Charred Hope (#3, Heart of Fire) (16 page)

Skylar looked down emphatically at the area below them.

The griffins slowed when the cats below them began walking, and the milling creatures around her scared her for a moment. She feared any nudge or accidental brush of her wings that might send her toppling towards the ground. Easing away from the griffins, she awkwardly began drifting towards the ground. With some apprehension, she managed to land near the great cats.

Luke alighted beside her, and Mason grumbled loudly before stopping in front of them.

Not yet convinced she was in the right spot, Skylar paced on all fours to where she sensed the two then scratched at the ground beneath her.

Her talons scraped metal, and she cringed at the sound of nails on chalkboard.

There’s something beneath here.
Skylar urged her body to change quickly and braced herself for the pain of transforming into a human once more. A moment later, she pulled on her clothing then dropped to her knees beside the spot, lasso in hand.

“They’re here,” she said.

A glance at the sky revealed the griffins still swarming around. They didn’t seem alarmed she was there and kept their distance, making her pause.

What were they up to? Why weren’t they attacking their boss’s number one enemy?

Unless Dillon wants me to find him.

Skylar leaned back and assessed the area around her. Whatever facility was beneath the desert sand, it was well hidden. There was no doubt that Freyja and Dillon were both beneath her feet and no doubt she had no idea how to get to where they were.

“Hey, Mason,” she called and waved the great cat over.

She stood, wanting to ask if he knew of this hiding place from having worked with the two before. Trotting towards him, she felt the ground lurch beneath her.

Skylar landed on her knees and looked down, startled. The glimmer of metal was dim in the indirect rays of light from the setting sun, but the shift in the ground was enough to show her the extent of the structure she stood on. It was a good twenty meters by twenty meters.

Climbing to her feet, she took a step to test the ground beneath her. Assured it was safe once more, she started forward.

Mason’s roar warned her a second too late.

The earth beneath her gave out, and Skylar fell.

Shift!
Was it her mind or someone yelling at her? Her instincts were too scattered for her to choose any one shifter’s signature to transform into, and she tumbled helplessly into the darkness, unable to gauge how far away the ground was or what waited for her.

The lasso flew free, topping with her into the darkness. She hit the ground a second later and heard the sickening snap of her leg.

Skylar groaned. Lights exploded in her mind, along with a flare of hot pain that streaked up her shin into the rest of her.

Fuck that hurt!
She lay still for a moment, breathless from the impact and sensations in her right leg. It was broken, which made her plan of facing Dillon a little trickier than she expected. 

The sound of padded feet hitting shale a few feet away told her she hadn’t been the only one to fall. She sensed Mason padding towards her. His warm breath tickled her neck a moment before his soft muzzle nudged her.

“I’m … okay,” she said, pushing his massive head away.
Mostly.

He gripped her by her collar and hauled her up. Skylar elevated her right leg to prevent any part of it from touching the ground, hissing at the pain caused by the movement. She flung an arm over his back and rested her weight on him, fighting back the sensation that she was going to pass out or throw up.

“Shit. Dropped the lasso,” she muttered. Unable to see in the dark, she had no way of finding it. “Where are we?” A glance upward revealed the dying light from the way they’d fallen. It was a good ten meters high, and her voice echoed around them. The darkness smelled wet while the sound of a gurgling stream came from nearby. The ground beneath her had been rocky, natural terrain.

Not a compound,
she realized, taking in the dark world.
Cavern.

Southern Arizona was littered with hidden caverns and sunken rivers. As her eyes adjusted, she became aware of the faint glow of fluorescent rocks lining distant cave walls.

The sound of metal grating on rock came from above. Skylar watched with concern as the skylight to the rest of the world closed slowly, sealing her in the darkness.

Her phone vibrated, and she pulled it free, relieved to see a note from Chace.

Don’t do anything crazy. I’m on my way.
She read it silently then smiled. “Too late, dragon.” Tucking the phone away, she shivered in the damp chill of the underground cave. Mason was warm and solid beside her.

She looked around to distract herself then tested her shifter radar to find Freyja and Dillon.

