Dragon Consultant (11 page)

"They said you might come," she rasped. Her voice was beyond hoarse, as if she had been screaming for hours and days with no one to hear her.

"They did?" Mercury asked, hoping for a clue as to who had kept her here while also trying to act friendly so she would relax enough to trust him to bring her to safety.

She nodded in response. "They said they were leaving me here and either you would come and get me or I would die. They didn't care which, but they thought it would be interesting to find out whether you would find me in time."

"I'm glad we found you in time," Mercury replied, but he shared a sharp look with Dane as he spoke. The enemy had to be watching the warehouse if they wanted to know whether Quicksilver could save the helpless kit. She had been locked up and left to a horrible death of starvation all so the enemy could get a read on Mercury and Dane. Which meant they knew Mercury and Dane were inside the facility. They had to get back to Nickel, now, before something terrible happened. "It's time to get you to safety."

He held out his hand for her to take. Mercury wanted to lunge forward and grab her, then make a run for Nickel, but if he scared her now she would never learn to trust him.

"What's your name?" he asked when she hesitated.

Finally she pushed the blanket back and swung her legs over the edge of the cot. "I'm Zinc," she replied, "and I don't think I'm strong enough to stand right now." She put her feet on the floor, and then grimaced. "I've been alone for a very long time."

There was no telling when they had abandoned the facility. It had been twenty-four hours since Dane had killed Jacobson and almost four days since Dane had snatched them all from the woods. Zinc was just a kit and she had been deprived of food and water for far too long. Of course she didn't have the strength to stand.

"Do I have your permission to carry you?" Mercury asked, hoping that none of his impatience leaked into his voice.

"Yes," she whispered haltingly. "Please get me out of here."

Mercury stepped forward and gathered her into his arms. She was far too light for a kit of her age, but his weakened legs still protested. Despite that, Mercury grit his teeth and carried her out the cell door, down the hallway, and out into the sitting room.

"There's magic in the air," Dane warned with a hiss when Mercury would have continued blindly hurrying to the hallway that led to the ladder. Instead he froze in place and let his magic search out what his eyes couldn't see.

There was magic in the air, he quickly confirmed, and it smelled destructive.
Like a bomb
, his brain supplied unhelpfully.

"I think we need to run," Mercury gasped, following his words with actions. His legs found new strength as he dashed through the sitting room and into the long hallway, Dane hot on his heels. The magic continued to swell around them, but it soon became mixed with more familiar water magic. Nickel had fought or maybe was still fighting above them. Mercury's legs moved even faster as fear for his kit buoyed his adrenaline. He reached the ladder in record time, but he couldn't climb with Zinc in his arms.

"I'll go first," Dane said. He climbed up the ladder and vanished through the trapdoor above.

The ground started shaking underneath Mercury's feet while he waited for Dane to reappear. It took a few seconds, during which time Mercury's heart started beating double time. What had happened to Nickel that Dane was taking so long? But then Dane reappeared. He was lying on his stomach with his head and arms through the trapdoor.

"Pass her up," he called. Mercury lifted Zinc upwards. She reached for Dane until their hands clasped and Dane pulled her up and out of sight. The floor was shaking even more now as if an earthquake was rumbling by. Water dripped down from the trapdoor as Mercury started climbing the ladder. It was wobbly, rocking side to side with the movement of the earth. He had to shift his weight to compensate so the ladder didn't tip, which made it even harder to climb. He tried to hurry, but he also didn't want to slip.

Dane's head reappeared above Mercury when he was only halfway up the ladder. He held his hand out for Mercury to take once he got high enough to reach. Dane's light was flickering as the earth-shaking magic continued to grow. The light abruptly went out just as the most violent shudder yet rippled through the floor. The ladder tipped and Mercury gasped, unable to see where to put his feet to keep himself upright. He lunged upwards blindly, grasping for Dane's hand or anything that would get him out.

For a few seconds, he was certain he was dead. He was going to fall hard on the cement floor below, the ladder would fall on top of him, and then the ground would collapse and bury him in an unmarked grave—unless the water from the bay rushed in and drowned him first. There was nothing but air beneath his fingers until, suddenly, skin met skin with a hard clap. Fingers clasped around his wrist, and Mercury couldn't help desperately digging his nails into the hand holding him up.

