Flashfire (36 page)

Balthasar didn’t. “I don’t know what I’m doing here. . . .”

“Of course you do. You came because you wanted to.” Lorenzo closed the distance between them, backing Balthasar into the wall. He stared into the
Slayer’s
eyes, checking. The beguiling was holding, but just barely. He was fairly sure that the
Slayer
wouldn’t attack him, but beyond that, there were no guarantees.

He had work to do. He summoned the flames in his pupils.

Balthasar caught his breath and stared.

Lorenzo smiled. “You came because you had something to bring me.”

Balthasar’s fingers twitched as he fought the beguiling, but he succumbed. His mind was becoming soft, like butter, but Lorenzo didn’t want to push him too far. “I’m not sure I like your terms,” he said by way of protest, some corner of his thoughts recognizing the truth.

Lorenzo made those flames burn more brightly. “But we will be allies,” he lied.

“Allies,” Balthasar agreed.

“And you cannot break the code alone.”

“I cannot break the code alone.”

“Without me, the legacy of Magnus will be completely lost.”

Balthasar swallowed. “I’m not sure . . . ,” he said, looking away.

Where was the key? Lorenzo seized his chin, compelling him to look into his own eyes. “You are sure. You know what is right. You know what Magnus wanted.”

“I know what Magnus wanted.”

“You know his legacy belongs to you.”

“I know his legacy belongs to me.”

“You know that only I can help you claim it.”

“Only you.”

“Because we will be allies.” Lorenzo put out his other hand. Balthasar caught his breath. He stared deeply into Lorenzo’s eyes and Lorenzo feared it would all come apart in this last moment.

He pushed. “Allies,” he murmured again.

“You a
Slayer
,” Balthasar whispered, as if trying out the idea.

Lorenzo smiled. “You and me, together. Allies.
Slayers
.”

Something changed then. Lorenzo felt it. Balthasar began to fight hard against the beguiling. “No, no, it’s a lie, it’s a trick, it’s an illusion. . . .”

Lorenzo seized Balthasar by the chin, compelling the
Slayer
to hold his gaze. He had to work with the
Slayer
’s doubts to get around them. “You’re right,” he said, even as he let the flames burn higher and brighter in his eyes. Balthasar stared into his eyes with awe. “We will not be allies.”

“Not allies.”

“You will be my minion. You will do as you are bidden.”

“I will do as I am bidden.”

Lorenzo was relieved that this idea made sense to Balthasar. Of course, Lorenzo would want to be in charge. It was what Balthasar wanted. “You are nothing without me.”

“Nothing.”

“You cannot unlock Magnus’s secrets without me.”

“I cannot unlock Magnus’s secrets without you,” Balthasar admitted and Lorenzo knew he believed this.

“So you will do whatever I command you to do.”

“I will do whatever you command me to do.”

“Where is the library secured? Tell me!”

Balthasar dug in his pocket and offered a key, like the key to a safety-deposit box. “Caymans, all digitized,” he admitted, then surrendered the name of the bank and the password.

This legacy of information was what Lorenzo needed to repay Erik. He smiled in triumph as he took the key. Erik had stood by Lorenzo and come to his firestorm, despite years of animosity between them. Erik would have Magnus’s library of ancient documents as his reward. It was only right that these secrets, whatever they were, be in Erik’s responsible claws.

“
You are my minion,
” Lorenzo said in old-speak and Balthasar’s lips worked. “Swear it!”

Balthasar trembled. He swallowed. Some vestige of him flickered in defiance, but Lorenzo had no tolerance and no time. He pushed even harder. He let his hand change shape, let the dragon talons lock around Balthasar’s neck and pierce the skin. Black blood slipped over his nail.

“Swear it,” he demanded again.
“You are my minion.”

Balthasar’s eyes widened. His mouth opened and closed. Lorenzo let the flames in his eyes leap higher. He began to sing the flashfire song, the song that the Cantor had given him, the song that he had intended to use to sever his own connections with the
Pyr
.

But he directed it at Balthasar, severing that
Slayer’s
connections to the other dragons in the world. Balthasar was as good as dead anyway.

Lorenzo knew the moment Balthasar’s mind snapped.

It was the same instant that the flashfire song ended, and Balthasar’s connection to his kind was eliminated.

