Ezra's Secret

by Jadyn Chase

  He nodded, too stunned to blink. I saw myself through his eyes. I surprised myself with how calm and calculating I could be, but I was done with everything Lynch for one lifetime. I didn’t want to wake up tomorrow morning and wonder when they might come after me again.

  They came after me, and that was their last mistake. They would realize, probably in the last seconds of their miserable lives, that they picked the wrong girl to mess with. I had the Kellys on my side, and together we would put an end to the Lynches’ antics.

  When Ezra didn’t move, I gave his shoulder a gentle push. “Go, Ezra.”

  “How will we know when to attack?” he asked.

  I thought fast. “I’ll give you twenty minutes to get everybody into position. When they’re ready, you come back here and I’ll show myself. When you see me go down on my knees in front of Sam, that will be the signal. Got it? Tell the boys.”

  He nodded again, but he wouldn’t take his eyes off me. He stared at me like he didn’t recognize the person in front of him. I whispered one more time. “Go.”

  He broke away and disappeared into the trees. I didn’t hear any footsteps. That guy knew how to move in the woods.

  What followed must have been the slowest twenty minutes in history. I stayed hidden in the same spot, but the time dragged and I itched to act. My legs cramped and I had to lie down on the ground to stretch them out.

  I lay on my back and gazed up at the sky growing lighter above me. The birds chirped. The minutes crawled. A crash drew my attention back to the compound. The enormous black dragon halted in front of the last wall standing. He hammered it with flame until the fire engulfed it, but it still remained upright.

  It crackled and popped. The flames danced into the sky, but that wall wouldn’t fall. It went up in flames still standing—just like the Kellys. Nothing could defeat them.

  Just then, Sam shifted into his human form. He watched the wall burn. He narrowed his eyes at it for a few minutes. Then he turned his back on it and walked over the trucks where he exchanged a few words with his boys.

  Where was Ezra? Did something go wrong? When would he ever come back?

  Before I could wonder, he materialized out of the forest and crawled to my side. “Everybody’s in position.”

  My heart flipped. This was the moment of truth. Coming up with the idea was easy. Actually standing up and walking out there? My spirit revolted at the thought. I couldn’t face down the Lynches again. No way.

  I stowed my rifle and my AK under my shirt and cast a wary glance toward Sam. He stood with his back to me. None of the other Lynches seemed to give their glorious campaign a second thought. The dragons buzzed around destroying water troughs and garden sheds. They weren’t even thinking the Kellys might come back.

  I braced my legs under me to stand up when Ezra seized my arm. He yanked me back down, and his bristly face came near mine. “Nora, I love you.”

  In the clarity of that moment, I understood everything. The realization of last night burst into my mind with the same perfect comprehension. I loved him. I loved his whole family. I loved Smokey Ridge, and I belonged here. I belonged here more than I ever belonged anywhere.

  I lunged forward and kissed him. “I love you, too.”

  I broke into a delighted grin. I was never happier in my life. I was on my way to defeat this Clan’s enemies—my enemies. This was my war, and by God, I would do everything in my power to win it.

  I stood up and started walking. The Lynches caught sight of my white pajamas long before I got near them. Sam turned around, and his eyes widened when he recognized me.

  I staggered right and left and let my hair fall over my eyes. I whimpered and wheezed like I was on the verge of tears. I stared around the compound in wild confusion. The closer I got to the men, the more clearly I saw my act take effect.

  I sobbed when I looked at the house in ruins. I dragged my bare feet through the dust and held out my hand to some invisible friend.

  Sam cracked an evil grin and jerked his chin at his friends. They got off their trucks and advanced on me chuckling with satisfaction. The other dragons came over. They landed near me and shifted into men.

  I observed my plan unfold exactly the way I anticipated. These morons didn’t suspect a thing. They gathered around me strutting and weaving their heads from side to side.

