Charred Tears (#2, Heart of Fire) (7 page)

“I don’t know, Sky. Nothing we’ve been taught is right.” Mason’s soft, frustrated tone carried a note of loss she felt, too.

“Should I … uh … free the others?” She stretched to grab another figure. “What if they really were making fried chicken out of people and this is their punishment?”

Mason picked up one.

“Or,” she continued. “What if they’ve all had their lives taken from them, like the slayers, and are innocent?”

“I don’t know.” Mason wrapped his hand around the figurine. “I want to see if I can do it.”

Skylar nodded. She picked up each of the figurines and set it on its feet, feeling bad that she’d manhandled them and stuffed them in her pocket without any idea the delicate figurines were somehow alive. They all appeared identical. There was no way to know what color the dragon would become once it was free, no markings of any kind or detailing on the tiny stone statues.

“It doesn’t seem possible there’s a whole dragon inside of here,” she marveled, holding up one.

“It’s not working for me,” Mason said, disappointed. He replaced it on the table. “How old do you think they are?”

“No idea.” She made a fist around one.

“Do you feel anything when you do it?”

“It gets warm.”

“So maybe you’re transferring magic to it.” He grew pensive. “Like maybe, Caleb takes it away, and they turn to stone. Then you give it back.”

“How?”

“It’s a theory.”

We are the dragons’ guardians.
The words had come to her in a dream, given to her by her mother.

“I’m going to free them,” she decided. “And if one of them fries people, I’ll re-capture him. I still have the lassos.”

“I guess it can’t be that bad, can it?” Mason reasoned.

I hope not.
Skylar drew a deep breath and took the next dragon figurine in her hand.

Mason pulled the chairs from the patio into the room and propped the door open, offering her the chair closest to the door.

Skylar sat and placed the squirming dragon in her hand onto the patio floor. She leaned forward, intrigued by what color it would be.

“Light blue,” she murmured with a smile. “They’re so beautiful, Mason.”

“Pretty but dangerous,” he said. “Hoping they behave.”

“Me, too. We’ve only got two lassos.” Skylar leaned back as the dragon grew.

The beauty of the creatures left her mesmerized. She leaned forward to grab another dragon not long after the one on the patio took off.

“Hey, Mason,” she said, giggling. “Just add water. Get it? Insta-dragon.”

“I think you mean, just add fire,” he said with a snort.

“Not sure what I’m adding, but it’s working. I think we need to go back to Caleb’s. Grab the rest of the figurines to see if they come to life, too.”

“We can’t do that, Skylar.”

She glanced over her shoulder at him. His features were shuttered again.

“You won’t tell me what happened?” she ventured.

“Maybe later.”

“I’m worried about you, Mason.”

“I’m fine, Sky. Promise.” His expression was too troubled for her to believe him. “Work on your dragons. I’m gonna grab my bag from the truck and take a shower.” He didn’t wait for her to ask him more questions but rose and left.

Skylar watched him go, concerned. He’d been gradually growing tenser since leaving Caleb’s. The more they talked, the more agitated he became.

The wriggling dragon in her hand pulled her attention back to her task, and she set it on the patio and sat back to watch it grow and take off into the night sky.

Dragon after dragon, she spent the next two hours freeing them, immersed in her mission. No part of her doubted she was doing wrong, not when she saw how incredible each creature was when it came to life again. None of them changed into their human forms, as if their initial instinct was to fly.

“Not that I blame you,” she said to the last dragon figurine clenched in her hand. “There’s something awful going on here.” It wriggled, and she stretched forward to deposit it on the concrete patio.

Watching it grow, she experienced a sense of pride at seeing what she’d done and sadness knowing the dragons were still in danger that she wasn’t able to pinpoint.

When the last dragon lifted itself into the sky, she stood and went to the railing. All of them had soared straight up, hovered briefly then oriented themselves north before taking off in that direction. It was almost like a bird’s radar; something was compelling them north.

Exhaustion hit her. It was a little before midnight, and she sagged against the railing. Her head spun, and she was hungry.

