Dragon's Blood (11 page)

* * * *

Scarlett woke to the sound of a speeding car, light burning into her eyelids and grinding pain twisting her middle. She couldn’t remember when she’d last eaten but this wasn’t hunger pain. It felt as if someone was eating her insides.

“What the hell was that?” she asked weakly. “Some sort of Vulcan death grip?”

“A little something I learned from an old boyfriend. He was into martial arts. A little too much into them—and his sparring partner—but he taught me that neat little trick.”

“You need to take me back,” Scarlett moaned. The farther Athena drove, the more Scarlett’s pain intensified. Was this something to do with the mating? Janos hadn’t mentioned the inability to separate.

“No way. What’s wrong with you anyway? You’ve been moaning since we got a mile from that place.” Athena pressed a hand to Scarlett’s forehead, but Scarlett tilted her head away and slumped against the door. She closed her eyes and tried to focus away from the pain slashing through her belly. She knew Janos could talk telepathically to Jonah and he could sense mates. Desperately, she hoped he could read her if she tried hard enough to send

him a message. He’d once said he couldn’t but…

With everything in her, she conveyed that she hadn’t willingly left him, that she needed him, that she loved him. Her hand rubbed over the design on her arm, needing to touch the sign of her connection with him.
Janos…please find me. I love you.
Another agonizing pang tore through her, and she bowed from the seat with a scream.

“Oh my God,” Athena gasped.

“Take me back,” Scarlett begged, her voice a rasp.

“I can’t. Scar, they’re monsters.”

“They’re not. They’re my people. Please. Jonah’s their doctor. He can help me.”

“That jerk’s a doctor?”

“Yes.” Scarlett closed her eyes and gathered all her strength. She gritted her teeth, willing herself not to moan when her insides seemed to twist again. “How far are we from the compound?”

Athena shrugged. “An hour.”

An hour. And Scarlett had no idea how to get back. Or how to reach Janos. Her stomach twisted again, but this time it was with pure fear. Whatever was happening to her, she wasn’t just going to endure and make it out the other end. She had no doubt her cousin had signed her death warrant. Impotent anger flared through her, adding to her fleeting strength.

“If you don’t stop this car and let me out, I’m going throw up on you, then I’m going to beat the crap out of you,” Scarlett growled.

Her cousin swerved to the edge of the road and got out of the car. Scarlett pulled the keys from the ignition. Quickly, she disconnected the ignition key. When Athena opened her door and helped her out, Scarlett pulled back her arm and hurled the key ring as far as she could into the trees beside the road.

“What the hell?”

“I’m not going an inch further with you,” Scarlett grated. Her words sounded feral as pain smothered all reason.

“We’re in the middle of nowhere!”

Scarlett shrugged and leaned against the frame of the car. She swallowed, but her mouth was so dry that her throat scratched as if she’d swallowed sand. With a glare and a few swear words, Athena headed toward the woods to find the keys. As soon as she was far enough away, Scarlett scuttled around the car as fast as she could, got in and locked the door. Athena yelled when she heard the car start, but she was too

far away to do anything but watch as Scarlett u-turned and sped back they way they’d come. Despite the dryness of her throat, her hands were clammy on the steering wheel. Hot and cold raced alternately over her skin. Desperately, she fought the black peppering her vision.

Janos! Janos, please,
she begged over and over. An impact shook the car. Then another. As Scarlett struggled to stay conscious, she didn’t realize what was happening until she saw the man in front of her car. Reflexively, she braked. The car careened sideways. But it was another impact that sent it teetering to the edge of a ravine.

“No!” Scarlett screamed as blue light shot toward her. It streamed across the windows like colored water, then the car fell, tumbling end over end down the treacherous slope. She was thrown from one end of the car to the other, a ragdoll caught in a tempest. She slammed against the passenger door as the car landed on its wheels at the bottom of the gorge. Unable to move, she lay there helpless to do anything but watch another blast of blue coming toward her.

* * * *

Blue flashes of light told Janos where to find Scarlett as he soared over the trees. Her mental pleas to find her had jolted him earlier. He’d never had anyone besides Jonah in his mind. Everything that came to him told that she was in agony. He needed to get to her fast before their children caused her to literally bleed to death. Humans were unable to carry Dragon children, which was one of the reasons they were changed as soon as they became pregnant.

