Badass Dragons - Complete Set (3 page)

CHAPTER NINE

The man wasn’t human. Cadogan. Cado.
Whatever the hell he was called. Cheryl had watched him fall from the sky and
hit the cop car hard enough to crash the front and back windows, but he had
been able to stand soon after. He’d been able to walk.

Then there
was the matter of the face. The rubbery texture of his skin. The color. It was
almost as though he was wearing a mask. But that was his real face.

If what
Cheryl was seeing here was real, then maybe what Cado was saying about dragons
was real also? Sophie had said something about a dragon before she’d been
taken. Unless dragon was a metaphor for something else and not the giant flying
beast Cheryl was up until this point certain was just a fantasy – then they
both meant the same thing.

Cheryl shook
her head to herself, as she walked along the side of the highway. “I must be
the one doing drugs,” she whispered.

And then,
almost in response to her little joke, she saw something blue shoot across the
horizon sky. Cheryl stopped in her tracks. She opened and closed her eyes. The
image burned in her brain, was gone from her eyes now – but she had seen it.

“Holy crap,”
Cheryl whispered. “Holy fucking crap.”

She took a
deep breath, bowed her head and advanced further.

About a
quarter of an hour or so later, she was back at her mother’s house. Not inside
the house, though Cheryl could have used a proper indoor rest. She stared out
at it, the lights all off. Complete darkness. She wasn’t about to wake her
mother up for this. She doubted she’d believe Cheryl or even care to begin
with. With some regret, she climbed back into the driver’s seat of her car and
started the engine. She had a fair idea of where the antique store was already,
and she knew how to get there.

She pulled
away from the curb and kept going straight until she found the highway. Once
there it soon became apparent that there were numerous police cars surrounding
the officer’s body and car. Instead of going back, Cheryl carefully indicated
to the right side of the road and sailed past them, refusing to make eye
contact. She shivered within herself, almost feeling complicit in the man’s
death. Guilty about not doing everything she could to help them there.

But this was
Sophie. Cheryl had to follow her heart. She couldn’t let anything stand in her
way. As dangerous and shifty this Cado seemed, he was her only chance of
rescuing Sophie. Perhaps the only chance anyone had of rescuing her.

About ten
minutes later, the next town approached. There was some traffic here now as the
nightclub was currently still open, amongst various other fast food locations.
The street between the nightclub Fleets and the antique store was busier still.
Cheryl had to park a distance away from the store to get to it.

On foot and
outside the car, she walked along the footpath. She passed a trio of drunken
girls singing a song together whilst laughing, and managed to avoid their
swerving path. Next ahead there was a heavy set man in a blue tank top and
jeans lurking outside an alleyway. He had blond hair and shiny blue eyes.
Cheryl glanced at him briefly, but next thing she knew she felt his whole hand
wrapped around her wrist and dragging her into the alleyway.

“What the
hell?” Cheryl cried. “Stop it! Let go!”

When they
were about halfway down, concealed in darkness, he shoved her against the brick
wall and stared at her emotionlessly.

Fear prickled
Cheryl’s insides. She was about to scream for help.

“Don’t say a
word,” he whispered. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Cheryl bit
her teeth together, and then forced her foot upward, directly at his crotch.

What her foot
connected with was so solid in its prominence, it bruised her ankle. The man
appeared unaffected.

A thought too
silly to be said out loud jumped at her:
was that his cock?

“Don’t do
that,” he seethed.

His grip
around her sides tightened.

“Okay,”
Cheryl murmured. “What do you want?”

“Go home.
Forget about Sophie. And forget about the man you’ve come to see here.”

“Excuse me?”

“If you go
see him now, you will die. He will rip your skin apart and he will drink your
blood. He’s a monster who is not to be trusted. If seeing your sister is so
important to you, then maybe, in the long term future, a meeting might permit
itself. But not tonight. Not tomorrow. Not this year.”

“Are you with
them?” Cheryl asked. “Are you one of the –?”

“Yes,” he
replied. “I am a dragon.”

CHAPTER TEN

“Look,” Cheryl said between breaths,
“you can’t just take her. She’s a free person. She’s allowed to go and do
whatever she wants.”

He put his
fingers through Cheryl’s hair. He was looking at her. Absorbing her beauty.

She was
suddenly frightened he would want her too.

“I’m Jet,” he
said.

“Jet…” Cheryl
murmured.

“Yes.” He
blinked. “As cruel as I could be to take you, I won’t. Because I have
principles.”

“Take me? You
mean like Sophie?”

“She’s not
mine, you know. She belongs to Synrith. Once he lays his claim he never
retracts it. And besides – your sister committed a crime against the clan.”

“What crime?”

“She stole
from us. A very important artifact, that would be dangerous if it were to fall
into the wrong hands. For her, the only alternative would be death.”

“Alternative
to what?”

“Slavery.”

“Slavery!”
Cheryl exclaimed. “That’s not fair! You can’t do that!”

“I won’t
laugh at you,” Jet said. “But your protest is foolish. You should thank me that
I have spared you from that parasite. And that I haven’t harmed you for myself.
I guess I’m old fashioned that way.”

His grip was
loosening.

“You have to
tell me where she is,” Cheryl insisted. “I’m not giving up on her.”

“You’re going
to have to promise me you will.”

“No – I will
not!”

“PROMISE ME!”
Jet shouted and punched the wall behind her head. Cheryl recoiled in fright and
watched as he retracted his hand leaving the brick in a pile of dust.

“Okay, okay,”
Cheryl whimpered. “Just go then.”

He let go of
her and then stepped away from the wall.