“Bringing dragons to life is tiring,” she muttered and pushed herself away. “How was the shower, Mason? Good water pressure?”

She retreated into the room, noticing for the first time that Mason wasn’t there. His bag was on the bed, and the door to the bathroom was cracked.

“Mason?” Skylar pushed the door open to reveal an empty bathroom. The towels were all neatly folded still, the shower curtain open to show a dry basin.

She rubbed her face, worn out, but worried. He’d been acting weird since leaving Caleb’s. Tugging her phone free, she checked it for missed calls and texts. Gavin had texted again, but there was nothing from Mason. She tried calling him, only for it to go straight to voicemail.

“Shit.” She snagged the second keycard off the dresser and left the room for the parking lot.

His SUV was parked where they left it. Placing a hand on the cool hood of the vehicle, she was able to guess he hadn’t used it since they arrived.

She retraced his steps, her concern turning into alarm. Skylar checked the hallways and stairwell and elevator for signs of struggle – flecks of blood, pieces of clothing – without finding anything. Finally, she returned to their room and stood in the middle, scouring every surface and corner.

She rummaged through his bag to find spare clothing, a small, unused toiletry bag, and an extra pair of gym shoes.

“He came in, dropped this on the bed and then …” She twisted around, mimicking his movements. “Left. Disappeared. Got kidnapped? Ugh, Mason!”

She would’ve noticed a scuffle a few feet behind her, even if she was fascinated by the dragons. No one had knocked that she knew of, and Mason left no note or message about where he was going.

He was simply gone.

Skylar was still, pensive. The only trouble she knew about was from whatever happened at Caleb’s that Mason hadn’t wanted to discuss. As much as she dreaded going back after how quickly they’d left, she had a feeling the answers she needed were there.

She texted Mason then snagged the keys off the dresser and left for his SUV.

Skylar hopped in, started it and headed north, towards Caleb’s house.

Chapter Seven

“Maybe it’ll show up in the morning, whatever it is we’re looking for,” Gunner said.

Chace lifted his gaze from the crackling fire. The cold night drove them both closer to the fire, and they’d wrapped their space blankets around their shoulders. Orange flames danced across the reflective surfaces of the silver blankets.

“Maybe.” After sitting on the top of the mountain for hours, he was beginning to think Freyja had set him up. Hadn’t a thousand years cooled her anger? Did she send him to the top of a mountain in the hopes he didn’t make it down in one piece? “Were the shifters okay when you left?”

“Yeah. Your friend Mr. Nothing took over the bar. He’s kind of a dictator. Created a curfew and drags in shifters who refuse to be there by curfew whether or not they want to be there.”

“Good. They have no idea what they’re facing.”

“I think I speak for everyone when I say we wish you were there not him.”

Chace said nothing for a long moment. He hadn’t just abandoned Sky; he’d abandoned the only family he’d known for a thousand years.

“I really screwed up, Gun,” he said.

“You’re alive to try it again, get things right this time.”

“You think it’s possible?”

“Depends on what you’re asking.” Gunner smiled. “The shifters are your family. They’ll forgive you. The girl …” He shrugged.

“That’s what I thought.” Chace rested his chin on his knee. He was weak and exhausted – but alive. Gunner was right; he had a second chance. How did he make things right with no magic?

How did he find Skylar, since her father had made it clear he was going to keep them a part? Even if he did find her, what chance was there that she’d forgive him, let alone want anything to do with him? How did he prove to her that he was capable of so much more than he’d showed her thus far?

You’re my dragon.
Though uncertain who she was, she’d spoken the words with conviction. Was there more to their bond than the incredible sex? He loved her sense of humor and bright smile, her dedication and straightforward way of viewing the world. She calmed him physically and mentally, gave him a place of peace.

But he didn’t yet know her well enough to know if any of what he loved about her could be salvaged after what he’d done.

“I could try to be just friends,” he said with a grimace.

“I think being friends is a lot to ask of her right now.”

Chace’s heart felt like it was breaking anew. He didn’t let himself dwell on it. Gunner was probably right. The most he could hope for was that Sky didn’t hate him. Someday.