  “Well, lookee what we got here, boys,” Sam drawled. “What did I tell ya? The Kellys must have been hiding her all this time.”

  “You’re the man, Sam,” one of them chortled.

  I gawked around the circle and held out my hand in a beseeching way. I got a sick thrill from milking this moment for all it was worth. The more surprised they would be when the Kellys attacked, the more I would enjoy my revenge. “Please….” I whimpered. “Please help me.”

  “Oh, we’re gonna help you, little lady,” Sam snarled. “We’re gonna help you the way you need it. Don’t you worry about that.”

  The others burst into nauseating laughter. They elbowed each other and slapped their thighs. My blood raced in my veins. I had to time this just right.

  Sam took a threatening step toward me. One of the men called from behind me, “Should we do her here or take her back with us?”

  Sam eyed me up and down. He took in my baggy pajamas, but he couldn’t have seen the guns hidden under my shirt. “I don’t see any reason we shouldn’t have some fun with her first. What do you say, little lady? Would you like to have some fun? You look like you need it.”

  The others bust their sides laughing. That’s right, dimwits. Get your jollies now while you have a chance. You won’t be laughing much longer.

  Sam stalked in a circle around me. I kept searching the faces around me with a pathetic mixture of terror and helpless need. That was my ace in the hole. As long as they thought they had all the power, I could keep their attention on me.

  Sam appeared in front of me again. His beady eyes locked on mine. I experienced a brief flash of the petrified horror I felt in the compound right before I broke free. Could I face this demon down one more time?

  He put out his hand, and the dominoes started to topple. I couldn’t stop them. I didn’t even try. He grabbed the back of my head in a vise-like grip. I let out an involuntary scream and collapsed onto my knees, “Please!”

  The next minute, the world caved in. A volcanic inferno erupted out of the trees. It caught three of the guys in their backs. They barely had time to spin around before they pulverized in crackling fire.

  In seconds, two dozen dragons pounded to the ground in a wide circle around the Lynches. A huge green dragon batted two men aside with a lash of his dreadful tail.

  The Lyches shifted en masse. In the blink of an eye, a ferocious dragon battle broke out all over the yard. The Lynches shot upward and transformed so fast I couldn’t follow them all.

  Sam spun away from me. His hand came free from my neck and he started to stretch, higher and higher toward the clear firmament overhead. My soul broke free from the Earthbound tethers holding me back. I came here to fight, and that’s what I would do.

  I pawed two pistols out of my waistband and unloaded on him. I crushed the guns until my hands ached. I emptied both clips in a matter of seconds. The first bullets hit his shoulder. He raised his arm to protect himself, but he’d already changed too far to feel the effects.

  His skin turned mottled black before the shadowy scales covered him over, and the bullets ricocheted wide. He dropped onto all fours and rounded on me with his evil head lowered nearly to the ground. He eyed me with his gleaming slit-eyes and stomped toward me.

  Dragons fought dragons all over the yard. One of the Lynches took wing to attack a red dragon from above. It was Liam. He reared back and took wing to meet his enemy in the air.

  No matter which way I turned, more dragons appeared out of thin air. Where did they all come from? They couldn’t all be Kellys.

  I didn’t take the time to watch the scene. Sam inched closer all the time. His sulfury br
eath stung my nostrils and a hot wind puffed = my cheeks. I had to act fast. I ejected my clips and grabbed two more from the pocket of my pajama top. My fingers trembled slotting them into the magazines. I brought them up and came face to face with Sam.

  I locked my jaws in murderous fury. No more running. No more falling into some guy’s arms and praying for rescue. This fight came down to me versus him, and if anybody was going to run for the hills, it would be him.

  I narrowed my eyes at him and took careful aim. That’s right. Just a little closer. You know you want it. His head darted forward. His nostrils flared inhaling air to blow me away. I sighted down my gun barrel and squeezed the trigger.

