Dragon's Fire (11 page)

His body trembling beneath me as he fought the change.

The burn and stretch as he'd entered me for the first time.

The sound of my name on his lips.

His confession that he'd shifted to protect me.

His hunger matching my own.

I was so fucked.

Chapter Nine

Judah woke me as we neared Baton Rouge. I had no idea when I'd actually fallen asleep, but the fact that I had bothered me more than it should have. I had been alone, in an enclosed space, with not just a Were but a young Were who just so happened to shift into a dragon. Every hunter instinct in me should have been screaming at me to stay awake, not letting my guard down enough to rest. I needed to get Judah his cure and get away from him. I tried to tell myself that the idea didn't cause me pain.

“Have you ever been to, ah, one of these types of clubs before?” Judah asked as we pulled into the Tranquility parking lot.

I turned in my seat and raised an eyebrow.

He flushed. “It's just with the belt and...”

I rolled my eyes and climbed out of the car. “At least you won't have any problems convincing people that you're my Sub.”

“Your what?” Judah locked the car doors.

“I don't know how many Paranormal Beings are in there. If I go in and start announcing that I'm a hunter, I'm as likely to get attacked as to get answers. So, to get inside, we're going to have to pretend that we belong, and since I'm the one taking the lead, I have to be the Dom.” I grinned at him, trying not to let it show on my face just how much I liked the idea of him being my Submissive. I wasn't into the whole whips and clamps thing, but I never said no to a little bondage, so long as I was the one doing the binding.

“Oh,” Judah swallowed hard.

Was it my imagination or did the idea appeal to him as well? I shook my head to clear it. This was business. Everything with Judah was business and pleasure, not emotion.

Right?

“Just stay behind me.” My tone was sharp, but I didn't apologize for it. I kept my eyes straight ahead and started for the door. I sensed more than heard Judah behind me. As I approached the very large man in front of the door, he gave me an appreciative once over, glanced over my shoulder at Judah and nodded.

“Play safe,” he rumbled as we passed him and entered the club.

The pulsing lights and pounding music were a lot to take in at first and I stepped off to one side to give my eyes and ears a chance to adjust. I sensed them before I saw them. Succubi and incubi sent out very distinct waves of energy. Most people think they're just being attracted to someone or aroused by their surroundings, but it's actually the creatures preparing their prey.

I draw the blade from my boot even as they came towards us. It was the first time I'd seen a succubus and an incubus work in tandem. It made sense, I supposed, since they weren't competing for the same, for lack of a better word, food. I reached behind me with my free hand and felt Judah's fingers curl around mine. I pulled him close to my back and spoke at a normal volume, knowing the creatures could hear me. I kept it simple. “Leave.”

The succubus laughed, a melodious sound that carried through the noise of the crowd. Heads turned, but the pair never took their eyes off of me. Of all the Paranormal Beings, these were the ones who proved that you couldn't judge danger by appearance. Both succubi and incubi seemed to be breathtakingly beautiful...until the pheromones they secreted wore off and they were revealed to be just as regular-looking as the next person. Unfortunately, the only time either one was ever seen sans pheromones was when they were dead and that pretty much limited it to hunters who had seen their true faces.

“Such a pretty hunter,” the incubus gave me a slow smile that I assumed was supposed to be seductive.

“Her boy looks just as delicious,” the succubus licked her ruby-red lips.

Judah made a sound similar to a growl. Their swagger stuttered ever so slightly and I knew they'd identified what Judah was.

“Tsk, tsk. She's got a pet Were,” the incubus craned his head to get a better look at Judah. “However did you tame him?”

“Maybe he's not so tame,” the succubus added with a leer.

It wasn't until I heard a sound behind me that chilled my blood that I realized these two were just a distraction. I spun around and saw Judah clutching his side, blood seeping from between his fingers.

Everything fragmented around me into jerky pieces as I reacted.

My knife sliced cleanly through the subjugate's throat, spraying the crowd with blood.

I spun, catching the charging incubus in the temple.

The succubus went down with a jagged piece of shot glass in her eye.

Then I was in the car with Judah in the front seat. I was on the road before I realized that I was talking, repeating the same three things over and over again.

“Just hold on, Judah. You're going to be okay. Stay with me.”

He didn't answer and my stomach clenched. A quick glance to my right showed that his eyes were closed and panic tore through me. The tires screeched on the road as I pulled over.