And now, compounding the desperate situation, a Djinni had found her. As another blast lit up the trees, Janos prayed Scarlett was still alive and that he’d be able to defeat the Djinni before the children killed her.

He dipped through the air currents and rushed toward the blasts sizzling toward the sky.
Jonah
,
I’ve found them.

Coming,
Jonah replied. They’d separated a half hour earlier to gain better coverage of the area. Now more than ever, Janos wished his scion was at his side. Horror slammed through him as Scarlett and his enemy came into sight. Lucan’s Mercedes was a twisted pile of metal at the bottom of a ravine. A Djinni hovered above it. His hands glowed deep blue as he prepared to send a barrage at Scarlett. Enraged, Janos surged toward the battlefield. The power of his wings rattled surrounding tree limbs, but the Djinni didn’t seem to notice.

Neither did Scarlett. Covered in blood, she moved as if she had broken bones. Still, she tried to crawl away. Her progress was too slow. The Djinni threw back his head and laughed as balls of energy shot from his hands.

She screamed, her hands covering her face as she cringed with nowhere to go.

“No!” Janos bellowed, landing between the Djinni and Scarlett, his body interfering with the deadly beams of magic shooting toward his mate. The deadly energy balls diverted, but the initial portion of the attack still slammed into her. It threw her backward several feet, and she hit a tree trunk with a sickening thud.

Fire roared from Janos, reducing the laughing Djinni to a fiery pyre. There was no satisfaction in Janos’ victory. A quagmire of emotions gripped him—fear, guilt, anger, concern. As he grappled for control, he spun around to go to Scarlett. Her eyes were closed as she leaned drunkenly against the tree, but ragged breaths assured him she lived. Scales covered her belly where the worst of the attack had hit her.
Good kids,
Janos thought as Scarlett stirred. It was their automatic instinct for survival that had saved her.

Suddenly, fire seemed to tear across his back. He pivoted to find an Elvish warrior, his long hair streaming in the wind while his leaf-green eyes stared at Janos with hate. He raised one deceptively thin arm and slashed downward with surprising power, hacking across Janos’ chest and ripping the scales and flesh wide with his weapon. Shock staggered Janos. Nothing could rend Dragon scales. Nothing…

As blood gushed forth, he stumbled backward toward Scarlett. His foot caught on a root and he tripped, knowing his opponent had used the Elvish ability to manipulate nature in order to get the upper hand. Janos rolled away from the offending plant before the outgrowth could wrap around his ankles.

The Elvish warrior dove onto him and shoved him onto his back. The curved weapon in his hand sliced down Janos’ arm. Janos slashed back with his own claws, tearing through his opponent’s shirt and leaving four long gashes across his belly. The man bellowed and drove the curved white knife into Janos’ shoulder.

“Die, Dragon,” the man rasped. “We finally have a weapon that can pierce this wretched skin of yours. You like our Dragon claw?”

It cut a line beneath Janos’ neck. Flame ignited in his chest, readying for attack.

“Your weapon has a flaw,” Janos gasped.

“I’ll stab through your gullet before you can flame me,” the man threatened.

“Are you so sure?” Janos asked. His arms came up like lightning. The willowy

warrior’s neck snapped before his knife could slam into Janos’ throat. Shoving his attacker’s lifeless body aside, Janos shambled to his feet, feeling weaker than ever before. Dragons didn’t lose blood. They didn’t get slashed. This new weapon could be even more deadly than any other his enemies had devised. He needed to know what it was, but his immediate thoughts focused on Scarlett, not the senseless eons-long war. Her eyes opened, and she weakly stretched an arm to him.

“Stay there,” he said as she struggled to stand, her limbs refusing to hold her. She fell sideways with a heart-wrenching cry of pain.

His knees buckled, and he steeled himself, knowing his strength was what would save them. But his will wasn’t enough to sustain him. He fell to his knees.

Scarlett screamed as a swarthy man in a dark suit appeared between Janos and her. The sound came out as little more than a hiss, but the new arrival took no notice as he advanced on Janos. Scarlett knew what would happen. He’d kill Janos then he’d come after her.

“Well look how the mighty have fallen,” he laughed, his voice a gravelly scrape across Scarlett’s senses. “I’ll bet your armor won’t save you from my powers now.”

