Firefighter Dragon: BBW Dragon Shifter Paranormal Romance (12 page)

Bertram's claws raked carelessly through the pile as he clambered over coins and cups to the center of the room. Stretching on his back legs, he dropped Virginia onto one of the steel girders supporting the high A-frame roof. Heart hammering, Virginia clutched at the dusty metal, fighting vertigo at the sight of the floor so far below. There was no question of jumping down, and nowhere to go. She was trapped.

Virginia forced her breathing to slow. Carefully, she straddled the beam, trying not to look down. She concentrated instead on the steady beacon of the mate-bond in her mind.

"Dai
is
coming for me," she said out loud.

The white dragon shimmered, shrinking into human shape. "Indeed." Bertram smirked up at her as he took his cell phone out of his pocket. "In fact, I'm counting on it."

––––––––

"I
don't have time for this," Dai snarled at Ash. "I have to find Virginia!"

"If you move again, I will personally break your other bloody leg," Hugh snapped. His bare fingers dug into Dai's calf as his healing talent knit bone and muscle back together. "Do you want to have to crawl to your mate's rescue?"

"If I have to, yes!"

"You don't know where he took her," Ash said. Dai could have throttled the Commander for his level voice and calm expression.

Behind the Commander, another fire crew worked to put out the smoldering remains of Dai's house. Thanks to John's rain and Ash's prompt arrival, the blaze hadn't had the chance to spread to neighboring properties. The police were cordoning off the street, keeping curious onlookers well back.

"Chase is on his way back from London as fast as he can fly,” Ash said. “As soon as he's here, he'll be able to lead us to her."

"I can't wait that long!" Dai tried to push himself up, but John's enormous hands on his shoulders kept him firmly seated on the ground. "I can't sit here doing nothing. Virginia needs me
now."
Her fear sawed at his soul through the mate-bond. "If you'd ever met
your
mate, you'd understand!"

Ash looked at him. Though his expression never changed, even Dai's inner dragon recoiled from the brief glimpse of the inferno concealed behind those black eyes.

"I understand very well," the Commander said quietly. "But it does not change the fact that you can do nothing to help her right now."

Dai was saved from saying something potentially career-limiting to his commander by Ash's phone beeping. Ash touched his hand to his earpiece, listening. His eyebrows rose fractionally.

"I see," Ash said. Unclipping the phone, he passed it to Dai. "It's Griff."

"Dai?" Griff's Scottish burr was more pronounced than usual, a sure sign of agitation. "We just got the oddest emergency call here. He called 999 and then asked for you personally. He won't give his own name or location, but I'm certain it's your dragon shifter."

Adrenaline surged through Dai's blood. "Can you trace the call?"

"I'm working on it, but he's on a mobile phone so it's not easy." Dai could hear the rapid rattle of computer keys in the background. "Do you want me to keep stalling him, or put him through to you?"

"Put him through," Dai growled. There was a click as Griff did so. "Bertram?"

"I will offer you this trade once, and once only." Bertram's icy tones struck Dai like a blow. He could practically taste dragonfire rising in his throat in response. "Your mate for the Dragon's Eye."

"I don't have it." Dai glanced over his shoulder at the pile of wreckage that had been his house. "Even if it's still intact, it's buried under a ton of bricks."

Bertram's scornful laugh rang in his ear. "Do you think me a fool? I know she gave it to you, so it must be on your person right this moment. No dragon would have put down such a treasure for even a second. You have thirty minutes to bring it to the site of Brithelm's burial mound. Come alone. If you try to trick me, your mate will burn."

"Wait—!" Dai found himself talking to a dead line. He lowered the phone, his forehead furrowing. He looked up to find the rest of the crew watching him in concern. "Did you all catch that?"

John nodded. "Do you actually have this treasure the crawling worm seeks, kin-cousin?"

"No," Dai said slowly. "And now I'm trying to remember if
Virginia
ever put it down."

––––––––

V
irginia's feet were freezing, and she had a cramp in one hand from clinging to the cold metal beam. Bertram seemed to have been gone for hours. With childish malice, he'd flicked the lights off when he'd left, leaving her stranded in pitch darkness.

