Her Dragon's Fire (21 page)

“They were flying over a wooded area when they were both
literally
pulled from the sky by what we now know was black magic. The force from the dark spell pushed their dragons back and left the men falling to the ground. Apparently, a coven of wizards had seen Aidan earlier when he had been out tracking and had set a trap for him. However, they had not counted on two dragons, so from what we now know, they didn’t have enough magic to hold them both. In a quick plan B move, the sadistic bastards used their dirty magic to disorient Aidan while they held Andrew and made it look like they had killed him. Aidan actually saw what he thought was Andrew’s severed head thrown into their huge ritual fire. They then hit ‘A’ with another blast of their tainted shit and left him there for dead.

“Hours later, ‘A’ woke up and made his way back to the lair, but by then there was no sign of the wizards. We searched and searched and found absolutely no clues. Now, you have to understand, we have some serious mojo of our own, dragon magic is nothing to scoff at, but those sons of bitches were packing some kind of hyped up, serious power that night.

“We all mourned Andrew’s death. I know you know we live a long time, and to lose one of us so early in our lifespan because of the scum of the earth is horrible for all of us, but it hit ‘A’ the hardest. He felt responsible for Andrew’s death and spent every waking minute punishing himself for what had happened. For six years, we all watched our friend and brethren in pain and constant turmoil, with no way to help him. No matter what we tried, nothing helped. Then a little over six months ago, everything changed.

“We were on our way back to the lair. Trying to get Spitfire, I mean Kyndel, back to the lair,” he smiled, trying to ease into what he was about to tell Grace. He was glad for her strength because the rest of this story may just send a weaker woman screaming into the woods.

“We were ambushed by a group of hunters led by a magic practitioner able to give them enhanced abilities. Even with all their magic infused powers we were winning the fight, but somehow, the magic practitioner got past us and held Kyndel at knife point. While Rayne was negotiating for her release, the leader revealed himself to be Andrew, obviously not dead, and seriously deranged from his time with the wizards. After a skirmish that left Kyndel injured, we captured him, but the infusion of black magic he received from the wizards mixed with his dragon magic, allowed him to escape before ‘A’ and Aaron could get him back to the Elders for the Tribunal.

“We’ve pieced together bits and pieces of what happened but there are still a lot of holes. The one thing that all of our Elders and Leaders believe, is that it will take at least one, if not both, of the ‘real’ brothers to bring him down. For the last six months ‘A’ has tracked him, but even with our enhanced senses he has been able to hide from us. We think it’s another effect of the black magic. We also can no longer mind speak with him and ‘A’ is positive he has lost touch with his dragon.

“In the last week, some of the men that work for Max have been able to catch his scent on more than one occasion, leading us to believe that either the black magic is finally wearing off, or he has used all he had stored. Max’s men also found that Andrew has been meeting with the wizard leader. The traitor you heard Aidan and Rayne refer to is Andrew. He is headed here with wizards and the criminals we believe are associated with ‘The Auctioneer’ you’ve been investigating.

“All of that bullshit is why Aidan is up there and not back here with you, where he truly wants to be. He told me that you can tell when he is mind speaking with one of us, so you know he has been bitching at me the whole time I’ve been talking to you. Now, I know you have questions, so fire away and I’ll do my best to answer, while we still have time.”

Grace just stood and stared at Lance. Not sure what to ask first, she started with one of the last things he had said. “Kyndel was held at knife point? And hurt? But I saw her and she seemed fine. She is really ok, right?” She was controlling her temper the best she could. She was so pissed at the two people that meant the most to her right now for keeping things from her. So pissed in fact, it was getting difficult to see straight.

“Yes, she was held at knife point and yes, she was hurt.” She felt her cheeks get hot at his admission and knew they were red from her fury. If this guy had any sense at all, he might want to take a step or two back, because she might just punch him since the people she was really furious with were not in front of her and he was. “But before you rip my head off, she completely recovered and is healthier than anyone I’ve ever met.” So he did know she was close to her breaking point; smart man or dragon or whatever.

