Read Fairest 02 - The Frog Prince Online

Authors: Adrianne Brooks

Fairest 02 - The Frog Prince (11 page)

BOOK: Fairest 02 - The Frog Prince
5.24Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads
Chapter Sixteen

 

It had been a while since she’d interacted with anyone besides sociopaths and Chris, so it was a little awkward at first hanging out with Sam while Alex and Chris cleared the air. Sam seemed nice enough, and even took her to a little computer café a block from Alex’s apartment. They sat across from one another and Alex tried to relax. The shop was cute, comfortable. There was a stage along one wall where performers could come and sing or do slam poetry. The fans that decorated the ceiling had been custom made. Someone had taken three or four desk fans, connected them at their bases to form a circle, and used them like blades so that there was more than one source of air from a single mechanism.

Rachel was trying to figure out how to make one for her own house, assuming she hadn’t lost it by now due
to unpaid bills, when the barista stepped up to set down their drinks. Like all the other patrons, the young man seemed tired and he swayed on his feet as he sat down their things. A man at the table next to him had already fallen asleep on his girlfriend’s lap, while the girlfriend in question was in danger of nodding off in her bowl of soup. Rachel shifted uncomfortably. This was all her fault. On their way over, even the men and women who passed them had begun to yawn and blink. Her only consolation was that at least none of these people had been driven into a coma just yet. The only thing that she could think of is that the cops had been exposed to her for hours before succumbing fully to the curse. Maybe these people would be alright if she didn’t stay for too long.

Feeling a bit better, she pulled her plate closer and nodded her thanks to the barista as he shuffled away again. She’d ordered a
smoothie and a slice of New York cheesecake. Sam, meanwhile, had ordered some sort of flavored cocoa that she could smell from where she sat. The barista had used the cream to make a floating design on the surface of the liquid and Rachel smiled as she eyed it.

“That’s pretty impressive,” she said. “I can’t even do the tree design and this guy made a whole dragon.”

Sam grinned.

“I come in here a lot. The first time I requested it, but now they do it for me without having to be asked.”

“You like dragons?” she asked curiously, taking a sip of her fruit smoothie.

There was a secret in his eyes, and he leaned back in his chair, cradling his mug close.

“They speak to me,” he said, strange colored eyes swirling. “It’s like the dragon is my spirit animal or something.”

Rachel nodded. She’d never given much thought to Native American customs like that. Though she supposed having a spirit animal would be cool.

“How long have you and Alex been seeing each other?” She’d never imagined that she’d see her best friend so happy. Especially given what the curse had down to her. For a while she was convinced that Alex would end up dying alone in that damned apartment. But from what she’d gathered, Zaran had actually come through and helped her. Rachel wished that the genie could do the same for her, but it gave her some comfort to know that she hadn’t sacrificed all she had for nothing. Sam grew thoughtful, taking a long sip from his drink and swishing it around in his mouth.

Finally, he shrugged.

“It’s hard to say,” he said finally.

“How so?”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to say something sappy about how you feel as if you’ve known each other forever are you?”

He laughed.

“No. But we’ve been together for more lifetimes than I can count and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“You’re happy?”

He inclined his head. “Even better. I’m content. Happiness can be a fleeting concept. Contentment will keep you going even through the hard times. Through the moments of restlessness and doubt that would have destroyed any other relationship. It will bring peace to any storm. Alex and I? We’re going to be in it for the long haul.”

Rachel ducked her head so he wouldn’t see the tears gathering in her eyes. She wanted that, she thought. She wanted what Sam and Alex had. As soon as the
thought entered her mind she closed her eyes. An image of Chris came to her immediately and she took a deep, shaky breath.

“How did you know?”

“Know what?”

“That she was the one. The person you wanted to spend the rest of your life with.”

He shrugged. “I kissed her,” he said simply, and Rachel shook her head, feeling both hopeful and bemused. Their seats were situated against a wall right next to a window. All of a sudden, Sam lifted his head and glanced out the glass his body growing rigid with tension.

“What is it?”

