Dragon Fever (15 page)

But he seemed fixated on Anjali.

Maybe because she was the only one who’d ever gotten away.

Rave knew how that felt.

“Piper is a solarys,” he said.

“Uh huh.” Torch leaned forward to rest his chin on the backs of his hands folded over the steering wheel, staring at room seven. If he’d had a tail in this form, it would be lashing impatiently.

“But she didn’t affect Bale.”

That brought Torch’s attention around. “When did she see him?”

“I took her to his lair.”

Torch winced. “Dude.”

“She didn’t see anything.” Rave hesitated. “Nothing she would believe. I hoped her presence would reverse his petralys.”

With a shake of his head, Torch said, “She’s
your
true mate. Not his.”

Rave’s dragon screamed a silent agreement. But Rave knew better than the beast: she wasn’t his either. She couldn’t be, not when he’d spent centuries seeking a cure.

“I can’t keep her,” he said.

His cousin stilled, eyes narrowing. “She is the heart of your treasure. Without her, you’ll never be complete.”

“There has to be another way to save Bale.”

“We aren’t talking about him now. We’re talking about you.”

“Bale is our liege.”

“You’re of the same blood. And for a long time now, the fire of the Nox Incendi has burned higher in you. You’ve been in charge of the Keep. The kin would follow you—”

Rave slammed his fist up into the ceiling of the SUV. The metal dented with an almost draconic scream. “That is treason.”

Torch merely looked at him, though lightning flickered dangerously in the back of his eyes. “When your brother made me head of security, it wasn’t just for the Keep, but for the tribe. I will protect us. Even from your misplaced martyrdom.”

Was he playing the martyr? Rave ignored the gleam of ichor across his torn knuckles. The opalescent sheen had returned, but only because of Piper. For the good of the tribe, could he afford to set her free?

Or would he lock her away and tell himself he had no choice?

“She didn’t ask for this,” he murmured.

Torch snorted. “Neither did you. But whatever. It’s just a chance to save yourself and lead your dying people into a new era of hope. By all means, whine about it if it makes you feel better.” He propped his chin on the steering wheel again, grumbling, “You won’t catch
me
hesitating when I find
my
mate.”

Rave wanted to punch
him
this time. Which only made it likely that his cousin was right.

He had to keep Piper, for his own sake and all the Nox Incendi. She seemed to like his grotto, and she’d said she liked working outside with her father, so maybe she could return the garden to its glory.

She wouldn’t have anything else to do once he took her.

As the crown jewel of his hoard, she would have the finest clothes and most decadent jewels, the rarest wines and richest feasts. Everything but her freedom, since a dragon’s hoard was always hidden away.

Piper would hate it. She would hate him.

Was it worth it, to be king?

As if he’d conjured a mirage out of his own desperate longing, a flash of movement in the side mirror caught his eye.

He cursed and thrust open the door.

“Piper,” he hissed.

Behind him, Torch said something worse, but Rave was focused on his solarys, his true mate, the heart of his treasure.

The pain in his ass.

Her eyes widened as he strode toward her. She’d put on a black sweater over her clothes and pulled the hood over the loose coils of her dark hair—a concession to the secrecy and danger of the situation, he supposed.

Not that it made much difference; he swore he could sense every precious curve of her through the cloth.

His hands twitched as he grabbed her and hustled her into the back of the SUV.

“What are you doing here?” Rave snapped, echoing the words over Torch’s identical question.

She glanced between them. “Bale didn’t call?”

“No—” Rave’s angry denial was cut short by the ring of Torch’s cell phone.

As his cousin answered with the semi-deferential voice he only used with his liege, Rave tightened his grip on Piper. He’d yanked the SUV door closed behind her, so she had nowhere to go, and still he couldn’t force his fingers apart.

Despite his grasp, which he knew was too tight, Piper’s deep brown gaze was steady. “Your brother said you’d need me.”

“I don’t,” Rave growled.

A lie, but not for the reasons under discussion.

A flash of hurt shadowed her eyes, but she only shrugged back her hood and lowered the sweater zipper with a sigh. “I wasn’t going to say no to your brother.”

Rave realized his attention was following the zipper and yanked his glare back to her. “How convenient.”

