Boreal and John Grey Season 2 (5 page)

Finn turned his head to the side, silver hair dancing on the wind, his gaze searching for Ella.

She couldn’t tell if he saw her.

A moment later, the dragon sprang off the building, soared high against the clouds and vanished.

***

Ella rode the elevator down, her legs shaking all the way
. Deep breaths
. She strode to Dave’s car, struggling to ignore the fear churning her stomach. “Damn dragon just disappeared. How are we going to follow her?”

“Relax.” Dave was chewing on a plastic straw, humming around it. “Looks like they’re heading east.”

“And you know this, how?”

“I’ve got agents posted all over the city, watching.”

She bit down on more questions and slid into Dave’s car without waiting for an invitation. “Okay, let’s go.”

Dave let a long-suffering sigh and got behind the wheel. Police cars passed them by, sirens wailing and lights flashing.

They rolled down the avenue, following them. Ella stared outside. She couldn’t get the image of Finn seated on the dragon out of her mind.

“Everything all right?” Dave asked.

“You’re asking me this as we’re following a dragon flying over the city?”

He tsked. “Now is as good a time as ever.”

Maybe to a robot it was. “Everything’s peachy.”

“I was merely asking if any Gates have opened. If there’s anything out of the ordinary I should know about.”

“Relax, Guardian. The Gates are shut. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have noticed if something had fallen through.”

Dave shrugged, taking a turn, the lights of the police cars ahead streaking his face with blue. “And what about human issues?”

“If you’re asking about the sniper...”

“Are you wearing your Kevlar?”

Ella glanced at his hard profile. “Yeah. Didn’t know you cared, Dave.”

“Of course I do.”

Yeah, right.
She still hadn’t figured out if Dave had any emotions whatsoever or just pretended too well.

Dave drove in silence for a while. His mobile beeped and he glanced at it. “Changing direction. Going north.”

“She’s heading toward the industrial district,” Ella said and Dave nodded.

“Lots of places for a nest there.”

But then the phone beeped again and Dave swore and took a sudden left turn. “Heading east.”

Night had closed in, moonless and starless. She glanced outside, trying to locate the dragon. She could recall clearly the rider on his white steed, burning like a flame as they flew against the sky.

Damn fairytales.

“What will you do with the dragon eggs? Shoot them?” For some reason the idea made her shiver.

“Let us find them first.”

“So you mean to keep them? Found a dragon nursery? A zoo?”

“Don’t be absurd.” Dave was unmoved. “Of course they’ll be killed. We can’t have dragons loose on this world.”

Although there was an
Aelfr
, and a
Duerg
. Dave didn’t seem to see the contradiction. 

“No secret plans of unleashing the dragons on the army and taking over the government?” She observed him as she said it, and an image of Godzilla trampling over buildings in Tokyo flashed through her mind.

“That’s not my mission.”

“Right.” Ella wasn’t sure what to believe. “Though, I assume, your orders could change.”

“I haven’t been contacted for centuries.”

She leaned her head back. “Because the Gates were closed.”

“And they’re still closed.” He raised a dark brow. “Unless you’re lying and Finn isn’t in control.”

In control.
A phrase Finn had used a couple of times already.
Interesting.
“I told you, Dave, the Gates are closed.”

“Sure. Although Finn looks tired. Keeping the Veil strong and the Gates closed  is obviously taking its toll on him.”

Ella sat straighter, alarms going off inside her head. “He looks fine to me, so stop worrying.”
And fishing for information.
“He’s got it covered.”

“He’s a fast learner, huh?”

“Yeah,” she said. Why did the phrase ring a bell?

“If there’s anything you’re not telling me...”

“Where are you going with this, Dave? You’re a suspicious bastard, you know that?”

“With good reason,” Dave said. “You always hold out on me.”

Ella clamped her jaw and stared up at the sky because he was right.