“Go. Go to Alex,” he said stiffly.

“What are you-?”

“Now!” he roared, slamming both hands down on the table so that their plates bounced and condiments rolled about. His eyes blazed purple for a heart-stopping moment and Rachel threw herself from the booth. She didn’t know what she expected, but she’d barely made it past their table when the wall of windows that they sat amongst exploded in a glittering inferno.

There hadn’t been a lot of people in the café, but the few had been there screamed as the flaming glass shards shot across the width of the room. Several pieces embedded themselves in a woman’s face and she collapsed without making a sound, one eye still open wide with terror and the other a bloody mess. Rachel pressed her face against the ground, her arms going over her head in an attempt to protect herself. The building groaned and shook, and she looked up towards the ceiling as the sound of screaming support beams and cracking cinder blocks deafened her.

The roof of the building was ripped away and Rachel gazed up in horror at the dragon that stood over the building, smoke seeping from his nostrils. It was Diedric. Half of his body was melted like hot wax, but his good eye was bright with rage and agony. He must not have healed fully after their last confrontation. She tried to scramble away as he reached his arm down for her.

“Hey.” Sam hadn’t risen from his seat or moved at all when the first assault had occurred and Rachel was surprised he was alive. In fact, when she inspected him, she found that there wasn’t a scratch on him despite the damage to his clothes. “Leave her alone.”

Diedric hesitated, and Rachel had the chance to wave frantically for Sam to escape.

“Will you shut up? What’s wrong with you? You should be running.”

Sam sighed and pushed his abandoned cup to one side as he came to his feet. Meanwhile the dragon lunged forward, mouth ready. Rachel didn’t really see Sam move, but he must have. One moment she was looking into the back of Diedric’s throat as he moved to consume her, and the next Sam was there. Grabbing the massive head within both arms. The muscles in his shoulders and arms bulged as he snapped Diedric’s jaws shut and Diedric sent out a muffled roar that shook the ground and brought the remaining walls tumbling down.

Sam looked down at her, and it was only when he grinned that she realized she was staring at him with her mouth open.

“Look,” he began. “Diedric can be a little sensitive. I’m going to try and talk to him, but you should probably make a run for it…just in case.”

Diedric
tried to lunge for her, and Sam’s feet dug holes in the tiles floor as he was pushed back under the dragon’s weight. Rachel scrambled to her feet and took off, leaping over other patrons and rubble as she made her way from the ruins of the building. She hesitated at the sight of the mangled roof, the indentations of Diedric’s claws clearly visible and its middle buckled, in thanks to his crushing grip. It was just a reminder of what would happen to her if he ever got his hands on her. Rachel dodged past the wreckage, running as fast as she could back towards the apartment.

People had begun milling about, some staring and pointing, others screaming and running away, as the standoff between
Diedric and Sam turned abruptly violent. She heard a car alarm go off as Sam was tossed into a nearby van and she picked up speed. Through the forming crowd she saw Alex and Chris rushing towards her and she cried out.

“Get back!” she yelled. “It’s
Diedric.” Chris paled and his eyes went from her to the dragon. Rachel spared a glance behind her, long enough to find Sam standing in the middle of the street with his head cocked to one side and his hands planted on his hips like a ripped Peter Pan. Diedric gathered himself, ready to blow a stream of fire towards his adversary. Thanks to the angle, Rachel knew that once the dragon fire reached Sam, it would also envelop her, Alex, and Chris as well.

Alex gripped her arm and she looked over at her friend helplessly. From down the street,
Diedric shrieked his rage and the world lit up as he filled the street with flames. Alex’s eyes narrowed and she did some complicated movement with her hands that formed a crystal sphere around the three of them. It looked too delicate to hold up against much, but the dragon fire hit it, shuddered, and then went around it as if it were a stream and the protective barrier nothing more than a boulder in its midst.

For far too long, it was as if they were trapped in a snow globe, only instead of snow, it was an inferno that surrounded them on all sides. Rachel buried her face against Chris’s chest, taking comfort in the way his arms tightened around her. Rachel could have cheered when the assault finally died down, but almost as soon as the urge hit, it died viciously at the reminder that Sam had been left out in the open.

