Caden's Secret

by Jadyn Chase

  Caden stiffened to hold himself in check. He locked his jaw, and when he spoke again, he spat the words through gritted teeth. “You want to take her? You’ll be starting another war if you do. When are you Lynches gonna wake up and smell the coffee? You probably thought you could snatch her without opening that can of worms, but you were too stupid to understand that even that would be an act of war. Even now, when you’re standing on our land holding me at gunpoint, you’re too stupid to understand you declared war on the Kellys the very first time you laid one of those traps west of Midget Creek.”

  The three Lynches exchanged a hasty glance. None of them bothered to look at Barret, who glared at Caden and at me. Caden commanded the other three men’s attention, but Barret never lost sight of his true objective. He didn’t come here to argue with any Kelly. He came here to pay me back for busting him.

  I thanked the stars I was standing behind Caden instead of facing him right now. I wouldn’t want to be the one who trespassed on the Kellys’ territory and sparked a Clan war across the Appalachians.

  At that moment, I understood the depth of resentment and hatred between these two Clans. They must have been at war for generations with the sons carrying on the vendettas of the fathers. Merciful Jesus, how long had this been going on? How bad could it really get before someone had to man up and forgive?

  Pretty bad, by the sound of things. Even so, anybody could see these guys didn’t want to get in a fight with Caden—at least, the other three didn’t. Barret wanted exactly that. He wanted to taste blood, even if it turned out to be his own. He didn’t give a damn for the consequences to his Clan or anybody else.

  Caden flared out his chest. He rotated from one man to the next. “Well? Which of you is going to be the first to pull the trigger? See?” He spread his arms and splayed his fingers for all to see. “I’m unarmed. Is that the way you’re going to start this thing—by shooting an unarmed man in cold blood? I hate to think what my Pop will say when he finds out.”

  Rolf fidgeted and shrugged to no one in particular. The longer this went on, the more time passed between the brief moments when he would actually look at us. He kept his gaze on the ground and he continually tightened and adjusted his grip on his weapon.

  “Look, man,” he stammered, “just give us the girl and we’ll be out of your hair. That’s all we want.”

  “Go on and take her then,” Caden fired back. “You want her? Take her and see what happens.”

  No one moved. My hand itched for my weapon, but I couldn’t let myself grab it. That would spoil Caden’s position. His strength lay in facing them down empty-handed and forcing them to make the first move if they really wanted to go through with this.

  Rolf wriggled in obvious discomfort. “Look, man, just forget it, all right? Tell your Pop we….”

  Barret exploded into action. He whipped his rifle off his shoulder and dropped it into his left hand. He fired without aiming exactly the way he did when he fought against me. He wheeled in the act of pulling the trigger. The gun erupted fire and smoke, and the world spun out of control.

  Everything happened in a rush. Caden ducked and whipped around to cover me with his body. The noise startled the other Lynch brothers. They all fumbled for their weapons and started firing at once.

  My hands shot to my holsters. I yanked my .45 from my thigh holster as Rupert popped off three rounds in rapid succession. Unlike Barret, he took the time to shoulder the weapon and take aim at Caden’s back.

  I swung my gun up. My fingers closed around the trigger, but at that moment, one of Rupert’s shots grazed Caden’s shoulder. It ripped a path of bloody carnage through the muscle. He roared in fury and spun around to face his foe. His arms flung out on either side. I saw my chance, slotted my gun under his arm, and fired.

  My slug plowed through Rupert’s neck. It made a dull, sucking sound, and dark blood bubbled out of the wound. He released his hold on his weapon and his hand flew to the site. Blood poured between his fingers and he stared at me in horror.

  I didn’t have time to check how serious the wound was before Rolf sprang forward. He didn’t shoot, though. He swung his arm in front of his brothers, shouting, “Hold your fire!” but no one could hear him above the noise.

  I reacted on sheer instinct. I jerked my gun that way and fired into his leg. His knee shattered under him and he caved to the ground. He put down his shotgun to steady himself, and dirt and dry leaves covered it in muck.

