Flashfire (23 page)

Her heart was pounding as she started the engine. She gave it too much gas and it roared. She found the button for the garage door opener, and at her touch, the door slid upward, revealing an inky square of desert night.

Lorenzo shouted at her.

Cassie turned up the music to block the sound and fastened her seat belt. She’d driven a flashy car like this once, when pursuing a shot of a celebrity who raced cars. He’d offered her the photo she wanted if she won a race against him on a closed track. She hadn’t won, but she’d done well enough that he’d posed for the shot.

Cassie surveyed the dash and the gearbox, pushed in the clutch, and put the car in reverse. The gearbox was as smooth as butter, the gear engaging with a sweet snick.

Piece of cake.

And just the thing for escaping dragons.

She took off the emergency brake just as Lorenzo came back into the garage. She gave him a fingertip wave more characteristic of Stacy, and hit the gas. The car rocketed backward. She turned and braked to a smoking halt.

She really liked how the tires squealed.

As a bonus, the sound disguised Lorenzo’s roar of rage. He erupted from the garage, with something that looked suspiciously like another set of keys in his hand.

Cassie didn’t wait to chat.

She was racing down the driveway when she realized the gates were still closed. There wasn’t another control button, at least not one she could see. She had an instant to panic; then a sensor on the gate evidently recognized the car.

The gates began to swing open.

Cassie smiled and accelerated.

Her eyes widened when the gates changed direction and started to close again. Lorenzo must have an override at the house.

She was not going to get trapped in this compound.

She knew he wouldn’t hurt her—she just didn’t want to argue anymore.

No more false promises.

No more illusions.

Reality started now.

Cassie gauged the distance to the gate opening, geared down for a burst of speed, and put the gas pedal to the floor. The car lunged forward, like a cheetah on the hunt.

It slipped through the closing gates with the barest sliver of space.

In fact, one gate caught the rear right fender. She heard the sound of metal scraping against metal, and winced at the grinding sound. The car’s trajectory twisted slightly, but Cassie didn’t slow down.

So now something precious to him was damaged. She could just imagine how Lorenzo was roaring now.

But Cassie had gotten away. She turned onto the highway, fishtailing a bit on the last of the gravel, and tried to figure out exactly where she was going to go.

A bit too late, she looked skyward for Balthasar. There was no sign of him. Maybe her luck was changing for the better.

Either way, Cassie needed a plan before Saturday.

Sooner would be better.

Chapter 12

L
orenzo was right behind Cassie. He took the bold chance of shifting shape as he leapt out of the garage, unconcerned with who saw his change. It was reckless and uncharacteristic.

Lorenzo had no time for artifice.

He had to ensure Cassie’s safety.

Even if he would have liked to have given her a good shake. How could one woman turn him so inside out and upside down? How could he be simultaneously infuriated with her and worried about her? How was it that he couldn’t get enough of her?

He ground his teeth as he flew low and fast after her, not wanting to risk having her out of his sight. He raced after the taillights of his car, knowing what the firestorm and Cassie were conspiring to make him do.

And with every beat of his wings, Lorenzo wondered: Could the prophecy be right?

How could a ditty scrawled on a piece of parchment have any relevance to real life?

There were too many questions, too many variables, too much information missing for Lorenzo to make a good choice. And no time. He had no time.

What was he going to do?

Even as Lorenzo flew, he knew the answer. He wasn’t at all persuaded that he and Cassie could have a future together, but he wanted her to have one. He’d seen the depth of her hurt and she’d told him the reason for her distrust of men. He wanted to prove to her that he was different.

Fortunately, he had an idea how to do it.

But he’d need help. Even as he trailed behind Cassie, Lorenzo understood why Erik was in town.

Lorenzo was going to have to ask the leader of the
Pyr
for assistance. And Erik, with his gift of foresight, had known it.

Lorenzo was pretty sure the words would stick in his throat.

But it was clear that his established tendencies weren’t going to ensure Cassie’s safety. If she wouldn’t trust him and join him in his plan, then he couldn’t defend her and his son. And no matter what she thought of him, he wasn’t prepared to lose her.

His sense that he had become a kind of focus for
Slayers
and
Pyr
alike wasn’t paranoia, after all. They were attracted to him for some reason, and intent upon using him for something. And the only way to foil whatever their scheme might be was to surprise them. A little sleight of hand was required.

Lorenzo could only hope that Erik wouldn’t turn him down.

Cassie saw the sign for the national park on her way back to Vegas. It gave her an idea.

After all, she didn’t really want to go back to the hotel. Not with Balthasar hunting her. It would be bad enough if he took her down, but she wasn’t going to lead him straight to Stacy, too.

She didn’t want to go back to Lorenzo’s place.

