Firestorm Forever: A Dragonfire Novel (21 page)

He’d planted seeds of doubt in her mind, and he knew it. As much as Ronnie would have liked to have argued otherwise, she really didn’t know how Drake had found Mark or what condition her husband had been in when Drake found him. She really didn’t know Drake’s motives, or really, that much of his history. She certainly didn’t know any of his secrets.

She knew, however, that Drake could become a dragon at will and slaughter any man he so chose.

And that was exactly what Jorge had wanted her to remember. One of the triplets blindfolded her and she felt that being plunged into darkness was a good metaphor for her current situation.

“Trust is a precious commodity, Ronnie,” Jorge whispered just as she was being led to the door. “Don’t be too quick to share it with those who don’t reciprocate in kind.”

Had she been too quick to trust Drake?

What else hadn’t he told her?

* * *

The network of tunnels below the abandoned section of the hospital was more familiar than Drake would have preferred. The isolation and the smell of rot was consistent with the holes chosen by all the vipers he had ever hunted.

It was raining on the evening they selected for their attack. The cold October rain made the worn concrete surfaces slick and more dangerous than they usually would have been. There was rebar sticking out of the floors and walls where concrete had crumbled. Beneath the smell of mold and rot, of garbage dumped and toxic chemicals abandoned, there was a faint scent of Veronica.

She was here.

Her scent was warm, which meant she yet lived.

He exchanged a nod with the other three
Pyr
, each of whom went his own way as planned. Theo had asked for volunteers from the Dragon Legion. Kristofer and Arach, who were familiar to Drake, had come, which pleased him. They were good fighters and reliable
Pyr
. Three others, Rhys, Hadrian and Kade, were watching over Timmy. A fourth, Reed, was unknown to Drake, although Theo had assigned him to defend Timothy. Drake liked that
Pyr
’s resolute manner. The plan was that Jorge and his fellows would be flushed out with a fire set by the Dragon Legion in the tunnels beneath the building, and it would be left to Drake to rescue Veronica.

Drake found the spot in the forest where the dragons had devoured their fellow fairly easily, because the growth was charred from the dragonfire. That carried a faint scent of
Slayer
. He stood in the sheltered shadows of the trees and studied the spot while remaining hidden. He could discern the building on the far side, its walls and windows disguised by darkness and rampant vegetation. The roof had crumbled on one side, and most would have assumed it vacant. Drake surveyed the building with care. Only a
Pyr
could have seen sufficient detail at this distance, and Drake took his time to choose his point of attack.

There would be no time to correct a mistake.

He spied the steel door and knew from the smell of it that it was new. There was a faint residue of
Slayer
upon it, as if they had become sloppy in disguising their scent.

Or as if they intended to tempt him to enter that way. Drake would not make such a foolish choice.

He scanned the second story and almost missed the detail he sought, so concealed was it by grime and growth.

There were bars installed across a window, one of the few that seemed to still have intact glass. The bars were so perfect and similar that Drake recognized they were recently installed. The glass of that window was tinted, reflecting rain and forest like a black mirror, which meant he couldn’t anticipate exactly what he would find behind it.

Veronica, certainly, but perhaps more than that.

He smelled the first match struck and then a prickle of awareness within the building. Jorge had heard it as well, Drake would wager, and he was glad they had chosen to light the fires with matches instead of dragonfire.

Jorge might guess that it was
Pyr
taking his bait, but let him learn the truth of it as late as possible. Drake didn’t imagine the
Slayer
would be that readily fooled. He had baited a trap and was waiting for the
Pyr
to arrive. Drake smelled the gasoline ignite and felt the soaked cloth flare into flames.

 
Drake heard the
Pyr
stumbling in the tunnels, as if they were clumsy and human, lost and perhaps drunk. They joked with each other, like teenagers bent on making mischief, and Drake wondered whether Jorge believed the ruse.

Then he saw a flash of orange dragonfire in the basement of the building. It shone through slits in steel shutters that were locked over windows, and Drake understood that Jorge, like so many vermin, had chosen to secret himself in the earth.

He heard a roar and the hair stood up on his neck as his fellows shifted shape to fight. The building shook with the impact of their blows. Drake summoned his own change, lunging across the clearing as the blue shimmer raced over his skin. He bounded into the scrub on the far side and leapt up the side of the building, ripping the bars from the window with savage force and casting them aside. He shattered the window with a mighty swing of his tail and heard a woman gasp.

He saw Veronica and felt her relief when she recognized him, just before he heard humans in the forest behind him.

Trespassers, or urban explorers as Rox had called them.

Probably with cameras.

Drake exhaled in exasperation, guessing that the unexpected presence of humans might complicate events. Still, he had to focus. There were sudden footsteps outside the door to Veronica’s prison and Drake beckoned to her to hurry. She was already running toward him and leapt into his embrace, the evidence of her trust enough to make his heart thunder. He spun immediately and took flight, propelling himself off the building wall with a mighty kick, even as he heard a
Slayer
swear behind him.

“Drake!” Veronica whispered and laid her cheek on his chest as he soared high. “I was afraid you were dead.”

“Not yet,” he muttered, flying high like an arrow shot at the stars. There would be pursuit and it would come soon.

“Don’t say that!”

It was only as he held Veronica close that Drake wondered whether carrying her would hamper his ability to fight in her defense.

* * *

Drake had come for her, at no small risk to himself.

That said something about his reliability and determination to defend her. Ronnie ran her hands over his scaled hide, feeling his power as his muscles flexed. He flew straight up, his wings beating hard against the air. She was amazed by how quickly he moved, and how effortless he made his flight appear.