  He still held out his hand, yelling, “Hold your fire!” I didn’t listen and neither did his brothers.

  Rupert stuck out his shotgun in one hand while trying to stem the flow of blood with the other. When he pulled the trigger, the kick knocked it in wide arcs so he never hit anything. The confusion of battle obliterated every rational thought from my mind. I saw men with guns. Nothing else mattered.

  I rounded on Rupert and took aim for his head. I sighted down the barrel and focused on the ocular window exactly the way my daddy taught me to. One shot and he would fold like a paper bag.

  My concentration narrowed to a pinprick. I saw my target. Everything else vanished so I didn’t see Barret shoulder his weapon and point it at me.

  I cinched my fingers around the trigger when a searing pain hit me in the head with the force of a hurricane. I fought to restore my consciousness. I teetered. My gaze swept the clearing for a second. Only then did I notice Barret glaring at me with a wicked grin plastered across his face. Smoke came out of his weapon.

  The world tilted sideways. My stomach plummeted into my shoes. I couldn’t hold myself up no matter how hard I tried. Caden looked over his shoulder at me and his eyes widened. Then a black cloud crossed his features. I didn’t like that look at all, but I never got a chance to ask what I did to make him mad.

  The heavy curtain descended over my eyes and gravity dragged me down. I felt myself floating off the ground, and then I lost awareness of everything else when my eyes went dark.

  6

  Caden

  I whipped around in time to see the color drain out of Caroline’s cheeks. She gaped at me in shock. She didn’t even recognize the blood running from her scalp to stain her cheeks and nose. She stared at nothing. All the life evaporated out of that radiant being.

  She wobbled once and collapsed. Her legs turned to water and she crumpled to the ground at my feet. I couldn’t be seeing this. Barret Lynch did not just shoot her in the head on Kelly land. No way. Not on my watch.

  I rounded on the Lynches boiling mad. If I ever considered the sagacity of using my power against these morons, it all sailed out the window when Caroline fell. They weren’t going to shoot anybody as long as I was standing around to do something about it, and they sure as hell weren’t going to do anything to harm her. I wouldn’t stand it.

  I released all my ferocious rage on them in a cataclysmic bellow to wake the dead. I launched at them with all my might, and when I did, I discarded the last remnant of reserve and consideration for anything. My skin ripped apart and pure primal wrath poured out.

  It formed into a familiar shape with spreading wings and grasping talons. It spat a simmering fountain of flame at my enemies and lashed its long tail at them. I felt myself losing all control and I let it go. I unburdened myself of every shred of decency and deliberation. I gave free rein to my overpowering fury to destroy these fools once and for all.

  Rolf pitched backward before the enraged dragon rocketing at him full force. Emile stood rooted to the spot. His enormous eyes locked on me in a blank, catatonic stupor. His gun hung limp and unused in his hands waiting for the dragon to finish him off.

  Rupert snatched Emile’s sleeve and tried to draw him away, but he couldn’t induce Emile to move. I sprayed fire at both of them. I no longer cared if Emile was helpless and petrified. He invaded my land. He fired on me and got Caroline shot. Death was too good for him—for all of them.

  I would have roasted both of them alive if Barret hadn’t responded. Another dragon, a red one, shot
into my line of sight. He dove into the onrushing flame to protect his brothers. My fire deflected off his scales and petered out in the air above their heads.

  Barret wheeled to confront me and landed in front of his brothers. He lowered his head and hissed. His slit eyes blazed blood red and his scales gleamed in the sunshine.

  I chuckled deep in my chest. This upstart caused all this trouble. Now I would relish putting him down. His brothers could take his incinerated corpse back to his family as a souvenir. That would send his rotten Clan a message about what they could expect if they ever crossed the Kellys again.

  An answering chortle rumbled out of Barret’s throat. He advanced. I retracted my neck for the first strike when an answering screech from my left made me look in that direction. Before I could move, Rolf thrust his neck into the air and grew to an enormous size.

  He extended his neck farther and farther. Spikes sprouted along his spine and he unfolded his wings. He dropped onto all fours, and another red dragon as gleaming bright as the first stalked to take his place at Barret’s side.

