The Fire of the Dragon's Heart: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Fantasy Romance (Harem of Fire Book 4)

by Willa Hart

  “Well, shit,” Ryen said, half-laughing. “That was anticlimactic, wasn’t it? Maybe we should torch a wall or something so we don’t waste this badass dragon vibe we’ve got going on.”

  “Pass,” Kellum said firmly, then looked to me. “Elevator or stairs?”

  Good question, and I didn’t have a clue. We’d be sitting ducks in either, if this was an ambush too, but I still wasn’t getting any kind of whisper that it was. I was about to tell him to pick when the soft ding of the elevator caused every last one of us to tense.

  Once again, my guys shuffled formation so they were facing the elevator while Tamar and I were smashed against the wall. Danic grew about three inches as his dragon came close to the surface, and the rest weren’t too far behind. The elevator doors slid open and I prepared myself to face horrors unknown.

  Flickering fluorescents cast an eerie pall on the two figures inside the lift. One was clearly a man, standing well over six feet tall. When he stepped into the light, something about him seemed familiar. I got a glimpse of his dark hair, olive skin and intelligent brown eyes. A dusting of scruff lined his defined jaw and a smile played on his lips. His arm was draped around the shoulders of a smaller figure.

  It took what felt like hours for my brain to process the scene. The dark-haired man smiled down at the petite woman next to him. The woman beamed up at him with absolute adoration in her bright green eyes, her dark brown ringlets bobbing cheerily as they stepped out of the elevator. Then my jaw fell to the floor.

  “Zoe?” I gasped, pushing my way to the front of our little cluster.

  She managed to drag her gaze away from the man and focused on us. Her eyes grew wide and her smile even wider.

  “Oh, hi guys!”

  Chapter 17

  In the time it took the elevator doors to slide closed behind them, the little lobby erupted into a frenzy of shouts and motion. Time slowed and expanded, allowing me to notice far too many details as they happened at once.

  The guard’s gaze jerked away from her and finally noticed the herd of angry dragons blocking their only escape route. Zoe’s happy smile faltered when she clocked the aggressive postures of my mates, and I saw the moment she realized she might be in danger. Why hadn’t there been fear in her eyes a moment ago?

  Danic and Ash dashed toward the pair, and Zoe’s guard shoved her behind him, his body growing larger before I could even blink. Kellum and Ryen spread the line of attack until the guard had backed Zoe into a corner behind him, his arms spread wide. Hale hung back, blocking me as much as he could.

  My heart hammered away as four of my boys advanced on them, their sole purpose in life at that moment to rescue Zoe. I knew they’d stop at nothing. The guard seemed to sense that as well because he snorted fire and growled deeper than any human could. But there was only one of him and five of them, plus Tamar. And if he harmed so much as a freckle on Zoe, he’d have to answer to me.

  Danic looked more dragon than human when he lunged for the guard, but before he could snap his elongated jaws at the guy, Zoe ducked under his arm and put her body between him and Danic.

  “No! Don’t hurt him!”

  Danic was caught so off-guard that he stumbled and fell right on his ass in front of her, gawking up with his heavy maw hanging slack. Kellum, Ryen and Ash exchanged confused looks, even as Zoe held her hands out to ward them off.

  “Please, don’t hurt Sandro!” she pleaded.

  Sandro pulled his own dragon back until he looked normal, then his arms snaked around Zoe’s waist and turned his body so any incoming violence would hit him and not her. As if he was… No, it couldn’t be. Despite what it looked like, the jadokari guard was not shielding her!

  The only problem with that theory was the way they looked at each other. Zoe twisted in Sandro’s arms until their eyes met, and the look of love that passed between them filled my heart with joy. Whatever this was, it wasn’t a hostage situation, that much was clear.

  I approved of him immediately.

  “What the hell?” Ryen muttered as Zoe tore free from the guard’s hold.

  “Favor!” she cried, flinging herself into my outstretched arms.

  I caught her in a tight, frantic embrace, our bodies clinging to each other as if this was a dream we didn’t want to end. Sobs of joy and relief echoed in the little elevator lobby. I couldn’t believe it. After so long, I had my Zoe back. I never wanted to let go.