Yeah well, turnabout was fair play. Besides, this time round she wasn’t sure she knew anything at all.

***

“Dragon’s on the roof of the Citigroup building,” Dave said into his phone, his fingers tapping a rhythm on the steering wheel. “Bring backup.”

Ella got out of the car and stared up and up. A skyscraper. Or close.

Well, there’d better be elevators. She marched toward the entrance where two agents she didn’t know were explaining the situation to the guards — lying about it, in fact, telling them a helicopter had landed on their roof — and demanding to be let inside.

The guards shrugged and motioned at them to enter. Ella followed on their heels, flashing her badge. They all crammed into the elevator, not waiting for Dave, and went up.

God, she hated elevators. And heights. Not necessarily in that order.

And... more rooftops.
She sighed as she stepped out into the cold air, drawing her gun.

She froze.

The dragon stood, its huge head lowered, caught in Finn’s hands. He was murmuring something, his lips so close to the flared nostrils he seemed about to kiss the dragon’s snout.

Yet another what-the-fuck moment, and it was still the same evening. Oh and where was the nest? Dave wouldn’t be pleased.

She raised her gun. “Finn?”

“No!” He turned toward her, lifting a hand as if to stop her. But he gazed beyond her.

 “Take the beast out!” an agent shouted from behind her, and the dragon turned yellow eyes toward them. Intelligence lurked behind the slitted cores, and Ella hesitated for a split second.

The dragon stomped back and turned, spreading its feathered wings, and Ella took a step back. Then the creature jumped off the roof with a sound like a thousand whips cracking.

Shit.

“Down!” came a shout from behind her. “On your knees.”

She spun around.

Three agents surrounded Finn, guns trained on his head. He didn’t seem inclined to kneel but held his hands out to the sides — empty.

“Hey!” She strode over and shoved her way between them. “What are you doing? He’s with us.”

“He let the dragon escape,” a man cut like a wardrobe informed her, his gun aiming at Finn’s chest.

“He must have his reasons.” She reached for Finn whose blank expression forebode nothing good — then a hand landed on her shoulder and she was pushed down, a gun pressed to her head. It was so unexpected she yelped as she dropped to her knees, feeling the impact through her kneecaps.

Then it all went to hell.

A burst of movement and grunts of pain informed her that Finn had decided to take action. She struggled to get up.

He was ungodly fast. He seemed to dematerialize and materialize with no in-between transition. One moment he was punching the gun out of one agent’s hand — the next he was kicking another’s feet from under him — and then he was grabbing Ella’s arm and yanking her against him, borrowed gun pointing at the last man standing who seemed to inexplicably have lost his own.

Finn was muttering something under his breath, but Ella couldn’t pick out the words. He jerked her around, using the gun to cover the other two agents who moaned, lying on the roof, caught in the headlights lining the rooftop.

“Finn, hey.” She tried to step away but his grip around her waist tightened to the point of pain. “Finn!”

His eyes were empty. Shit, Finn didn’t seem to be behind them. He swung the gun forward — at something Ella couldn’t see.

She caught the barrel and pushed it down. “Stop. Hey, can you hear me?”

A violent shiver went through him. He let her pry the gun from his hand. His gaze was still vacant, the blue of his eyes turned to slate grey.

This was even scarier than the dragon.

The man who was still standing took a step forward.

She brought the gun back up. “Don’t.”

“What the hell is going on here?” Dave’s voice boomed from behind her.

She glanced at him over her shoulder. Oh god, she never thought she’d be so happy to see him. “Dave, tell your men to back the hell off. I’d hate to shoot them, but my trigger finger’s cramping.”

“He let the beast go.” One of the men, a thin, balding guy, jabbed a finger at Finn who had hunched over, shivering. “He rode it all the way here and then the fucking beast flew away. Goddamn retard—”

“Shut up,” Dave said, then nodded at Ella. “Status.”