“They’re here, Mason,” she whispered. Her senses told her nothing more, aside from the fact she was practically on top of Dillon and within meters of Freyja. She could pick up both of their shifter signatures, a sign of how close they really were.

Yet she didn’t see or hear anyone.

Mason growled, and she guessed he was able to identify what her human senses couldn’t. Skylar took a deep breath. She’d ventured this far to fix the issue of them hurting shifters once and for all. She wasn’t going to back down now, and she judged she had a short time before her leg put her into shock.

“Dillon, Freyja, I came to talk,” she called firmly. “We need to settle this once and for all.”

With the exception of Mason’s growling, she heard no other shifter.

“I don’t want any other shifters or humans getting hurt,” Skylar said. “I’m sure we can come to some kind of agreement.”

“Agreement.” It was Dillon’s voice, closer than she expected. “The way I see it, you’re in our backyard. You’re hurt and ten meters below ground, without your dragon. What motivation do I have to
negotiate
with you?”

Good point.
“Can I ask you something, Dillon? As an old friend?” she returned, mind working quickly on how to counter his challenge.

He was silent.

“If I had my dragon with me and an army of shifters at my back, would you be willing to negotiate then?”

“No.”

She shouldn’t feel bad knowing Chace was right about him, but she did. Maybe it was her desire to preserve as much life as possible, or maybe it was the last remnants of the relationship she’d once had with Dillon. But no part of her wanted to kill him, even if that was what was best for the shifter community as a whole.

“Well,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I figure you all have wanted something from me since the beginning. I’ll trade you whatever that is for the safety of the shifters.”

Another long quiet, then Freyja spoke.

“Smart,” she said. Her voice came from the opposite direction of Dillon’s. “What makes you think we still want anything from you?”

“I’m not dead,” Skylar said simply. She tested the shifter magic again to determine who was closer. “Dillon may not be interested, but you’re a whole lot smarter than him, Freyja. What do you think of my deal?”

“I think it’s worth a listen,” the dragon shifter stated. “Though I have no real need to negotiate, either. Chace is buried under a mountain, which means it’s just Mason between you and me. Not much of a challenge, is it?”

“People love to tell me they’ve gotten rid of my dragon,” Skylar said in some amusement. While she wasn’t able to sense him, she knew he wasn’t dead after the text. “Never seems to work that way. But, if you want me in exchange for keeping all the other shifters safe, I’m happy to talk to you.”

“No deal,” Dillon spat. “We’ll take what we want from you! There’s nothing you can do to stop us, Skylar.”

“Now, Dillon, let her talk.” Freyja sounded closer.

Skylar squinted but wasn’t able to make out anything in the utter darkness of the cave. They were too far for the faint glimmer of fluorescent rocks to be of use, and her senses were too dulled to help her.

“You’d walk away with me right now? Do whatever I tell you?” Freyja continued.

Mason snapped at her.

Skylar strained to hear the movement of the shifters stalking them before finally giving up. She needed to be a dragon or lion to know where they were.

“It’s not part of the plan,” Dillon snapped. “We don’t need her to come voluntarily. We just need her chained to a wall somewhere.”

“For what purpose?” Skylar ventured.

“Locating the shifters. Controlling them in a way only you can. I don’t know what your gift is, but we’ll figure it out fast,” Freyja replied. “Dillon, our goal has always been to help the shifter community retain a strong, deserving leader. We might get what we want in every way this way.”

“Strong leader,” Skylar repeated. “You or Dillon?”

“Me, of course.”

Dillon snorted.

“Dillon
is
bigger, stronger physically,” Skylar mused. “And the dragons won’t follow you, Freyja, once they realize you turned on them.”

“Dragons will fall in line behind the strongest of their kind, like griffins. It’s how it’s always worked,” Freyja said dismissively. “Dillon doesn’t have the mental capacity to lead.”

“
I
don’t?” Dillon snarled. “Who manipulated everything while you were in hibernation? I delivered Sky and the others on a silver platter!”