  10

  Ezra

  I landed in the yard amid dragons roaring and attacking each other on all sides. I scanned the grounds and spotted that black menace crouched in one spot. He curled himself into a tight ball with his head close the ground. What was he doing? He didn’t even try to join the fight.

  I hazarded a step toward him, but I took my time. Even then, I hesitated to confront Sam Lynch. That guy was deadlier than any dragon I ever encountered. I didn’t want to shoot my fire on him. That would only make him mad, and I already knew I couldn’t take him in an open fight. He was way stronger than I would ever be. He was stronger than any Kelly, even if he wasn’t the sharpest tack in the box.

  I had to sidestep my brothers devastating the rest of the Lynches to ease around him. I got near his flank when I saw a speck of white down on the ground in front of him. His head rested within inches of her, and she aimed two semiautomatic handguns at his face.

  Never in a million years would I ever have expected to live to see that. Nora didn’t flinch. She braced her core like an expert and sighted down her guns to take careful aim.

  My stomach flipped. I couldn’t stand by and watch him destroy her. She didn’t know him well enough to realize how useless those guns would be against a full-grown dragon. I lunged to protect her, but I didn’t move fast enough. Both guns went off at the same time.

  Sam arched back with a blood-curdling scream. Black blood poured from one destroyed eye socket. I could hardly believe what I was seeing, but the spectacle startled me out of my cautious reserve. If she could pull off something like that, I could dive in boots and all to help her. That was the least I could do.

  I flung out my wings and dove at him with all four feet flexed. I caught him in my claws and flipped him onto his back. In a heartbeat, I pounced on him to rip him a new backside.

  I darted my head at him and pounded his injured face. I slapped my tail against his massive body until he roared in rage. I let rip my fire on him with all I had. I pulled out every weapon in my arsenal to lay him to waste.

  For a second, I thought I had a chance. I should have known better. His wings drooped flat on either side. He started to sag back into the dirt when, out of nowhere, he blasted up at me ten times stronger.

  He sent me flying with a powerful stroke of both wings. I hurtled away from the battle and landed hard some thirty feet behind Nora. I launched up as fast as I could, but Sam got to his feet first. He swung onto all fours, and his great neck coiled around to level his wicked head at her.

  His one good eye glowed blood red. A tattered hole gaped in his skull where the other eye used to be. She maimed him for life. He would never see out of that eye again.

  Blinding ferocity erupted out of my being. No one was going to threaten Nora—not ever again, not as long as I was around to stop it. I crouched to spring. Sam whipped back his neck to take a swipe at her, and I leaped at him going a mile a minute.

  I slammed into his head, but he caught me on the wing and pitched me aside. I knew all along it would come to this, but at least I could give Nora a chance to get away before he destroyed her, too.

  I smashed into a tree trunk and collapsed onto the ground. My head spun for a second. Then Sam landed on top of me with all his weight. He brought his tail snaking around and pummeled my head into the trunk harder than ever. He picked me up by the ankle with his teeth. The world tilted sideways when he flipped me around and pounded my body to the ground with a bone-crushing blow.

  I blinked up at the greenery against the blue sky, and I sensed the dragon receding into me. I was a man again, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. How did this happen? I lay immobile. Gravity caught me in an undertow I couldn’t break.

  Sam Lynch towered above me, but for some inexplicable reason, he looked away just when he got me helpless. He turned his back on me. Then I caught sight of Nora and remembered.

  The ground trembled with his footsteps, but I couldn’t move. I watched the whole scene unfold in crystal clarity, but my body wouldn’t obey me no matter how many times I told myself to get up.

  He rounded on her. She still held her guns in front of her with her elbows locked. Her face convulsed with spasms, but she never broke his gaze. Her body quaked under her flimsy pajamas, but she never backed down. God, I loved her so much! I couldn’t lie here and watch her die.

  Sam advanced on her with deliberate slowness. Now nothing would stop him from killing her. She wouldn’t be able to shoot out his other eye. He would protect himself from that.

