by Alexis Davie
Fire Dragon
Alexis Davie
Text Copyright © 2018 by Alexis Davie
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.
First printing, 2016
Publisher
Secret Woods Books
[email protected]
www.SecretWoodsBooks.com
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Other Books You Will Love
Thank You!
About the Author
1
Sarah’s day continued to be awful when her motorcycle broke down outside the coffee shop that night.
She tried to fire the engine up again. Her bike puttered miserably for a little while before she felt bad for it and gave up. She tried a couple more times before realizing it was hopeless. The rain poured from the sky, leaking warm beads of water onto her clothes. She scampered back under the overhang of the shop to avoid getting any wetter, but the damage was done. Her cute pink blouse was stuck against her lithe body, exposing every single detail that she wanted to remain hidden.
She hadn’t known there was a chance of rain when she’d set off to work that morning, so she hadn’t planned for the weather. She didn’t have a car, so she would have still taken her motorcycle to work, but Sarah probably wouldn’t have left the shop so late. The sky was black, rolling with storm clouds that didn’t look like it was about to let up anytime soon.
“Oh, come on!” she said out loud, even though nobody was around to hear her despair.
She’d spent entirely too many hours at the coffee shop recently. She’d just opened the store a few months ago, and it was hard work. Coming in early. Leaving late. She worked from early daybreak to get everything fired up, to the late evening to clean everything up for the next morning. She’d been so burnt out that she hadn’t even considered checking the weather.
She pulled her phone out of her pocket and almost put her phone to her head before remembering her helmet. It had been a long, long day.
First, it was a grumpy old man that wanted a smoothie. She’d attempted to explain that the name of the shop was, Sarah’s Java Stop. They didn’t sell smoothies, nor did she know how to make them. Finally, she’d managed to convince him that he didn’t want a smoothie. Then he wanted a picture of his granddaughter’s face in the foam, just based off the little girl standing there.
He complained that Sarah’s customer service was terrible. Sarah threw up her hands in exasperation and handed him his latte. She hoped he never came back.
Grumbling, she took off her helmet and sifted through her contacts. She had lots of numbers, but very few of the contacts could be trusted to show up and take her home. An old coworker. A friend from college she hadn’t texted in two years. That kind of thing. Oh, and look, there was John… Nice guy. Handsome. Romantic.
And unfaithful.
Finally, she decided to call a taxi and waste some of her hard-earned money to drive three miles across town. She was lucky to have a house so close to her business.
The last thing she wanted was for someone to steal her precious bike. It was a wonderful little machine. It got absurd gas mileage and was just like her—quick as a lightning bolt, modern, and if she was being honest with herself, drop dead gorgeous. She tugged the bike onto the sidewalk and hauled it into the store. It dripped rainwater all over her nice, expensive floors, but she didn’t care. All she wanted was to hurry home.
The prior night she hadn’t slept well… again. The dreams kept her up.
It always happened the same way. She’d be sleeping solidly and then she’d see glimmering red scales. She couldn’t make out the details of her dream, but she did remember the scaled creature moved quickly and made her tremble. Every time, she’d hear a scream. After having the dream dozens of times, Sarah realized she was responsible for the screaming.
What made her so afraid? What was the scaled beast? She didn’t know. The same dream had haunted her ever since she was a child, but the dream never aged. It was the same nightmare for twenty-four years. It was as if she was given season tickets to a movie that she didn’t want to see.
When her taxi arrived, she hustled over from under the awning and into the car. The driver attempted to make small talk, but Sarah just wasn’t in the mood. She gave quick, terse replies. Sarah had a lot of great qualities, but hiding her mood wasn’t one of them. If she was happy, she’d show it. If she was sad, she’d show it. If she was angry, she’d make extra damn sure that everybody knew.
Finally, the taxi arrived at her apartment building. As they pulled up, she saw a new car on the street where she normally parked. If her bike had worked, she would have been forced to drive around for a while to find somewhere to park.
The car was sleek and looked unbelievably fast. Despite her foul mood, it’s low, fire-red frame piqued her curiosity. Her apartment complex was a nice enough place. It had some artsy types in residence, but she had a hard time believing any of her neighbors could afford that car. The owner was either crazy rich or stuck deep, deep, deep in debt.
As the taxi stopped, she caught a glimpse of a sticker on the back windshield. The image resembled a stylized dragon’s head. Part of her wondered if it was some book series or a new video game.
Most of her didn’t care whatsoever.
She paid the driver and hustled up the sidewalk to her apartment complex. She was still pretty soaked. The driver had given her a special little tarp to sit on so she didn’t get water all over his seats. He’d also given out some free candies. He was gunning for a five-star review.