  But eventually I had to, if only for my own sanity. My hands ran all over her, checking for injuries, needing to make sure she was as healthy as she looked. She giggled and sniffled as my fingers ran through her hair, inspected every inch of her arms, skimmed her front, her back, her legs. To my shock, I didn’t find so much as a scratch anywhere on her.

  “Oh my god, Zoe, I can’t believe it. You’re really okay?” I asked through snotty sniffles, wiping my tears on my sleeve.

  Zoe beamed at me. “More than okay. I have so much to tell you, Favor.”

  Kellum stepped forward, glancing around the otherwise empty lobby. “Better get on with it then. And be quick about it.”

  “Oh,” Zoe said, looking around at everyone as if truly seeing them for the first time. “Okay, well, after that dickhead dragon picked me up and carried me off, he flew me all the way to Mexico. Yeah, you heard me right. Isn’t that cray?”

  “Did he hurt you?” I asked, rescanning every bit of flesh I could see.

  “No, not really. I mean, I was totally terrified at first. He almost dropped me a couple of times, but only because I was freaking out over how high up we were. After I calmed down a bit, I was as safe as I could be, considering I was literally in the clutches of a murderous dragon.”

  Tears spilled down my cheeks again, just when I thought I was getting control of myself. “I’m so sorry, Zoe.”

  Her chuckle was light and carefree, as if I was apologizing for spilling herbal tea on her favorite sweater. “It wasn’t your fault, Favor. But I have to admit, after I settled down and found a comfortable position, it wasn’t so bad. The wind was freezing cold that high up, but his claws made for a decent enough wind break.”

  We all stared at her like she’d just sprouted whiskers and cat ears.

  “Look, it wasn’t first-class, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. Kinda like extreme hang-gliding.”

  Sandro smiled at her from a distance but remained motionless, and for a very good reason. Danic stood facing him, his big body blocking the guard’s path toward Zoe and me.

  “How do you know he took you to Mexico?” Hale asked.

  Her face split into a grin. “Easy. All the signs were in Spanish. I suspect we were in Tijuana, or maybe Ensenada. They have the closest foreign airports. That’s when I realized they weren’t screwing around.”

  I snorted. “Oh, that’s when you realized it, not when said murderous dragon grabbed you with his claws!”

  “You know what I mean. It was dark by the time we got there, so I didn’t get a look at the town itself, just a small private airport. When we landed — no, Favor, I didn’t get hurt in the landing — we were met by four other big-ass dudes.”

  “Who?” Kellum demanded. I shot him a warning look.

  Zoe shrugged. “How the hell should I know? Dudes. Big ones. And boy, they were fifty shades of pissed when they heard they lost three of their buddies in that fight.”

  “You must have been so scared,” I said, reaching for her hand.

  She nodded and sniffed back her tears. “No joke, but they told me they wouldn’t hurt me as long as you gave them what they wanted.”

  “No that must have terrified you, knowing how stubborn Favor is,” Ryen teased.

  She smiled fondly at me and squeezed my hand, love spilling between us. “Which is exactly why I wasn’t too worried. I knew she wouldn’t stop until she found me. I had my down days, but I never gave up hope. Not really. I knew you’d come for me. A couple of times I even hallucinated that I heard you talking to me.”

 
Best to let her think that for now. Explanations about my psychic powers could come later, once the initial shock was over and she was back home, safe and sound. A person could only handle so much insanity at one time.

  “What happened next?” asked Ash.

  She blew out a puff of air and looked thoughtful. “They hustled me onto a plane or a jet. It wasn’t the smallest plane I’ve ever been on but it was fancier. And it seemed fast, even though it took for-fucking-ever to get wherever we are. Europe, right? Sure as shit isn’t Vegas.”

  I smiled because Zoe loved Las Vegas. “Romania.”

  “That’s what Sandro said.” She threw a smile over her shoulder at the handsome guard. “I still don’t understand why they went to so much trouble to hide that from me. They refused to tell me anything, and eventually stuffed a rag in my mouth. Dummies didn’t tape it up or anything, so I just spit it out, but I took the hint and shut my mouth. Oh, don’t look so surprised!”

