Boreal and John Grey Season 1 (19 page)

Blinding white lines swirled on his forehead, on his cheeks, on his chin. No, she wasn’t imagining it. She stepped back.

Then he uncoiled like a spring, bolting upright. He surged to his feet and grabbed her hands. “Out. We need to get out.”

“What? Why?”

“Gate,” he said and pulled her toward the door. “Can’t you smell it?”

“Smell what?” She sniffed the air and dug her heels in but he was strong. She managed to grab her bag as he pulled her toward the door, stuffed the book inside. Her shoes squeaked on the tiles. “What are you doing, Finn? Are you out of your mind?”

“Fire.” He staggered but kept going until they were outside. “They’re here.”

“Who’s here?” She managed to slow Finn in front of Mike’s door, but he dragged her past. “Who, Finn?”

“The steeds of the Boreals,” he said, and she grabbed him before he fell down the stairs, pulled him back. “
Drekar
.”

Dragons
. She stopped so suddenly she almost fell over. “No.”

“Yes.”

“And you smell them?”

“Yes! Now come on.”

“I have to get Missy. And you need to put on shoes.”

She ran back to her apartment and hunted for the kitty. Found her under the bed. Missy hissed and clawed at her hand, but Ella held onto her and Finn pulled them out again. At least this time he was wearing his boots.

“Mike.” She stopped at Mike’s door and banged on it. “Hey!”

“Ella!” Finn tried to pry her away from the door. “It will be too late.”

“Not going without Mike. Here, hold onto her.” She placed Missy in Finn’s hands and the kitty transformed into a whirlwind of teeth and claws. Finn cursed.

“Mike!” She banged again, and this time steps sounded. The door cracked open. Mike peered at her, a sleepy frown on his face.

“What’s going on?”

“Where’s Scott?”

“At work. He got a job in a bar downtown—”

“Come on.” She hauled him out, dressed in his pajamas as he was. “Finn says we’re in danger.”

“Damn.” Mike tried to turn around in her grip. “I need to get dressed. It’s snowing—”

“No time,” Finn said tersely. He handed Mike the hissing kitty, grabbed them both by the arms and marched them to the stairs. In passing, he hit the fire alarm and it wailed, deafening, as they ran down the steps.

“Shades?” Mike tried to see Ella’s face behind Finn’s back.

“Worse.”

They ran out into the melting snow, slipping and sliding. Something white streaked across her vision and she turned to follow its path over the building. Flames leaped from the windows of her apartment.
Fucking hell
. She’d have been roasted alive.

A dragon. Shit
.

Finn was pulling her and she had no choice but to move. “The car?” he said and she pointed. He led them toward the side street where she’d parked that afternoon. It felt like years.

“Ella, what is that thing?” Mike’s voice had risen an octave. “It’s burning the building, and it looks like a...” He panted as Finn increased the pace. “Like a...”

“It’s a dragon,” Ella said. Starting to laugh now would probably be a sign of insanity, but, hell, there was a dragon on her building.

She craned her neck to see it. It stood on the roof on four legs, its snake-like neck rising against the clouds. White and shimmering like a crystal, it lowered its head and bellowed, the sound shaking the ground and shattering windows. Glass shards rained down around them, smashing on the street as they raced toward the car.

Screams rang from behind them. In the street, cars had stopped and the drivers had come out to see the dragon crouched on top of the building. Finn was muttering something unfriendly under his breath when Ella’s car came into view. It was, of course, blocked by the curious passersby gawping at the strange creature.

Ella wrenched her arm free of Finn’s grip and was patting her pocket for her badge, determined to get everyone moving as of right now, when a wave of
‘Ooooh’
went through the gathering crowd.

And then screams and panic.

She turned around as if through water. Everything slowed as the dragon swooped down. “Mike, take cover!” She grabbed him, pulled him behind her. Missy growled in his arms. “Where’s Finn?”

“Ella, look.” Mike pointed at a dark-clad figure running full-out toward the dragon.

She shook her head, trying to clear her vision. No, that couldn’t be... Couldn’t be... “Finn, dammit!”

She jumped after him before her brain had grasped the concept of Finn racing —
toward
— the dragon. Talk about a death wish!
Then again...

“Ella, where do you think you’re going?” Mike grabbed her and hung on like an anchor. She’d never thought he was so strong. “Stop it. Handsome there is nuts. You don’t confront a dragon, girl!”

“Let me go!”

Finn’s knives flashed as he ran. His hair flew in all directions; he’d lost his bandana. Boy was he going to be pissed about that.

Ella pushed Mike off. The breath froze in her lungs as the dragon dived toward Finn, a streak of light, and then straightened. Its great feathered wings spread, glowing bright, and the dragon landed in a spray of snow that rose like a mist, obscuring Finn.

Ella’s lungs finally expanded in an explosive breath. “Finn!” And she was running toward him, drawing her gun as she went.

Mike screamed her name but it was swallowed by the booming of her pulse in her ears. Damn, she was too far and everything was lost in a haze. Then the mist of snow crystals fell like a theater curtain, revealing the enormous bulk of the dragon, lizard-like, serpentine.

