Playing With Fire

by C. J. Hill

  Slayers: Playing with Fire

  By CJ Hill

  Copyright © 2016

  Kindle Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. All the characters and events portrayed in this work are fictitious.

  Other titles by Janette Rallison

  Adult romantic comedies

  My Fair Lacey & A Perfect Fit

  How I Met Your Brother

  Masquerade

  A Longtime (and at One Point Illegal) Crush

  What the Doctor Ordered (under pen name Sierra St. James)

  YA fiction

  Son of War, Daughter of Chaos

  The Girl Who Heard Demons

  Just One Wish

  My Double Life

  Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Free Throws

  Playing The Field

  The Wrong Side of Magic

  My Fair Godmother

  My Unfair Godmother

  My Fairly Dangerous Godmother

  All’s Fair in Love, War, and High School

  Blue Eyes and Other Teenage Hazards

  Revenge of the Cheerleaders

  Fame, Glory, and Other Things on my To Do List

  It’s a Mall World After All

  How to Take The Ex Out of Ex-boyfriend

  Slayers (under pen name CJ Hill)

  Slayers: Friends and Traitors (under pen name CJ Hill)

  Slayers: Playing With Fire (under pen name CJ Hill)

  Slayers: The Dragon Lords (under pen name CJ Hill)

  Slayers: The Making of a Mentor: A Tor.Com Original (under pen name CJ Hill)

  Erasing Time (under pen name CJ Hill)

  Echo in Time (under pen name CJ Hill)

  If you like audio books, try:

  Just One Wish audio book

  My Fairly Dangerous Godmother audio book

  How I Met Your Brother audio book

  Erasing Time audio book (under pen name CJ Hill)

  Echo in Time audio book (under pen name CJ Hill)

  Synopsis of books one and two

  If you'd like to read a short synopsis of book one, Slayers, and book two, Slayers: Friends and Traitors, return to previous page and click on the synopsis link.

  Prologue

  The downside of being married to a dragon lord

  Thirteen years ago

  Bianca Overdrake’s entire future hinged on the results in the doctor’s envelope. She took it from him with a shaking hand. “I hope I’m having a girl.”

  Hoping wouldn’t affect the outcome, but the words popped out anyway. They’d been replaying nonstop in her mind through the entire exam. A girl. A girl. It has to be a girl. A daughter wouldn’t inherit dragon lord genes and could live a safe life.

  The doctor smiled. “You’ll find out when you open the envelope.”

  Was his smile sad? Happy for her? She couldn’t tell.

  She tucked the envelope into her purse, left the office, and climbed into her Cadillac. All the way to her friend Ruth’s house she felt numb, too exhausted to deal with the future and its uncertain twists and pitfalls.

  Bianca had meant to go somewhere private to open the envelope. She couldn’t bring herself to touch it, though. Not yet.

  Her future wasn’t the only one in question. Dirk’s was too. Her son was only five, too young to understand the decisions she had to make, and much too young to lose a mother. And yet, she might have to disappear, leave him and everyone she knew. She had the baby’s safety to consider. She had to be a mother to that child too.

  Bianca pulled up to Ruth’s house. Dirk was playing there with Ruth’s son, Thomas, while Bianca had gone to the OB’s. She hadn’t told Dirk about the baby. He wouldn’t be able to keep that sort of news a secret from his father, and Brant didn’t know about the pregnancy.

  She was four months along, and her baggy clothes wouldn’t hide her secret for much longer. If the baby was a girl, Bianca would claim that she hadn’t told Brant beforehand because she had worried about having another miscarriage. Over the course of their marriage, she’d had three. But this baby was healthy, on track, its heartbeat swishing a strong rhythm at every checkup.

  After so many losses, so many children she never got to hold, Bianca loved this baby fiercely already.

  She went to the door, repeating the mantra: Let it be a girl. Brant would be disappointed, but he also wouldn’t train her to be a fighter in his upcoming war. Daughters couldn’t control dragons the way sons could.

  Bianca rang the doorbell, and a few moments later, Ruth answered. She was petite, with blonde hair and delicate features that belied her true personality: Ruth was a force to be reckoned with.

  She looked Bianca over, as if trying to read her expression. “You’re not crying. It must be good news, then. A girl?”

  Bianca shook her head and pulled the envelope from her purse. “I had the doctor write down the ultrasound results. I haven’t opened it yet.”

  She’d been afraid that if she started sobbing on the exam table, the doctor would wonder why. But he didn’t question her when she asked for the results to be sealed in an envelope. Women did that sort of thing all the time. They planned reveals at baby showers or special events.

  Ruth opened the door wider and stepped aside. “You can’t put it off forever.”

  “I know.” Bianca walked into the living room, glancing around for Dirk.

  He came roaring into the living room, laughing as he and Thomas chased each other around with foam swords. Dirk spied Bianca, and his blue eyes lit up.

  “Mommy!” he yelled, and rushed over to give her a hug. He didn’t let go of the sword. If it had been real, he would have impaled her.

