Dragon Heat (8 page)

of voice.

‚No, I need to give it to him personally.‛

‚Why is that, black panther?‛ This time, Dyam’s voice resonated in

the woods surrounding them with a menace that made the air grow

thicker. So she
was
the jungle animal Dyam had tracked down at the club.

‚Because I don’t trust you, Cherokee,‛ she answered in a low,

menacing tone. ‚This message is for your king’s ears only. I will not

deliver it otherwise.‛

‚And why would he want to hear it?‛ Hikuro asked, measuring up

the woman on the other end of the bridge.

‚It concerns him and his kingdom.‛

A gush of wind crossed Tardieh’s face, and the scent of blue mist

flowers invaded his nostrils. He froze. A second later, he heard a whisper

behind him. ‚And because a gentleman always keeps his promise.‛

In a flash, Tardieh spun on his heels, raised his gun, and pinned his

target by the throat against a nearby tree.

Zoricah didn’t try to stop him or defend herself. She just faced him

with an unreadable expression on her face. Her long midnight hair was

neatly tied up in a ponytail; she wore no earrings or makeup. She didn’t

need to. Her honey hazel eyes glittered in the dark night and illuminated

her exotic features. Like her black panther, she was also wearing tight

black pants, knee-high boots, and a black tank top that was a tribute to her

perfect female figure.

‚What are you doing here?‛ Tardieh’s voice came out more like a

groan. His gun touched her right temple. ‚What is this all about?‛

‚I knew you would come,‛ Zoricah responded, pinning him with

her beautiful eyes. ‚It’s been a long time, Tardieh.‛

Hearing his name coming out of those lush lips made his mouth go

dry, but he managed to recoup some saliva. ‚Not long enough. What the

fuck is this all about?‛

Tardieh saw a small hint of shock in her glittering eyes but

whatever feelings he had stirred in her were quickly concealed. ‚We need

to talk. Can you please be so kind and lower your gun?‛

For reasons he didn’t know or didn’t want to dwell on at that

particular moment, Tardieh leaned forward. ‚Not until you tell me why

you trapped one of my guards and knocked him unconscious.‛

Her nose was inches from his. He could feel the warmth of her

body, her minty blue mist scent.

‚You are a very difficult male to reach, Tardieh, and my matter is

urgent.‛ She looked him straight in the eye, no wavering, no faltering, no

hint of hesitancy. She was dead serious. ‚My girl did not kill your guard

despite having plenty of time and opportunity to do so. It was not my

intention to offend you, but I had no other choice.‛

She had a point. After his father’s death and the attempts on his

own life that followed, Tardieh had learned his lesson. He’d never stayed

in one place for more than six months, never went to pre-scheduled

functions or meetings, preferring to show up unexpectedly. That way, his

enemies would never know where or when to find him. Until now.

A movement in his peripheral vision made him shift his gaze

slightly. Before he had time to turn around, a delicate hand touched the

nape of his neck. ‚Let her go, vampire, or I’ll fry you to dust.‛

It all happened too fast. In a second, Joel was pointing his gun at

the new female who kept her hand on Tardieh’s nape. The brunette

appeared a second later in her black panther shape, growling at Joel and

Hikuro, who had reached the spot at the same time. Soon after, Dyam

jumped in front of the panther, clearly prepared to take on her attack.

‚Stop!‛

Zoricah was furious. She had gone through the plan a thousand

times with her fighters and yet they still failed to follow it. She knew this

situation would very likely happen, and she wanted it to be avoided at all

costs. That’s why she’d had Yara and Sam distract the vampire guards

while she talked with Tardieh.

‚Stop!‛ She had to shout once more. ‚Remove your hand, Sam.‛

Sam did not move. Zoricah unlocked her gaze from Tardieh’s,

which had not wavered from hers the entire time, and found her friends’.

‚Sam, retrieve your hand. Now.‛ Her low, directive tones were enough to

make her friend follow her command.

Sam slowly removed her hand from Tardieh’s neck but kept her

stance, ready for another attack if needed.

Zoricah’s gaze found Tardieh’s again. ‚There’s is no need for

hostility. I come in peace.‛ Tardieh’s eyes narrowed even more. ‚This

matter concerns the healthy state of your kingdom.‛

He lowered his face, as if studying her between his long lashes.

Their closeness was starting to bother Zoricah in ways she had not

anticipated. She met his gaze squarely and said in barely audible tones,

‚Tell your men to stand down, Tardieh. I promise you there are no

enemies in this park tonight.‛

After a few more seconds, Tardieh lowered his gun from her

temple and said to his guards, ‚Stand down, my friends.‛ But he did not

remove his hands from her throat nor did he step away from her. ‚Why

are you here?‛

Zoricah saw pure hatred in his green eyes, a hatred she could not

understand. It had been two hundred years since they had last seen each

other, but she remembered every single minute of their encounter. For the

love of all gods, she’d imagined every type of welcome she might receive

but not pure loathing. She raised her chin and put her hand on his broad

chest, pushing him away slowly. ‚I am afraid I do not bring easy words,

king.‛

She felt Tardieh tense at her touch, but he did not resist and gave

her some space. ‚If you give me five minutes of your precious time, I will

explain my purpose.‛

‚Speak. The clock is ticking,‛ he replied dryly.

She noted his guards stood menacingly around them, ready to

decimate any threat to their king. It was an interesting bunch. A Japanese

samurai descended from one of the oldest vampire families in the world; a

Native American who was said to be the son of a shaman, and a blond

male who could have made a fortune as a movie star. As part of her

preparations to meet the vampire king, she had of course studied his

soldiers in depth. These three trained vampire warriors were known to be

his personal guards, closest friends, and advisors. Seldom did Tardieh

leave his home—or hiding place, as some said—without his trusted

guards. Seeing them there, ready to stand between their king and any

threats, made Zoricah understand why.