Grace just nodded, thinking the reunion she imagined with her best friend was shot to hell, because she was going to kick her ass just as soon as she delivered her little niece or nephew. “Does Aidan have a plan to catch Andrew? Because if anything happens to him I will cover him in Kyndel’s granny’s ointment and nurse him back to health just to kill him myself.”

Lance grinned and her hand itched with the need to smack it off his face, “We always have a plan, Hellcat.”

“On a side note, your nicknames for Kyndel and I are really
not funny
,” she smirked.

Somewhere in the last two seconds her anger had melted away, and she had decided not to be mad at Lance for what was happening. If she had to be honest with herself, and she always was, she would have done the exact same thing if roles were reversed. The buzzing started again and she knew Lance was telling Aidan she had not killed him, yet. “I kinda like the nicknames.” He shrugged, “And it was your mate that gave Kyndel hers, not me.”

Grace’s eyes widened and she smiled the first real smile she’d had since earlier this morning, while still in Aidan’s arms. “Well,
hell
, I guess I have to give him credit for that one then.” The smile left her face, “I know you’re talking to him. Tell him that I understand why he has to be up there and why he is worried for me, but that this discussion is far from over. Make sure he knows it is in
no way
ok to keep secrets from me.”

Grace knew Lance was relaying her exact words from the look on his face. This time, the buzz seemed a little less anxious than it had been while Lance had been explaining the situation to her. She figured being able to feel Aidan’s emotions, along with the recognition of his mind speak, must be an added benefit of the mating call thing they all kept talking about. But the fact that her
spidey senses
were screaming at her, telling her first and foremost that she needed to be with Aidan, and secondly, that Lance had not told her the whole story, was about to drive her crazy. She could get the whole story later. The pressing issue was that she needed to get to Aidan. Something big was about to happen and she needed to be with him when it did. “Tell him we’re coming back,” she stated, daring Lance to tell her otherwise. “And tell him I’m not taking ‘No’ for an answer.”

Before Lance could answer, she spun around and started walking back the way they had come. She knew they were going to try to talk her out of it and she was having none of it. Just to prove she was right about their plans, Lance called out, “Hey there Hellcat, your mate is having a shit fit in my head. Can’t we talk about this?”

“Nope. No more talking. I can’t explain this shit but I know I need to be up there with him and that is where I’m going to be,” she talked as she walked, knowing with his enhanced hearing that he caught every word.

“Ok! You got it. I’m just the messenger and I damn sure don’t want to get shot.” He chuckled from closer behind her than he had been two seconds ago.

He caught up to her and she saw that familiar twinkle in his eyes. She wondered if he always made a joke out of everything. Then she had a sad thought. What if something had happened in his many years to make him use humor as his defense mechanism? She had seen how nervous he had been when he was telling her about Aidan and his brothers, but even then she could tell he would have busted out a joke or two if he thought he could get away with it. It was easy to see how he and Aidan were so close. Hell, how they were all so close. She was so lost in thought that she almost fell forward when the ground shook and a sound like the earth caving in on itself made her ears ring. It took a couple seconds for her to realize the sound had come from in front of her. She looked up to see smoke billowing over the tree tops. With no thought of her safety or what she was running into, she sprinted as fast as she could towards the smoke, her only thoughts of Aidan; the fear that she would never see him again causing her to move faster than she ever imagined her chubby thighs could carry her.

“Grace, I can’t let you run in there until we know what is going on. ‘A’ made me promise to keep you safe,” Lance called to her as she raced towards the fire, but there was no way she was stopping. He would have to bodily restrain her to keep her from getting to Aidan.

“I really don’t give a shit what you promised. He is up there and could be hurt. I
am
going.” She really needed to exercise more, she thought to herself. Running had never been her thing. Her words were barely more than a breath as she struggled to keep up her pace. “Use your damn mind talk thingy and find out what the hell is going on. Find out if he is ok.”