“And killed off a bunch of shifters to renew the dragon-griffin divide in the community,” Skylar added. “Then again, Freyja hasn’t exactly inspired anyone to follow her either by selling out everyone who has ever done business with her. Does that bother you, Dillon? Or do you think you’re safe from being sold out?”

Silence.

Mason nudged her, as if to hush her. He was probably right. Provoking both her enemies at once, when she had a game leg and minimal backup, was probably not the smartest strategy.

Or was she talking so much because she’d started to slide into shock?

“You never did tell me what happened to my mother,” she voiced. “I think I deserve to know that much, after all you’ve both done to fuck with my life.”

“Dead,” Freyja said flatly. “Now, onto business.”

Skylar’s heart sank. She knew as much, but hearing the confirmation from the person who probably had a hand in her mother’s death made it somehow more final. She was having trouble focusing at the moment. The pain in her leg had gone from fiery to numb and she shivered, uncertain if she was hot or cold.

Shit.
She needed to do something quickly to get medical treatment or at least, to get out of this horrible darkness, where she was at their mercy.

She tested the magic again. Freyja was speaking, but Skylar struggled to focus on her words. There was a chance she could escape by flying upwards towards the top of the cavern, where she’d fallen through. Or maybe even defend herself. She could set something on fire to see what was going on …

Shaking her head, Skylar forced her attention back where it belonged.

“… your deal,” Freyja was saying.

“Could you repeat that?” Skylar asked.

There was a sigh. “I said, I’m willing to consider your deal, if you’re serious about it.”

“You won’t let Dillon hurt any other shifters?” Skylar asked. “And you’ll let Mason go?”

“I won’t let Dillon hurt anyone else, including Mason.”

Skylar frowned. No part of her believed for a moment that Freyja was willing to spare the shifters, not after all the dragon shifter had done to manipulate her way to where she wanted to be.

“You hear that, Dillon? You’re not
allowed
to hurt anyone,” Skylar prodded. “Kinda sucks taking orders after you’ve been running things the past thirteen years or so.”

“Look, girl, whatever you’re doing, it’s not –” Freyja started.

“No, she’s right,” Dillon responded. “Why should I listen to you, Freyja? The griffins are mine. We’ve done all your grunt work. What do you bring to the table?”

Tension between the two allies ratcheted up another notch. Skylar didn’t know what was holding the two together. Dillon and Freyja were mismatched in every way she could imagine, and both were selfish beyond imagination. If she took their common enemy out of the equation, would their tenuous relationship fall to pieces?

“The master plan, maybe?” Freyja shot back. “This isn’t about us, Dillon. We both need
her.
”

“Whoever wants to control the shifters needs me,” Skylar noted. “So then whoever has me, does he or she win by default?”

“Stop it, girl,” Freyja snapped. “We’ve agreed to your deal. I assume that means you’ll leave quietly with us.”

“Sure,” Skylar said cheerfully. She hopped forward. The jolting movement renewed the pain in her leg. “Shit.”

Mason shifted towards her, supporting more of her body weight as she sagged. A wave of dizziness washed over her.

“Give me a minute,” she said. She looked upward into the inky blackness again. If she were having trouble standing on two feet, would she be as hindered on four? “Are we going up or out a different way?”

“Different way,” Dillon replied. “Back way, where anything can happen.”

Skylar smiled to herself. “Thank god you both need me alive or I might be worried. Wonder if it’s the same for the two of you?” She was shivering. Shock was setting in, which meant, if she planned on escaping, she was short on time.

Mason hadn’t stopped rumbling from deep within his chest since the first one of them spoke. Skylar rested against him for a moment.

“I need to shift,” she whispered. “Dragon, griffin or cat?”

He tossed his mane.

“Sky, come on,” Dillon said impatiently.

“I’m having a small problem walking.”

“How bad?”

She tested her leg and quickly took the weight off it. Pain shot through her. “Bad,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Give her a hand, Dillon,” Freyja snapped. “Mason, you go your own way with no incident and I’ll respect my promise to Skylar.”

Mason roared in response.

“Do it,” Skylar said, burying both her hands in his thick mane. She leaned closer. “Bring Chace back with you.”