dragons breath 01 - stalked by flames (39 page)

It was time for Aidan to end this argument. “Send this man away and I’ll allow you inside to see Bailey.”

“Done,” Danae snapped. “Miles, go away.”

The man’s lips thinned. “That’s the last time I come to your defense.”

Miles turned and stalked off. As soon as he was out of sight, Aidan motioned for Danae to enter the bedroom. Conrad joined them as well. The young sorceress went straight to the bed where Bailey lay and began examining her.

Aidan settled on the opposite side. He wanted to touch the slayer’s hand, but he feared disturbing her. As it was, Bailey was moaning in pain. He did not like to see her this way and his dragon agreed. How could he and the creature inside of him have both come to care about a woman who was born to kill them? It made no sense.

Once she was stronger he would have to keep his distance or else he wouldn’t be able to use her anymore. Putting her in danger was already bothering him. That had certainly never factored into his plans.

“The bones in her right arm have been smashed,” Danae said, grief on her face. “Without major surgery she’s never going to heal right.”

Aidan met her gaze. “In two days her arm will be back to the way it was before. It is the suffering she’ll face until then that worries me.”

Danae shook her head. “It isn’t humanly possible she’ll be better in two days.”

“For a human who has no magical assistance, that would be true, but soon she won’t be human anymore.” And that was another thing that worried Aidan. The power Bailey would feel after she came through this could change her feelings for him. Would she still accept him after that? He’d known it would be a risk all along, but one he had to take.

“There really is magic?” Danae asked.

Aidan couldn’t help but be amused that a young sorceress would question such a thing. “After all you’ve seen in recent months, you deny it?”

“That’s the point,” she sighed. “None of us understands what the heck is going on.”

“Can you make Bailey more comfortable or not?” It wasn’t Aidan’s job to teach Danae the ways of the world. She’d need to seek out one her own kind for that.

She nodded. “I can at least splint her arm so she doesn’t injure it further and clean her up. We should probably find some more comfortable clothes to put on her, too.”

He gazed down at Bailey. She wore the camrium clothing he’d made especially for her. It was only his second successful attempt at doing so, though she had no idea he was behind the design. That was his secret to keep.

“Do what you can.” He leaned over the bed and glowered at Danae. “But do not do anything to harm her.”

***

A soft knock came at the door. Aidan was sitting on the carpet and resting his head on the mattress close to Bailey’s shoulder. The night had passed with her only waking once for five minutes. Soon after that a fever had started and her face had become flush. If he hadn’t gone through the fortress archives and studied the process of how dragon slayers changed after the rite of passage, he might have been worried, but this was supposed to be normal.

Conrad got up from his chair. He opened the door and poked his head through the opening. “What’s up, Trish? Did you finally get permission from Justin to come here?”

“No. He’s still being a pain in the ass, but I came as soon as he fell asleep,” a young woman’s voice answered. “Now that I’m here he can’t make me leave.”

“I tried telling him Aidan won’t hurt you, especially since you’re Bailey’s best friend. He didn’t want to hear it.” Conrad shook his head.

“Is she doing okay?” Trish poked her head around the door.

Conrad took a quick glance back at Bailey. “Not great, but Aidan says she’ll be better in a couple days. She’s got to go through some kind of transformation process first.”

“How long did you know what she was up to?” Trish whispered accusingly. “And why didn’t she tell me? I’m her best friend.”

“I only found out because Aidan showed up while I was around,” he explained, lowering his voice as well. “But Bailey didn’t want you looking at her differently. She’s still not comfortable with the idea of being a dragon slayer. Don’t be mad at her for it.”

Aidan caught the expression on Trish’s face. It was a mixture of hurt and betrayal. He could understand her being upset, but he was also pleased Bailey had kept the secret. And Conrad was softening the blow for her. The man was young, but he could occasionally show signs of intelligence. Even in the dragon world, handling females could be a delicate process. Many male shape-shifters lacked the finesse needed to handle a mate without enraging her.

