoundly grateful to him. I never would have experienced this if he hadn’t gone to so much trouble to create it for me. He crafted it and planned it. He executed it, and he sacrificed himself to make it a priceless gift to me.
I stole sidelong glances at him. Did he understand? Did he have any clue what he did for me? I could never go back to my old life of dread and restless anxiety. Was it only a few hours ago that I dragged my weary steps through that dim nightmare?
Kylen set the bar high. From this day forth, I would never be able to settle for anything less. Anybody with whom I spent my time would have to meet that standard. Life wasn’t worth anything less.
We watched the sun glide toward the west. The landscape turned cool, and goosebumps burst out on my skin. He broke the silence at last. “If you don’t want to hike around and explore, we might as well go back to town.”
“I do want to. I just don’t want you to overexert yourself. We can save it for another time.”
“All right.” He picked up his crutches, and we fell back into the same comfortable silence.
The trip down took just as long as the trip up, if not longer. Kylen had to stop more often. His expression showed more signs of fatigue and pain. When he halted to lift his cast over fallen trees, he paused to catch his breath. The very act of lifting his cast required all his strength.
By the time we got to town, the easy smile vanished off his face. He hardened his features in grim determination. He locked his eyes on his destination, set his teeth, and swung himself along the sidewalk without looking left or right.
He stopped at the foot of the stairs leading up to my room. He cast a wary glance up them. Then he looked away. “You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t walk you to the door. I just don’t think I can face it.”
“That’s all right,” I murmured back. “You pushed yourself way too hard today. You need to sit down and rest for a while.”
He nodded looking around town, but he didn’t answer.
“Do you have a ride home?” I asked. “Please tell me you don’t plan to walk there on your crutches.”
He did his best to smile. “No, Liam’s picking me up in front of the bar in half an hour.”
“I’ll wait down here with you,” I told him.
His eyebrows jumped together. “Are you sure? You don’t have to.”
“I want to.”
“All right. Come on, then.” He led the way to the front of the bar, where he cast a look up and down the street. “I’m sorry this date didn’t turn out the way you hoped.”
“It did,” I exclaimed. “It turned out better than I ever imagined.”
He turned to face me. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. It was the best date I ever went on. It was so much more than I hoped.”
His lips twitched, but they fell short of breaking into that heartfelt smile. A question passed across his face, and his eyes skipped down to my lips. When he came back to my eyes, he opened his mouth once before he mustered the courage to speak. “I really want to kiss you right now, but I don’t want to step on your toes.”
A sudden flush of alarm shot through me. I stiffened. The next minute, it drained away into that blessed relaxation he inspired in me whenever I spent any time with him. I really wanted him to kiss me, too. I wanted our relationship to step up to the next level of intensity. I just didn’t realize it until he said the words.
If I was going to kiss someone, I couldn’t think of anyone I would rather kiss than him. He deserved it, but more than that, I craved it. I wanted to kiss him that first night I met him at the Watering Hole. I just never admitted it. I was too busy protecting myself against everything else that happened.
All the tension trickled down my body and out through the soles of my shoes. I raised my face to his. “I really want you to kiss me right now.”
I didn’t wait for him to do it. I eased up close to him and lifted my lips to his mouth. A subtle hint of fruity sweetness filled my mind at the touch of his lips. I never thought a simple kiss could be special—not like that.
Everyone I ever saw kiss on TV or in films kept their eyes closed, but I couldn’t do that. My eyes stayed fixed open and watching him. He kept his eyes open, too. In those watery pools, I saw him glowing golden and angelic.
His hair, his skin, his eyes, and his lips all came together to create a vision of perfection. I couldn’t look away. My whole being melted. I wanted to kiss his body with my body. I wanted to fall into a soft, liquid bed of that immaculate pleasure.
A loud pop startled me back, and my eyes flew open to find him staring over my shoulder behind me. The blissful softness turned hard and cold, and his eyes flashed with hatred.
Icy terror seized my heart at the sight, but before I could move, he straightened his arm and pushed me behind him. He swiveled on his crutches to face the street as a shiny red pickup truck barreled down the street and parked right in front of us. Two men got out, and my heart sank when I recognized Everett Lynch and his brother Terence.
6
Kylen
That kiss electrified me in a way I never thought possible. I kissed Hannah, and I didn’t just kiss her. She said she wanted to kiss me as much as I wanted to kiss her. She felt the same way about me that I felt about her.