"I've got you," Dane gasped. "Just hold on."

There was light above him. It illuminated Dane's face, wild even with his glamour in place as crazed fear twisted his features into something almost alien. It also showed the open square of the trapdoor. Dane pulled Mercury upwards until Mercury could reach out with his free hand to grasp the edge of the door and finish pulling himself safely away from the long drop below him. He collapsed into Dane's arms when he was back on the solid concrete of the warehouse floor. His arms wrapped around Dane's waist involuntarily as he held on tightly and panted for breath with his eyes squeezed closed.

It took him a few long seconds to realize that he wasn't the one shaking. Yes, he was still shivering in remembered fear, but the warehouse itself was swirling with the destructive magic that had taken down the ladder and almost killed him.

"We have to go!" Nickel yelled—not for the first time, Mercury realized. He pulled away from Dane and pushed himself to his feet, firmly ignoring the way his knees and hands were trembling. Dane also jumped up. He bent down to grab Zinc, who had been sitting at Nickel's feet while Dane rescued Mercury. The door was too far away, given how strong the magic around them had grown. Dane waved one arm and the nearest garage door was flung back. Mercury heard it splash into the water of the bay and he hurried after it. He stepped outside and kept running. Metal screeched and Mercury heard the low rumble of the ground collapsing, which only made him move faster. How far until they reached the outside of the spell's zone of destruction?

Dane came up behind him, wrapped his arm around Mercury and grabbed Nickel, and magic pulled them away.

Never before had the front lawn of a house looked so damned inviting, but Dane's house with the awkwardly boarded up window and the torn grass from Mercury's claws was a welcome sight.

"That was fun," Nickel lied darkly with a growl.

"What… what happened?" Mercury asked. He slowly slid to the ground as his knees finally gave out. Dane slid to the ground next to him, and Mercury couldn't help leaning against him for support.

"Three of them tried to jump me," Nickel grumbled. "As if that's enough to catch me. When they failed, they left. I guess they decided that if they couldn't take me in, they would let me die with this kit," he finished with a wave of his hand towards Zinc. She was looking around them with awe in her shining eyes. Mercury didn't want to know how long it had been since she had seen the sky or any trees. He really, really didn't, yet at the same time he knew he would eventually have to ask her for all the information on their enemies she could provide.

"Why would they try to capture you?" Dane asked curiously.

"He's one of the original kits," Mercury replied when Nickel just scowled darkly. "Eggs are always guarded by their parents, but kits are left to run around as they please. We think the scientists originally grabbed a few kits from each element for their initial experiments and only once they got a little braver," and perhaps a little stronger thanks to their first experiments with stealing dragon magic, "were they able to start working with eggs. Nickel, Copper, and probably Zinc too, were all also changed and strengthened by those original experiments. The enemy would take any of them back in a heartbeat if they thought they could."

"Yet they left Zinc behind to die?" Dane asked.

"I was bait," Zinc answered pragmatically. "I also wasn't the only older dragon there. Platinum was taken when they cleared out the facility. They didn't need me any more." Which meant there were still dragons in need of rescue.

"We'll go through Jacobson's notes again. See what we can find," Dane insisted, no doubt reading Mercury's fears on his face.

"There's nothing else there," Nickel snarled. "We've been through them enough times that even I know that. That warehouse was the only viable location he mentioned." Probably for a reason, Mercury realized, since it set up such a convenient trap.

The front door of the house was flung open before anyone found a reply. Chrome and 'Ron rushed out.

"You're back!" Chrome yelled happily. "Why'd you bring back a girl?"

"Yay!" 'Ron exclaimed. She skidded to a stop in front of Zinc. "Hi, I'm 'Ron. Who're you?"

"This is Zinc," Mercury explained when Zinc appeared to be overwhelmed with 'Ron's exuberance. "She needs food and a bath. Will you make sure she gets both?"

'Ron immediately reached out to yank on Zinc's arm. "Come on. I'll show you the kitchen. We can't use the oven, but Miss Daisy left lots of cereal to crunch." Zinc let herself be pulled to her feet, but she stumbled at the first step and fell back down into the grass. Nickel sighed, but he lent Zinc his shoulder as they headed into the house.