The buzzing in her head started again and she could have cried just to know Aidan was at least well enough to communicate. “What is going on?” she asked.

“They have no idea what happened. The trucks had entered the tunnels; the wizards were going through one of the loading bay doors with Andrew bringing up the rear when the top of the damn building blew off.” She hated the fact that he wasn’t even breathing heavily when she was in serious need of an oxygen tank. Out of sheer necessity, she slowed her pace while Lance continued explaining, “Rayne, ‘A’, and the others are trying to get eyes on Andrew. Only a few of the wizards made it back out, and since their vehicles were blown up along with the part of the warehouse, they have taken cover in one of the outbuildings on the west side. ‘A’ is screaming his damn head off, telling me to grab you and haul ass the other way.” Lesser men had withered at the look she shot him. It was her best ‘I am gonna take you down’ look and had been honed over years of mock trials. “But I have too much respect for you to do that, even if it means he’s gonna kick my ass.” Good man she thought, as she continued to head to Aidan.

They both stopped running and stood behind a small maintenance shed, a lot like the one they had been behind earlier. “Now all I ask,
Hellcat
, is that you stay close and do whatever I tell you. I have to make sure nothing happens to you. I’ve heard enough stories in my lifetime to know you are being driven by forces you just can’t fight, so stay close and do as I say.” She saw the shit eating grin and twinkle in his eye and swore nothing rattled this man. “I’m not going to mind speak with ‘A’ until we are closer, but I’m listening to what’s going on.” He paused and she guessed he was listening to the action inside the building. All she could see was an abandoned warehouse with fire and smoke pouring out the top and most of one side.

“
Oh fuck!
There were girls in the trucks we saw go into the tunnels and now they’re trapped. I really need to get down there and help,” the fun-loving jokester Grace had grown accustomed to was gone, just that quickly. Standing beside her was a fierce member of the Dragon Guard.

“All right, Grace, we’re gonna move closer to the warehouse. Aidan is coming out with the paperwork he was able to save from the flames. He needs to see you just as badly as you need to see him, even though I know I’m going to get an ear full when this is all over for not getting you as far away from here as I could. We’ll meet him right over by that group of trees,” he pointed to the left, and she saw a bench surrounded by trees that must have been a place for the former employees to take a break.

“Stay close.” She gasped as he pulled her closer with the arm he laid across her shoulders. “Don’t worry, Grace; I got permission from your mate to put my arm around you.”

Her eyes shot up to his face and she saw that same goofy twinkle she would forever associate with her mate’s best friend. At least he had the decency to act like the elbow she shoved into his ribs hurt. “
Oomph
, damn you have some boney elbows.”

“Just remember that the next time you think about messing with me.”

She knew he was trying to keep her mind off of all the mayhem they were standing mere yards from, but the longer it took to see Aidan with her own eyes, the louder her
spidey senses
screamed at her. Something was just not right about all of this, it just did not add up. Besides the obviously half destroyed warehouse with fire and smoke billowing in every direction, something
else
just did not feel right. There was more at play than they were seeing. Nothing she had learned about the wizards explained why they would blow up the building they had gone to all the trouble of getting ready to use, and definitely not with their own people in it. It seemed to Grace that they were a bunch of cowards that hid behind their power. The story Lance had shared earlier only proved to solidify her opinion of the black magic yielding douche bags. She was still upset with Aidan for not telling her himself sooner, but her heart broke for the pain and torment he had suffered thinking he had played a part in the death of his younger brother. She absolutely could not imagine what it felt like to find out after all those years that the brother he had mourned for so long was actually alive, and from the sounds of it, more than a little unstable. It made it really hard for her to stay mad at the incredibly handsome man she had come to care so deeply for, but it did not negate the fact that she was still going to give him a rash of shit as soon as she saw for herself that he was ok and kissed him within an inch of his already very long life.