To his shock, she gave him a little grin, “I know, right?” She finally squirmed against his hold. “Where are they? Esme and Anjali. They’re here? Have you talked to them?”

“Not yet.” Rave glanced over when Torch ended the call. His cousin answered his unspoken question with a shrug and a furrowed brow: he didn’t know why Bale had sent Piper and he hadn’t argued either. Rave wanted to roar at them both. But not where Piper would hear. “We’re waiting.”

She wrinkled her nose. “For what?”

“A strategic moment,” Torch said in an eager tone that some might use to say “sweet and sour sauce”.

Piper’s wrinkled nose screwed up into a frown. “You think you’re going in guns blazing?”

Torch grinned. “Not guns, no.” He shot a sly glance at Rave.

Before that line of discussion went too far, Rave explained, “Torch has his people surrounding the motel. We were just waiting for a little distraction to keep your friends occupied while we moved in.”

“Well, I’m here,” Piper said. “I’ll be your distraction.”

“Perfect,” Torch said, just as Rave said, “No.”

When Torch and Piper gave him matching scowls, Rave shook his head. “You aren’t going in there, Piper. There’s more to this than you—”

“Magic,” she interrupted. When he only gaped at her, she continued, “Bale explained. There’s some sort of…alchemical magic being used against Esme and Anjali. I knew they were in trouble, but this…” She let out a huff of breath.

Rave’s thoughts flapped like helpless hatchlings. How much and what exactly had Bale told her? He speared a glance at his cousin, but Torch shrugged.

If he was going to keep her, it didn’t matter what she knew or didn’t. She’d be his sacrifice, and that was that. But if he still believed he should let her go…

She put her hand over his. “Rave, let me help. They are my friends, and you’re doing this for me, because of me. I don’t know what they did to your cameras”—she tilted her head to include Torch in the conversation—“or why they ran away, but I want answers too.”

She was right, and it wasn’t like he really had a choice if Bale had sent her, but it was the touch that doomed him. If there was going to be any chance he could not just
take
her but
win
her, this was where it started.

He rammed open the SUV door. Probably with unnecessary force, judging from the way her dark eyes snapped wide, but he was trying.

“Go on,” he said. “Room seven. We’re right here. If you need me, call.”

She reached for her phone. “I don’t have your—”

“Not with that.” He grasped her chin and lifted her gaze from the little screen to him. The blackest centers in her dark irises expanded, like a night sky where he could fall forever. Or fly. “Call to me.”

Her tongue darted out to dampen her lips. “Call? To you?”

“Magic.” He gave her a crooked smile. “Since you’re an expert now.”

Those dark eyes slanted half shut. “I’ll find out what’s going on.”

He knew she didn’t just mean with her friends. “Hopefully.”

He sent her out into the emptiness across the parking lot.

Torch cleared his throat. “Magic? Really?”

“If she gets in any trouble, needs me in any way, I’ll know.” Rave watched as she whisked past the palm trees, feeling as if she was tearing a piece of him away as she went. “Anywhere she goes, whatever she wants, I’ll know, like I know myself. She is my center now. My heart.”

Torch dragged one hand down his jaw. “Uh. That seems a little…intense.”

Rave smirked at him. “Good thing you won’t hesitate when you find yours.”

***

Piper was achingly aware of Rave behind her.

His touch. His words. His…magic?

What had she gotten herself into?

But ahead of her was room seven and the friends who’d gotten her this far. She wasn’t giving up on them just because she was a little confused.

Maybe one night in the Keep had spoiled her, but she couldn’t believe Esme and Anj had picked this dump. Dead leaves had swirled up into the corner of the doorway, as if no one had passed that threshold in a very long time.

She swallowed against the bone-dryness in her throat and knocked softly. “Anj? Ez? It’s Piper. Open up. Please?”

For a long moment, she thought no one would answer. Maybe this wasn’t the right—

The door cracked open, and Anjali peered out, her red dreads leached of color by the crappy fluorescent light overhead. “What are you doing here?”

If anyone else asked her that tonight, Piper decided she was going to get a complex. “What are
you
doing here?” she countered. “This place is a pit.”

“Easier to get out of a pit than a keep,” Anj muttered. She grabbed Piper’s hand and yanked her inside. “Did anybody see you?”