His shirt tore easily and I dropped it to the floor. The gash on Judah's side was jagged, most likely caused by the broken glass of a bottle. Even as I watched, the bleeding slowed and the edges of the wound began to pull together. I breathed a sigh of relief. Weres healed much more quickly than humans, but I hadn't been sure he'd be the same way. Most likely, Judah had passed out because he wasn't used to his body's new response to trauma. As it was, I couldn't do anything more here. I needed more room to work.

I was almost positive that Judah was going to be okay, but as I drove to the closest motel, I couldn't stop thinking about what would happen if I was wrong, what it would be like to lose Judah. The memory of what I'd felt when I lost my family rushed forward and I sucked in a breath. I didn't know if I could handle anything even close to that again.

By the time I got Judah onto the bed in the motel room, the wound had nearly closed and I was faced with a new problem. Because I couldn't see inside, I didn't know if anything major had been damaged, if pieces of glass had been left inside. Then there was the possibility of the weapon being poisoned, While not common, there were poisons that could kill a Were.

I began to pace, all of the what-ifs and worse case scenarios playing on a loop in my frenzied mind. A new one added itself and I crossed to the window, suddenly sure that we'd been compromised. I couldn't be tracked, but the magick imbued in the words tattooed around my waist didn't extend to Judah.

Praesidium peto, benedictionem et potentiam adversus tenebris.

“I claim protection, blessing and power in the fight against the darkness.” I whispered the words, first in English, then in Latin, then English again, a ward against the night.

“Are you praying?”

I spun around, relief rushing through me. I ignored Judah's question and practically ran to the bed. All of my quandaries about how I felt took a backseat in that moment. I leaned over him and, surprising both of us, kissed him hard on the mouth.

“Wow,” he said when I sat up. “Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?”

“For not dying.”

“What happened?” Judah looked pleased by my statement.

I quickly sketched the basics of the attack, pausing only to explain that a subjugate was the human servant of a vampire, one who wanted to be turned. Unfortunately, because succubi and incubi were so similar to vampires in nature, subjugate – particularly a discarded one – could be 'swayed' to assist them as well.

“So all three are dead?”

I shook my head. “Because I didn't take the heart or head, the succubus and incubus will most likely have healed themselves. The subjugate will only survive if their vampire master got to them fast enough and cared enough to turn them.”

“Why didn't you finish them off?” Judah asked.

“You were hurt.” It seemed pretty obvious to me.

“But you know that Weres heal fast right?” He motioned to his side where a jagged pink scar marred his tanned skin. It slowly faded to white as we watched.

“I didn't know what the subjugate had used.” I didn't understand his line of questioning. Did he think I should've let him die? “If it had been silver and gotten in your bloodstream, you would've died. Or there could've been poison. And I didn't know how your body would react to the trauma. I've never seen how a cursed Were healed as opposed to a natural-born one. I don't know if there's a difference.” I was talking faster now, my body tensing as I listed all of the way he could've died.

“Hey, hey, it's okay,” Judah was there suddenly, wrapping his arms around me. “I'm okay.”

I took a shuddering breath and willed myself to calm. Only when I was sure that I wasn't going to break did I tilt my head and looked up at Judah. A new desire, something I'd never felt before, rose up inside me.

“Will you hold me?”

Judah nodded, his eyes saying that he knew what this cost me to ask. We settled on the bed together, my back against his chest, his arms around me. The steady thump of his heart gradually relaxed me.

After a while, I broke the silence. “I’m sure you did your homework and know that my family was killed a couple of years ago. There wasn't a lot in the report because I didn't give them a lot. I was the one who found them.” His arms tightened around me. “I'd volunteered to go on a supply run. It's the only reason I wasn't there. Even if it hadn't been my family, it would have been the worst thing I'd ever seen. I still have nightmares. Sometimes, when I close my eyes, I can still see the blood, the pieces of their bodies...”

I let my voice trail off as I fought for control. Judah waited without saying a word. “My world shattered that day. Hunting has been the only thing in my life since then, killing as many of these sons of bitches as I can, and always hoping that one day, I'll find the one who murdered my family.” I took a deep breath. I needed him to understand. “I never let anyone close to me. And then, when I saw you bleeding, all of that came rushing back. I thought you were going to die too.”

“I'm not going anywhere.” His voice was low in my ear.

I turned my head and he brushed his lips against mine. It was a chaste kiss, not one given to arouse, but one given to comfort. It was exactly what I needed.

As I settled back into his arms, Judah asked, “do you have any clue as to who did it?”

It was time to come completely clean. “There was a symbol at the scene.” I couldn't bring myself to tell him how it had been 'written.' It still hurt too much. “It was the same one on the tree at Georgetown.”