“Okay. I need to focus on the shifters,” he decided. “I need my magic back to help them, and we have to uncover what’s going on with the slayers.”

“Agreed. Let the universe work out the issue with your girl.”

I wish it was that easy.
Chace kept this thought private. He ached for Skylar too much to hope things worked out. Then again, he was the one who ruined what chances they had, so maybe Gunner was right.

“What’re we doing up here?” he muttered and pushed his tired, sore body to stand. He paced a few feet from the fire, until the chilly night crept through the opening in his blanket. Returning, Chace stood and stared down into the flames.

Had he ever even noticed how beautiful fire was? It had been a part of him for so long, he never took the chance to marvel at the idea that as a dragon, he was able to create it, control it, walk into it without being consumed. It drew him now, its subtle magic a siren song that made him want to curl up in the middle of it and go to sleep.

Fire was like Sky: wild, beautiful, responsive to his touch.

I have to stop thinking about her!

“I need to find Dillon,” Chace said. “He’s behind all this. He wants her for some reason. I can’t help thinking there’s more to what he’s doing than what he said.”

“That he’s simply after Mr. Nothing?”

“Yeah. It’s gotta be more. He had Sky for years. Why not use her to get to Gavin before this?” He tossed his head back to see the bright, plentiful patch of stars directly overhead. The view here was as gorgeous as that from the mountains of Southern Arizona. There was no light pollution from nearby cities. From the peak, nothing came between him and the sky.

He had the sense of being close to the heavens, the way he was when he’d been able to fly.

A shape appeared overhead, circling the mountaintop from far, far above. Chace squinted to see it clearly.

“I really hope that’s not Gavin,” he said, mood turning even darker.

“I really hope it is. I want to be a panther again,” Gunner said. “And I want a ride off this mountain.”

“There’s more than one.” As Chace watched, another dragon joined the first, then a third, a fourth, a fifth. Fifteen minutes passed, and there were over a dozen of the large creatures soaring and circling above the peak.

“I thought you all were almost extinct,” Gunner said.

“So did I.”

More dragons came. They ranged in size, some clearly larger and some quite a bit smaller. Starlight reflected off wings in varying shades of purple, red, green, and blue.

His body complaining, Chace settled near the fire once more, gaze on the sky. Dragons blocked the stars directly overhead, and he saw random bursts of brilliant flames from the creatures that seemed content to float above.

“I know, on some level, they’re my family, but I really don’t feel connected to them,” he said quietly. “I feel more connected to you.”

“Same here,” Gunner seconded. “I know there used to be a lot of panther shifters. My mom, aunt and sister were panthers, but they disappeared years ago. I’m more likely to trust someone like Max than another panther I run across.”

“Then why did these guys track me down?” Frustration crept into his voice. Chace took a deep breath to keep calm. “I can’t even go up there and see what’s going on.”

“I feel ya.”

“Sorry, Gun. Your magic was stripped because of me.”

“No regrets, Chace. I’m happy to help.”

Gunner meant it, and Chace felt worse. His selfless friend truly cared, and Chace had been ready to abandon everyone in his life to try to regain what he thought he lost: his humanity.

I’ve got to make things right for everyone.

“One’s coming down.” Gunner shielded his eyes from the fire to see the descending dragon more clearly.

Chace followed his gaze and watched a dragon of light purple circle and draw near. Without knowing for certain, he sensed it was a female dragon, if her smaller size, larger eyes and cheerful hue were any indication. It went to the area outside their campsite.

The creature placed one delicate foot at a time on the plateau then folded its wings. The neck arched, and the dragon began to shrink in size, its body warping and changing before their eyes. Iridescent purple wings unfolded, revealing the trim, toned, naked body of a woman, before the wings, too, were absorbed by her human frame.

She approached. Her skin was bronze, her long, black hair silky and straight. Chace found himself more fascinated by her eyes – the color of tanzanite – while Gunner was staring at her breasts.

She paused a few feet away and looked between them, unconcerned by her nakedness.

“I require a robe,” she said expectantly.

“No, thanks,” Gunner replied.

Chace punched him in the shoulder to pull his friend out of his daze.