  Bianca knelt down and gathered Dirk into a hug, shutting her eyes as she pressed her cheek to his mop of blond hair. He was so small and soft, and he smelled of peanut butter and laundry soap. She couldn’t ever leave him, no matter what the results said. Why had she ever entertained it as an option? For Dirk’s sake, she’d stay with Brant and make the relationship work.

  Dirk wriggled out of her embrace, oblivious to her adoration and done being hugged. “Can I stay longer?” he asked. “Thomas and me are still killing stuff.”

  “What are you killing?” Bianca asked.

  “Monsters,” he replied. “The big kind that have lots of crazy arms.”

  Bianca nodded, forcing a smile. “We can’t have those wandering around the house. You and Thomas had better take care of them.”

  “Yeah,” Dirk said, raising his sword like a banner.

  Thomas lifted his sword in the same gesture. “Yeah!” he shouted, and the two boys dashed out of the room to parts of the house unseen.

  Bianca slowly got to her feet. She still clutched the envelope, rumpled a bit now.

  Ruth motioned for Bianca to follow her to the couch. She kept her voice low in case the boys came back. “Finding out your baby’s gender is supposed to be exciting.” She plunked down on the couch, shaking her head. “Why are you so worried about what Brant thinks? A normal husband wouldn’t care one way or the other.”

  Bianca sank into the loveseat, still clutching the envelope. She hadn’t told Ruth everything about her life. She hadn’t mentioned how Brant kept dragons in an enclosure on their property, or explained that he wanted sons to help him control the dragons. But Ruth did know that Brant wanted to attack the government someday, that he was dangerous.

  “Brant want
s sons,” Bianca said flatly. He needed them. Only boys inherited the ability to link minds with dragons, so only boys could control them.

  Ruth’s cup sat on the coffee table. She picked it up and took a sip. “I don’t know why you stay with him. You’re not happy and haven’t been for a long time.”

  Bianca had been happy with Brant once, or at least, she’d been awed and enamored. Out of all of the women who’d swooned at his wealth and charisma, he’d chosen her. She’d been poor and ordinary, and he’d told her he would make her a queen. She’d been too flattered to think about what his desire for power would mean to her children.

  After Dirk was born, though, she understood. Brant wanted to raise their son to be a terrorist. He wanted to pit him against the government and engulf him in his own personal war. Nothing she said on the subject, no amount of begging, reason, or tears could sway her husband.

  Bianca’s hands began to tremble. She clenched them to keep them still. “Brant would never let me take Dirk away from him. If I want to keep my son, I have to stay.”

  Ruth replaced her cup on the table with a thud. “Not if you get a half-way decent lawyer.”

  It wasn’t that easy. “The law doesn’t matter to Brant. He would take Dirk and disappear. If I ask for a divorce, the only way I’ll ever get to see Dirk is if I give Brant full custody. That way, he won’t feel threatened, and he’ll let me visit.”

  “Or he’ll be spiteful and never let you visit.”

  That was a possibility too. Brant could be spiteful.

  Ruth leaned forward, putting her hand on Bianca’s knee. “Maybe you’re the one who should take Dirk and disappear.”

  Bianca had considered the idea, had thought of it every day of her pregnancy. “Brant would have every FBI agent, police officer, and private investigator in the country searching for us.” As well as some less-savory bounty hunters.

  “Brant’s rich, not omnipotent. He doesn’t have that much pull.”

  He had more pull than Bianca liked to admit. He was already placing his own people in the government, making alliances that would help him later. “If I took Dirk, and Brant found me . . .” She didn’t think he’d actually have her killed, but she didn’t want to test the theory or find out how much revenge he’d exact. “He wouldn’t just take Dirk away from me. He’d take the baby, too.”

  And if the baby was a boy, Brant would train him to be a dragon lord. What would her second son’s chances of survival be against artillery and tanks?

  Ruth’s eyes were still on her, heavy with sympathy. “There’s got to be something you can do.”

  Bianca smoothed out the envelope on her lap. “Maybe I’m worried about nothing. I might be having a girl.”

  Ruth let out a sigh, letting Bianca know she’d missed the point. “And having a girl would somehow erase your marriage problems?”

  Bianca didn’t answer. Before she could think about it anymore, she opened the envelope. Let it be a girl, she thought, and took hold of the slip of paper.

  One sentence was written on the paper: Congratulations, you’re having a boy!

  A son.

  Oh no.

  A wave of dizziness swept over Bianca. She put her hand to her mouth and tried to breathe. Her eyes stung, watered.

  “Are those relieved tears or upset tears?” Ruth asked. “What is it?”

  A death sentence, Bianca thought. He’ll fight armies, face gunfire and missiles. Both of her children would end up dead.

  Ruth took the paper from her hand and read it. Instead of slumping into the couch like Bianca was doing, she sat straighter. “You don’t have to stay with Brant. Take Dirk and go to a safe house.”

  The room felt like it was closing in. The future already seemed to be twisting away from her, changing into something dark and perilous. Bianca shook her head wearily. “Brant has too many connections. He’d find out where the safe houses are.”

  Ruth was undeterred. “Then go somewhere else, somewhere he won’t suspect.” She pulled her phone from her pocket and opened her contact list. “My brother lives in North Carolina. He’s single and lives in a four-bedroom house, so he has plenty of room. You and Dirk can stay there until you get back on your feet.”

