Sword of the King (20 page)

Blaze shook his head. "I don't really know either. I came in the back door and they came in the front. Leo told them to kill me, but try to take Erie alive."

"Must have just come back from hauling the others out," Ken said grimly. "They knocked me out, probably thought I was dead. By the time I came to, it was too fucking late."

"Erie tried to warn me," Blaze said quietly, recalling that moment when he'd snapped at Erie for bugging him. "I didn't listen, I was too upset with myself. Damn it, what is going on?"

Ken went to the front window and stared out it. "I have no fucking idea, but they knocked Amr and Cam out fast. They shouldn't have been able to do that. Do you know how fucking hard it is to do anything to a Holy Pendragon? And to a prince, which is what Amr became the moment he bonded. He was already good with magic, now he's on par with sorcerers. But they knocked them out like it was nothing."

"They must have figured something out, maybe modified the changer drugs."

"All I know is they'd better be ready when I show up to shoot them all in the face and take back what's mine!" Ken snarled. "No stupid fucking syndicate has the right to my dragon, the Holy Pendragon, or my friends!"

Blaze scrubbed at his face, shunting away his own fear to focus on how best to get the job done. "First, we need to clean up and get sorted. You aren't going anywhere while you're still bleeding. Let's get you patched, then we'll figure out the rest. We'll get them back, though, you can bet your ass on that."

"Damn straight," Ken said. He swayed on his feet, and Blaze started forward to catch him—but he held steady, drew a deep breath, and glared. "I'm not passing out. There's too much to do. Let's go." He turned and headed toward the back of the house. Blaze gave all the bodies one last look to be certain they were dead, then followed Ken.

Ken wanted to kill someone. Mostly himself. If he hadn't stormed off again because he was so fucking pissed at Amr, he might have been around and able to actually help. But goddamn it, Amr drove him to distraction. He'd never met someone so fucking irritating in his whole life.

And now he was Prince Amr, and Ken was somehow the lucky bastard immune to his 'everybody worship me' powers. Ugh. Everything had turned into a fucking mess. Rick was going to murder him like three times over. Speaking of Rick ...

Heaving a sigh, Ken popped four aspirin and chased them with an energy drink. Setting the can aside, he picked up his phone and hit the speed dial.

"Ken?"

"Hey, Dad," Ken said quietly.

The concern already present in Rick's voice quadrupled as he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Everything," Ken said, sliding to the floor and cradling his aching head as he explained all that had happened from the moment he'd first gotten Rick's call about a missing Holy Pendragon.

When he finished, Rick was silent. Ken hated when he was silent. It was worse than getting yelled at.

"We'll get there as soon as we can," Rick finally said. "Keep your phone with you, and keep it turned on."

"I will," Ken said. "I-I'm sorry."

Rick sighed. "Just be careful, Ken. I don't give a damn about that Pendragon. I do care a hell of a fucking lot about losing you. Don't do anything else stupid until we get there, understand me?"

Ken wondered if going with Blaze into the city to shoot people and get their dragons back counted as stupid. Probably. But Rick lived on the opposite side of the country, and it would take a full day just to rally his brothers, calm down Clan Cross, and finally catch a plane.

"I'm too fucking tired to do anything stupid," he said. "Thanks."

"Seriously. Nothing stupid. We'll be there soon." He killed the connection, and Ken shoved his phone in his pocket. Picking up the energy drink, he drained it, then left the can on the counter.

He found Blaze in the living room sorting out all the weapons he'd taken from the various dead thugs. "Looks like we're going to make some noise."

"Something," Blaze said. "I'd give all of this to have Erie, but we'll get them back soon enough. How did your call home go?" He stood up, smoothly holstering a gun at his shoulder and tucking another into the small of his back.

"I'm sure if I was young enough to be grounded, I'd be grounded for life. I'll be lucky if Cross doesn't find a way to light me on fire or something. Rick told me to wait for them to show, and not to do anything stupid."

Blaze gave him a look. "I'm not sitting here."

"Neither am I," Ken said with a smirk. "They'll catch up to us eventually, and I'm already a dead man in the Clan's eyes. What more can they do to me?"