Sarah surveyed the car again on her way inside the building. She’d always had a thing for anything fast and dangerous. She’d even done some dirt bike racing back in her college days before she’d wiped out a few too many times. During one race in particular, during her senior year, she’d come up to a corner and lost control, which was something she rarely did.
She’d sailed out of the course and managed to get pinned in the bleachers through abnormally bad luck. Sarah had ended up with a serious concussion from it. When she recovered, her decisions teetered between going back into the sport or putting her wellbeing first.
Her mom had smiled when Sarah had brought the coffee shop up that Christmas.
“Honey,” she’d told her. “You have a lot more going on in that pretty head than just racing bikes your whole life. I’m not going to tell you what to do, but just think about your future.”
That’s not to say that Sarah took her advice right away, thought she probably should have. However, the following year, she decided to make it work and her mom even cosigned a loan to bring her dream to fruition.
Even with the rain, standing under the front of her building, the memory brought a smile to her lips. Her mom always said whatever she thought, she had no filter. That quality was the main reason they got along so well.
She took one last look at the car and opened the door to her building with her dripping helmet in her hands. As she walked in, she heard her boots echo on the wooden floors as she walked.
She tried rather unsucce
ssfully to stay quiet because she didn’t want to wake up Jamie, the crazy cat lady who lived downstairs.
Sarah saw Jamie’s red door and slowed her pace. Almost there. She could see the staircases that led up to the second floor.
The floor squeaked. Sarah’s throat jumped into her throat. She took another step…and then Jamie’s door opened.
“Sarah!”
“Oh, hey, Jamie.” She tried to force a smile. Jamie wasn’t a bad person, but she was a little strange and made Sarah slightly uneasy. “Sorry to wake you.”
Jamie touched Sarah on the shoulder affectionately. Sarah pulled back, trying to avoid looking rude. Sarah was a hugger. She showed affection through touch, but Jamie didn’t know her well enough to touch her. Social norms existed for a reason.
“Mittens is eating,” Jamie said.
“Just Mittens? What about the other ones?” Mentally, she slapped herself. No! No! Why, Sarah? Why did I ask this?
“Oh, they’re all sleeping!”
Jamie had hacked up a hairball one time, which was probably the most disgusting thing Sarah had ever seen. On a merely physical level, nasty. But it meant she’d been licking her cats, and to Sarah, that was way past the line of sanity. Now, every single time Sarah saw her, she remembered that horrific moment and struggled to avoid running away.
“You’re soaking,” Jamie said like Sarah hadn’t noticed.
“Oh,” Sarah said, looking down at her clothes. “Totally. My bike broke down and I had to hitch a ride.”
Why couldn’t she stop talking? All she wanted to do was go home, take a warm shower, and fall asleep in that ridiculously comfortable bed of hers.
“How did the date go?”
Sarah made the mistake of telling Jamie that she had joined a dating service. Bad idea. Now, every time Jamie caught her in the hallway, she wanted to know about Sarah’s dating life. Sarah didn’t want to talk about her dating life, least of all to Jamie. But now that she’d awakened that monster, it was her job to deal with it.
“The date was two nights ago. It was fine,” she lied. “He seemed like a nice enough guy.”
Well, that was true. He had been nice enough, but the guy had no backbone. It seemed as if his life’s mission was to apologize for everything. It was cold in the restaurant. Somehow that was his fault. How? She didn’t know. Her food had been just slightly undercooked. He felt just awful about that.
She needed someone who could inflame her passions and take her breath away with the slightest glance. She wasn’t interested in Joe Average. She deserved more. She deserved a freaking hero.
“Listen,” she said. “I, uh, I really want to head on up to my place and sleep. And I still have to shower. Catch you later?”
Jamie smiled and patted Sarah on her soaking shoulder gracelessly. Jamie was extremely socially awkward, which is probably why she licked cats.
“Sleep well,” she told Sarah.
Sarah almost said yeah, that’s unlikely after all those dreams, but at the last second, she caught herself. She was tired, not completely stupid. Saying something like that to Jamie would mean an automatic hour-long conversation. Instead, she just wished Jamie a good night and hustled up towards her apartment, leaving a small puddle behind her.
She saw her apartment door and started fishing for her keys. After finding the right one, she went to insert it into the lock on the door handle.
“Hey,” a guy said from behind her. “I wouldn’t do that.”
She jumped in surprise. He was standing uncomfortably close to her from behind, looking down at her with surprising focus. She turned and immediately knew she was looking at the owner of the car outside. He was dressed in expensive garb—a black suit and a fitted red shirt. Sarah was no fashion expert, but she could tell she was looking at custom-made attire from head to toe.
Even though his suit was professional, his hair screamed casual. He had spiked, almost frilled, pitch-black hair and oddly-colored orange eyes that watched her with surprising intensity.
“What the hell are you talking about?” she demanded. “You scared me half to death!”
