Flashfire (34 page)

Then went still.

He was a dead weight in Lorenzo’s grip.

Lorenzo, thoroughly pissed off, dropped him. It wasn’t that far to the ground. Brandt probably wouldn’t break any bones on impact, but the feat would prove whether he was conscious or not.

There was a resounding thud as Brandt hit the ground.

“Bravo,” a woman said. Lorenzo looked down to find an attractive Asian woman applauding him. There was something sardonic in her expression and a challenge in her eyes.

Was this another form that Chen could take?

Lorenzo suddenly felt the lack of his knowledge about his own kind.

He’d just have to work with it.

Cassie pretended to be unconscious when she heard the flap of leathery wings. The floor of the cave vibrated as a great weight was tossed into the cavern; then she heard the steady sound of breathing.

She dared to peek and found a dragon of red and orange and yellow had joined her and Erik. This dragon looked broken, as if he’d survived a fight. He was out cold, and right before her eyes, he began to shimmer blue. He became a man, a muscled man with auburn hair, and then a dragon again. He flickered between those two forms so quickly that she had to avert her gaze.

Erik was slumped against the wall, like he was still out cold, but she could see a gleam of green as if his eyes weren’t quite closed. Watching.

Silhouetted against the night was a dragon of luminous yellow, his scales so bright that he seemed to be generating his own light. He looked as if he were made of yellow topaz or citron, set in silver, and nearly radiant.

Was this JP’s dragon form?

There was a mark on the side of his neck, like a dark tattoo. It was a spiral and the scales there looked as if they were dead.

He was breathing slowly and deeply. Cassie couldn’t figure out why. He moved his head back and forth as if directing his breath.

It was some kind of dragon stuff. Cassie was sure of it.

He stood there, exhaling steadily for a long time, then leapt into the air and flew away. When she was sure he was gone, Cassie looked at Erik.

His expression was grim.

The new arrival stirred, moaning. He had stopped shifting in human form and opened his eyes with an obvious effort. He looked between Cassie and Erik and winced. “Bastard took me down,” he muttered, then looked steadily at Erik. “Lorenzo is turning
Slayer
. You were wrong about him.”

Erik said nothing, but his eyes glittered.

The new arrival forced himself to a sitting position, shook his head, and looked around their prison. “He asked me about turning
Slayer
, then went to talk to Balthasar instead of coming right here. If he hadn’t been screwing around, we would have been in time to help you.”

Cassie would have argued Lorenzo’s case, but Erik flicked her a quick warning glance. What did he know? She decided to trust him and keep her mouth shut.

And keep pretending that Chen’s beguiling was holding.

“So, now here we are, trapped behind JP’s dragonsmoke barrier,” the new arrival said with disgust. He grimaced as he got to his feet and approached the opening of the cave. He jumped back as if he’d been burned and gave Erik a resentful look. “You backed the wrong horse, mate.”

Erik smiled coolly. “I’m sure you have a better suggestion.”

“Send her through the dragonsmoke. It won’t hurt her. Maybe she can change Lorenzo’s mind before it’s too late.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “Before we’re all dead.”

“She’s been beguiled to do Chen’s will,” Erik protested smoothly. Like Lorenzo, he was good at hiding his feelings, but Cassie understood that he was maintaining their cover story.

There could be only one reason.

He knew that Lorenzo joining the
Slayers
was an illusion and he was ensuring that the spell held.

Cassie could help with that.

“So we’re all screwed.” The other
Pyr
threw himself against the opposite wall and glared at Erik. “If either one of us gets out of this, you owe me.”

Erik inclined his head but still said nothing.

“If.” The other
Pyr
bit his lip and stared into the night.

Lorenzo stood before Chen as JP took Brandt’s fallen body away. He feigned indifference, but he watched the
Slayer
from the corner of his eye, keeping track of where he went.

Cassie would be there.

Probably Erik too.

What was the mark on JP’s neck? Lorenzo was sure it hadn’t been there before.

Chen was in the form of an old man now. He turned a piece of steel in his hands. It was round and looked like a swirl cast in metal, and it was mounted on a steel handle. Chen twirled it with a dexterity born of familiarity. Lorenzo recalled Balthasar’s warning about the brand and wondered.