Nodding, Blaze snatched up his car keys where he'd set them on the somehow still intact coffee table, then led the way outside. "I still can't believe they got the drop on a dragon that is supposed to be unbeatable. What's all the fucking fuss about if he was taken out that easy?"

"Cam isn't trained, for one. Two, they found a way to cheat. They must have. I really hope we find out what so the clans can counter it—not that Cam will be on this continent for long after Clan Pendragon comes to fetch him." Ken sighed.

Blaze looked at him after they climbed into the car, starting it up but not going anywhere. "You seemed pretty fucking pissed about Amr being a Mordred, and you're not even really Clan, right? Will real Clan—who I'm guessing are way crazier about this shit than you—really let Cam and Amr live? They seem the type to go with the 'better dead than dishonored' philosophy."

"I'm not letting anyone kill them," Ken said flatly. "I may not like the son of a bitch, but he doesn't deserve to be murdered by the syndicate—and he's a prince, now. That overrules fucking everything. I may not be a knight in the eyes of the clans, but that doesn't mean I'm not one. And they're all going to fucking die for taking away Nev." He threw Blaze a smirk. "Plus, we can't let them kill your sweetheart before you find the balls to make a move."

"Fuck you," Blaze muttered, cheeks flushing, then said tersely, "We need to get going."

Ken had the distinct impression he was missing something, but only replied, "Where are we going? All I know about St. George is what I've learned in the last couple of days."

"Leonardo lives and works in the Pentacle Building. It's forty stories high; he owns the top fifteen. The top three are private quarters, the rest offices and storage. If he's anywhere, it's there."

"The villain in his tower," Ken murmured. "What is it with these syndicate people and high places?"

Blaze grunted as he pulled onto the main road, blithely disregarding traffic laws as he made for the city. Ken hoped Blaze remembered the way, because he definitely did not; when they'd followed Leo to Rafael's cabin the first time, Leo had made it damn near impossible to keep track of the twists and turns. "Ego, obviously. They're high above the pits."

"Uh huh," Ken said. "So I guess we need some sort of plan past 'kick their asses'. I hope you've got one, cause I sort of suck at the whole planning ahead thing."

Laughing, Blaze replied, "No shit. But I don't really have much of a plan myself. I know that they're going to have to secure the dragons first, and Erie, Nev, Cam and Conway will be going ballistic. That is, if they're not unconscious, and the last thing you do with a drugged-out dragon is trust that he'll stay that way. Cam, especially, is a wildcard. So they'll be taking them to holding cells, which for St. George means the warehouse district. The pits are located close by so I actually know that area, sort of."

"Good," Ken said. "So we get the dragons back and then go for Raf and Amr. Sounds like a plan to me."

Blaze grunted in agreement, and they lapsed into silence. The Challenger sped along the winding roads, until they finally burst out onto a main highway and Blaze kicked the speed up yet another notch. "So what was that shit with Amr?"

"What shit? The part where he's still alive? Believe me, I'd love to strangle—"

"No, I mean that thing where you're immune to his weird 'everybody bow before me' powers."

Ken grimaced. "Oh. That."

Blaze shot him a quick glare, then put his eyes back on the road. "Yeah, man. That. Why are you immune?"

"The same reason there's always a small group of people immune to anything, I guess—shit happens. Amr's power is a sort of ... I think psychic resonance is the new, popular term for it. It's not the same way that demons, imps, and other high level paranormals can communicate with thought. That's magic-born. Take away a demon's magic, and no more telepathy for them. But with knights and dragons, it's pure mental prowess. Knights, owners, masters—whatever you want to call them—send out psychic vibes at an extremely low level that says 'fear me'. Royalty, like Amr and Cam, send out even more powerful vibes, as you've obviously witnessed. But there's always a small percentage of the population immune to it, nearly all of them dragon owners of one type or another. We send out the vibes, but we don't receive them as well or at all. They call it 'Lancelot's Blessing', cause Lancelot was the first one to exhibit the immunity back in the good old days of yore."

"So you and Rafael are both immune? That seems like amazing coincidence."

"Rafael isn't immune, he's just a top dog himself. Not as top as Amr, but enough to resist. Two stubborn assholes cancel each other out, more or less."