  He arched his neck back to destroy her. She didn’t waver. His head streaked forward and his mouth gaped. Only another dragon could tell the exact moment when the flames erupted out of his throat. It roiled behind his tongue to spurt into the air when she opened fire.

  The bullets shot straight into his mouth. They punched through the thin veneer of orange, and Sam sailed back shrieking bloody murder. He stood up tall on his hind legs and thrashed his head from side to side. He gyrated back and forth in agony. He shook his head with all his might, but it did no good.

  I stared up at the fearsome creature, too stunned to blink. She did it. Holy shit, she did it! Just when I thought she couldn’t pull another rabbit out of her hat, she went and did it.

  She squinted one eye and took aim. She popped off two more shots, one from each gun. That’s when I realized. She must have had a lot of shooting practice to make a shot like that. She hit him in mid-air and destroyed his other eye.

  He screamed louder than ever. He twisted and coiled and beat the air, but to no avail. The stinking bastard couldn’t see to attack anything. He launched off the ground and immediately collapsed back. He tried to land on his hind feet, missed his balance, and pitched over backward.

  The great black beast rolled over onto his spine. His neck slapped down, and his head smashed into a tall pine at the edge of the yard. The blow knocked him unconscious, and the dragon deflated to nothing. He shrank. His tail and neck slithered into his body, and a red-headed man crumpled onto the grass.

  Nora pitched her guns onto the ground. From somewhere under her shirt, she pulled the AK47. She concentrated on adjusting the clip and cocking a round into the chamber. She looked up to see Sam pawing the ground in helpless misery.

  The gravity holding me down released. The lifeblood flowed into my limbs and I could move again. I dragged myself up.

  Sam got onto his hands and knees at the same time. He patted the grass in a sad attempt to find his way around. He discovered the tree against which he’d fallen, and he groped his way to his feet.

  His head snapped around when he heard Nora’s gun click. He froze. Then he inched around one careful step at a time. “Is that you, girlie? Are you there?”

  She leveled her gun at the blind man. She never relaxed for an instant. “I’m right here, Sam.”

  He faced her. His two gaping eye sockets stared into space at nothing. “You wouldn’t shoot me, would you?” he asked. “You wouldn’t shoot an unarmed man, would you?”

  “You did,” she replied. “You killed Matt when he was unarmed. You killed all those unarmed campers, and you killed Ethan and Michelle. You would kill all the Kellys and me too, if you had the chance.”

  He cocked his head to listen, and I detected the faintest trace of a smile playing around his lips. My guts
churned in knots. I knew him too well to fall for this ‘you wouldn’t shoot an unarmed man’ ploy.

  I glanced at Nora to see if she was buying it, but her face gave nothing away. She trained her weapon on him.

  “We can work this out, girlie,” he purred. “Let’s talk this over. We can come to an understanding about it.”

  “I’m not talking to you about anything, Sam,” she returned.

  He put out a hand to her. “Just take it easy, little lady….”

  He never finished his sentence. A flash of black whispered across his face. I barely had time to call out, “Nora, look out!” before he launched at her.

  He rocketed off the ground, and she opened up on him. She spat a hundred bullets into his face before he fully shifted. The slugs pocked into his skull, and his head exploded. The force flung his body back against the tree. His arms and legs splayed to the points of the compass, and his headless body slumped in a bloody heap to move no more.

  The shooting stopped. Nora glared down at the lifeless form. Her jaw tensed. All at once, she tossed the gun away. Her arms flopped to her sides, and she shuddered inside herself.

  Little by little, she looked up and saw me standing there. I couldn’t keep away from her a second longer. I rushed at her and met her coming back the other way. I caught her in my arms and lifted her off the ground. I crushed her into me, but my heart couldn’t stand the strain. I peppered her face with kisses and hugged her head into me. I could never let her go—not ever.