Piper stumbled behind her friend. As the door clicked shut and locked behind her, she almost wanted to call to Rave. But how did that work exactly?

She clamped down on her nerves. She’d volunteered for this. “Anj, what are you guys doing here?” She glanced around at the little room with its double beds and ugly bedspreads. Esme was lying on the far bed, curled on her side, seemingly asleep, her pinched face almost as pale as the over-bleached pillow case. She looked less like an enchanted princess and more like a corpse; the thought made Piper shiver.

“Why did you leave?” She couldn’t keep the plaintive note out of the question.

And to her surprise, Anjali’s gaze dropped, as if she actually felt bad. “I’m sorry. This wasn’t supposed to include you. But I had to get away when you kept trying to get Ez to leave.” She paced the worn carpet at the foot of the beds. “Nothing’s going according to plan.”

Piper edged around her pacing friend and settled on the corner of the far bed. She touched Esme’s hand. The pale skin above the big diamond ring was icy cold. “What plan? The bachelorette party?”

She tried to keep her voice innocent, but Anj whirled, her flowing gypsy skirt a split second behind.

She stalked closer, eyes narrowing. “How did you find us, anyway?”

So much for innocent. Piper scrambled to come up with an answer that would convince Anjali she didn’t know anything. But maybe she was done being the little sister of their trio.

She met her friend’s suspicious gaze with a hard look of her own and said, “Magic.”

If she’d half hoped Anj would laugh in her mocking way, she was sadly disappointed.

Instead, Anjali sank down onto the corner of her own bed. Her dusky complexion looked gray. “I always knew you were the smart little scientist. But I thought that meant you’d never question… When did you figure it out?”

Uh, about two seconds ago? Piper clenched her fists against the urge to grab Anjali and shake her, demand that she admit this was all an elaborate ruse, a bachelorette party trick.

She countered with a question of her own. “Why are you doing this?”

“Ashcraft.” Anj let the word fall between them like a chunk of lead. “He said he’d let Ez go in exchange for Dorado blood.”

Piper shook her head. Dammit, she’d found her friends, but now she had
more
questions, not fewer. “Why does Lars want the ichor? It’s poisoned.”

Except for Rave’s. Because of her.

“Poisoned?” This time Anjali looked confused. “How do you know?”

Piper twisted her lips. “Science,” she said wryly. “A disorder called petralys is contaminating the ichor, rendering it inert, useless.”

Anj laughed, not a happy sound, more like a gurgle wrenched from her gut. “Good. We’ll get Ez back, but the ash-hole won’t get shit in return.” Her laughter died, as did the momentary spark of vindictiveness in her eyes. “But he’s too powerful already. What if he thinks we spiked the ichor to kill him?”

Piper’s head ached trying to keep up with this mystery she barely understood. “Why does he want the ichor?”

“Why does everyone? Ashcraft is rich and powerful and ruthless as fuck, but he’d be a god among men if he captured a dragon’s essence too.”

With a blink, Piper scooted back, bumping her butt on Esme’s bent knees. Ez let out a low moan, but her eyes remained tight clenched. “I… What?”

Bale had mentioned dragons before blowing out the candle in a fireball. Rave had shielded her and dragged her away, but not before she’d seen the bizarre cavern.

The stalagmites and stalactites had glittered, as if inlaid with gems.

And Rave had refused to answer her when she asked about…

Dragons.

She couldn’t believe it. Bale was a dragon.

And Rave was a dragon’s blood brother.

Which meant Rave was a…dragon.

Luckily for her, Anjali seemed as stunned and uncertain as she felt. “We can’t give Ashcraft the poisoned ichor until he frees Esme. He has alchemically bound her to him, to control her. If he dies while she’s under his spell, she’ll die too.”

Dragons. Spells. Death. It was too much. Piper bit her lip.

Anjali reached across the gap between the beds to take her hand. “I should’ve told you. I didn’t want you involved, didn’t want anyone else getting hurt, but I should’ve known you’d help. You were always the one holding us together.”

Piper stared at her friend. Holding them together? Did they really see her that way? She thought she’d always been the one tagging along.

A shock quivered through her as the sunstone in her ring brightened, gold as a flame. Anjali’s fire opal flared in answer. In Piper’s other hand, Esme’s fingers tightened.