“Can I come in to see her?” Trish addressed Aidan, stepping into the doorway.

“You may,” he answered. In the few minutes Bailey had been awake she’d made one thing clear to him. Under no circumstances was Aidan to stop Trish from seeing her. Whether he liked it or not, he’d honor her request.

Trish had curly red hair unlike anything he’d seen before—not even Kayla’s had such a fiery tint to it. Shape-shifters tended to have darker colors. He’d only heard of one family line whose offspring tended to get red hair, but they were in the Straegud clan in the eastern part of America.

“How is she?” Trish kneeled on the opposite side of the bed from Aidan.

“Changing,” he answered.

Her brows knitted. “Danae said something about that. What does that mean?”

Aidan was growing tired of giving explanations. He’d do it one more time because it was Bailey’s best friend who asked, but after that the rest of them would have to inform each other. “Two mornings from now she will wake fully healed. Bailey will be physically stronger and less prone to injury. She will no longer age, either.”

“Seriously?” Trish lifted a brow.

He nodded. “Yes.”

She stared down at Bailey, who shifted in her sleep. “But what’s the catch?”

Aidan gave her a grim smile. “She already had immunity to fire and an instinct to fight dragons. Once she has changed, the urge to fight and kill will grow even stronger. She’s had a taste of it now and her ability to resist will be difficult. As long as dragons are present she will feel the need for battle.”

“So she’ll be putting herself in danger all the time and risk getting killed,” Trish surmised, worrying her lips.

“Yes. She will be able to sustain injuries far worse than any human could survive, but the risk of being killed is high. Her race exists only to protect humans. Most of them die young fulfilling that duty.” Aidan traced a finger over Bailey’s cheek, unable to help himself. She turned her head toward him as if she sought him out. His dragon was gratified to see it, but he was not. Every moment he spent with her was only making his life more difficult.

“You care about her,” Trish said, her gaze softening.

He grunted. “More than I should.”

***

“Help me hold her down!” Aidan shouted. “She has not finished healing.”

Conrad, Trish, and Danae each took a corner of the bed and pushed Bailey’s limbs down. Aidan had the side with her injured arm and held her shoulder instead. She was struggling in her sleep, screaming and fighting invisible enemies. Already, her strength had increased dramatically in the first day that had passed. He could have held her down on his own, but he would have risked injuring her further to do it.

“Her skin is burning up,” Danae said.

“I told you this is normal,” Aidan replied.

“She’s not going to burn us by touching her, is she?” Conrad asked.

Aidan couldn’t exactly blame him for asking. “No. Her body does not run as hot as mine.”

Bailey’s struggles ceased. They waited a few minutes to be sure before letting go. An hour later her skin turned cold and she began shivering. Her teeth started to chatter as well. It was the last stage and would continue until the morning.

“So cold,” Bailey moaned.

She’d been sweating so much they’d removed everything except her underclothes. Only a sheet covered her for modesty—at Trish’s insistence. Silly humans and their shame of their bodies. Aidan took one of the blankets they’d set aside and laid it on top of Bailey. When that didn’t help, he added another. Still, she shivered and her lips were turning blue

Trish rubbed her face. “It’s almost a hundred degrees in here. How is she this cold?”

They watched Bailey helplessly, unsure what to do to make her more comfortable.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Conrad said, shaking his head, “but Aidan should get under the covers with her. He can warm her up better than anything else we can do.”

It wasn’t a bad suggestion. Aidan had been stifling the urge to hold her since the change had started. He’d wished he could make it easier for Bailey somehow.

“I’ll do it.” He lifted the blankets and crawled in next to her.

She immediately burrowed into him. Her smashed arm was beginning to improve with the bone taking proper shape again, but he was still careful not to jostle it. Aidan held her as closely as he dared, relieved when the shivering died down.

The day and night passed with him only getting up once to eat and drink something. By the time he returned she’d begun shivering once more and it took him nearly thirty minutes to warm her back up.

The following morning she woke. Her brown eyes were clear as they opened to stare up at him. He stiffened, unsure if he should move away and give her space.