The
Slayer
went slack in his grip, a bit of spittle dribbling from the corner of his mouth. He murmured the word “minion” over and over again, which would have to do.

“What’s happened to him?” Cassie whispered.

“His mind is gone.” Lorenzo grimaced. “I pushed too hard.”

“It’ll all be over soon,” Cassie said and flashed him a thin smile.

It was over already, his commitment to his kind reinforced, but Lorenzo would tell her all about it later.

He peeled off his own clothes, while Cassie removed those of Balthasar. He dressed in Balthasar’s clothes, finding the keys to the rented Ferrari in the pocket of the
Slayer
’s jeans. He forced Balthasar into his clothes, then hauled him down the narrow passageway to the car with Cassie’s help.

He’d hoped to command the
Slayer
to get into the car, but he was almost unresponsive now. There was no room for Cassie to help and besides, he thought she could do with the time in the tunnel to regain her composure.

He didn’t like leaving her behind in the tunnel, but he reasoned it would be for only a moment.

And Erik was here.

It wasn’t easy to haul the limp Balthasar through that opening in the trunk, much less to get him into the driver’s seat of the car. A man who was not a contortionist and escape artist would never have managed the feat.

Lorenzo barely did.

He fussed over the collar of the orange shirt, ensuring that it was just so. He checked his watch obsessively, knowing that he had only moments left to complete his escape. He replaced all of the panels in the car, hiding all of the accesses, then dropped down into the passageway again.

He retreated, then filled the space beneath the car with the bags of dirt stacked farther down the passageway. He worked double-time, moving at lightning speed, dragging them into place. He was sweating by the time he was done. He stood in the passageway where he had met Balthasar and detonated one last small explosive device, one that would compel the earth to settle behind him and disguise what he had done.

Lorenzo had time to think that far before he heard the old-speak.

“
Nicely done,
” Chen said. “
And how kind of you to eliminate an outstanding annoyance for me.
”

Lorenzo pivoted to find Chen in the form of a young Asian man, holding Cassie captive in front of himself. His right hand was a dragon claw, his sharp gold talon held against her throat like a knife. It astounded Lorenzo that the
Slayer
could hover between forms like that.

“A trade,” Chen said out loud. “Her life for my brand.”

“Don’t give it to him,” Cassie said.

Chen grabbed her more tightly and her eyes widened in pain. Lorenzo saw a trickle of blood run from her throat, where the sharp point dug into her flesh.

He wanted to destroy Chen for that injury.

Chen smiled. “I’ve always wondered how early a
Pyr
could turn
Slayer
. Maybe your son will be the youngest yet.”

Lorenzo held his ground, knowing he needed a plan and had very little time to concoct one.

Cassie couldn’t believe how fast the
Slayer
Chen could move. One minute she was alone, quietly hyperventilating, hearing Lorenzo get Balthasar into the car.

The next moment, she heard a soft footfall.

Then there was a dragon claw against her throat and a strong arm locking her arms to her sides. She knew she couldn’t free herself from his grip.

Because she tried.

Lorenzo came back quickly, but not quickly enough. She saw how he tried to hide his fear and wondered whether the
Slayer
knew how troubled he was. She trusted Lorenzo completely, and braced herself for him to do something unexpected.

He took a step closer and shrugged. “If that’s the choice, you can have her,” he said. He pulled the circle of the brand out of his pocket and tossed it in the air, catching it easily. Lorenzo had broken off the handle earlier to make it more portable, but Cassie didn’t know where he’d put it.

“I’d rather have the brand,” Lorenzo said with that breezy confidence. Cassie knew he was scamming Chen, and could only hope Chen didn’t get it.

“It is not yours!” the
Slayer
protested.

“Sure it is. Finders keepers.” Lorenzo tossed it again, easily snatching it out of the air. He slid it back into his pocket and grinned as Chen snarled. “So, we’re agreed then. Don’t worry about sending me pictures of the kid.” He moved as if he’d step past Chen and leave.

Cassie felt the
Slayer’s
surprise.

His uncertainty.

Then she saw the blue shimmer. Lorenzo suddenly leapt at Chen, shifting shape faster than she’d ever seen him do it. She drove her elbow into Chen’s ribs, simultaneously driving her heel up into his crotch.

He didn’t even flinch.