Virginia buried her face in the soft, worn material of Dai's robe, breathing in the faint trace of his wood-smoke scent to keep herself calm. She knew that he was getting closer. The mate-bond was growing steadily brighter, flaring from a mere ember to a roaring bonfire in her soul. Through it, she could sense Dai's fierce rage and his determination—and also how terribly afraid he was for her.

*Just come to me,*
she tried to send down the mate-bond, over and over. She didn't know whether her words were reaching him. All she could do was concentrate on radiating encouragement and reassurance down their mental link.
*Trust me. Come.*

The huge door rattled open again. Virginia squinted as the lights came on again, blinding after the total darkness.

Her heart leapt at the sight of Dai's tall form in the doorway—but Bertram, back in dragon form, was right behind him, prodding him along with vicious jabs of his ivory talons. From Dai's windswept hair and ripped shirt, Bertram must have carried him through the air rather than allowing him to shift and fly himself.

"Dai!" Virginia called out to him. "Up here!"

"Virginia!" Dai rushed forward, but had to halt as Bertram whipped his tail forward to bar his way. Dai struck his fist impatiently against the white scales. "I need to get closer to talk to her, since you've forbidden me to mindspeak anyone," he said, glaring up at the fanged head towering above him. "I'm not giving you the Dragon's Eye until I'm absolutely satisfied she's unharmed."

Bertram hissed, but reluctantly raised his tail to allow Dai past. The firefighter's eyes stayed fixed on Virginia, without even a glance at the gold coins crunching under his boots or the fantastic hoard all around.

Perfect trust in her poured down the mate-bond as he stopped directly underneath her. "I'm here, Virginia."

Virginia met his eyes, reflecting the faith and love straight back at him, the mate-bond so incandescent she could almost see it in the air between them. "Daifydd Drake, my mate."

She took her hand out of her pocket, opening her fingers. Gold and rubies gleamed as they fell. "I give you the Dragon's Eye for your hoard."

Bertram lunged with a shriek of rage, but Dai was faster. He leapt, snatching the Dragon's Eye out of midair. Before his feet hit the ground again, they had shimmered into talons.

The red dragon spread his wings, green eyes blazing with rage and triumph. White-hot flame spilled from his jaws as he roared.
*Bertram Russell, I challenge you!*

The white dragon twisted awkwardly as he aborted his charge. He eyed up the red dragon for a second, then his spines lowered submissively.
*Your hoard is superior. I concede your dominance.*

*I reject your submission!*
The red dragon lunged, claws flashing.

Bertram barely managed to twist away in time.
*You
—
you can't do that!*
He backpedalled rapidly, nearly tripping over his own tail.
*I've submitted. You can't hurt me. You'd be outlawed!*

*And you'd be dead.*
Dai's snarl made Bertram flatten to the floor in terror.
*I'll kill you for touching my mate!*

"Dai, wait!" Virginia called down, but the red dragon ignored her, intent on stalking Bertram. Virginia danced from foot to foot, nearly toppling off the beam. She didn't know what happened to outlawed shifters, but she was betting it wasn't good. "No, he's not worth it!"

The white dragon made a break for the door, but the red shot a blast of fire that forced him away from it again. Bertram shrieked in pain as Dai's teeth closed with a sickening
crunch
on his throat. The white dragon writhed, futilely trying to claw at Dai, but the larger dragon pinned him down. Virginia could see the thick muscles of Dai's jaws strain, striving to choke the life out of Bertram.

If Dai killed him...Virginia took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Concentrating on the mate-bond, she threw her heart and soul into reaching her mate.

––––––––

*D
AI! STOP!*

Dai jerked as Virginia's voice echoed in his mind. Her mental shout broke his dragon's bloodlust, leaving room for human reason to take over. He could feel Bertram's jugular pulsing under his teeth. It would be so easy to bite down...but then he'd be declared rogue. His own fire team would have to hunt him down.

A moment of revenge is not worth a lifetime with our mate,
he told his inner dragon. The dragon's rage boiled in his blood...and then slowly, grudgingly, began to subside.

