Charred Tears (#2, Heart of Fire) (16 page)

That’s changing.
Sensing how sore of a topic Chace was, Skylar sat back and searched for something less intense to talk about.

“Got you a new SUV.” Gavin slid vehicle keys across the table to her.

“Thanks,” she murmured.

Movement in the doorway of the restaurant drew her attention, and she saw Gunner there. He waved then sat beside Chace.

“Gunner’s here,” she told her father. “I still feel like I need more answers.”

“Neither of us knows what happened to your mother, but everything else seems clear to me. Dillon must be stopped. The damage he’s done must be undone.”

She almost sighed. Dillon was the key. Their last exchange was less than encouraging. With his father dead, he was likely going to be erratic, hard to predict.

“Invite them to join us,” Gavin said coolly.

“Um, only if you promise there won’t be a dragon smack down or something,” she said. “You’ll behave?”

He nodded his head once with noble eloquence, a king granting a small favor.

Skylar rolled her eyes in response. She stood and waved to catch the attention of the two shifters seated outside the restaurant. Motioning for them to come in, she sank back into her seat and clenched both hands in her lap.

Too aware of Chace’s nearness, Skylar tried to psych herself up for the meeting with reminders about how they were all working towards something important. There was no place for emotion here, not even when her gaze was drawn to Chace’s powerful form and stuck to him.

“Good to see you again,” Gunner said to Gavin. He slid into the seat across from Skylar while Chace silently took the seat beside her.

His leg brushed hers, sending a flare of heat and need through her. She eased away from him and tried hard not to look in his direction.

“How’s the shoulder?” Gunner addressed her in the tense quiet.

“Great.”

“You need me to look at it?”

“No.” She cleared her throat. “It, uh, kinda healed.”

“What?”

“That’s great,” Chace said, inquisitive gaze on her.

“So. You guys both know my dad, Gavin. We were talking about how we need to fix this Dillon issue.”

“We’ve got an army of shifters,” Gunner said, picking up the one on the table.

Skylar reached forward to reclaim it, protective of her figurines.

“We could use our magic.” Gunner looked pointedly at Gavin.

“You, yes,” the ancient dragon said.

Chace said nothing, and Skylar risked a look at him. He didn’t seem surprised or offended by the purposeful exclusion.

“Keep in mind we’ve got a bunch of angry slayers tracking the shifters, too,” he said.

All three of them looked at her. Skylar shook her head.

“We need to help them, too,” she said firmly. “If I woke up, so will they.”

“You’re stronger, Sky,” Gavin said. “It took you six years and some trauma to start to remember. For those without dragon blood, it’ll be harder.”

“We have to try,” she replied.

No one spoke. Her stomach turned over. She didn’t want to know what their alternate plan was to do with the brainwashed slayers. She didn’t bring up Mason, either, still convinced he wasn’t what they thought he was.

“So we have to help the shifters and the slayers,” Gunner summarized. “Anyone have an idea where to start?”

“Dillon,” Chace and Skylar said simultaneously.

She glanced at him, face warm again.

“Capture him and interrogate him?” Gunner asked.

“Yeah,” she answered.

Gavin was watching her. “He’s strong, Skylar.”

“We’ve got dragons,” she replied.

“All but one are nocturnal and the one who isn’t has no magic.”

“Well what do you suggest?” she asked impatiently. “He might know what happened to my mom, how to turn off the slayers, if there are any other shifters trapped as stone statues.”

A quiet fell. She sensed the men around her were all thinking thoughts they had no intention of sharing with her.

“We could use the bar.” Chace was the first to speak. “The slayers have been tracking it. We can pick a place to make a stand.”

“But not hurt the slayers,” she said. “We could capture them. If we can’t fix them, Dillon can tell us how when we find him.”

“Sky, I think we need to be open to the chance that there might not be a way to save some of them,” Chace said quietly.

She looked at him full on for the first time since he sat down with them. “It’s not their fault they got sucked into this and brainwashed!”

“He’s right, Sky,” Gavin said. “We’ll feel it out. But sometimes you have to make tough choices as the Protector.”

