Charred Tears (#2, Heart of Fire) (23 page)

Yet she recalled the her first years at The Field and what she knew from the past few she’d spent with Mason. He’d never done anything but be a friend to her. Was he that good of a liar, or did things really get out of control?

“I can prove everything to you,” he said. “Come with me, and I’ll show you what our program was supposed to be. I have years of documentation, including the files about you and your mother.”

“My mother,” she echoed. “Do you really have a file on her?”

“Pretty sure,” he said vaguely. “Come with me, and we’ll find it.”

“No,” Chace snapped sharply enough for her to jump. “Skylar, if he meant half of what he said, there wouldn’t be a dozen slayers standing between us and our truck. Or his spies in the bar feeding him information.”

“Spies?” she echoed. She twisted to look up at him. “We did have an inside source…” She drifted off, recalling how she’d tracked down Chace and his bar initially.

“We do,” Mason confirmed. “Just our way of keeping an eye on things.”

She shifted. Sifting through what she’d learned, she still felt like something was missing, the piece of the puzzle she needed to put everything together. Mason appeared truthful in all he said. He was admitting to some wrongs while pushing off others, which left her uncertain as to how much to believe.

“Whatever you think of me, of your former coworkers, please know that we never meant
you
any harm,” Mason continued. “Right now, we’ve got to stop Dillon.”

“I’m not sure Dillon is a common enemy here,” she replied. “The slayers you’ve brainwashed. Can they be fixed? Can they have their lives returned to them?”

Mason studied her, as if debating how to answer.

“Mason, can I have my memories back?” she asked more quietly.

“The … brainwashing uses magic to wipe clean the part of the mind where memories are stored,” he answered.

“Then … no. You wanted to turn me into someone else.”

“It’s complicated,” he repeated. “I knew you were starting to remember and that you were suspicious. No other slayer who went through the complete reprogramming has had a break through like you. I don’t think they can be saved.”

His claim was a blow. Her father and Chace were right. There was no helping the others, if what Mason was saying was true.

“But you’ve lied to me about everything,” she voiced. “The mark on your belly. Everything. Maybe you’re lying about fixing the others and trying to help me.”

“It’s what a good manipulator does,” Chace said. “Builds a sense of commonality, shared experiences or feelings, all the while pushing you in the direction he wants you to go in. Relate and control. Trust me. The bitch who turned me into a dragon for the first time was great at it.”

Skylar didn’t want to remember. She’d confided everything in Mason, believing him to be going through the same experiences she was. The memories of their families, being compelled to a shifter, even promising to be there for one another when their shifters were inconsistent.

“I’ve tried to protect you, since you got to The Field,” Mason replied. “I swear it, Skylar.”

“God, I
hate
that excuse!” she all but shouted. “Now I know you’re a typical asshole shifter. I’ve yet to meet one who wasn’t a total jackass.”

“Skylar – “

“No, Mason. You listen to me for once,” she interjected. “If you want my help, then I want you to turn over every brainwashed slayer you have on staff with instructions on what you did to them so I can try to fix it! Then, you stop hunting and tracking my shifters! If you refuse, then you can clean up your own mess with Dillon.”

Mason appeared taken aback.

“Good girl,” Chace said under his breath.

“Shut up, dragon!” she snapped, furious at every shifter that ever walked the earth.

“While you got him on the run, why not ask about your mother?” Chace prodded, nudging her.

“Do you know, Mason? I need that answer now, or I’m walking,” she said firmly.

“No, I don’t,” Mason replied. “But I have a feeling Chace might.”

“Chace wouldn’t know anything about her.”

“That right, Chace?” Mason’s gaze was on the dragon shifter behind her.

She twisted to look up at him. “Just ignore …”

Skylar stopped. The same stormy expression crossed Chace’s features.

“You do know,” she breathed, stunned.

“Not now,” he muttered. “It’s not going to work, Mason.”

Mason said nothing. Skylar was frozen for a moment, unable to believe Chace knew something about her mother and hadn’t told her. He knew she’d been seeking answers almost since the day they met.

