Firestorm Forever: A Dragonfire Novel (55 page)

Jac jammed her foot down on the accelerator, then when the truck shot forward, managed to get in the seat. Jorge roared and spewed flame as she evaded his grasp, then he bore down on her. Jac could hear the beat of his wings and feel the heat of his dragonfire and doubted she’d get far.

There was no refuge, no place she could hide. The outback stretched in every direction, offering no sanctuary. Uluru was ahead of her and not much else. The tourist accommodation of Yulara was behind her, but she wasn’t going to lead Jorge back to those people, not after she’d seen him in Seattle. She had the pedal to the floor, pushing the vehicle to go as quickly as it could. She was bounced around as it hit holes in the earth and ran through bush that obscured her vision, then snapped away. The wind rushed over her and she had a clear view of the stars and the eclipsed moon overhead.

She glanced back to find Jorge flying close behind her, his head bent low. His eyes were right behind the truck and she had the sense he was laughing at her. She couldn’t even see Marco, which wasn’t a good thing. Had he given up on her? Jorge opened his mouth and she knew what would come out.

“Come on!” she urged the truck, but it wouldn’t go any faster.

She turned hard to the right, and the vehicle nearly rolled from the quick move. Dust spewed behind her, temporarily obscuring the sight of the dragon in pursuit, and Jac worked with that. She accelerated and slowed, turned right and left, drove in circles, and stirred up as much dust as possible. She heard Jorge roar in anger and then the crash of dragons colliding overhead.

A corona of flame erupted over her head and arms, as if her skin had suddenly erupted in fire. Jac stared in wonder at the sparks of the firestorm and remembered all too easily how it had felt to make love with Marco. Desire distracted her in a dangerous way, even though her heart was pounding.

Marco had come to save her!

The book
was
right.

There had to be an upside to being a dragon’s mate. Jac pushed the accelerator to the floor again.

As she raced out of the cloud of dust, Jac saw that Jorge was locked in battle with the dark dragon that was Marco. They battled so savagely that she didn’t want to look away from the fight. She had to do so, though, to steal glances at the ground ahead of her as she drove. She tried to think, despite her fear and the effect of the firestorm.

The two dragons were fighting, which meant that they were on opposite sides.

Or they were in competition for the prize—which was her.

She had the definite feeling that only one would fly away. They clashed overhead and roared, their tails whipping through the air. They were twined around each other, biting snapping, each grappling for advantage. Marco and Jorge raged dragonfire, lighting up the night with their battle.

They remained over her as they fought, following the path of the SUV. Jac guessed that Jorge wanted to snatch her up and Marco wanted to save her. She wished in hindsight that she hadn’t run from him but it was too late to change that.

Jorge slashed at Marco and Marco retreated. He flew in a tight turn and dove at his opponent, so fast that Jorge was surprised. Marco slashed at Jorge’s belly, who bellowed in pain as his flesh was torn open. Black blood dropped onto the leather upholstery of the passenger seat, its smell foul enough to turn Jac’s stomach. She saw it burn through the seat and recognized that it had to be
Slayer
blood. Jorge breathed a torrent of fire at Marco and she smelled his scales being singed.

Jac tried to review everything she’d learned from Sigmund’s book as she drove, heart thumping. These sparks were the sign of the firestorm. And that had to mean that Marco was
Pyr
, because only the
Pyr
had firestorms. Melissa Smith insisted that dragon shifters were of two kinds,
Pyr
and
Slayer
, and that the
Slayers
didn’t count humans among the treasures of the earth.

It certainly would have been consistent with the beliefs of a
Slayer
for Jorge to have infected humans deliberately with an incurable virus.

So, Marco and Jorge were definitely on opposite sides.

What about the dragons who had hatched on Easter Island? What about the ones fighting over Uluru? Jac peered at the dragons locked in combat. No matter which side they each were on, their battles were pretty evenly matched. Jac had to figure that at least half of them were
Slayers
.