Well, maybe she didn’t feel the same way, but she certainly kissed me like she did. Those lips spoke volumes to me
. I could never let anyone come between her and me ever again.
If I felt protective of her before, that kiss sealed the deal. I rounded on Everett ready to throttle him into the next county. Broken leg? Busted ribs? What did I care about any of that? He wasn’t getting anywhere near her as long as I could stand.
He and Terence got out of their truck with everlasting slowness. Everett put his hand into the cab and pulled out a shotgun. He propped it on his shoulder and sauntered toward me. His wicked pig eyes skipped sideways to Hannah before he came back to glaring at me.
“You just don’t learn, do you, boy?” He moved his tongue back and forth behind his teeth. “I told you this is our town. You Kelly’s don’t belong down here anymore.”
I braced myself for a showdown to end all showdowns. He knew he weakened me the other night. I couldn’t stand up to him in a real, knock-down-drag-out fight, not with a broken leg and a few broken ribs.
He had another advantage over me, too. He knew I wouldn’t fight in Norton. The Kelly’s honored the neutrality agreement, but the Lynches wouldn’t bother to honor it. He didn’t care if he shifted in town or not. He didn’t give a rip if the townspeople saw him.
He knew I would either back down or run away before it came to a full-blown dragon battle. I did it once before, and I would do it again.
He didn’t know one thing, though. He didn’t know Hannah kissed me. He might have gotten me on the ropes before, but no longer. She stood right behind me, and her delicious kiss still lingered on my lips. It gave me superhuman strength, but it also gave me superhuman clarity.
Everett would count on me running or backing down. I still had one ace in the hole, and that was the element of surprise. I could get him to run or back down by surprising him with the unexpected.
The whole situation exploded in my mind like a thousand rockets going off. I didn’t even bother to look around to see if anyone was watching. Hannah stood right behind me. I no longer cared if she saw, either. If I ever entertained any hope of winning her heart, she better see right now and get it over with.
I drew in a ragged breath. Here went nothing. “You better go back to your uncles and your Daddy and check if the Lynches own this town. You better tell them to talk to my Pop. If he tells me Norton belongs to the Lynches, I’ll be the first to walk away.”
Everett snorted. “I don’t have to talk to my Daddy or my uncles. I know it and you know it, so get along home to your Mama where you belong.”
An evil grin twisted up the corners of my mouth. I never took my eyes off him, but I sensed his attention drifting toward Hannah. This wasn’t about Norton at all. He wanted her. He wanted to get rid of me to get access to her.
The thought enraged me more than anything. I sized up him and Terence with new malice. I would destroy them both before I let them anywhere near her.
Everett sidled an inch closer to me. He slung his shotgun off his shoulder and jabbed it into my chest. “I said skedaddle, boy. I won’t say it again.”
I looked down at the gun. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Terence lower his gun into his hands. He held it ready for the inevitable clash. With the same flawless clarity, I watched Everett’s knuckles whiten against the trigger.
I gave myself the command to shift. At the same instant, the gun went off. An unholy blast of fire hit me in the chest just as my scales covered my sternum. Buckshot and exploding gunpowder pounded my shattered ribs, but my scales deflected it from penetrating my skin.
The impact bowled me backward. I fell into Hannah and she screamed in my ear, but I was already too far gone to care. The heat of battle infected my brain. I bounced off the building wall and shot at Everett so fast he never saw me coming.
In one ripple of movement, I shed my human skin. My dragon neck shot out, and my teeth snapped the gun out of his hands. He and Terence staggered to get out of the way. They never expected any Kelly to shift in the streets of Norton. Why should they? That would break the neutrality agreement.
Desperate times called for desperate measures. If I didn’t put these rats in their place now, they would get so uppity they would never behave themselves again.
I spat out the broken pieces of the shotgun and lunged at the two men. The pain searing up my leg only infuriated me against them. I streaked at Everett ready to tear him limb from limb.
The brothers reacted late, but when they did, they reacted in spades. I knew it would come to this, but I never really allowed myself to comprehend the consequences of throwing the neutrality agreement out the window.
They both shifted at the same moment. Everett erupted out of his skin and rose up tall and terrible. He stretched bigger and longer than I did. In a fraction of a second, he towered above my head with his red eyes narrowed on me. Terence had to sidestep to make room for both of them.