Focus, Sky.
She faced Mason again, who was calmly waiting. Skylar shielded her eyes against the sun glaring straight into her face. It sat on the horizon, banishing night from the desert.

“I know we should have her file,” Mason said. “I don’t know what happened to her, but we can find out together. It’ll be my good will gesture.”

“A good will gesture is letting us leave,” Chace said.

Skylar didn’t know what to think. Her tongue didn’t want to move, and her chest was almost too tight to breath. The cold twisting of her gut – the sense of betrayal – had a hold of her again. She’d experienced it one other time, the night Chace traded her to her father.

Chace and Mason were by no means friends, if their frigid exchanges were any indication. But where did that leave her? With absolutely no allies she was able to trust?

Her shock wore off, and she found her voice at last.

“I … need to think, Mason.” Unable to stand close to either traitor, she whirled and breezed by Chace, back towards the SUV.

The slayers were there as Chace said. Skylar didn’t stop, and they parted for her. Whether Mason signaled them to or they were aware of Gavin hovering overhead, she didn’t care.

She was nauseous and furious. Her head felt like it was seconds from exploding, and she desperately needed a quiet, safe place where she could sort out all she’d learned.

Skylar almost reached the SUV when a deafening roar overhead jarred her out of her angry thoughts. She froze, craning her head back to see what was going on.

Far enough above not to endanger any of them, Gavin and Dillon were circling one another. Her breath caught in her throat at the beauty of the terrifying moment. The two mythical creatures, each graceful and powerful in its own way, even with massive talons and fangs displayed.

The familiar sound of an SUV hitting the ground came from behind her, and she whirled to see Hala, the purple dragon, flying twenty feet over a mangled SUV.

Mason was staring towards it in surprise, his gaze going up to the sky.

Hala dived and snatched another of his SUVs off the ground, hauling it fifty feet into the air before dropping it.

Skylar watched, unable to look away from the amazing sight of a vehicle that size falling from the sky.

“It’s raining cars,” Chace said.

“Think I prefer cats and dogs,” she replied.

“No shit.”

Her SUV exploded suddenly, sending shards of glass raining over them. Chace snatched her against his body and turned his back to the scene, shielding her.

“What the hell?” she muttered, pushing past him to see what happened.

A second griffin – half the size of Dillon – was fighting with another dragon. They’d tumbled out of the sky and landed on the SUV. The two creatures were picking themselves up, shaking off then eyeing everything around them.

The griffin spotted Skylar and leapt into the air, charging her.

“C’mon!” Chace snatched her hand and ran with her towards the hills.

The griffin gave a shriek as the dragon t-boned it, knocking it out of the sky once more. Unable to take her eyes off the massive beasts fighting, Skylar glanced up.

Far overhead, her father was entangled with Dillon, their bodies locked together while their wings beat hard to keep them afloat. Fear shot through her at the idea of Gavin being hurt so soon after she’d found him again.

Chace yanked her down behind a boulder, his arms going around her instinctively.

Skylar pushed him away. “Don’t touch me, Chace!” she snapped.

“I’m in the doghouse again. I get it.” His eyes were flickering between the different battles going on. “There’s a good reason for it.”

“You’re trying to protect me?” she guessed.

He glanced at her.

“I’ll take my chance being kidnapped by a griffin!” she rose, infuriated.

Chace dragged her down and pressed her back to the boulder, meeting her gaze.

“You’re not the only one with hard decisions to make!” he growled.

His honey bonfire scent crept into her senses again, his intense blue gaze stirring her anger and desire.

“I will
not
let anything bad happen to you, Sky.” His resolve was firm in his voice.

“All you do is hurt me, Chace,” she said, angry enough to cry. “How could you not tell my about my mother?”

“I just found out, Sky. I swear. I wanted to tell you, but after all this.” He was calming, worry replacing anger on his features. “Don’t do stupid shit just because you’re mad at me. Trust me. Been there, done that. You don’t get a t-shirt for stupidity.”

“I swear to you, Chace, I’m walking away from you when this is over. If you come near me, I’ll lasso you and never wake you up again!” she said.

“Fine. As long as you’re safe. I love you, Sky. Nothing you do or say to me is going to change that.”