However, when she looked over to gauge her reaction, Alex seemed calm. Focused even. Rachel didn’t understand why until she saw Sam stride from the flames still coating the blacktop and brush off his shoulders as if dusting away dirt. His features were calm, his body relaxed, but his eyes blazed hot and purple. His hands opened and closed, opened and closed, and the smile he bared was like a carnivore baring his teeth before the kill. 

Thankfully, most of the pedestrians had had the sense to get out of the way, but the burnt out husks scattered on the street and sidewalks spoke of their fair share of casualties. Alex dropped the barrier and rushed towards Sam. Rachel and Chris glanced at one another before they followed on her heels. Sam was stalking around
Diedric, his head lowered and his gaze intent. The Dragon lashed out, tossing fire again and again to little effect. They got close enough to the action that they were finally able to make out the cracks that decorated Sam’s whole body. He was like a statue that hadn’t been dropped from far up enough to break completely.

“Shit,” Alex muttered, coming to a halt. Sam’s skin began to fall apart, lost in the gathering wind that danced about him. His body turned to ashes and his
dragon rose from the cinders like a phoenix reborn. He was larger than Diedric, practically towering above the surrounding buildings. While he’d been shifting, Diedric had gone for him, obviously planning to take the other man down before he could finish his transformation. Dragon Sam twisted out of the way of the attack, his bronze scales shining dark and rich amongst the firelight. Diedric’s momentum drove him too close, and suddenly Sam was past his defenses. His head whipped forward like a snout and punched a hole through Diedric’s armor and into the glowing flame tucked within. Diedric yowled, all four limbs scrambling to push Sam out and away.

Sam ignored the vicious desperation of the attack entirely. They saw his jaw move and there was the sound of breaking more terrible than anything else before it. Alex cried out and would have moved forward, but Chris managed to hold her back.
Diedric fell on his back in slow motion, his eyes glazing as Sam followed him down and feasted hungrily upon his heart. When he took the final bite and swallowed it down, Diedric died in a rush of sound, like flapping wings. His body turned to dust and bits of bone on the sidewalk. Sam shuddered, and something beneath his scales seemed to shift and move, straining against the armor. Yowling for release.

“Sam!” Alex called out. Sam looked down at the trio for a moment, his eyes thunderous, but one look at Alex seemed to
center him once again. Reminded him of who he was. That terrible something died down and his armor began to crack. His dragon fell apart and drifted away like so many leaves in the wind. When next they looked, Sam was standing naked and very human, only a few feet away. Alex ran to him and Rachel turned away, feeling as if she should give them some modicum of privacy. As she did so, she could have sworn that she saw movement down one of the side alleys and her heart jumped into her throat and set up shop there.

It was them. The little fire animals again.
Watching them from the safety of the shadows.

Chris must have felt her stiffen, because he searched her face in concern.

“Ok?” he asked simply, and Rachel couldn’t help but gasp as a stray cat darted from the safety of the alley and shimmied beneath a parked car. God. She must be losing it if she was comparing a mangy feline to those hell beasts that had chased them from the maze. Remembering that Chris had asked her a question, she nodded her head and smiled in reassurance. Whatever she’d thought she’d seen was gone now. There was no point in making a big deal about it. Especially since she could hear the cry of sirens in the distance as the police and paramedics grew closer.

“We need to get out of here,” she called, and Alex nodded and grabbed Sam’s hand as they all took off back towards her apartment. Rachel could hear Alex and Sam talking as she and Chris hurried on ahead.

BOOK: Fairest 02 - The Frog Prince
5.24Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Miracle in the Mist by Elizabeth Sinclair
Knife Edge by Shaun Hutson
Scotsman of My Dreams by Karen Ranney
Red-Hot Texas Nights by Kimberly Raye
Blood Falls by Tom Bale
The Colony: Descent by Michaelbrent Collings
Coffin Knows the Answer by Gwendoline Butler