Finn stood in the creature’s way. The light from a street lamp struck his hair, forming a silver halo. He held his knives out to the sides, the bowed blades catching the reflection from the snow.

She could hear him speak —
a prayer?
— but couldn’t catch any words. Just as she set off again, hoping to grab him and haul him back, he moved.

The dragon moved, too. Spreading its wings, it snapped at Finn with a cavernous mouth filled with razor teeth. Finn spun on the snow and slipped under the dragon’s neck. He came running out the other side but he didn’t seem to have hurt the dragon whose snake-like neck twisted to follow him. What the hell was Finn doing?

The dragon bellowed, huge claws gouging deep grooves where it stepped, white tail lashing around to follow its movement. Finn skidded, rolled, came up against a building wall and climbed to his feet.

The dragon took a thunderous step forward and blew fire. Ella’s scream died in her throat.

Finn wasn’t there anymore. He’d rolled again, coming up some feet away from the scorched wall.

Enough of this
. Ella took aim at the dragon’s head, tightened her finger on the trigger.

The dragon flapped its wings and turned after Finn. Ella cursed, lowering her gun. The target —
gone
. If they kept moving so fast, she’d have equal chances of hitting the dragon or Finn.
Damn again
.

Finn ran across the street, raising puffs of snow, the dragon snout following right behind, teeth big as swords snapping on air with a crash and clack. Ella squinted down the barrel, trying to get a fix on something.

In vain. The dragon stomped after Finn, another crystal mist rising to hide both.

Hell
.

She ran closer, trying to see through the icy fog. Movement, and then the dragon’s wings erupted from the white mist, iridescent, sending her stumbling backward. He towered over her, big as a house. She fired a shot, but wasn’t sure she’d hit anything. Where was Finn?

The dragon hissed, setting her teeth on edge, and its huge tail swished in the snow, sending a rain of slushy ice over her. She threw an arm up to cover her eyes. Cold water drenched her.

A roar that rattled her bones, and more ice flung her way. She wiped her face on her sleeve and looked up to see Finn climbing on the dragon’s back, between the wings.

Son of a bitch
. With a shaky hand, she lifted her gun. What was he doing, goddammit?

Finn raised his knives. Was he going to stab the dragon in the neck? Where the hell did dragons have their hearts? She swallowed, waiting for Finn to do the impossible and kill a dragon single-handed.

Then the dragon squirmed and writhed like a giant frost worm, tossing its head, wings snapping open and closed. A final twist, and Finn went flying. He slammed into a wall and dropped.

“Finn!” Ella opened her mouth to call again, but the dragon stepped in her way. Her voice froze in her throat, and the sounds rushed out of the world, leaving it quiet except for the drumming of her heart.

She looked up and up at the white scales, to the dragon’s head and the slitted yellow eyes. Something shone above the head —
a blade
. Finn had stuck one of his knives on the crown, right into the dragon’s crest.

Then the dragon flapped its wings, one, two, three times and stomped forward. Ella threw herself out of the way just in time, the clawed feet thrusting inches from her face, as the dragon lumbered down the street, crashing cars in its path, and took to the sky. A bright streak like lightning, and the dragon was gone.

***

After an indeterminable time, the sounds rushed back. The sirens of the fire brigade, arriving to put out the fire and see if there was anyone trapped in the burning building. The voices of panicked people, and a bass woman’s voice telling them to stay away.

Water dripped from a pipe, a crystal noise.

Finn
.

She turned as if in a nightmare, raising her gun. Saw him sprawled, a black shape, face down in the snow. Walked over to him, wading through the sticky webs of a dream, and knelt to turn him over, her heart pounding. He groaned, and her fingers tightened on the handle of her gun.

She could see it now, the slender elvish ear poking out of Finn’s loose hair. Leaf-shaped, tapering to a delicate point. Dark designs on it made her look closer. They looked like tattoos.

He blinked and she jerked back, pointing the gun at him. Her aim wavered.

“What did you do?” she asked, her voice thin. “How did you make the dragon go away?”

“Ella?” He blinked again as if he couldn’t focus.

Concussion
, her mind whispered.
Possibility of head trauma
. She tightened her grip on her gun. “How did you drive the dragon away?”

He shaded his eyes and rolled on his side. Tried to sit up. “It’s a tame animal,” he rasped. “The
aelfar
ride them. Their crest is sensitive. I scared the dragon into submission.”

“You scared...” She shook her head. “Are you
aelfr
?” That was what the Nordic people had called them, back when the Gates opened in the north. Baby snatchers. Nightmares. Ella’s mouth trembled. “You are, aren’t you? A goddamn elf.”

Finn stopped his efforts to sit up, fell back into the snow and stared up at her. His eyes finally focused on her gun. “You’ll kill me,” he said, no emotion in his voice. A statement of fact.

Her hand shook on the grip. How could she harm him? He’d just saved her life again, for Christ’s sake — everyone’s life. He’d rushed the dragon on his own, almost died, to give the passersby a chance to escape before the creature attacked them.