“Don’t mistake fucking for love, Chace. You know a lot about one and absolutely nothing about the other.”

They stared at each other, breathing hard. She sensed she’d wounded him with her harsh words, and she was glad for it.

For a moment. And then she registered what he’d said.

I love you, Sky.

His grip on her arms loosened, and he dropped his hands. A mask went over his features, shuttering his emotions away from her. He moved away from her.

The sudden withdrawal had the impact of a vehicle hitting the ground from fifty feet in the air. It hurt. Bad.

Another SUV smashed to the ground just on the other side of their safe place, and they both flinched. Chace inched up to see, and Skylar straightened, shifting to her knees and peering over the top of the rock with him.

“What the hell is going on?” she asked, bewildered.

There were more griffins now and more dragons. The latest SUV dropped – another of Mason’s – had been by a griffin almost the size of Dillon. The slayers had scattered, along with the shifters in animal form that had followed Skylar and Chace to the meeting. No one was willing to tangle with a dragon or griffin. Roars and squawks filled the air.

A moment later, Mason ducked down behind the same boulder.

“Right about now, I wish you could turn people into fried chicken, Chace,” Skylar said, hard gaze on Mason.

“So do I,” he replied in a clipped tone.

She didn’t want to feel bad for hurting his feelings after all the pain he’d caused her, but she did.

We’re never going on that pizza date.

Skylar sought out her father in the heavens and gasped. Griffin and dragon were streaked with red blood, the swaths wide enough for her to see from the ground. Gavin had Dillon by the neck.

“Gavin has no magic. If he lets Dillon put distance between them, Dillon can use his magic to royally fuck up Gavin,” Mason told her quietly. “His best bet is to use his strength.”

Her heart was pounding at the thought of her father in danger. She had the lasso, but she was no match for a dragon or griffin, especially not one in flight.

Movement from her peripheral drew her attention, and she gasped.

“Um, guys.” She pointed.

Rising up behind the hills, two dozen more griffins were cresting the peaks and starting towards the battle. She counted fifteen dragons hovering nearby.

Suddenly, one dropped out of the air and landed in a heap, going still. Seconds later, it burst into flame.

“Yeah, that’s what happens if the griffins get a chance to use their magic,” Mason said. “Most of your dragons will be dead before they can fight.”

Fear tore through her. “We have to send them away!”

“After we get you out of here,” Chace said.

Get out of here, Dragons!
Warmth spread through her. One minute the dragons were headed to battle, the next, they were turning away, flying west.

Skylar marveled over the ability to influence them for a split second.

Later, I figure out how to do that to Chace and Mason,
she promised herself.

“What the …” Chace glanced at her.

“We’ll find our own way out.” Her eyes went to the sky. “I have to help Gavin somehow.”

“Let dragon-daddy take care of himself,” Chace ordered. “I’m getting you out of here.”

“Agreed,” Mason seconded.

They both eyed at him.

“Whatever this is” he waved to the creatures in the sky “it’s not me or my shifters and slayers. You don’t have to trust me. Just let me help you escape.”

“We can go around the hill.” Chace took her arm and hauled her up.

“No!” she said, pulling away. “You don’t get to make decisions for me! Neither of you! My father is all the family I have. I’m not leaving him!”

A griffin swooped close. She saw its claws outstretched but didn’t have time to react.

Chace shoved her out of the creature’s path, landing hard on top of her. He grimaced, and she heard the sound of talons shredding through his back.

“Chace …” she whispered, breathless. “Oh, god, are you okay?”

“Great,” he grunted. “Just scratches.” He ducked his head beside hers, his breathing harsh in her ear.

Skylar felt warmth again but wasn’t certain what the shifter magic was doing. The griffin was circling, preparing to attack again.

A flash of black crossed her vision. A lion the size of a car launched upwards, its large teeth sinking into the griffin’s neck while massive paws wrapped around the griffin’s body. With nothing but brute strength, the lion dragged the winged creature out of the sky.

She heard the sickening crunch of bone snapping.

Chace climbed off her, twisting to peer at his back.