“As you can see, boss,” she ground out, “I’m okay, but Finn is... cold.”

“Cold.” Dave frowned.

Finn shuddered, groaning deep in his throat. His wide eyes were fixed on a point in space. What the hell was he seeing?

“As I said,” Ella said, her jaw clenching, “he’s frozen stiff from the ride on the dragon. He wasn’t dressed for it. Can we get him indoors?”

“Goddammit.” Rubbing a hand over his brow, Dave sighed and nodded. “Get inside. I’ll talk to him later.”

Chapter Four

Clues

“Come on, Finn, let’s get you warm and comfy.” Ella’s heart hammered as she led him into the elevator and hit the button, sending them down. Finn hadn’t reacted to her manhandling him, twitching from time to time, his face white as death. “You’re here, you’re safe, yeah? It’s me, Ella. You know me.”

When the doors dinged open, Finn jerked back, pressing his body to the metal wall of the elevator. He reached for his knives.

“No, Finn, dammit.” Ella grabbed his hands and his fingers clenched around hers, threatening to break her bones. Still, she held on. “Come on, babe. It’s safe. You’re fine. Look at me.”

It was just like when Dave had shot him, dammit, and she’d found Finn in a back alley, barely able to stand. She felt she was having a flashback herself.

She had to bring Finn back before Dave realized what was happening — if he hadn’t already.
What a clusterfuck.

Mike had said his brother had gone through something similar. He might know how to help Finn. First, though, they had to deal with Dave.

She had to buy Finn some time.

Pulling his arm over her shoulder, she dragged him out into the chilly night, the wind a knife cutting through her flesh. Her phone rang as she hailed a taxi and she ignored it in favor of opening the door one-handed and settling Finn inside.

She’d barely gone around the other side and gotten inside the taxi, when her phone rang again, and guess who it might be. Rattling off the HQ address to the driver, she leaned over to buckle Finn in.

Finn grabbed her wrist, and she bit back a yelp of pain.

“It’s me, Ella,” she hissed. She lifted her other hand to his cold cheek. “Come on, snap out of it.”

He swallowed, gave a slow blink, and his fingers relaxed around her wrist. “Ella.”

Oh, thank god.
She wanted to wrap herself around him, make sure he was okay, but the taxi driver’s hard eyes stared at her through the rear-view mirror and she settled for stroking Finn’s cheek instead.

“Almost there now,” she whispered. “Hang on.”

The phone rang a third time as they reached the HQ. Ella rolled her eyes and answered it, holding it away from her ear.

“Where the hell are you?” Dave hollered. “I’ve been calling—”

“Chill, big boss, we’re almost at HQ.”

“HQ? What the hell are you doing there?”

Here goes.
“I thought you wanted to discuss this behind closed doors?”

A silence full of heat met her words. She waited.

“Fine,” Dave bit out. “I’ll be at the office in ten and you’d better be there.” He disconnected.

Now that had gone well. 

She paid the taxi and went around the car to help Finn — but he ignored her hand and hauled himself out on his own. His knees started to buckle but he still ignored her, leaning on the car door and gritting his teeth.

Her patience was running low. “Dammit all, Finn, will you let me help you?”

“I’m fine.”

Ella took a step back, furious, worried, and damn well pleased.

Because her stubborn elf was back.

***

“You let the dragon escape.” Dave’s eyes narrowed on Finn. “I want to know why.”

“I didn’t.” Finn sat across from Dave’s desk, a mug of strong, hot coffee cradled in his hands.

“You didn’t. She just upped and flew away, did she?”

Finn didn’t bat an eye. “Your men scared her.”

“I see, my men are to blame, when you were standing right next to the dragon before she jumped off the roof.”

“I couldn’t kill her,” Finn said, his fingers white around the mug. “She’s laid the eggs. I need to find the nest.”

“Why didn’t she fly you there?”

Finn’s glare cut like a dagger. “Next time I’ll make sure to ask.”