But the state park was where Lorenzo’s spectacle was supposed to be held. She turned into the park on impulse, slowing down only slightly on the smaller road. There was no one at the gates to the park, but she could see spotlights far ahead and off to one side.

She’d guess that was where Lorenzo’s preparations were being made. She drove directly toward the bright lights, not really surprised to find the site busy despite the hour.

And defended. There was security staff everywhere, probably ensuring that no one got into the site before the big day. She might have turned back, but the first guard obviously recognized the car.

He gave her a salute and opened the gate, well in advance of her arrival. Cassie realized the windows of the Ferrari were tinted quite dark.

And they must be used to Lorenzo driving fast to open the gate so early.

Cassie went with the assumption and roared through the gate, as if she’d expected nothing else. She drove on as if she knew where she was going. There was a big pit in the middle of the site, with lots of bleachers for spectators. Enormous light standards had been constructed, and three massive screens stood to display video for the crowd. There was a big silver crane poised to lift something into that hole.

The car.

Cassie shuddered at the thought. The men glanced toward the car, then continued their rounds, as if accustomed to Lorenzo making unannounced visits.

As long as she stayed in the car, no one would realize he wasn’t the driver.

Cassie wondered whether the cloak of Lorenzo’s protectiveness extended farther than that. Could Balthasar tell who was in the car? Maybe not. She parked the car at one end of the space, choosing a shadowed zone that didn’t seem very busy. She killed the engine, watching the men work and patrol the perimeter.

Cassie was as safe here as anywhere.

For whatever that was worth.

At least she wasn’t alone. If Balthasar attacked, surely Lorenzo’s employees would call the cops. She didn’t doubt that Balthasar could gobble her up before anyone could arrive to intervene, but this was probably as good as it got.

And Cassie was exhausted. Now that the adrenaline had abandoned her, she was completely wiped. She might see a plan for her future more clearly in the morning. She supposed she should start taking better care of herself, to ensure the health of her unexpected arrival. Vitamins. Better insurance. She could repaint one of the bedrooms in her house, turn it into a nursery.

Give her neighbors something to talk about.

Cassie locked the doors and armed the alarm. She reclined the seat slightly and saw that Lorenzo’s leather jacket was on the passenger seat. She tugged it over herself like a blanket and stared at the stars through the sunroof. She could smell his scent on the jacket and, as much as she would have liked otherwise, it reassured her.

As if he had her back.

Even though she knew he didn’t.

A baby.

On her own.

Crap. That wasn’t the way she’d thought her story would shape up. That was even worse than her mom’s story. She didn’t entirely blame Lorenzo—she’d been a pretty active participant in the process, herself. But she was disappointed in him now.

She could have loved him, if the illusion had been the reality.

But it wasn’t.

She’d believed too easily.

Maybe she wasn’t that different from Stacy after all.

Cassie leaned her head back against the headrest and let herself cry, just a little, for what would never be.

Lorenzo was surprised when Cassie turned into the park, even more surprised when she headed for the site of his spectacle. He told himself that he shouldn’t be surprised by Cassie anymore, but the truth was he suspected that would never change.

He was surprised by how much he wanted to make a permanent connection with her.

Why would she choose to visit this location? A cautious bit of him wondered if she was after some shots to sell, but that made no sense. She’d chosen not to photograph him and Balthasar. Cassie deserved more of his trust than that.

Then why here?

Lorenzo recalled suddenly the presence of JP. Why was that
Slayer
in town? And what had he wanted with Cassie? Lorenzo had been sloppy with regards to JP, and carelessness always irritated him. It didn’t matter that he’d been distracted by Cassie’s presence. Was that what the firestorm did? Ensure that
Pyr
screwed up? Why hadn’t he found out more? Was JP manipulating her, maybe into leading him into a trap?

Lorenzo felt his temper flare and he scanned the site, seeking some trace of
Slayer
presence.

Meanwhile, Cassie parked the car and killed the engine. Lorenzo scanned the grounds, but no one approached the vehicle. The shadows were empty and still. He patrolled the area with vigilance, but found nothing out of order. He kept to the darkness so that the security staff wouldn’t notice him and clung to the shadows, hoping Cassie wouldn’t see him either. He avoided the bright security lights, certain he was missing some key detail.

And he heard Cassie begin to weep.

It shattered something deep within him.

He had made her cry.

He felt like vermin.

Lorenzo landed on a cliff above and behind Cassie, hiding himself in the rock formations ground out of the earth ages ago. He shifted back to human form and stood in the darkness, focused on his mate. He had his eyes closed and his fists clenched as he listened.

Her tears halted sooner than he expected.

He felt her breathing and her pulse slow.

And he knew the very moment when she fell asleep.

There were worse places she could have taken refuge than in his car. Lorenzo scanned the cliffs silhouetted against the night sky, once again seeking any sign of
Pyr
or
Slayers
. He found none.