  The offer made Bianca laugh. Not happy laughter; disbelieving laughter. “Your brother would take in a stranger with a dangerous ex who’s looking for her?”

  “Wesley’s a great guy. He’ll understand.” Ruth began texting. “Really, you’ll like him. And maybe living with him for a while will show you what normal men are supposed to be like.”

  Bianca couldn’t run away with Dirk; Brant wouldn’t calmly accept that sort of loss. Especially since Dirk was the only other dragon lord around. Brant would have people investigating every friend Bianca had ever made. And he would become increasingly violent in his methods of finding information.

  If Bianca wanted to escape her marriage and protect her unborn child, she’d have to do it without Dirk. This knowledge had haunted her for the last four months, rearing its head every time she wondered about the baby’s gender. Now she felt the weight of the decision suffocating her.

  “I have to go alone.” Bianca’s words were no more than a choked whisper. “He’ll let me go if he doesn’t know about the baby.” She gulped, and her hands tightened around the envelope, crumpling it. “After he’s born and I make sure he’s safe, maybe I’ll be able to . . .” Figure out a way Brant couldn’t track her down. Find a place beyond his reach. “To come back and take Dirk.” It was a faint hope, a plan that would endanger both her and the baby, but right now, she couldn’t bear the thought of losing Dirk altogether. It was hard enough to think of not seeing him until after the baby was born.

  Ruth fingered her phone, clearly unhappy with Bianca’s decision. “When you come back, Brant might not let you spend any time alone with Dirk. He might suspect your intentions.”

  He probably would, but Bianca would have to deal with that problem later. She had no choice but to leave, not unless she wanted both of her sons dead. She might not be able to protect Dirk from Brant’s plans, but she could still protect this baby.

  Ruth’s phone buzzed with a text. She glanced down at it and smiled. “Wesley says, ‘sure.’ I told you he was a great guy.”

  Good. Then it was decided. Bianca took the doctor’s note from Ruth and tore it into pieces. She couldn’t leave any evidence of the baby, no matter how slight the chance Brant would find it. “I’ll go to North Carolina,” she said. “I need to leave right away. Today.” She had some money hidden away and could withdraw a few thousand in cash from the bank to tide her over. “This evening, I’ll call Brant and tell him to pick up Dirk here. I’ll tell him that I want a separation, and that I need time to think things over by myself for a few months.” She’d have to get rid of her cell phone so he couldn’t trace her. What else did she need to do?

  “Are you sure you can be ready to leave so soon?” Ruth asked.

  “I have to,” Bianca said. “If I let myself take time to think about going, I won’t be able to do it.” She got up and made her way to Thomas’s room.

  She found the boys on the floor, surrounded by stuffed animals. “I thought you were killing monsters,” she said. Her voice sounded too high, unnatural.

  “These are the monsters’ hostages,” Dirk said.

  A five-year-old shouldn’t know what hostages were. One more thing to thank Brant for. “You said I could stay longer,” Dirk said with a frown. “It isn’t longer yet.”

  “I know,” she said. “I have to go somewhere, so I’m leaving you here for a while.”

  Leaving you, leaving you. Would those be the words he remembered when she’d gone?

  “Okay.” He turned back to Thomas and the stuffed animals.

  She knelt on the floor beside him. “Give me a hug goodbye.”

  He wrapped his arms around her neck. She cried despite herself and couldn’t let him go.

  “You’re squeezing me,” he protested.

  �
�Sorry.” She released him and wiped at her tears. It was a hopeless task. More tears came.

  Dirk saw her face and his blue eyes went wide. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Sometimes mommies just cry.”

  He watched her, probably debating whether to believe her. She took deep breaths and did her best to compose herself. She’d have plenty of time to fall apart later. She needed to be strong for a few more minutes.

  “I want you to remember two things,” she said. “Can you do that?”

  He nodded solemnly.

  She reached out for his hand, felt his small fingers wrapping around hers. She wanted to engrave the memory of this moment into her mind so she’d never forget it. She held up one finger. “I love you.” She held up a second. “And I’ll come back for you. Will you remember those two things?”

  He nodded again.

  She gave his hand one last squeeze. “I love you, and I’ll come back for you.” Then she stood up and left.

  Chapter 1

  Only one thing could ruin a night of soaring on a dragon, and that was Dirk’s assignment: scouting military bases in Maryland for possible attack. Bases weren’t shown on public record satellite images, so his father wanted photographs of them to analyze. While Dirk was out, he was also supposed to decide on a couple of east coast cities to cripple during their first strike.

  Choosing them was harder than he expected. He’d been mulling over cities all night and still hadn’t come up with a single one that would satisfy his conscience. He couldn’t use the dragon’s electromagnetic pulse on Philadelphia or New York. Both had too many people, which meant too much suffering. But even smaller cities had hospitals. If all of the electronics in a city were fried, anyone on life support would die within minutes. The point of the first strike wouldn’t be to kill, but to instill fear, to show what the dragons could inflict even without landing.