Blaze said nothing. Ken cast him a curious look, but at the stormy look on his face, decided not to press it.

"So what did Amr do to me, then?"

"Activated a block. It's only effective with Amr. Other royals will still have that 'I am special' effect on you."

Blaze nodded.

Silence fell again, and Ken was in no hurry to break it. He went back to staring out the window as they sped toward the city, anxiety gnawing at his gut. Was Nev okay? What  had the drugs done to him? Ken wanted to throw up, thinking of Nev back in the hands of a syndicate, of possibly being thrown into a pit. They'd keep him drugged, which would make him sick and lesson his effectiveness. He'd be vulnerable as fucking hell.

Obviously there wasn't time for them to actually start pitting him, but just being locked up again would be enough to send Nev into a panic. Goddamn it, Ken should be there with him. He never should have let Nev be taken at all. Fuck fuck fuck.

And then there was the ass-kicking he was going to get when Rick showed up with his brothers in tow, and possibly more of the clan as well. Ken wondered if they'd kill him right then and there, or if they'd haul him back to the Cross lands for something of the slow and torturous variety.

He did not even want to think about Amr. Stupid fucking Amr, who needed to be punched in the face just for being so goddamn aggravating. Ken nearly had a panic attack thinking of what would happen if Leo decided to kill Amr. Not that Ken cared about Amr, but Cam would go ballistic, and the aftermath would be a lot worse than growling and destroying a room and injuring a few people. It would be a bloodbath.

"We need to get them back," he said. "Fast."

"Tell me about it," Blaze said. "We're in the city now, and the warehouses we want are ten minutes away. Just be ready for anything."

Ken nodded, sitting up and keeping an eye on what he could. It was doubtful anyone could pick out Blaze's Challenger in a busy city, but fuck if he was taking chances anymore.

With traffic and a road fucked up due to construction, it took them closer to twenty minutes to finally reach the warehouses. Blaze parked just outside the gates, and shoved coins into a meter machine.

"Really?" Ken asked, laughing.

"You'll thank me when there's no bored cop ticketing us for it when we come out of here with guns and dragons blazing."

Ken just laughed harder as they walked toward the gates, where no less than six armed guards stood waiting. "Seriously, man? You were doing like fucking ninety on the highway and you're scared of a meter maid?"

"Never had a speeding ticket in my life, but I've had like six parking tickets, so fuck you," Blaze snapped–right as they reached the guards, drew their weapons, and started firing.

Three guards were down before the others could react, and the others didn't draw their weapons fast enough. Ken shot the fourth guard, then abandoned his gun when the fifth got too close, settling for using his fists instead.

By the time number five was dealt with, Blaze had killed number six and was hauling them into the guard post. Ken helped him drag them all inside.

"We won't have long once they see the guards are missing, even less once they notice they're dead," Ken said with a grimace as he fished out keys and cards, passing half of it over to Blaze. He shook his head as he back away from the bodies. He hated all the killing that happened in such situations. Leaving the guard post, he followed Blaze to the gates and swiped his card. "Where to now?"

"This way," Blaze said, jerking his head toward the east end of the long strip of warehouses.

They started walking, guns still drawn as they quickly made their way to wherever the hell Blaze was leading them. It was rather sick and sad that all the gunshots they'd fired had drawn no attention. Sick and sad, but not really surprising.

Blaze slowed as they reached a set of warehouses marked with red lines across the top, where the rest had not been marked at all. Ken lifted one brow in silent query, but Blaze didn't respond until they ducked behind a building to scope their target for immediate threats. "Those are the holding pens for dangerous dragons—typically the ones that aren't breaking well to the drugs, or to being dragon at all, or those that have lost a master."

"Ah," Ken said. "Never a dull moment."

"I blame you," Blaze said. "My life wasn't this aggravating until you showed up."

Ken grinned and checked both of the guns he'd brought. "I'm going to assume by 'aggravating' you mean 'interesting'. You're welcome." He didn't wait for Blaze's reply, just darted out of cover and headed for the holding pens.

What he didn't expect to find was absolutely no guards around the building and the door wide open. He spied a couple of cameras, but that was it. "Maybe I'm wrong, but if this place holds all the 'do not touch' dragons, why the fuck is the door open?"