Mercury turned to look at Dane now that they were alone and found Lumie standing between Dane's legs. Dane's look of disconcerted surprise was priceless.

"You'll get used to it eventually," Mercury said with a laugh. He reached out to pull Lumie into a hug.

"Cin Bomb?" Lumie asked, looking at Dane expectantly.

Dane laughed and reached out to ruffle Lumie's hair. "I don't have any right now. I'll give you two in the morning, okay?"

Lumie tilted his head as he thought this offer through, then nodded in apparent agreement. He pulled out of Mercury's arms and followed the other kits into the house.

Now finally and actually alone, Mercury let himself relax exhaustedly against Dane's shoulder. "I don't want to think right now," he insisted. He didn't want to think about the enemy or the dragons they still held captive. He didn't even want to think about the growing possibility that he and Dane might be starting a relationship of sorts.

"So don't," Dane replied with a shrug that nearly dislodged Mercury. "You're still recovering. We don't know where to find the next clue to the enemy's location, which means there isn't anything more we can do today. Let's eat something and go to sleep." He hesitated, then turned his body so Mercury was leaning against his chest instead of his shoulder. When Dane bent down, Mercury was happy to surge upwards. Their lips met and this time Mercury definitely saw fireworks.

Of course, that might have been caused by whatever had also made a terrible crashing noise from inside the house. 'Ron was screaming in fury and Chrome laughing hysterically, so Mercury didn't worry. It was just business as usual for his kits. He pressed his lips against Dane's one last time before sighing and climbing to his feet.

"I think it's naptime for some unruly kits too," he grumbled, stalking into the house with Dane beside him.

Mercury was still sleeping when Dane's alarm went off first thing Monday morning. All Dane wanted to do was curl closer to Mercury's warm body. Maybe Dane could wake him up with a kiss, or by doing something even more fun, but the clock told Dane that if he didn't get into the shower now he would be late, again, and Becky would laugh at him, again. Besides, Dane wasn't going to wake Mercury up with a blowjob until after he had ensured that Lumie wasn't hiding somewhere, about to be scarred for life. Searching for Lumie required that Dane get out of bed anyway, so he climbed out from under the covers and slumped his way into the bathroom.

It hadn't taken long to convince Mercury to switch bedrooms and join Dane in the other wing of Dane's house. Mostly it was that Mercury wanted to share his life with Dane, which included sharing a bed, but the fact that all of his kits had rooms on the other side of the house had also played a part in his decision. Dane couldn't resent Mercury for that given how much magic Dane was using to ensure they didn't bring his house down around their own ears. Zinc had fit right in with the insanity, of course. She and Copper were in some sort of feud, which only made Mercury snicker and say something about Copper combining with Zinc to make Brass, which made absolutely no sense.

Dane finished his shower and toweled dry quickly. He got dressed in the dim bedroom while Mercury slept on. Dane couldn't leave without at least saying goodbye; he walked over to Mercury's side of the bed, leaned over him, and pressed his lips to Mercury's.

"Mmm, morning," Mercury rumbled as his eyes blinked slowly open.

"Morning," Dane replied. "I'm about to go get breakfast. Want to come?"

"Not a chance," Mercury replied immediately without even glancing at the clock. "You have fun. I'll see you tonight," he added with a grin that made Dane's pants feel a little too tight.

"Your loss," Dane joked, but he let Mercury go back to sleep without protest. Dane had to pause by the door to readjust himself in his pants before opening the door and heading downstairs to the kitchen.

Lumie was standing in the middle of the kitchen waiting for Dane. When Dane walked in, he immediately held out his red plastic bowl. Lumie's favorite cereal had a lot of cinnamon in it, not that Dane was in any way surprised when he learned that fact. Dane dug it out of the cabinet and the milk out of the fridge. He filled Lumie's bowl and handed him a spoon before turning back to the cabinets to find his own bowl and cereal.

"You coming to work with me again?" Dane asked as he filled his bowl with cereal that contained a lot less sugar than Lumie's did.