  She gave me a little shove and my exaggerated expression of shock.

  “Anyway, they were all speaking something that sounded vaguely Russian, so it’s not like it took a genius to get a general sense of where they were taking me. I did start to freak when I figured that out though. Then they blindfolded me just before we landed, as if I’d recognize anything over here. Honestly, I’m just thrilled they kept that horrible dragon language to a minimum. That shit hurts my ears.”

  Tamar snickered, but otherwise allowed us to reunite with Zoe uninterrupted.

  “Did they move you here?” I asked, glancing around at the severity of the decor. As bad and dated as it was, the place still looked residential, not commercial as I’d thought.

  “No, I’ve been here for…what? Two weeks?”

  “Closer to three,” I said with a grimace.

  “It’s not the Ritz, let me tell you, but I suppose it could have been worse. Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally upping my therapy to five times a week as soon as we get back to L.A. but other than saying rude things, spitting in my general direction, and feeding me the most disgusting food I’ve ever tasted, they were surprisingly chill.”

  “I’m so sorry, Zoe,” I gushed, tripping over myself to earn her forgiveness. “We searched day and night. I’m sorry it took so long, but—”

  “Favor,” she said, gripping both my hands in hers. “It’s okay. Really. If you hadn’t taken so long to find me, I never would have met Sandro.”

  We all turned our attention to the guard, who blushed furiously, but otherwise remained impassive.

  “Sandro, huh?” Ryen cooed, walking around the guy and checking him out.

  “He was assigned to me a week ago, after I kneed my previous guard in the nuts when his spit came just a little too close to me.”

  That must have been the guard I’d promised to kill. Lucky guy, even though he might not think so as he iced his balls.

  “It was love at first sight, Favor. I swear I’ve never fallen so hard for anyone in my life, and certainly not so fast.”

  Sandro leveled a cool look at Danic, who stood his ground for a moment before stepping aside to let him pass. He sauntered over to us and pulled Zoe into a one-armed side-hug, then pressed his lips to the top of her head. For the third time in as many minutes, she turned her loving face up to him, like a flower following the sun.

  We stared at the display, all of us still numb over this odd turn of events. Ryen wore a disbelieving expression as he looked around at us.

  “Um, pardon me if this sounds rude, but you have heard of Stockholm Syndrome, right?”

  “Ryen,” I scolded.

  “What? We’re all thinking it.”

  Zoe laughed good-naturedly. “I know it sounds crazy, but this is real. Sandro loves me and I love him.”

  I, for one, had no doubt. I’d bore witness to many, if not most, of Zoe’s boyfriends, dates and hook-ups. Not once in our entire lives had I ever seen her so ridiculously happy. This was a woman who was, for all intents and purposes, in the middle of being rescued after three weeks of captivity. Anyone else might be excited, but still terrified. Not Zoe.

  “Sorry to interrupt the love fest,” Danic said, “but are there any other guards we should be watching for?”

  To everyone’s surprise, Sandro spoke in sharply accented, slightly broken English. “The others…they leave twenty minute ago. Leave me to watch Zoe. Ever since we have meet, I wait for time to take her away from this place. So I took her. And now we are here.”

  “And we have to go,” Tamar said, her expression grim. “We need to go to the aid of the others. It is only a matter of time before Sandro’s friends come back here.”

  The Romanian dragons sure had good timing. As if on cue, a bone-rattling screech pierced the musty air. Zoe clapped her hands over her ears and buried her face in Sandro’s chest, while the rest of us tore around the corner in time to catch a glimpse of massive leathery wings beating past the main lobby’s windows.

  “Uh oh,” Ryen said, reaching for my hand. “I think we might be late to the party.”

  I squeezed his fingers as tight as I could, just to prove to myself I wasn’t in a nightmare, and shook my head. “I think the party came to us.”

  Chapter 18

  Billowing clouds of flame licked at the lobby windows as the jadokari descended on us. Ryen had rushed down the hall to check the back exit, but apparently the bad guys were circling us.

  “We’re trapped,” he said, looking as worried as I felt.

  “No, not trapped,” said Sandro resolutely.