Ella coughed to disguise a snicker.

“Don’t get cheeky with me,” Dave said evenly. “We could be at the nest right now, finishing off the whole brood.”

Finn sat ramrod straight in his chair, not a single tremor betraying him. He’d made his way to the office on his own and had accepted the coffee without a word. Now he gazed steadily right back at Dave, not a flicker in his eyes, his jaw set.

“Are you suggesting you don’t need backup to catch the dragon? That I can trust you? Because that’s bullshit.”

Finn shrugged.

“We’ll need to find her again.” Dave rose and propped his fists on his desk. “I wish I knew how something that big can hide in the city.”

“How did you find us?” Finn asked.

“I had observers posted.”

Finn’s jaw twitched. “You don’t know much about dragons,” he said quietly. “
Duerg
.”

“And you don’t know much about me,” Dave returned, scowling. “
Aelfr
.”

Ella frowned. “Which means what exactly? Is there something you wanna share, Dave?”

“Just putting the boy in his place.”

Finn set his mug on the desk; his hands fisted. He looked ready to launch himself at Dave.

Whoa.
Ella moved to stand between them. “Okay, both of you, calm down.”

“He didn’t kill the dragon.” Dave’s gaze never left Finn.

“We’ve covered this. Wait, was it an experiment? An ‘I’ll-trust-Finn-only-if-he-kills-the-dragon’ sort of thing?”

Finn blinked.

Dave swore.

Oh dear.
“That was it, wasn’t it?” Ella was past amused and working on pissed. “Is all this a game to you?”

“Not a game,” Dave said. “But he isn’t doing himself any favors by letting her go. I’m not reassured.”

“So what, you’ll just shoot him again?” Ella really didn’t want to punch her boss; their relations were strained as it was, but she was seriously tempted.

“Maybe I’ll shoot you instead, just to have some quiet,” Dave bit out.

“Shut your mouth,
duerg
.” Finn got up, his nostrils flaring. “If you threaten Ella again I’ll—”

His face turned white, then grey, and his jaw went slack. “
Faen,”
he whispered and his breath left his lungs in a hiss.

Ella followed the direction of his gaze, and froze.

The air rippled, opalescent, threaded with gold. The gold thickened into ropes of blinding brilliance, criss-crossing like a fabric.

Finn swayed on his feet. Lines flashed on his face and hands, glowing brighter and brighter.

Ella sucked a sharp breath. “This is...”

“The Veil,” Dave whispered, drawing a dagger from his belt. “It’s opening.” He spun around as the air shimmered. His voice dipped into an angry growl. “You,
aelfr
...”

“Hey,” Ella stepped in front of Dave, “back off. Let him work.”

Besides, he’d been in the way and she wanted to watch this. She’d never seen Finn mend a rip in the Veil before. It seemed different from uncovering the peephole into the Shades’ world he’d shown her before.

Finn was mumbling something under his breath, his head bowed. He held his hands out, palms up, and light danced on them, sputtering flames, thin and tall like candles.

So cool.

He raised his face and Ella took an instinctive step back. The cores of his eyes were silver coins. They burned with white fire, turning his pale lashes translucent. 

 The golden threads around him shivered, as if someone had touched them, and a whine filled Ella’s ears. The flames in Finn’s hands jumped and wavered. The threads pulsed. Sweat rolled down his face in iridescent trails. He breathed hard, the tendons in his neck standing out.

Then he leaned forward, the muscles in his arms leaping into sharp relief under his thin t-shirt, as he curled his hands into fists, extinguishing the flames.

The golden threads wavered, and went out. Finn fell to his knees, bright lines still flickering over his hands and in his hair. 

Gradually the office dimmed.

“Finn.” Paralysis finally broken, Ella knelt by his side and put a hand on his shoulder, steadying him. She smoothed back a silky lock of hair. “You okay?”

He nodded against her hand.