Then Bailey smiled. “I killed a dragon.”

“You did,” he said cautiously.

She lifted onto her elbows and leaned toward him, giving him a brief kiss on the lips. “Thanks, Aidan. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

He didn’t know what to say. Her reaction to his presence was the last thing he’d expected. Aidan had almost been certain she’d attack him the moment he woke—though that hadn’t stopped him from holding her until then.

“I really didn’t need to see that,” Conrad commented from his chair in the corner. “That is just so wrong.”

Chapter 42

Bailey

I stepped outside for the first time in days and was surprised to find the air cooler than it had been in months. Dark clouds brewed to the west, threatening to bring rain with them. Thunder rumbled in the distance as well. I’d never been happier to see a storm coming.

“Looks like we’re finally gonna get some rain,” Earl said. He was sitting on a chair he’d put out on the front porch.

“Yeah, it does,” I replied.

“Glad to see you up and about.” He looked me up and down. “And in one piece.”

“Thanks.” I wasn’t sure what else to say to that. Everyone was acting strange around me except Conrad, who had been retelling the story of me killing the dragon with great embellishment. To listen to him, you’d think I took it down with a fingernail file.

Earl scowled. “Were you plannin’ on tellin’ me you could slay dragons anytime soon? Or was killin’ one in my neighborhood your way of announcing it?”

I shrugged. “That was the first one. It wasn’t exactly planned.”

“But that’s why you were practicin’ with that sword, wasn’t it?” he asked, gripping the arms of his chair. “You were getting’ ready for it, but couldn’t be bothered to tell anyone else.”

I gazed down at him. “Would you have believed me if I’d told you?”

He was silent for a moment. “I guess you got me there.”

Some of the tension eased between us and he relaxed his shoulders. I had a feeling I’d be hearing about this for a long time to come, though. You’d think people could have been a little happier to have someone around who could fight dragons.

Justin came walking up the lawn. “I see you’ve returned to the land of the living.”

“I could say the same about you all. How did you guys get away?” I asked.

It was still a shock to find so many people from our group still alive and living in Earl’s neighborhood. I could have kicked myself for not coming here sooner. All that time I’d suffered thinking they were dead. There were still a lot of people missing, including some of Justin’s comrades, but everyone I cared about was here.

He worked his jaw. “When they attacked the south entrance, we escaped through the west side. It wasn’t easy getting away and we lost half our group, but Earl found us in the neighborhood when he came looking for you. We kept expecting you and Conrad to show up soon and worried when you didn’t.”

“He was shot…” I began.

Justin put up a hand. “Conrad already explained it all to us while you were…changing or whatever it was you were doing.”

“You don’t look too pleased about it,” I noted.

He frowned. “I never took you for the warrior type—until recently.”

I shrugged. “It surprised me, too.”

Earl stood and put a hand on my shoulder. “Well, we’ve been lookin’ for a defense against ‘em and now we found one. Just not sure I like it.”

“Are you going to tell my parents?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No. Just talked to them a few days ago and they’re doin’ fine without havin’ me worry them with that kind of news. You’ll need to try callin’ them later, though. They’ve been askin’ for you.”

“I will,” I promised. It was a relief to hear they were still doing okay. They were the main reason I’d chosen to become a full dragon slayer—to find a way to save them.

Aidan stepped out the door, squinting in the sunlight. It was still too early for a dragon to be up and I doubted he’d gotten much rest while he was watching over me. I couldn’t believe he’d willingly stayed among humans for two days just to be sure I changed over safely.

When I’d woken, I’d caught the guarded look in his eyes and the tenseness in his body. He’d worried I’d attack him. My slayer instincts were stronger than ever—I could feel them urging me to hunt even now—but he was safe.

While I might have been mostly insensible for the past two days, I’d known he was there. He’d been my rock. The person who’d helped me get through the process. The urge to kill him was back when I stared into his yellow eyes, like an itch under my skin, but I could resist it. I worried more about how I’d handle him in his dragon form.