What was its power? Nothing good, he was sure of that.

“So, you would join me,” Chen murmured, his eyes shining.

“I like to back the winners,” Lorenzo said.

Chen chuckled. “Then you have no objection to a rite of passage?” he asked. His voice had become louder, as if he were excited. He turned the piece of metal with more agitation.

Lorenzo watched it turn in the old man’s hands. “What kind of rite?”

“Nothing important. Just a little tradition of mine.” He spun the brand, held it by the handle, then shifted shape to a dragon. He breathed fire on the brand and there was a dangerous glint in his eyes. The swirl responded with amazing speed to his dragonfire, heating to a brilliant yellow immediately. It matched the new mark on JP’s neck.

It was a brand.

And he intended to mark Lorenzo with it.

“I’m good with tradition,” Lorenzo said quietly, needing the old
Slayer
to come closer. He heard JP breathing smoke and knew he didn’t have much time.

He’d have to surprise Chen.

“What did you have in mind?” he asked mildly.

“A little gang mark,” Chen said, unable to hide his anticipation.

“I’ve always wanted one,” Lorenzo agreed easily. “Where? On the arm?” He pushed up his shirtsleeve.

“On the side of your neck.”

“Oh. Here, you mean,” Lorenzo said, indicating the place where JP had a mark.

“Exactly.”

“Let’s do it, then. Get the details out of the way. I’m ready to help rule the world.”

Chen grinned.

He pounced, the brand held high. But Lorenzo shifted in a blaze of light blue and snatched at the
Slayer’s
claw. Chen obviously thought that Lorenzo wanted the brand himself, for he struggled against his grip even as he breathed more fire on the steel. It heated to a white that glowed in the darkness.

But Lorenzo had other plans. He caught Chen by the chin and stared into his eyes. He had to work fast. He summoned the beguiling flames and lowered his voice to that melodic pitch.

“You will give me the brand.”

Chen stared at him in shock. “You cannot beguile me!”

That was exactly what Lorenzo was going to do.

If he could find something to work with.

What had brought the
Slayer
here?

What did he want?

“I will not permit this,” Chen roared, fighting against Lorenzo’s grip. He bellowed for JP.

“You need me,” Lorenzo guessed and felt Chen’s defiance waver. He’d found something. “
You need me,
” he repeated in old-speak, letting the flames leap high in his eyes.

Chen tried to look away.

He closed his eyes tightly.

He shifted shape to a woman again, but Lorenzo held fast.

“
You need me
,” Lorenzo repeated with more confidence.

The
Slayer
struggled. He shuddered. He bit off the words, saying them aloud. “I need you.”

“You came because you need me,” Lorenzo said.

“I came because I need you,” Chen agreed with obvious reluctance. He still wasn’t under Lorenzo’s spell, but each statement that they could agree on drew him closer.

“You came to my firestorm for a purpose,” Lorenzo said.

“I came to your firestorm for a purpose,” Chen admitted, his eyes flashing with anger. Even he could probably feel his will surrendering to Lorenzo’s.

“You want me to ally with you.”

Chen snorted and blinked.

Lorenzo tightened his grip on his chin. “You want to control me.”

“I will control you!” Chen said.

Lorenzo laughed. The
Slayer
was startled. Lorenzo turned and exhaled dragonfire on the upheld brand. It glittered and glimmered when he did so, a blue-green spark dancing along the metal. Something had changed because of his dragonfire. Lorenzo ran on instinct. He ripped the brand from Chen’s grip and took flight with it.

“No!” Chen roared. He shifted shape to dragon form and leapt into the sky after Lorenzo. JP was closing fast from the other direction, answering Chen’s summons. Lorenzo flew straight up into the sky, breathing dragonfire on the brand at every possible interval.

“No!” Chen screamed.

Lorenzo pivoted abruptly and dove back down toward the pursuing
Slayer
. He saw Chen’s shock, then caught him by the wing. He swung the
Slayer
around, bringing his neck toward the glowing brand. He wasn’t at all sure his ploy would work, but given the choice, he’d happily risk Chen’s health and welfare over his own.