Cheryl
wrapped her arms around herself and watched him disappear silently out into
night road.

She stood
there for some time before retracing his steps out of there.

Already she
knew that she was up against it, and she was frightened.

But Cheryl
would never give up.

CHAPTER
ELEVEN

He was probably still watching her.
Even now, after their confrontation, he’d want to make sure. Of course, Cheryl
had no idea whether he really was somewhere out there, in the endless sky
looking down – but the thought set her back a little.

To her left,
there was her car. To the right, at almost as much distance, was the antique
store. What would happen if he was watching her and she went there? Hadn’t he
warned her for her own good? It was stupid to think he’d care what she did
anyway. She was nothing to him.

But at least,
he now knew someone loved Sophie. And dragons or no dragons, she’d rip the eyes
out of anyone who harmed her. Without that integrity with herself – without the
love she had inside – Cheryl’s life was nothing. Sure, most days seemed like
pointless exercise after pointless exercise, even if her job in nursing did
help some deserving people, but right now – tonight – she couldn’t let that
part of herself go.

With an
almost spiteful expression on her face, she turned to the right and furthered
her way along that side of the road.

Standing
outside the antique store, it appeared to be closed. She put her hands to the
window and couldn’t see anything but darkness inside. She looked around her
again, making sure all was safe, and then proceeded to the side of the store.
She walked across a patch of gravel and then up a concrete platform. This led
round to a backdoor, which was also locked. Cheryl stepped away, unsure for a
moment. Then she went back and knocked on it.

Ten seconds
later the door opened a crack.

“Come in,”
Cado whispered.

Cheryl
stepped in through the open doorway, and slunk inside the misty passage. There
weren’t any lights on where they were.

Cado closed
the door and then motioned for her to follow him. She did so, and eventually
they found themselves in a room behind the front of the store.

In the centre
of the carpet was a circle of colored candles burning. Blue, yellow and green.
There was incense burning and glittery like objects on either side of the room.
There wasn’t any furniture, just two pillows on the floor inside the circle.

Cado stepped
over the barrier and beckoned Cheryl to sit with him. She complied.

“This isn’t
the most secure of places,” Cado said quietly. “But at least we’re alone and no
one can hear us.”

“What do you
have to tell me?”

“My sister,
Cassandra, is friends with your sister. Cassandra was … giving Sophie something
in exchange for a task she had to perform, which she did, eloquently. It is
unfortunate the dragons found out it was her who did the deed. You’d think
they’d leave it, given how she’s nothing but a worthless human who has no war
with them – who didn’t know what she was getting into. But dragons don’t think
that way. They’re prideful creatures. They had to take her in restitution.”

Cheryl
nodded.

“They don’t
know of our involvement of course. If they did, they wouldn’t have spared my
life. No – I’m just the hopeless bloodsucker looking for his next feed.”

Cado reached
behind him to produce a small wooden box.

“What’s
that?” Cheryl asked.

“You look at
it. You tell me.”

Cado undid
the latches and exposed what appeared to be an exquisite dagger. The blade was
gold, and the handle was silver, encrusted with green emeralds. Watching the
candle flames flicker on its polished surface, made Cheryl feel drowsy.

“It’s
beautiful,” she said.

“It belongs
to the dragon Synrith. Cassandra was just going to sell it to some wolves for a
few dollars, but since she heard of Sophie’s capture she is willing to part
with it for free.”

“If we give
it back,” Cheryl said hopefully, “will they let Sophie go?”

“No.” Cado
snapped the latches shut and handed her the box. “That’s a very powerful,
enchanted weapon. Very few blades can even pierce a dragon’s skin – but that is
one of them.”

“So why have
you given it to me?”

“The only way
Sophie can be free is if Synrith is dead. You will have to infiltrate their
clan, and get close to him. How you will do that and hide the weapon at the
same time will be difficult – but as I said, it is the only way.”

“I don’t know
if I can do this,” Cheryl said. “I mean – I don’t know if I’m
able
to –”

Suddenly Cado
stood up. His eyes shot out directly to the door.

“You’ve been
followed here,” he declared.

CHAPTER
TWELVE

That was the last time Cheryl heard
Cado say anything again. With a massive burst of ferocity, the roof above them
was ripped completely off and sent sailing into the thunderous night. The blue
dragon Cheryl had seen early was left hovering above it, staring down at them
with condemning wrath.

Cado shoved
Cheryl to the side and tried to escape, but the dragon descended and snatched
him up in his muscular arms.

Cheryl heard
Cado’s bones break as the dragon squeezed him.

“I told you
to stay away from her,” boomed the dragon’s deep ethereal voice.

Then he sent
a blast of hot fire into Cado’s face, melting it clean off.

His carcass
was discarded, landing in a bloody, flaming heap right next to Cheryl who was
crouched in shock.

The dragon’s
wings flapped, and he descended once more.

“Please,”
Cheryl begged of him. “I’m so sorry.”

The dragon
gave a loud snort and the wind of it blew Cheryl’s hair into a mess.

“You know how
much I want to find my sister,” Cheryl murmured. “That’s the only reason.”

The dragon
stared at her coldly, as if weighing up the value of her life.

Cheryl’s
cheeks went red. She didn’t want to look at him if this was going to be the
end.

The dragon
gave a loud huff and then reached out for her. He scooped her up from her
stalled position and placed her upon his back.

Stunned, and
unsure of his intentions, Cheryl took a moment to assess the situation.

Then the
dragon’s wings started flapping.

She fell flat
into his body as he ascended into the skies leaving the burning wreckage in the
distance behind them.

Something
small, wooden, and rectangular, pressed uncomfortably at Cheryl’s side.