She said nothing, fuming and hurt to think of those she’d spent the past few years with being written off. If she and Chace could be salvaged, then the others deserved the same chance.

A glance at those around her revealed that she was in the minority. She kept her thoughts to herself, determined to help as many people as possible.

“First step. Waking up these shifters. I think we’ll need all we can find,” Chace said, lifting her bag from the floor.

“There are a lot more at Caleb’s,” she said. “Chace and I both can wake them up.”

“Sounds like it’s close to a plan,” Gunner said. “Gavin can’t do jack during daylight. As soon as it’s dark, we need to plant the bar someplace where the slayers can find it.”

“Near The Field,” Chace suggested. “Lots of open space, no people around to get caught in any crossfire.”

There won’t be crossfire,
she vowed. She sat back, listening as they plotted a simple strategy to draw out and capture as many slayers as possible and hopefully, snag Dillon as well.

Her gaze went from them to the window, and she looked twice.

Mason was standing in the parking lot, near an SUV. He looked a little better this morning, as if he’d gotten some sleep.

He was gazing at her, as if waiting for her to notice him.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” she said, standing.

“Whoa. No,” Chace said. He caught her arm with a strong hand, his eyes on the figure in the parking lot.

“Don’t tell me what to do!” she snapped and twisted away.

Skylar strode out of the restaurant and reached the automatic door of the lobby before Chace managed to grab her arm again. Whirling, she glared up at him. He drew her closer to him, until she was able to feel his body heat.

“Whatever your plan is, it shouldn’t involve someone like that,” Chace said in a low, quiet voice.

“Something’s going on. I’m going to find out what,” she retorted.

“You’re so beautiful when you’re angry,” he said, a trace of a smile going across his tight features.

She said nothing, taken aback by the random compliment. Chace’s gaze dropped to her lips, and she pursed them to keep from wetting them in anticipation of a kiss. Her body was burning up at his touch and nearness, his scent making her tingle. His soft sweater and the shapely muscles beneath it were begging for her touch.

“Let me go, Chace,” she ordered, hating the breathless note in her voice.

He did.

She remained in place, close enough to for their bodies to brush if she leaned forward slightly. Caught in the dark blue depths of his gaze, she forgot briefly what they were arguing over.

“You’re welcome for healing you,” he said, warmth softening the skin beneath his eyes. “I’m a dick. We all know this. But please don’t deal with Mason alone.”

His genuine concern bothered her when she was working so hard at disliking him.

“I’m just going to talk to him,” she said.

“No getting kidnapped.”

“Since you’ve lost your powers, my kidnapping average has dropped down close to zero!” she retorted.

He touched her cheek with one hand. “Be safe.”

She half-expected him to insist she let him go. But he didn’t.

“I will be,” she said, stepping away from the overwhelming affect he had on her senses.

She turned away, unable to figure out what this new Chace’s game was. She exited the hotel and took a deep breath to clear her thoughts and then approached Mason.

 “Hey,” she greeted him, pausing a few feet away. She searched his gaze, not sure what she was looking for. A sign of what kind of creature he was? Any indication he meant to hurt or betray her?”

“Hi, Sky,” he said. His hands were in his pocket. His bruised eye appeared less dark during daylight. “Sorry about last night.”

“It’s okay,” she murmured. “Um, so Dillon is a griffin shifter who tried to kill me.”

Mason met her gaze.

“You knew what he was,” she guessed. “Because you’re a shifter, too.”

He drew a deep breath. “Yeah. I am.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she demanded.

“The time wasn’t right.”

“What about all that nonsense about being bitten by a shifter and falling in love with one?”

“I needed to see where you were with things,” he admitted.

“So it was all a lie?” Her throat and chest were tight. “Everything I remember about my life is a lie!”

“No, Sky,” Mason replied. “We’re friends. We’ve always been friends. We’ll always be friends. I hope.”

His firm assurance calmed her some.

“I couldn’t tell you anything that might make it back to Dillon.”

“Did he know what you are?”

“Yes and no.” Mason flashed a quick smile.

“Whatever,” she said, folding her arms across her chest. “What happened at Caleb’s?”

