Kiss of Danger (The Dragon Legion Novellas) (16 page)

Kiss of Darkness

Second of the Dragon Legion Novellas

Copyright © 2013 Deborah A. Cooke

* * *

Drake and his men found themselves suddenly in a sunny but empty plaza. It was early in the morning, dew fresh on the flowers in the heavy planters that were scattered across the space. One man watered the flowers, starting when he turned to find a group of men had silently arrived in the space. A large fountain was in the middle of the square, water splashing from it and sparkling in the sunshine. There were buildings all around the square, their windows shuttered or dark.

They had manifested in the shadows near what was clearly a restaurant. It was closed, but the tables and chairs were still set up under awnings on its patio. The company of warriors pulled together a pair of tables and sat down together, flicking anxious glances around themselves.

Damien knew he wasn’t the only one who was hungry and exhausted. He guessed they were in southern Europe, maybe back in the twenty-first century again. He’d know better when the women appeared, by the style of their clothes.

Drake, their leader, counted their dwindling company. Damien had already noticed that Aeson was gone. They were down to eight survivors: Drake and Damien, Thad and Ty, Peter and Ashe, Orion and Ignatio.

Drake scanned the plaza with unfounded optimism, then his lips tightened. He looked down at the large quartz crystal in his hand and Damien was relieved that the light within it had dimmed.

For the moment. The darkfire crystal seemed intent on flinging them across the universe. Repeatedly and without warning.

“Aeson,” Ty said, defeat in his usually optimistic tone.

“One more lost,” Peter said with a grim satisfaction. He was always looking for the dark clouds on the horizon. “Besides Alexander, that is.” He glared at Drake. “You shouldn’t have let him go.”

“I have no wish to deny a man his greatest desire,” Drake said, his tone as tired as Damien felt. He closed his hand over the crystal. “I wish it hadn’t lit so soon. I wish we could have waited for him.” He passed a hand over his forehead, and Damien saw how much this ordeal was costing their usually stalwart leader.

“He chose to look for Katina,” Aeson said to Peter, his tone defensive. “It’s our responsibility to defend our mates after we’ve had a firestorm. Alexander did what was right.”

“He ran to her,” Ty added. “Making sure the crystal did leave him behind.”

“Well, I hope she was there,” Ashe said, practical as ever. Drake cleared his throat but the younger man glanced up. “Well, I do! It would be terrible if he’d taken a chance on finding her there and found her gone.”

“Married,” Iggy added.

“Ancient,” added Peter. “There was no telling how much time had passed for her.”

“Or dead,” Damien felt obliged to add. “Alexander might have ended up alone.”

A shudder rolled through the group of men, as their worst fear was expressed aloud.

“That would suit you,” Iggy said to Damien, obviously trying to lighten the mood of his fellows. “Love them and leave them, that’s our Damien. Mr. Heartbreaker.”

Damien smiled at their teasing.

“Do you even have a heart?” Ty joked. He and Iggy as the youngest of the group were most likely to be envious of Damien’s sexual success. They wouldn’t have been envious of Damien’s experience, that was for sure, but he was never going to confide that story in them. “I remember that one in Paris.” Ty whistled through his teeth and Iggy grinned. “She could have had my heart and soul just for the asking, but not Damien.”

“He takes what they offer and leaves them behind,” Iggy concluded.

“And we’ll refrain from commentary on how that serves the good of mankind,” Peter muttered.

“They’re happy for a little bit,” Damien said, refusing to be defensive. “It’s not like I trick them. They know what they’re getting.” He spread his hands, as if he himself was enough of a gift.

Ashe rolled his eyes and Drake pretended not to have heard. Ty and Iggy laughed. Peter snorted with a disgust that had more to do with his lack of success with women than Damien’s luck.

A pair of older women came into the square at the opposite end, unlocking a door and moving in side. Late twentieth-century, Damien guessed, but the cut of their clothing.

Then he smelled the coffee they had started to make. His stomach growled audibly.

“It’s a bakery,” Ashe whispered. “Get ready for temptation when they get that oven going.”

There was an almost silent-groan from the men. “If we’re still here, we’ll go see if we can buy something,” Drake said.

“Or make a deal.” Iggy nudged Damien. “If our money’s no good, maybe Mr. Charm can get us some breakfast.” Damien smiled as Iggy and Ty began to needle him, speculating on how he could get breakfast for eight hungry warriors for free.

“By Zeus, maybe that’s the point,” Thad said suddenly, interrupting the flow of conjecture. The others turned to look at him. “What if the darkfire crystal isn’t as unpredictable as we think? What if it’s got a plan to fulfill?”

“Like what?” Peter demanded. “What possible reason could be behind this insanity? Every time it flashes, we get picked up and flung down somewhere else. We don’t know where we are...”

“We don’t know
when
we are,” Ashe interjected.

“I’d say Italy, roughly 1972,” Damien murmured.

Drake peered at a church tower and shrugged. “Rome,” he said flatly.

Peter flicked a look at the pair of them that spoke volumes then shoved a hand through his silvered hair. “We can’t eat, we can’t sleep, we don’t dare wander away from Drake and the stupid crystal, in case it lights when we’re too far away and we get left behind. What kind of plan could this possibly be?”