  I narrowed my eyes at the pair of them. Two against one? I could handle that. These bastards might kill me, but they wouldn’t go home without the scars to prove it.

  I sized them up. Rolf was a lot bigger than me, but I was too mad to care anymore. No piece of shit Lynch would come onto my land without a taste of my fire. I crouched to gather myself into a compact ball.

  Barret straightened his legs to make himself look bigger. Now that he had his brother by his side, he didn’t have to pretend to measure me for the fight. That’s what he thought, anyway.

  I cracked my tail through the air to warn them, but anyone could see we already passed beyond the point of no return. Three dragons couldn’t face off like this without someone getting seriously hurt.

  Barret dared to scream at me in a bald-faced challenge. That sound electrified every nerve down my back, and I lunged for him with all my power. I extended my claws to tear him a new one.

  Out of nowhere, a cannonball struck me from the side. A colossal weight punched me in the ribs and bowled me sideways when Rupert jumped into the fight. He tangled his sinewy body around me in seconds and the two of us somersaulted into the dirt.

  Rolf and Barret reacted in a split second and pounced on top of me at the same time. Three against one? Bring it on. I bit and scratched and chomped in all directions. I might have cut Rolf and Rupert some slack, but not anymore. They didn’t ask for this, but when the shit hit the fan, they came around begging for a thrashing.

  Rupert tackled me into a pile of leaves. For a second, he got me on my back with his fangs around my throat. I roared and struggled against him, but when Rolf and Barret joined in, they seized the advantage.

  A sizzle of alarm shot through me. My blood raced in my veins. I couldn’t go down like this. I didn’t deserve the Kelly family name if I let the Lynches smoke me on my own Ridge. That was NOT going to happen—not today or any other day.

  With Rupert clamping off my windpipe, I thrashed in all directions trying to figure out which one of them to slay first. Rolf sank his teeth into my wing. Pain seared my insides and I exploded in overwhelming ferocity.

  I whipped my tail around and hit Barret upside the head. While he swayed against the sky, I coiled my long length around his neck and yanked him off hard. That punk always was a coward at heart. Twice I watched him fight and twice he proved it. I loathed a coward more than anything. If someone in this crazy situation deserved to die, it was him.

  I threw him off with a powerful wrench of my tail and sent him spinning toward the trees, but I didn’t let him go. I clenched my coils around his neck and smashed him into the nearest trunk. The vibration of breaking bone reverberated through my skin and satiated my blood lust, but only for a moment.

  I ripped him back the other way and pounded his floppy body onto Rupert from behind. The air grunted from Rupert’s lungs. For a second, he landed on top of me with his mouth still biting my neck. The next instant, I flailed Barret back the other way and clipped Rolf under the chin.

  He staggered off and I slammed Barret down on top of Rupert one more time. He gave a soft puff when I knocked the wind out of him, and his jaws slackened.

  I followed up my advantage while I had the chance. I leaped to my feet swinging my makeshift weapon in all directions. I tossed Rupert off and went after Rolf.

  He staggered a few steps away to get his bearings and I menaced him with his brother’s inert body. I waved Barret back and forth in his face snarling and growling behind my locked teeth. Anybody that wanted a piece of me better pack a lunch.

  Rupert rotated on his back to get his feet under him. He heaved upright. For a moment, he and Rolf flanked me. I backed up a step to keep them both in sight, but I never released my hold on Barret. I dangled him by the neck in front of their faces and bellowed.

  Once, Rolf summoned the courage to dart forward. I wheeled around to face him and hammered Barret into the ground right in front of Rolf’s feet. He hopped away in a hurry, and neither he nor his brother dared to come near me again.

  Emile remained planted in the same spot like a tree. He gaped at nothing with wide, unseeing eyes. I made one more thrust with my victim to hold my enemies at bay. Then, with a quick flick of my neck, I flung Barret at Emile. He thumped at Emile’s feet and lay still.

  I backed a few steps toward Caroline and shifted into my human form. I still roiled with fury at these brutal idiots for getting me into this mess, but I had more important business to attend to now.