Mason looked into the sky, gaze distant. “You’re right. I can have a fresh start, and I told Caleb I was done. We got in a disagreement.”

“You killed him.”

“I didn’t have a choice. We needed time to get away before Dillon came. I’m big, but I’m not going to risk facing Dillon in his shifter form.”

She wanted to ask what Mason was but feared the answer. She scoured his features, wanting badly to know her friend was still there somewhere like he claimed. His dark eyes glowed with familiar warmth, and she recalled with appreciation that he’d supported her at The Field when she’d wanted to find Chace.

“I want to believe you, Mason,” she murmured.

“I’ve always taken care of you, Sky. Even if you can’t remember it.”

She studied him. Her instincts were certain about Chace despite her anger. With Mason …

She didn’t know.

“I have to go,” he said. “Text or call when you want to talk.” He dropped off the curb and walked towards the driver’s door of his SUV. “Preferably when no one else is around. You’ll forgive me if I’m a little leery of the company you keep.”

His words confused her more. Did he mean Chace? Her father?

Her father’s explanation of there being a division among the shifters stirred her instincts. Were Mason and Dillon on one side of the divide and her father on the other?

She watched him drive away, waving when he did. The back of her neck was burning again.

“He’s either a fantastic liar or there’s some truth to what he says,” Chace said from nearby.

She turned to face him, guard going up. His blue eyes flickered from her to the SUV pulling out of the parking lot then back. He stood, deceptive relaxed, one hand in his pocket while the other clutched the strap of the gym bag containing shifters.

She wanted to defend Mason and say he’d never lied to her, but he just admitted to keeping the truth from her.

“People like to do things to protect me,” she said. “I wish they’d just tell me what I need to know. I’ll figure it out anyway.”

“Shit. I’ve got nothing to hide from you anymore,” he replied.

“No?” she challenged. “I bet there’s something!”

“If you go through something like facing your mortality or losing everything you had, you start to view things a little differently.” The words were quiet, the emotion in his voice carefully controlled. His gaze was steady, and she sensed the pain deep within him. “It’s like flying. Gives you a new perspective. What you thought mattered, doesn’t anymore, but you damn well know what does now.”

The intensity of his look made her warm from the inside out. She had the sense of being overwhelmed, of him seeping into her guard and growing roots deep in her emotions when she desperately needed a clear head.

“Though I wonder if it’s too late,” he added at her silence.

“We all make our choices.” She looked away. Yesterday, she’d wanted him to show some sort of regret for what he’d done. Today, she didn’t want to get into it with him.

“Right,” he said coolly.

I need space to think.

“You all want to go to Caleb’s for the rest of the shifters?” Gunner interrupted the tension between her and Chace. “Gavin is resting.”

“Sounds good,” she replied. “I got my lasso for Dillon, in case he’s there. Since you all are relatively defenseless.” The words were hotter than she meant.

Chace frowned. She turned away.

“I’m really looking forward to this ride,” Gunner said sarcastically. “Y’all need to fuck and get it over with. This is killing me.”

“Fat chance,” she snapped and stormed away. “I’m driving.”

The two powerless shifters trailed her to the SUV. She climbed in and waited for them with barely restrained impatience, anxious to be on the road. Chace climbed in next to her while Gunner got in back.

Being in a car with Chace was the last thing she needed, except she didn’t realize it until they hit the highway. Gunner was right. Her attention went from trying to breathe in more of his scent to trying not to notice how close his arm was to hers. If she shifted even just a tiny bit, she’d be able to feel his warm skin and the roped, supple muscle of his forearm.

Chapter Fifteen

No one spoke during the quick trip to Caleb’s. She drove as fast as she could, uncomfortably turned on being so close to Chace. No part of her was able to focus solely on driving with him beside her.

They reached Caleb’s, and she flung her car door open before the engine stopped completely. She was halfway to the front door when she reminded herself that Dillon was pissed – and a badass shifter who almost took her out once.

She slowed and listened for any sounds of anyone being in the house. She heard and sensed nothing.

The front door was ajar, and she pushed it open.