She gave one reassuring look to her own faithful friends, Sam and

Yara, and focused her attention on the tall male in front of her. ‚I have

been investigating a series of disappearances in the past eighteen months.

They started in the Middle East, Dubai to be more exact. Several females

disappeared in the city’s underground life almost two years ago. No one

gave the matter a second thought in the beginning because all of them

were sujhas until the daughter of a draconian senator met the same fate.‛

Zoricah could feel those females’ desperation boiling under her skin.

Having been outcast and labeled as non-pure by draconian society for

being the result of a fling between a draconian female and a dragon

god—apparently her father’s divine status was not good enough for her

race’s aristocracy—she felt for every sujah whose life was cut short for

lack of social shelter.

‚I fail to see the reason why I should care for draconian females

disappearing in the Middle East.‛ Tardieh’s voice was hard but carried an

edge to it, as if he was not entirely sure of that statement himself.

‚Because the females are not only dragons. There are vampires

among the abducted.‛

Tardieh’s eyes widened in surprise for a split second, but then his

features took on an even harder look. ‚I would have been advised if such

occurrences had happened in my kingdom.‛

‚Why? They were nothing but solitaire wonderers or outcasts,

sujhas who had gotten sick and tired of our society’s prejudiced laws. No

one missed them, so no one reported their deaths.‛

‚How do you know they are dead?‛

‚We found a mass grave just outside Dubai near a village called Al

Musaydrah.‛ She reached for her back pocket. Big mistake. Before the

thought formed in her mind, Tardieh had his gun at her forehead, his

guards had raised their weapons, Sam reacted by placing her hand on

Tardieh’s nape, and Zoricah could clearly hear the menacing roar of the

black panther.

Zoricah put her hands up as if in surrender. ‚I am just going to get

my dossier from my pants. That is all.‛

Tardieh narrowed his eyes. ‚Where is it?‛

‚In my back pocket.‛ Putting on her best innocent face, Zoricah

said, ‚May I?‛

‚No, you may not.‛ Without any warning, Tardieh reached behind

her and shoved his hand into her pocket.

‚Not the right one. It’s on the left,‛ she said with clenched jaw.

‚And watch it.‛

‚Don’t worry, goddess. Touching you is the last thing I want to do

right now.‛

That hurt. She felt his big hands grabbing what she called her palm

folder. It was a small black pentagram one inch high and just over five

inches long with no apparent openings.

After a quick look at the device, he said, ‚I thought you said it was

a dossier.‛

‚It is, an electronic one. Did you really think I’d fly around with a

briefcase hanging off my claws?‛ Zoricah’s patience was wearing thin. She

had come here to try to get his support, but ultimately she was doing him

a favor by trying to save his race from a predator. ‚Give me that. And take

this gun out of my face.‛

Tardieh complied, but Zoricah saw he was a little bit startled by her

harsh, commanding tone.

She stepped away from him, put the small pentagram in the palm

of her hand, and touched one of the sides. A flicker of bright blue light

crossed its surface just before a narrow rectangle opened in the center, and

a radiant translucent square of spread upward in front of everyone’s eyes.

Zoricah looked at Tardieh watching her little toy as if it were magic. She

had to bite the inside of her cheeks to prevent the smile that threatened to

come out.

She touched the side of the pentagram again, and a small picture

appeared on the glowing rectangle. Slowly, it grew to the size of a piece of

paper. The holographic photo showed mutilated bodies of vampires

dumped in a deep hole on the ground. After a few seconds, the image was

substituted for another one: headless bodies lay on top of more bodies, all

butchered, with their bellies open and entrails showing. The slideshow

carried on, and Zoricah noted that Tardieh was as intent on it as his

guards. They had all gathered around watching the macabre

demonstration.

Zoricah gave them a few seconds to take in the pictures, then

continued, ‚After weeks of investigation, we managed to track down

where the vampires and dracos were taken. We broke in and destroyed

the place.‛ Zoricah watched Tardieh’s eyes still locked on the images.

It was Hikuro who managed to first wake up from the ghoulish

trance. ‚What was it?‛

Sam responded, ‚It was a sort of hospital with beds and operating

facilities.‛

Zoricah saw Hikuro shift his dark gaze to Sam. Did Zoricah really

see her friend recoil? that made Sam go cold.

‚Who was behind it? And why?‛ Tardieh asked, bringing her

attention back to the task at hand.

‚We do not know. Unfortunately we got there too late. They must

have been tipped off because the place was empty.‛ Zoricah’s stomach

lurched with the memories. She still could not forgive herself for letting

them get away in Dubai.

‚But it was a close one,‛ Yara added. ‚All surgical apparatus,

bottles of medicine, and operating tools were still there when we broke

in.‛

‚We also found an inventory with a list of supplies dated a few

weeks back,‛ Zoricah said measuring Tardieh’s reaction. ‚It had a New

York address on it.‛

After the last image faded, Zoricah moved to put the pentagram

away, but Tardieh grabbed her wrist. ‚Pictures can be doctored, especially

with this sort of technology.‛

Without pulling her hand back, Zoricah agreed for the first time

with the vampire king. ‚Yes, they can.‛ Taking a deep breath, she looked

at her fighters. They were ready for an attack, but they wanted a specific

target, and it was not Tardieh. If they were going to succeed in this