So far.

He climbed to the top of the outcropping and laid on his belly on the rock. He had a perfect view of the entire site for his spectacle, as well as the car parked beneath him. He could see to the horizon in front of him and to either side.

As much as he would have preferred to remain in human form, he knew he had to breathe dragonsmoke to defend Cassie, and he could do that fastest in dragon form.

Once again, he was shifting for the sake of the firestorm. The security staff changed shifts and he took advantage of their distraction to shift shape.

The glimmer of pale blue light might draw their attention otherwise.

Then Lorenzo stretched out again, vigilant. He slowed his own breathing, let his eyes narrow, then began to breathe a web of dragonsmoke. He wove it around his car, around Cassie and his unborn son, around everything he had belatedly realized was important to him.

Tomorrow, he and Erik would create a plan.

Tonight, he had to ensure that there was a tomorrow.

For both of them.

When his dragonsmoke was thick and deep and tightly interwoven, Lorenzo took a deep breath and dismissed his pride. He closed his eyes, winced, then sent a message in old-speak to Erik.

“I need your help.”

Short and sweet. Lorenzo wasn’t going to beg.

Not yet anyway.

It was four in the morning when JP awakened in Stacy’s hotel room, feeling both satisfied and proud. He didn’t much mind humans, especially the women, especially after one had sated him as well as this one.

Stacy had been everything he’d hoped she would be.

He was certain that he had surpassed her expectations. That powder Chen had given him had been ferocious stuff, all right. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about sex since he’d gotten the first whiff of it in Hawai’i, and when he’d loosed it at Cassie and Lorenzo, his mind had lodged completely in the gutter. He knew he wouldn’t be able to do anything until he had Stacy a good six or seven times.

And Chen’s plan could wait a day.

The old
Slayer
had probably anticipated that JP would be distracted by the powder and factored its effects into his plans.

JP was feeling too good to worry about it.

He had watched Stacy sleep and thought about taking her an eighth time. The powder seemed to shimmer in his blood, as enticing and distracting as the firestorm he’d never had. He couldn’t get enough.

He wanted more.

Stacy was snoring slightly when JP finally summoned the will to deny his desire and leave. He had to think about Chen’s scheme. He had to claim Lorenzo before his spectacle. There was no point in lingering here—it was clear that Cassie wasn’t going to return to the room before morning.

She was probably with Lorenzo, stamping out the last sparks of the firestorm.

JP was in too good of a mood to resent anyone getting any of what he’d had. There was lots of time to put the final step of his plan into action. JP couldn’t deny the doomed
Pyr
one last night of great sex.

Chen would never know the difference.

There was a woman in the elevator when its doors opened, an Asian woman in high heels and a tight dress. JP assumed she was a hooker, having finished with her client of the hour. She stood in the back corner and avoided his gaze, as if slightly nervous.

Maybe this hotel routinely tossed hookers out.

He turned his back on the woman, not wanting to start a conversation, and hit the button for the lobby. The doors closed and the elevator began its smooth descent.

He had a moment to catch a whiff of the woman’s perfume and realize it was quite arousing before she moved. She leapt forward and slammed her hand against the stop button.

The elevator lurched to a halt.

“What the hell are you doing?” JP demanded. She turned on him with a snarl, the irises of her eyes changing to vertical slits.

His mind stalled. She was
Pyr
? She was
Slayer
? Why hadn’t he been able to smell her nature? And how could a woman even be a dragon shifter? This was no Wyvern, the only female dragon shifter in the
Pyr
.

She jumped him when he gaped, hauling a piece of metal out of her sparkly purse. She slammed him into the wall of the elevator with astonishing strength, bashing his head against the hard wall. JP went down, dizzy from the impact, and her talons locked around his neck.

How could such a tiny woman be so strong?

Even if she was a dragon shifter.

She turned and bared her teeth, breathing a stream of fire at the piece of metal she held. JP couldn’t make sense of what he was seeing. Her fingers became talons, her mouth was a dragon mouth. She was hovering between forms, flickering between dragon and woman.

Old man.

Young man.

Then he guessed the truth. His attacker was Chen.

And JP was in deep trouble.

“
Where is the offering I sent you to collect?
” Chen hissed in old-speak, his words searing JP’s brain.

“
Tomorrow,
” JP replied, struggling in desperation. “
I’ll spring the trap tomorrow.
”

“
Wrong answer,
” Chen said. “
I want him
now.”

“
But, but . . .”
JP tried to save himself, even knowing it was too late. He lunged to his feet, but Chen decked him. He fell against the back corner, the
Slayer
landing on top of him with such force that the breath was driven out of his lungs. Chen ripped JP’s collar downward, either with a long red nail or a golden talon, JP couldn’t be sure.