Dai opened his jaws, allowing Bertram to squirm free. He stared disdainfully down at the cowering white dragon for a moment, then turned his back. Stretching upward, he held out one forefoot to Virginia, claws open.

She stepped into his grasp without hesitation, and Dai carefully lowered her to the ground. She let out a relieved sigh as her bare feet touched the piled gold of Bertram's hoard. She swayed, and Dai quickly shifted, supporting her.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

Virginia leaned her head against his arm. "Never better." She reached up to his face, tracing the bruises and cuts Hugh hadn't had time to heal. "You?"

"I'm fine." He kissed her fingertips, overcome with relief. "Virginia. My mate."

Belatedly, he realized he still clutched the Dragon's Eye, now that he'd shifted back to human. He chuckled as he pocketed it, freeing his hands to embrace her tightly. "My clever, clever mate. Figuring out how to break Bertram's dominance over me."

"I wasn't sure it would work," Virginia said, slightly muffled against his chest. "But I thought, if the Dragon's Eye is
that
valuable..." She trailed off, and Dai felt her shoulders move in a small sigh, a twinge of regret passing down the mate-bond. Before he could ask her why, she pulled back a little, looking at Bertram. "What about
him
?"

The white dragon glared balefully at them both. Dai sent a wordless command to Bertram, exerting his dominance in order to force the other shifter to revert to human form.

Bertram struggled to sit upright, blood staining the front of his suit. "You won't get away with this." His voice was hoarse but outraged. Already his shoulders were settling into their usual arrogant lines. He pointed an accusing finger at Dai. "You attacked me after I submitted. I'll see you dragged before the Parliament and outlawed." His trembling finger jabbed at Virginia. "And as for
you
—
"

Exactly what Bertram planned to do to Virginia, they never found out. A fiery, winged shape soared through the open doors, so incandescently bright that Dai instinctively squeezed his eyes tight shut. When he opened them again, Commander Ash stood in front of Bertram, hands clasped behind his back.

"Bertram Russell?" the Commander asked, perfectly composed.

Bertram stared at him. "Who the bloody hell are you?"

"Fire Commander Ash, of the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service." Wisps of smoke rose around Ash's feet. Behind him, the wooden floorboards were scorched black in the outline of feathered wings. "I am the phoenix eternal, and you are in my jurisdiction."

"I don't have to answer to some jumped-up bird shifter," Bertram spat. "I am a dragon, of the line of kings! You have no authority over me."

"By birth, by blood, and by order of the Parliament of Shifters, I do. All wildfires are mine, and those who light them. You have committed arson and assault by flame, and so put yourself into my power." Holding Bertram's eyes, Ash crouched so that their faces were level. "As you have sought to burn others, so shall you yourself burn."

Bertram seemed hypnotized, frozen in place. His expression still betrayed his utter incomprehension, but his breathing sped up with primal, instinctive fear. "You—you can't burn me. I'm a dragon. I'm fireproof."

"I am the phoenix. There is nothing I cannot burn." Very gently, Ash placed one fingertip on the exact center of Bertram's forehead. "From the ashes, you will rise anew."

White light flared. Dai pressed Virginia against his chest, turning to shield her from the wash of intense heat.

"What was
that?
" Virginia exclaimed, as the blaze faded. She looked at Bertram, who was now slumped vacant-eyed and slack-jawed, but otherwise unharmed. She turned to Ash. "What did you do to him?"

The Commander rose, his expression as impassive as ever as he gazed down at Bertram. "I burned away his dragon."

––––––––

"W
hat's going to happen to him?" Virginia said, watching the uniformed paramedics escort Bertram to the ambulance.

The former dragon shifter stumbled docilely between the muscular assistants. His face was still as blank and wondering as a newborn baby's.

"They'll look after him at the psych ward. It'll take him a while to adjust to the loss of his dragon." Dai wrapped an arm round her shoulders, holding her close. "I've seen this before. He'll be all right in the end. Just...very different."

Virginia shivered, huddling up against Dai's side. She was glad Commander Ash was fully occupied talking to the other emergency service workers that he'd summoned. She was grateful to him, of course...but right now, she'd rather be grateful from a distance. There was something deeply unnerving about a creature who could so fundamentally change people against their will.