“You are mine!” Lorenzo bellowed and pushed the brand against Chen’s neck.

There was a blinding flash of blue-green, as if lightning had struck the brand. Chen appeared to be electrified before Lorenzo’s eyes.

He fell toward the earth, unconscious. He shifted between shapes in rapid succession, a sign of his distress. He became a woman, an old man, a young man, a salamander, then a dragon again. It was enough to make Lorenzo dizzy.

“Now you’re mine!” JP declared as he abruptly caught Lorenzo from behind. Lorenzo swung and hit the
Slayer
with the brand, catching him across the temple. He smacked him again and again, until the
Slayer
fell back stunned.

That was when Lorenzo saw the woman running across the desert below him. She was headed for the hearse, which told Lorenzo exactly who she was.

Cassie.

His Cassie.

He hooted, then breathed dragonfire at JP.

It was payback time.

Cassie heard thunder, even though the sky was perfectly clear. She remained on her side, waiting for the cue of darkfire—whatever that was.

In the end, she couldn’t have missed it.

There was a brilliant flash, as if lightning had struck a tree right before her eyes. But the flash illuminated three dragons who were fighting in the sky.

Erik gave her shoulder a distinct nudge.

Cassie flung off her bonds and ran out of the cave. She felt a slight tingle against her legs, but she didn’t stop. She could see only three dragons: one was falling to the earth and the other two were fighting furiously in the sky.

Were there more?

She scrambled down the rock face, focusing on speed instead of stealth. The falling dragon hit the ground with a tremendous thud, but he didn’t move again. Cassie heard the dragons battling overhead, but kept her eye on her goal.

About twenty feet from the car, she realized that the interior light would go on as soon as she opened the door. That would attract the attention of anyone in the area, but there was no way she could avoid it.

She’d just have to move fast.

Cassie did. She eased up beside the car, her breath coming quickly. The hammered gold dragon was pounding the crap out of the yellow one, which worked for her in a big way. Lorenzo was fine and he was winning. She checked the door of the car, confirmed that it was unlocked, then opened it and swung inside. She closed the door as quickly as possible and kept down low.

She was panting when she slipped the key into the ignition. The engine started right away. She crawled up into the driver’s seat, put the car into gear, then looked out the windshield.

There was a large lacquer red dragon in front of her.

Chen.

And he’d survived the fall. He looked a bit singed around the edges, thanks to the darkfire. He looked furious. His eyes shone with malice. He breathed a vivid orange plume of dragonfire, then flew directly toward the car, talons extended.

Cassie figured she had one chance to survive. She squeezed her eyes shut and pushed the gas pedal all the way to the floor.

There was a thump when she hit the dragon and the car swerved dangerously. All she could see was Chen’s scaled belly, covering the windshield. Cassie didn’t take her foot off the gas.

She didn’t figure she had much to lose.

There was a GPS on the dash. Since she couldn’t really watch where she was going, she punched up Mead Lake as her destination.

“Turn right,” said the GPS, so Cassie did.

She turned hard, hard enough that Chen slipped to the left. She could see a bit of sky on the right end of the windshield. They hit a ditch and Cassie bit her tongue. The car’s shocks took a hard hit, but she didn’t slow down.

Chen meanwhile smashed the glass on the driver’s door and reached inside with his claws. Cassie lunged for the passenger seat, keeping one foot on the gas. What she needed was a brick to hold that pedal down. She let go of the steering wheel and rummaged in the glove box. There was a flashlight and a map. She silently thanked the rental agency for nothing.

Chen snatched for her, his claws ripping through the air. Cassie ducked and he missed.

Barely.

Then one large dragon eye peered through the broken glass into the car.

Cassie turned the flashlight onto its highest setting and shone the light in his eye.

He blinked and she yanked hard on the wheel.

“Turn left in .6 miles,” the GPS said.

Cassie chose to turn left immediately. She leaned over and cranked the steering wheel hard to the left, sending the car into a spin. Chen’s eye disappeared and his talons scratched across the roof of the car.

“Turn left in .2 miles,” the GPS said.

Cassie leapt back into the driver’s seat, pulled the car out of the spin, then slammed on the brakes.

The scales of Chen’s belly slid across the windshield.