And she had no way to defend herself from the ones who wanted the world to be rid of her kind.

How exactly
did
humans kill dragons? Jac bit her lip and drove. Sigmund’s book hadn’t provided a lot of good advice for humans on the hunt, but before Marco had brought her the book, she’d been reading other sources. In medieval times, people had reportedly fed saltpeter to dragons, sometimes packed into cow carcasses, then ignited it to blow up the dragons. Sometimes the dragons had spontaneously combusted, the dragonfire inside them providing a spark to the explosive.

There was something very satisfactory about the prospect of making Jorge explode.

Jac reached over to the glove box and rummaged in it. To her relief, there were three flares there for roadside emergencies. She’d have preferred dynamite, but these just might do it. There was a waterproof can of matches, too. She decided she loved Australian car rental companies.

She’d just grabbed them when she heard a bellow from overhead.

Jorge was descending toward her, talons extended. His mouth was wide open and his expression triumphant. What had happened to Marco?

Jac swerved too hard in her fear and felt the SUV rock on two wheels. She accelerated, not having a lot of choice, and the vehicle started to roll. She heard sounds of battle from overhead, but was busy trying to right the vehicle. There was blood falling like rain, red and black mixed together. Even though she tried to correct it, the SUV was too top-heavy. It began to tumble to one side.

Jac screamed as flames lit all over her body. She had time to wonder how she could be on fire already, just as a dragon snatched her out of the vehicle. A hundred little fires were burning between her body and the dragon’s claws, coaxed to burn brighter by his proximity. Marco! His talons were dark instead of gold, and his grip was protective instead of cruel. He soared into the sky with her captive in his grip as the SUV rolled over twice, then exploded into flames.

“Sorry. Wrong dragon,” she said and heard him growl deep in his chest.

“You can be irritating,” he muttered, but she hoped that was humor in his tone.

Jac had a heartbeat to hope that she was comparatively safe before Marco suddenly lunged forward and groaned. Even more alarmingly, the light of the firestorm dimmed. Jac saw the golden claws latched on to his wings and the blood flowing from Marco’s wounds.

Jorge was attacking!

Dragonfire erupted all around them, Marco’s body shielding Jac from the flames. She smelled his scales burning, though, and felt his shudder of pain. She shoved two of the flares into the top of her jeans, knowing what she had to do.

“Turn fast,” she commanded, and Marco glanced down warily. His eyes lit when he realized what she had and he accelerated slightly. He pivoted suddenly and flew straight at Jorge, who opened his mouth to spew more flames.

Jac fought her fear, aimed and threw the flare right into Jorge’s mouth. At such close proximity, she didn’t figure she could miss, and she didn’t. She saw it tumble down his throat, just before Marco spun and raced high into the sky. She knew he was trying to get them as far away from the result as possible.

There was an explosion behind him and a roar of pain loud enough to make the ground vibrate. Jac glanced back to see Jorge illuminated with the brilliant light of the flare, the bottom of his jaw half gone and his blood dripping. He fell toward the earth and she hoped he was dead.

Actually, she hoped he suffered a lot before he died.

“I have two more,” Jac said and Marco nodded.

“I’ve got no argument with you annoying some different dragons for a change.”

“No, I didn’t think you would.”

Despite his light tone, Marco was still bleeding badly from the roots of his wings. Ignoring his wounds, he flew straight at the other fighting dragons. She wondered whether the firestorm’s heat helped or hindered him. She ran a hand over the scales on his chest and he seemed to shiver.

When he looked down at her, his eyes were bright and his expression so avid that she knew she wasn’t the only one lost in desire. “That’s a distraction I don’t need right now,” he murmured and she nodded.

“I wasn’t sure if it would help.”

She saw him grit his teeth. “It provokes a reaction, a primal need to defend you at any price.”

“To satisfy the firestorm,” she replied, and he nodded once.