  I transformed in front of their faces as my last act of ultimate humiliation for their defeat. My wings folded into place and I shrank to a fraction of my size.

  I sliced my finger through the air. “Take your brothers and get the hell off my land. If I see any of the four of you within a hundred miles of Smokey Ridge, I’ll call out my Clan to tear you limb from limb. You’ll be rotting on the lookout for the buzzards to pick. Do you hear me?”

  The two red dragons eyed my puny form from either side, but they didn’t advance. They made no attempt to threaten me at all. Of course they didn’t. They were too lily-livered to follow up their own threats with action.

  I stalked backward a few more paces until my heel touched Caroline. She groaned under her breath. I shot Rolf and Rupert one last withering glare before I turned my back on them.

  I crouched down and laid my hand against Caroline’s cheek. “Caroline,” I breathed. “Caroline, can you hear me?”

  She writhed on the ground and her hand flew to her head. I caught her wrist before she smeared blood all over her beautiful face. Her dark hair trailed her cheeks and got caught in the mess, but that couldn’t be helped now.

  “Don’t move, Caroline,” I told her. “I’m going to take you somewhere safe. You’ll be all right. You just got a little knock on the head. That’s all.”

  Her dreamy dark eyes drifted open and she looked up at me. For a magical instant, she caught me in a tidal wave of confused emotions. I kissed her. I didn’t actually cross the species line with her—not yet—but taking her to the only safe place would definitely mean no going back.

  I worked one arm under her shoulders and slid the other under her knees. I hoisted her into my arms and stood up. Her head fell against my shoulder. She didn’t try to resist.

  She felt warm and comforting in my arms. That was where she belonged. I didn’t care who knew it.

  That wasn’t strictly true, though, was it? I didn’t plan to tell my parents or any of my kin that I kissed this woman, let alone that I actually considered throwing everything away for her sake. That would be ridiculous.

  I turned around and found Rolf and Rupert standing there in their human forms, too. They watched me with Caroline, but they didn’t move. Across the clearing, Barret’s unconscious body collapsed into a pathetic young kid again. One of his arms twisted back behind him with the hand sticking out under his ribs.

  I scanned Rolf and Rupert up and down. “I
told you boys to get the hell out of here.”

  Rolf hitched up one shoulder. “This isn’t over.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. I didn’t see him going anywhere and I sure as blazes didn’t trust him enough to walk away with them still here.

  Rolf refused to meet my gaze. He limped over to Emile, bent down, and picked up one of Barret’s hands. He hauled the body to a sitting position and slung it over his muscled shoulder. He gave me a backward glance and slunk off into the trees with his burden.

  Rupert whispered something to Emile, turned him around, and steered him after Rolf. In a minute, all four of them disappeared. I didn’t relax until I lost all trace of their footsteps in the woods. I stood still and listened for a long time before I dared to leave.

  At long last, I glanced down at Caroline. She lay still and quiet in my arms with her eyes closed. She needed me right now. She needed me more than the Clan or the Ridge needed me.

  I carried her to my Jeep and laid her in the passenger seat. She still didn’t revive. She looked butt awful with blood all over her face and gore caked in her hair. I couldn’t tell from here how bad the wound might be.

  Anyway, she wasn’t safe anywhere right now. The Lynches would never give up until they got rid of her. For one thing, the instant those boys got home with their hangdog tale of humiliation and surrender, the whole stinking Clan would tumble out to teach me and mine a lesson. That’s the way it worked in these mountains. Tit for tat and all like that. Around and around it went, one decade after another without end.

  For another thing, a wad of baggies poked their corners out of Caroline’s pocket. She could testify against Barret, and those pads gave further evidence linking the Lynches to this poaching operation. They had to get rid of her before she caused them serious trouble.

  Like most dragon Clans in these mountains, the Lynches did what they pleased most of the time. They operated with impunity from the law. If some renegade Forest Service ranger ruined that, they wouldn’t like it one bit. They would do anything to stop Caroline threatening their position.