  He grabbed Zoe’s hand and pulled her back toward the elevator lobby, leaving the rest of us to follow. Or not. He seemed to care a lot less about the rest of us than he did Zoe, which would have warmed my heart if we weren’t in the middle of a dragon attack. Instead of pressing the UP button, he yanked open the door to the stairs.

  “I find secret passage to steal Zoe. The others know nothing of it. Come!”

  We didn’t hesitate to follow him into the bowels of the building, leading us around dark corners and through dank corridors, until he reached a door that looked like it led to a utility closet. It was locked. He cursed in Romanian, then turned to Danic.

  “You help?”

  Danic smiled and puffed a little with pride. “I knew I liked this guy.”

  Funny, because he’d been ready to kill him a few minutes ago. Together they counted to three, then kicked the door at the same time with the force of a wrecking ball. Wood splinters flew everywhere as the door exploded.

  The closet was small and held basic maintenance supplies, nothing more. But before anyone could ask Sandro what the hell he was thinking, he pulled a panel off the side wall of the closet, revealing a narrow metal staircase leading down.

  “Quickly,” he whispered as the sounds of a dragon battle grew louder. They must have made it inside, which meant we only had seconds to make our getaway.

  Danic went first, and only once he called up that the coast was clear did I let Zoe go. One by one, we scampered down the stairs to a dirt tunnel, lit by small pots of flickering blue flames.

  Eternal Dragonflame. I remembered it from Max’s lair. Tiny blue dots of light disappeared into the distance, offering just enough illumination to see roots dangling from the curved ceiling and the movement of a small creature running away from us. God, I hoped it wasn’t a rat!

  Sandro was last to join us, but he pushed ahead of us to lead the way down the tunnel. We moved fast but kept chatter to a minimum. No sense making it easy for them to find us. A few minutes later, we ascended another set of metal stairs and emerged in an identical utility closet. Thankfully this one wasn’t locked.

  We sprinted through the basement, up the stairwell, and before we knew it, we were standing behind the next building over. Several dark dragons flew circles around the building we’d just been in, occasionally snorting flames in a show of force.

  A strong gust of wind fluttered our clothes as more dragons rushed overhead and collided with the others. W
ithin seconds, the air was full of deafening screams, snapping jaws and tearing claws.

  “Holy shit,” Danic shouted, a blood-thirsty grin spreading across his face. “It’s Lazlo, Rufus and the enforcers!”

  More and more dragons joined the air battle, sending humans running every which way. I couldn’t tell which were the rebels and which were jadokari, but I could easily track “our” dragons. Not sure how, but it must have had something to do with spending so much time with them before this. My powers were still a mystery to me, but at least I’d learned to trust them.

  “We have to help them!” Ash cried, already tearing off his shirt in preparation to shift.

  “Ash, you and Hale stay behind to protect Favor, Zoe and Tamar. The rest of us will join the fight.”

  “Oh, hell no,” Ash growled, scales popping out all over his quickly expanding body. “I’m going. I fucked up enough back in L.A. I’m not going to miss the chance to redeem myself, Kellum.”

  Tamar took an aggressive step toward Kellum too. “You think I can’t fight? I’ve been waiting to sink my teeth into those bastards’ necks for years!”

  “Tamar,” Hale said in a tender tone, “you have a son to think about.”

  “We don’t have time to argue,” Kellum snapped, one eye on the fight even as he undressed in a hurry. “Tamar, Hale’s right. You have too much at stake. You and Hale can guard the humans, while the rest of us go kick some ass.”

  Hale shot his brother a dirty look, then rolled his eyes. Tamar looked just about as happy, but she couldn’t really argue either. They both said, “Fine!” like petulant children, and I couldn’t blame them. I was pissed I couldn’t fly up and engage with all those assholes too.

  With that settled, my boys ran toward the fight, shedding clothes as they went, until they had enough room to shift into their dragon forms. Sandro looked between Zoe and my guys for a second, then dropped a sweet kiss on her lips and followed. The beating of their wings nearly knocked Zoe and me over from the force of the wind they produced. I pulled her into my arms so our combined weight — such as it was — would better anchor us.