Blue-green encircled his arms, his intention clear. Frantically, Scarlett scanned the area for something to use as a weapon. There was no way she’d stand by and let someone attack her mate. Not when she still had breath and could fight. Her eyes lit on a dagger-like object near the body of Janos’ last attacker. Pain streaked up her arms as she crawled for it. She didn’t pause. She bit her lip, muffling the cry rising in her while she fought the weakness that threatened to overcome her.

Snapping blue energy engulfed Janos’ chest when she finally reached the gleaming white knife. His bellows cut at her as deeply as a razor-sharp sword. Fear-stoked adrenaline raced through her. She wouldn’t let him die. Not at the hands of these blood-thirsty fiends, not at the hands of the people who’d destroyed her life and taken away so many of those precious to her. They wouldn’t take another man she loved. Power arced up her arm as she grasped the hilt of her weapon. She forced herself to her feet.

Janos shook violently under the beams of deadly electricity shooting from the man standing over him. Bits of his armor curled open. Half of the under-skin of his face was exposed, the scales flayed away by the assaults. Fury sent Scarlett flying at the Djinni. He turned at the sound of her attack, one beam burning across her thighs, but it wasn’t enough to

stop the momentum of her charge. The knife sank into his chest. His glowing hands shot to Scarlett’s neck, but it was too late. The power surrounding him faded, as did the life in his eyes. He fell to the side and his body slammed to the ground like a felled tree. Bile rose in Scarlett’s throat. She swallowed it back as she turned to Janos. Freed from the electrified attack, he’d collapsed to the ground. His scales had disappeared, his body transforming back to his battered human form. She dropped beside him, her momentary strength gone.

“Janos,” she whispered. The lifeless pallor of his bared skin terrified her. She couldn’t lose him. She loved him. She needed him. They needed each other. The universe had created them for one another. What would happen if he died?

She wouldn’t survive.

Desperately, she crawled over him. He didn’t respond as she shook him. He didn’t so much as moan.

“No,” she whispered. “I won’t let you die. You
cannot
die, Janos. I love you. You listen to me…” Her words ended in a sob. She shook, her tears blinding her. Angrily, she swiped them away, her hand coming away bloody from a gash on her forehead. She stared at her palm. Blood… Blood fed Janos. Vampire lore said it healed vampires. Was that true for Dragons? He’d said vampire lore originated with his people. She rushed to the Djinni as fast as she could crawl and yanked the dagger from his chest. His blood oozed from the round wound, and she had to force away the urge to vomit. She had to be strong. For Janos.

She wiped the blade on the hem of her skirt, unwilling to let the Djinn blood intermingle with her own, then gritted her teeth and sliced across her arm. Frantically, she pressed the gash to Janos’ mouth. As her life drained onto his tongue, she propped herself up on the other arm and looked down at him, hoping to see some color return to his face, hoping to see some sign of movement. Not even his throat moved to swallow, and she prayed her blood was getting to where it needed to be.

The smell of his blood just below her face seemed to seep into her pores, filling her senses and every cell. Each breath drew the scent deeper into her. The sweet fragrance, the anticipation of the coppery taste. Her mouth watered.

Scarlett’s eyes flew open with shock. The craving for him intensified the racking agony in her gut. She could barely breathe for the need to lean in just a few inches and draw on him. To taste him. To feed the need that drew her mouth closer. She fought. This wasn’t her. But she groaned when the blood filled her mouth and

only then did she realized that she’d mindlessly latched onto Janos’ shoulder, taking from him as she gave to him. A calm blanketed her body, and for the first time since she’d woken in the car with Athena, the pain in her belly ceased.

She fell to Janos’ side, completely unable to move. The edges of her vision dimmed until all she saw was a tunnel of gold swirling above her. After everything, all the times she’d been saved, all the times she’d survived, it came to this moment. Her end. She closed her eyes and let oblivion take her, her body wrapped in a muzzy blanket of warm lethargy.

So this was death.

Chapter Eight

Darkness surrounded Scarlett when she woke, alone and not dead at all. She sat up, then shot to her feet, looking around. The dead Djinni and Elvish were a few feet from her, and a blob of charred ooze stained the top of the wrecked car. Total silence surrounded her as if even the wildlife was afraid to make a sound in this place. Janos was gone.