She was tucked under his chin, nestled against the pounding of his heart and sheltered from the cold rain. His scales were as dark as charcoal and he could have been made of chunks of night sky. They gleamed though, like black pearls. She felt how the scales layered over each other, making a coat of protective mail, and fingered the spurs on the bottom of each one.

Her dragon had thorns.

He was warm, too, which prompted her to curl against him. It was easy to recall how deliberate a lover he had been and even easier to want to survive this to make love with him again.

His wings were black and leathery, and their span was massive. His coloring made his dragon look to have been forged out of black pearls and iron, a massive sculpture come to life. His talons were a deep red, reminding her of iron heated at the forge and his eyes were the same inky dark hue as they were in real life. The iris was a vertical slit, instead of a round dot, but still there was something recognizable of Drake in the dragon.

She recalled how resolute he could be and how she felt his anger like a tangible force. There was something recognizable of the dragon in Drake, too.

She had so much to tell him and no notion of where to start. He had to know what she’d told Niall, but Ronnie wasn’t sure.

She started with essentials.

“Jorge says he wants the baby,” she confessed and felt Drake nod.

“I know.” He spoke quickly then, as if in a hurry. “He is a viper, Veronica, much like the viper that killed your husband.”

“I thought Jorge was a
Slayer
.”

Drake was dismissive of the distinction. “In these times, wickedness has a different name. No matter the name, he is evil and thrives upon sowing doubt into the minds of others. He would turn you into his ally, convincing you that I am your foe. He would undermine whatever faith you might have in me and draw you into his scheme.”

Jorge
had
tried to do just that. It was reassuring that Drake understood him so well.

She might have said as much, but Drake hurried on. Ronnie had never heard him speak so quickly or so much, so she kept silent and listened.

Time must be short for whatever he had to confide in her.

What did he anticipate?

“I erred in not telling you of the import of the firestorm.” There was regret in his tone that made her want to forgive him. “I erred in not asking for your agreement in conceiving our son. I forgot that times have changed and I was overwhelmed by the fury of the firestorm. I am sorry, Veronica, and I would spend the rest of my days in seeing that mistake repaired.”

Ronnie had to say it. “He said you killed Mark, that that’s how you found him so readily.”

She felt the surge of fury in Drake like a heat wave and when he looked down at her his eyes were colder than they had ever been. “A viper will tell any lie necessary,” he said with disgust, and she knew his anger was directed at Jorge.

It was interesting that she found it easier to read his reactions when he was in dragon form.

Or maybe she was getting to know Drake a little better. She’d thought him impassive and inscrutable once, but she was learning to detect the signs of his emotions. It didn’t hurt that he seemed to invariably be on the side of honor and justice.

That was familiar and welcome.

In fact, Ronnie was reassured by his outrage. He would only have been so angry if Jorge had lied. “I didn’t really think it could be true. I didn’t think you had ever lied to me.”

“I have failed to tell you
all
of the truth, for we have had little time for such confidences. I would improve upon my record.”

“Starting now?”

“One never knows how matters will unfold,” Drake said grimly. “Your husband was killed by a viper, much like this one, a malicious worm spewing his toxin into the world in the hope of gaining men to his side. Your husband battled him to his very last, and there is no more noble death than that.”

Ronnie nodded. She spared a glance to the ground, now so far away, and held a little tighter to her dragon. Were there more dragons below? She thought so, although it was hard to pick their figures out of the darkness in the rain. She saw several plumes of fire and guessed that there were two pairs battling in the air. The building where she’d been imprisoned was in flames and she could hear sirens drawing closer.

“His death
could
be said to have been my fault,” Drake admitted. “For I failed to kill that viper when first I hunted him. I was caught under his spell, and he did much evil before I could finish what I had once begun.”

“And Cassandra? Did you truly abandon her?”

“Not by choice,” he admitted, acknowledging the truth in the charge. “I left reluctantly, to do the service I owed.” That was familiar to Ronnie, too: Mark had never wanted to leave when he was going to ship out, but he had believed in fulfilling his duty and in serving the greater good. That was the way of honor and justice. Ronnie liked that Drake had that trait in common with Mark. “That viper’s spell held me captive until long after Cassandra had died. I cannot undo that she and my son never knew of my fate.”

Ronnie thought of all the days and nights she’d been uncertain of Mark’s whereabouts, or even whether he survived and wasn’t nearly sure she was ready to sign up for that life again.

Drake’s tone turned suddenly urgent. “Trust in the firestorm, Veronica. Unlike me, it never errs. That it has chosen you as my destined mate means that there is promise in our match. I know that to be so. I want
you
to know that is so, to have no shred of doubt, and to use that confidence to obstruct the charm of a viper.”

Her grip tightened upon him at the implication beneath his words. “But you just saved me.”

Drake shook his head. “I have stepped into his trap, but I did so to confide this truth in you.” He cast a glance downward and his eyes narrowed. Ronnie looked down to find a furious gold and topaz dragon flying straight toward them very quickly, and she clutched at Drake in fear.

“And now comes the moment that I shall pay the price for provoking Jorge’s wrath.” His voice dropped low again, even as she realized the dragon in pursuit was Jorge in his other form. “Remember, Veronica. Remember and believe. He is powerless if there is no soil for his venomous seed to take root.”

The thing was that Jorge didn’t look very powerless to Ronnie at all.

“But…”

“He will let you live, because he wants the child.”

“And you?”

Drake smiled, revealing a great many dragon teeth. “I shall have to earn the right to survive this night.” He lowered his voice to a rumble, and Ronnie felt his words in the vibration of his chest as much as she heard them. “All is not necessarily as it appears.”