“If he’s okay?” Dave barked. “If he can’t even control the Veil, then how can he control the Gates?”

“Come on, Dave, he
did
mend the Veil,” Ella ground out, her chest hot with anger.

“Barely. I thought he controlled the threads.”

“Those golden threads,” Ella whispered. “I’ve seen them before — on the rooftop, where we went looking for the dragon. I thought the Veil was like a grey river of souls?”

“The Veil,” Dave said, stepping behind his desk and sitting down, “is a giant textile. Threads crossing, stretching. Always fluid, which is why it’s seen as a river. It’s what separates the nine worlds from one another. Usually, it thins and breaks in places only on one side. Into one world. A Gate crosses through, the openings facing each other. John Grey,” he pointed at Finn who still hadn’t raised his head, “opens and closes Gates. He can also pull the threads and tighten the Veil where it’s thin. This part shouldn’t be so damn hard.”

“Then you try it,” Finn wheezed.

“You...” Dave’s face darkened.

“Get. Off. His. Case.” Ella’s hands curled into fists. “I swear to god, I’ll—”

“I’ve got it... under... control,” Finn said.

“So you say,” Dave said, “but what I just saw...”

“I was distracted.” Finn looked up, his jaw tight. “It won’t happen again.”

***

“So what was that all about?” Ella muttered as the taxi dropped them back to the location where she’d left the car.

Finn lifted a brow.

“Don’t give me the blank face.” Ella got into the car and revved the engine. “Dammit all, Finn.”

“I told Dave everything.”

“The hell you did.” She shook with belated shock and anger. Because he’d scared her to death yet again and she couldn’t figure out what to do. “You know what I’m talking about. Why did you let the damn dragon go? And what did you flash back to?”

He winced. “I let the dragon go because she wouldn’t lead me to the nest if I didn’t.”

“Meaning?” She pulled off the curb and a piece of paper fluttered.
A parking fine? You’re kidding me, right?
She swallowed a groan.

“The dragon needs to trust me before she leads me to her nest. She’s not stupid.” Finn scowled at the street ahead. “The men scared her. If I held her there, she’d never trust me again.”

“So... next time she’ll invite you over?” It made sense, but... “You took a risk. She may still not trust you next time.”

Finn leaned his head back and sighed. “She will.”

“I think you enjoyed the ride on her back way too much,” she said.

She’d meant it as a joke but his head snapped back up. He eyed her, his gaze wary.

Oh.

Oh.
Boreals. Elven dragonlords.

“You would’ve had a dragon of your own by now, wouldn’t you?” If he hadn’t been exiled, literally thrown off a cliff for not having magic.

Color rose to Finn’s cheekbones. He glared at the dashboard. It was a miracle it didn’t catch on fire.

Did that mean...?
Think, Ella. Use that poor excuse for a brain of yours.
“You’re not doing it because you want to keep her?”

“No.” The color went out of Finn’s cheeks. “I’ll do it. I’ll kill her.”

It came out vehement, a little too loud.

“Okay...” Ella cast him a long look, wondering what the hell was going on, then decided she had to start paying attention at the road and swerved back into her lane. “One thing I don’t get is how Dave’s men saw you riding the dragon across the city.” This had been bothering her, despite Dave’s explanation. “After she jumped off that roof, I swear you both vanished as if a switch was flipped. Poof, you were gone, and—”

“It was dark,” Finn said.

Ella frowned. “How does that work anyway?” She navigated the traffic through the city center. The bars spewed people out into the street and she had to be careful not to run over any of them. “How does a Boreal find a dragon and tame her and ride her? Is the fact that you stuck a knife in her crest that night enough to make her see you—?”

“Can we get some painkillers?” Finn asked. His face was alarmingly pale.

She jerked on the wheel. “Jesus, Finn, are you all right? What’s wrong?”

He said nothing.

“I have painkillers at home if you can wait five minutes.”