“Oh, Sarah…you’re so feisty.” He gave her a dashing grin.
He was handsome, probably one of the hottest guys she’d ever seen. She noticed his unshaven face. She normally wasn’t into beards, but looking at him, she could definitely be into beards.
“Bad day?” he asked, raising one eyebrow.
“First,” she said, “I have no idea who you are and I don’t talk to strange men, even ones that look like you. Second, I’ve had an insanely irritating day. Third, how do you know my name?” She turned back to the door. “So, here’s what’s going to happen now. I’m going to go into my apartment and you’re going to leave. But tomorrow? I’d consider talking to you tomorrow when you’re not creeping up behind me when I am walking into my apartment alone. Sound good?”
He was still smiling. His orange eyes glittered. He reached for her hands that she pulled away. He didn’t seem even remotely distressed by her pulling back.
Nonchalantly, he said, “If you walk through that door, you’ll be killed.”
2
“Killed?” She hesitated. “What are you talking about? And you still didn’t explain how you know my name.”
He ran a hand through his thick hair, looking away for a moment. He walked away from her. She could see his muscles under his red shirt that caught the light nicely.
“Where should I start?” he said, as if asking himself the questions.
“You don’t make any sense. What are you talking about?” she asked, putting her hand on a hip. She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Forget it. I’m exhausted. I’m going to bed. We can have this weird conversation later…or never.”
She turned and started to insert the key. He dashed over to her, grabbed her hands and pulled her away from the door. It all happened so fast, Sarah didn’t know what was happening.
“Sarah, you need to listen to me.” he warned, “Don’t. Go. In. There.”
“It’s my apartment.” She pulled free. “And don’t touch me. I have no problem using my Taser.”
“You have a Taser?” he seemed bemused. “I’m going to tell you something, but I’ll warn you, you’re not going to like it.”
“I already don’t like you. You don’t have a lot to lose.”
The mysterious man leaned in, almost as if he was going in for kiss. But, he didn’t. Strangely, she didn’t think she’d mind.
“I know your name because… Well, I’m a dragon, and…” He paused. “You know what? I don’t want to freak you out. I think in time, you’ll remember me.”
She nodded, putting on a face of mock belief. “Makes total sense. And what does that have to do with my apartment?”
“My cousin set a trap for you in there. He wants you dead.”
“Okay.” She pursed her lips. “I have an idea. How about we try this all again, but this time, let’s pretend I have time for this and that you’re not completely crazy.”
He gazed into her eyes and a feeling of recognition swept over her. She didn’t know this man, yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d seen him before. Something deep in her soul stirred when she looked at him, like they had been lovers in another life.
She almost wanted to believe the guy, but that made no sense. He had a funny little scar across his right eye, like someone had cut him a long time ago. It was barely visible, but when he turned his head, the light illuminated the imperfection on his nearly perfect face. Didn’t she know a guy with a scar just like that? Her mind searched for anything that could place his face in her memory. Nothing. It was almost like a feeling a déjà vu, but the feeling was fleeting.
“What do I have to do to prove it?” he asked, stepping back and spreading his arms to show he meant her no harm.
She cocked an eyebrow way up in the air. “What do you have to do to prove you’re a dragon and that someone is trying to kill me? I don’t know. Spread your wings, maybe? Fly? Bre
athe fire?”
“You’re hostile today.”
“You’ve never met me.”
“I’ve lived a lifetime with you,” he argued.
She looked up at the handsome lunatic. “Yeah, see, something tells me I would have remembered that.”
He inhaled deeply and held his breath. He looked ridiculous. A grown man with puffed-up cheeks like a blowfish. What was he trying to prove? She started wondering if he was going to hold his breath until she listened to him, like a child.
But that’s not what happened.
After that deep inhalation, his throat changed color. It looked as if a bonfire was aflame inside his throat. His skin was glowing from the heat, illuminating the muscles of his neck.
Instinctively, Sarah stepped back, dropping her helmet onto the bottom of the hallway. Upon a deep exhale, smoke came pouring out of his nostrils. The air that came out was toasty, like it had just come out of a hot oven.
Her sea-green eyes were opened wide in surprise. Sarah wanted to run, but she couldn’t move.
“What was that?” Sarah tried to remember where she kept her Taser. She’d never actually used it, but since college, she always had it in her purse or backpack. She was terrified, but fascinated. “Get away from me!”
“You’re the one that asked me to breathe fire,” he protested. “I just did what you said. Well, I didn’t actually breathe fire. I don’t want your building to go up in flames. However, you can’t deny what you saw.”
She took one long look at the handsome stranger as he exhaled some more smoke. “I need you to leave. Now. I’m calling the cops.”
“At least we’re past the Taser plan.”
“I wouldn’t count on that. If you take one more step, I’m putting that plan into action.”