Thad looked untroubled by the older man’s scathing tone. “Maybe it’s not an accident. Maybe the crystal is returning each of us to the place we belong. Scattering us like salt through the ages.”

“But how would it know?” Peter demanded.

“The firestorm,” Drake murmured, and the other men immediately looked at him.

Orion frowned. “You mean that the darkfire crystal took us to Alexander’s village, precisely so he could be reunited with Katina?”

Thad nodded with enthusiasm. “It makes sense! Darkfire doesn’t have to be irrational. It’s disruptive and it’s unpredictable, if you don’t understand what it’s doing or why, but mostly, I think it makes unlikely things happen.” He nodded at the others. “And it’s linked to us. It’s a force associated with the
Pyr
. Why wouldn’t it enable the firestorm?”

“So it sent Alexander back in time more than two thousand years, to be with his wife and son,” Iggy said thoughtfully.

“So he could keep his duty to defend his mate and son,” Iggy agreed. “Makes sense to me.”

“If they’re there,” Peter said. “If she still wants him.”

Another beat of silence passed. “That’s all well and good,” Orion said, pacing around the group with his usual impatience. “But what can we do? How can we guide it? How can we guess where we are and why, or control where we go next?”

“Who else has had a firestorm?” Ty asked. “If Thad is right, the crystal will take us back to the mate.”

Excitement now passed through the small company, along with a sense of possibility that Damien didn’t share. If that was true, he was going to end up alone with the crystal, which wasn’t an enticing possibility.

The less plausible option was even less enticing. Damien shivered.

“I left a wife and son,” Drake admitted, his words soft. “Theo was a little older than Alexander’s son and Cassandra...” His voice faded and he stared into the distance.

“I don’t think you should tease yourselves,” Damien interjected, knowing he had to say something.

“Why not?” Iggy demanded.

“It’s better than doing nothing,” Orion said.

“Because now one of you is thinking that your destined mate must be here,” Damien said, his tone harder than usual. “And now each of you who hasn’t had a firestorm is going to want to break rank, no matter where we end up. You don’t know what the darkfire crystal is planning, if it’s planning anything. You could just end up doing something stupid.”

Peter gave him a hard look. “Did you have a firestorm?”

“Yes,” Damien admitted, noting their surprise. “And no power is ever going to take us to where she is.”

Ty nudged Iggy. “We’re right. He doesn’t have a heart because he already gave it away.”

“You don’t know anything about it!” Damien snapped, and the rare flash of his temper silenced the two of them.

Orion caught his breath suddenly, drawing the attention of his fellows. He lifted his hand and his eyes widened as fire began to glow around his fingertips. The flames grew, becoming a dancing halo of flame.

“Great Wyvern,” Orion whispered in awe. “So this is what it feels like.”

Damien got to his feet, knowing what he was witnessing. Sure enough, a woman had come into the square and was knocking on the door that the older women had unlocked. Her hair was dark and long, and he guessed she was in her mid-twenties. Her shoes were flat and her skirt short, her legs perfect.

A spark exploded from Orion’s fingertip and arched through the air toward her. An answering spark rose from the woman, and the two sparks collided in a brilliant burst of yellow light over top of the fountain.

She turned to look, her eyes wide with astonishment.

“She’s the one,” Orion said and began to march across the square.

“You were right,” Iggy whispered to Thad, whose mouth was open in surprise.

“Not again,” Drake muttered inexplicably.

Damien then saw the blue-green light begin to pulse out of the darkfire crystal.

“Run!” Ty shouted and Orion did, bolting across the square, drawn to the woman who could bear his son by the heat of the firestorm. Damien saw her smile at Orion, then the darkfire became a blindingly brilliant flash.

Once again, they were flung through the air, and lashed by a vicious wind. Damien was flung to the ground and grunted at the force of the impact, only to hear his fellows make similar sounds.

The darkfire faded to nothing, leaving the air as dark as pitch. It was still, wherever they had landed, and it was cold.

As cold as the grave.

Damien got to his feet, sure that his guess had to be wrong. His heart was pounding, even as he saw the deadened trees, the starless sky, the inky black river that separated them from a land filled with shadows. His heart felt heavy in this place, burdened by sorrow as it seldom was.

As he watched, a flat boat left the far shore. The hooded ferryman pushed his pole into the river, guiding his boat toward them. There was only darkness within the shadows of his hood and his fingers gleamed because they were bare bones.

“Charon,” Damien whispered.

A dog began to bark then, and was joined by the barking of two others. Damien narrowed his eyes and looked across the river, seeing the three-headed dog Cerberus on the far shore, its teeth white and sharp as it barked.

“We’re in Hades,” Peter whispered in horror from behind him.

“All seven of us,” Drake said.

“That’ll be six, now,” Damien said, taking a step toward the shore. “This would be my stop.” He reached into his pocket, glad to find that he had a coin for the ferryman, and looked across the river.

He still had a few moments to figure out how to get past Cerberus.

Never mind how to leave Hades alive.

* * *

Kiss of Darkness
 

Second of the Dragon Legion Novellas

Coming Soon!

Deborah also writes historical romances as Claire Delacroix. Read on for an excerpt from
 

The Renegade’s Heart
,
 

the first book in her new True Love Brides series of medieval romances.