Jac exhaled, recognizing the firestorm’s influence on her. She hated dragon shifters. She wanted them all dead. She knew this with every fiber of her being. But the heat of the firestorm was confusing her, muddling her thoughts, feeding her desire and building her conviction that she should make an exception for Marco.

“Careful what you wish for,” she whispered and his eyes narrowed in confusion. “That’s what my father used to say. I always wanted to have kids.” Jac grimaced. “Just not dragon babies.” She heard a growl in Marco’s throat.

“If you plan on denying the firestorm, you’ll go beyond annoying me,” he muttered and Jac almost laughed. He spared her a look that was hot with intent and all dragon, and she shivered in anticipation of him changing her mind.

“First things first,” she whispered, pointing to the other dragons.

Marco nodded and flew more quickly toward them, as if determined to get this task done and return to the firestorm’s allure. Jac gripped her next flare more tightly, knowing she’d have to be ready to take advantage of opportunity.

Was that the promise of the firestorm? An opportunity? Making love with Marco had been great before the firestorm. What would it feel like to be with him now?

Could the firestorm enchant her into forgetting her reservations?

Or was it revealing Marco’s truth to her, the truth she should have recognized already?

Jac didn’t know, but there wasn’t time to think about it now.

* * *

His firestorm.

As much as he’d always hoped to have one, Marco had never expected it to be with a woman sworn to hunt and exterminate dragons. Not only that, but Jac had used the darkfire against Rafferty. She was responsible for injuring the
Pyr
he most wanted to see alive.

If that wasn’t unpredictable, Marco didn’t know what was.

Was the firestorm the reason why Jac had even been able to fire the crystal? Had the darkfire anticipated her role in his life?

And what would be her role in his life? She’d been quick to say she didn’t want to bear his son. What would happen if their firestorm wasn’t satisfied? What exactly was his responsibility to her? She was his mate and one of the treasures of the earth. Defending her was his responsibility and seducing her had been a pleasure already. Still, Marco couldn’t forget her views about dragons and wonder at the wisdom of the firestorm.

Or was it darkfire, turning assumptions on their heads, just as it so often did? Once again, he had to wonder about the merit of trusting the unpredictable force that had governed so much of his life.

As Marco flew closer to the other dragons, he saw that three looked exactly like the ones that had hatched on Easter Island, their scales ruby and brass and their tails trailing long crimson plumes. They fought viciously against two other dragons, one with ebony scales edged in orange and the other as brilliant as diamonds edged in silver. He wasn’t surprised that Brandon and Thorolf were here, because he’d sensed their presence earlier.

He had to assume that they knew of his presence, too.

“Which ones are
Slayers
?” Jac asked.

“The three who look the same, plus Jorge,” Marco said, then roared flames at the closest one. That
Slayer
turned and they locked claws. Jac caught her breath as the two dragons collided with force and spiraled through the air with claws locked. To his relief, she held on tightly and didn’t seem to be freaking out completely to have such a close view of a dragonfight.

“Nothing like a snack of fresh mate,”
the
Slayer
taunted.
“Just when I was feeling a little peckish.”

“She’s all mine,”
Marco retorted, feeling a primal urge to claim and possess Jac.

“Not yet she isn’t,”
the
Slayer
retorted.
“Oh, there’s nothing like the heat of a firestorm. Give me a bite.”

The
Slayer’s
eyes flashed as he lunged forward to snap at Marco’s chest.

The firestorm burned brighter and hotter, blazing brilliantly as if echoing Marco’s anger. He was livid that this
Slayer
meant to threaten Jac, but he had to trust her to seize the moment. They had to work as a team to defeat these foes.

The
Slayer
’s teeth were enormous and sharp, and Jac had to have a good view of them he opened his mouth wide to bite. She also had to be able to see down his throat. Marco held his position, willing her to hurry before he was injured. The
Slayer
was completely confident and even chuckled as he began to close his mouth.