But he roared and shifted shape himself. The pair of them breathed fire in unison and Cassie smelled her hair burning. Then Lorenzo flung the circle from the brand down the tunnel.

Chen gave a cry and leapt after it, Cassie tight in his grip. Lorenzo leapt onto his back, tore his wings, and buried his talons in the
Slayer’s
neck. Chen screamed and stumbled. Lorenzo ripped Cassie from Chen’s grip and practically flung her toward the opening of the tunnel.

Then he blocked the passage, massive and ferocious, seething and ready to fight. Chen looked between him and the rolling brand, then dove after the brand.

Just as he might have snatched it up, the tunnel was suddenly lit with a strange blue-green light, the light of darkfire. Cassie saw the spark dance around the perimeter of the brand. She heard Chen shout in dismay; then the pieces crumbled from his claws.

“You!” he said, spinning to breathe dragonfire at Lorenzo.

“Me, actually,” another man said. Cassie found a dark-haired man standing beside her. He had a large quartz crystal in his hand, one that seemed to have a similar blue-green spark trapped inside it. He pointed it at Chen and made a blowing gesture.

A blue-green spark erupted from the point of the crystal, firing down the length of the tunnel like a shot. It hit Chen right in the chest, making a fearsome crack on impact. He fell, shifting shape as he dropped so that an attractive Asian woman landed on all fours.

She looked up at the stranger, glaring in fury. “You will not turn the darkfire against me. I loosed the darkfire. It answers to
me
!”

“No. It responds to your attempts to pervert it,” the man said calmly. Lorenzo shifted shape and backed toward Cassie in human form, still barricading the
Slayer
from her.

The stranger fired his crystal again, and this time Chen fell. Cassie backed away, glad to have Lorenzo defending her. The air shimmered blue as Chen rotated between forms, shifting from the woman to the young man who had held Cassie captive to an old man, then a dragon.

He became a red salamander.

Then he fled into the darkness of the tunnel.

Cassie exhaled, realizing there was a lot she didn’t know yet about dragons.

“Marco,” Lorenzo said as easily as if they’d met at a cocktail party. He took Cassie’s hand and led her to the other man. “Good to see you again.”

The stranger inclined his head and smiled serenely. “It’s useful to hear the thoughts of the
Pyr
,” he said, then walked to the back of the tunnel. “Not to mention the flashfire song.”

What was he talking about? Cassie looked between the two of them.

“Could you have reclaimed it?” Lorenzo asked.

“Of course. But you needed it.” Marco smiled. “I knew you wouldn’t use it to sever your own connections to the
Pyr
, but you needed to come to that conclusion yourself.” He smiled at Cassie, as if she were responsible for this change. “You did keep the other crystal safe for a long time.”

Lorenzo’s gaze brightened. “Then you know where it is?”

Marco smiled. “Of course.”

“Did you get it back?” Lorenzo asked.

Marco’s smile broadened. “It is not yet ready to come to my hand again.” He picked up the pieces of the brand, examined them, and tucked them into his pocket. “Part of the darkfire,” he said by way of explanation.

“Thus your department?” Lorenzo said.

Marco nodded.

“What about Chen? I marked him with the brand.”

“Yes.” Marco smiled, as if at a private joke.

“What does that mean?” Lorenzo asked.

Marco didn’t answer. “Have a good trip,” he said, then strolled out of the cave.

“Trip?” Cassie asked. “I thought this was more permanent.”

Lorenzo caught her hand in his. “It is permanent, if you’ll have this old dragon.”

Cassie smiled and turned her hand to grasp his, but she still had questions..”What does he mean about the flashfire?”

“Flashfire was a spell that came into my possession. It would have severed my ties to other dragons and possibly taken my powers away.” He smiled at her. “But you’re right. A dragon boy needs a dragon dad. I don’t know much about being a parent, but I intend to try.”

Cassie laughed and threw her arms around him. He caught her close, and she reveled in his embrace, fiercely glad at having found him.

But when he pulled back, there was that glint of mischief in his eyes, a light that hinted at some secret scheme.

“You have a plan,” Cassie guessed.

“Of course.” Lorenzo smiled. “But we have a stop to make on the way.” He patted his pocket where he’d put the key from Balthasar. “Feel like a vacation?”