I didn’t stop to think. I dove, first at Everett, then at Terence. I snapped right and left. I didn’t care who I hit. I saw blood, and it obliterated every other thought. I pounced between them. Another jolt of pain shot up my leg. I roared my rage to anyone who would listen, but I didn’t stop. The madder I got, the more my injuries hurt. The more they hurt, the more they drove me into wild rage.
When I rounded on Terence, Everett darted in. He clapped his jaws and tore the skin across my shoulder. I spun around to face him and ejected a torrent of flame into his face. Terence pelted me with his own fire from the other side.
I used up the element of surprise. I couldn’t stand up to them both, now that it was gone. When I swiveled to defend myself against Terence, Everett lowered his head to the ground and slithered in under my wing. His neck uncoiled, and his teeth met around my crippled leg.
With a lethal jerk, he yanked my leg out from under me. I shrieked in agony, but he shook me hard and toppled me to the ground. I floundered to get my other limbs working, but Terence attacked my other side. He jumped on top of me and pummeled me with his wings.
I let rip my fire again. I didn’t bother to aim it. I didn’t even check to see if Hannah or any of the townsfolk saw me. I could only think one thing: stay alive. Get out of this at all costs. Nothing else mattered.
The neutrality agreement didn’t mean a thing if a man couldn’t walk down the street in peace. The agreement to keep Norton neutral to both Clans meant diddley squat if the Lynches wouldn’t honor it, so why should I?
The brothers crowded on top of me. They drove me into the ground until I couldn’t move no matter how hard I tried. Sinking dread turned to sparkling insight in my mind. I crouched under their massive combined weight.
Their wingbeats and lashing tails slowed. They broke off their assault, but they remained stiff and watchful for me to retaliate. I let myself go still to rally my strength. I would have one chance to get this right.
Everett growled deep in his chest. He took a step sideways, and I struck. I reared up with all my might and cut him across the eye with my corner tooth. I didn’t think I would do as much damage as I did, but I caught the loose wrinkle at the outer edge of his eyelid. The skin tore, and blood spattered my face.
He bellowed to High Heaven, and I took the opportunity to leap up. I surprised them again and bowled Terence off. In a flat second, I made it to my feet and staggered away to wheel around and face them once again.
Even then, I knew I couldn’t win. My leg hurt too bad to stand on, and I could barely breathe with my ribs smarting. I played my last card with that little stunt, and they both knew it.
They rotated around and narrowed their eyes at me. They advanced and snarled in unison. I couldn’t even back up to get away from them. I glanced right and left. Hannah was gone, of course, and I didn’t even notice until that moment.
My heart sank. At least I wouldn’t have to live long enough to face her after this screw-up. I didn’t like the thought of facing my Pop, either, but I didn’t have to. Everett and Terence would finish me off, and then the Clans would go to war across Smokey Mountain the way they always did after a mess like this.
The two dragons came together shoulder to shoulder in front of me. They concentrated all their attention on me. My head spun in pain. My eyelids started to drift closed. No need to watch the end approaching.
At that moment, a rush of wind blasted my face, and a large red dragon descended out of nowhere. It landed between the Lynch brothers and me and screeched in their faces. Everett took a step back and his head whipped away in alarm.
The red dragon inched toward me until we stood side by side. My heart exploded in relief. The sight of him gave me a rush of courage and hope. I pulled myself up and snapped my jaws at Terrence.
With the two of us ready to fight, the Lynches backed off. It took them a few minutes to fully disengage. Then Everett dropped. He pulled his neck in, and his limbs shrank into his body. He dwindled to a man again and scowled at us.
His lips trembled in fury, and his teeth showed against his red gums. He slapped his brother in the shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
Terence shrieked once, and then he shifted, too. In a few seconds, he took the form of a man and they retreated toward their truck. They got in and Everett slammed the door.
I stayed where I was, still quaking in pain until they drove away in a cloud of smoke and dust. The next instant, the red dragon wilted before my eyes. My brother Liam turned around to study me.
He waited, but I couldn’t shift. I clutched my broken leg against my body. My whole being shuddered in pain. I didn’t feel it until the Lynches left. Now I couldn’t calm down. I couldn’t focus enough to shift back.
Liam cast a wary glance over his shoulder. A couple of people stood across the street and gaped at us in horror from the opposite sidewalk. When he turned around, his expression changed from annoyance to concern.
He peered up at me with his head on one side. “Are you okay, man? You’re bleeding.”
I did my best to concentrate, but pain erased every conscious thought. I had to hold myself alert against this pain, or it would destroy me.
He looked around again. “All right, man. Stay here a second.”
