by G. K. DeRosa
“I don’t think you should go, T. It’s a reckless move.” Hayden.
“I have to. She’s never going to be safe until he’s dead.” I was fairly certain I’d recognize Talon’s voice even if we were underwater.
“You’re certain Thax has men in here?”
No response. Did he nod or shake his head? Dammit.
“You don’t even know if Thax is back in the Underworld,” Hayden whispered. “He could be hiding out in his underground castle again. It’s too risky, brother.”
“So what do you want me to do, sit around and wait until he tries to take her again? Or worse? He’s already stolen her from me once, and the Azara we found is a shadow of the one I lost. I won’t let him do it again.”
Hayden huffed out a frustrated breath. “I can see I won’t be able to change your mind on this, so at least let me help you.”
“I need you to keep her safe while I’m gone.”
“You shouldn’t go by yourself, T.”
“I won’t drag one of you guys into this. Thax is my problem, and I’ll handle it.”
“Be careful, brother.”
“Always am.”
The hiss of the door opening again sent my heart into a frenzy. I couldn’t let Talon go after Thax alone. More than that, I wanted my revenge. Even with my she-demon numbed by the magical restraints, her dark desires were clear in my mind.
I leapt out of bed as Hayden settled into the bottom bunk.
“Where you going, pumpkin?”
“Bathroom,” I called out over my shoulder and slipped through the narrow opening right before the door slid closed.
Hayden’s muffled shouts echoed behind me as I raced to catch up to Talon’s heavy footfalls. I trailed a few feet behind him, slowing my pace as soon as his broad shoulders came to view. Creeping down the stairs, I followed him through the training room and into SCOM, where he whispered the words of the spell to reveal the hidden tunnel.
I stepped softly, sneaking through the mystical doorway before it disappeared into the ether. Talon was already a few yards ahead of me, his massive form taking up most of the width of the narrow tunnel.
I held my breath, cringing at every creak as I trailed behind him. My mind raced with visions of confronting Thax, watching the light vanish from his bottomless irises as I devoured his soul. He took everything away from me, and now he’d pay.
A dense silence swam over me, and I froze. Glancing up, I scanned the dark, empty passageway. Where was Talon?
A thick forearm closed around my neck, and I backed into a firm chest. My heart smacked against my ribcage, and I muttered a curse.
“Do you remember anything I taught you, one thirty-eight? I heard you trailing me since you stomped out of our cell.”
“I hate it when you call me that,” I hissed.
His hold fell away, and he spun me around to face him. Two huge silver orbs bored into me. “You remember that?”
Now my eyes widened. Did I? The nickname incited a swell of anger I couldn’t quite place. “Yes. No. I don’t know.”
The flash of excitement dissipated, and darkness settled over his features. “What are you doing following me anyway?”
“I’m going with you to find Thax.”
He barked out a laugh. “No, you’re not.”
I slapped my hands on my hips and glared up at him. “Yes, I am. If anyone deserves to get revenge on my traitorous cousin, it’s me.”
“Which one?” he muttered under his breath.
“What?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. I guess treachery runs on both sides of your family.”
“Explain. No memories, remember?”
“Your cousin, Ella, on your mom’s side. She was part of my team on the SIA. She’s the one that clued Thax in on our mission that night. She’s the reason he captured you right from under my nose.”
Ella? I searched my vacant mind for a lingering memory, but none came. “Why would she do that?”
“Ella claims Thax threatened her family, and she had no choice. She’s probably telling the truth, but it doesn’t absolve her of what she did.”
Just another person Thax manipulated. “This isn’t changing my mind about going after him. It’s only strengthening my resolve.”
Talon glared down at me, puffing out his chest. “There’s nothing to change. I simply won’t let you go with me.”
“Let?” I mirrored his stance, but it didn’t have quite the desired effect since I couldn’t loom over him as effectively.
“How are you going to get to the Underworld? Do you have wings too?” A pair of silvery scaled appendages snapped out from behind his back, tearing through the fabric of his jumpsuit. Even in the dim light, his scales glimmered like the brightest star.
I drew in a breath as a pang of loss streaked through my chest. Then the twinge of a memory. A fleeting thought I couldn’t quite grasp onto. My hand jutted out of its own accord, and my fingers fastened onto the zipper of Talon’s jumpsuit. The faint rise and fall of his chest stopped, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. I dragged the zipper down, exposing the scintillating dragon tattoo beneath.
I clenched my fingers to keep from running them over his glistening flesh.
He lifted his shoulders and shrugged free from the sleeves of his jumpsuit. The gray material dropped and hung loosely from his hips, revealing the entire dragon. I sucked in a breath as I took the beast in from its silvery snout to its barbed tail.
“I remember this,” I rasped out. “And not just from the training room.”
He nodded, his lips pressed in a tight line. He was barely breathing.
I reached for his chest but halted midway, my hand frozen in midair. Touching him felt like the most natural thing in the world, but something stopped me. Something I couldn’t explain.
His hand wrapped around my fingers, and he guided them to his chest. He pressed my palm against the glimmering tattoo, and all the air siphoned from my lungs. Heat radiated from his skin, seeping into my flesh and igniting a fire in my core.
I glanced up to meet a pair of bottomless silver pools searing into my own. “Azara,” he whispered, the anguish in his voice like a knife to the heart.
I swallowed hard and forced my jumbled emotions into words. “I may not remember what we had, Talon, but I know what I feel. Every cell in my body recognizes yours. I know your scent, the curve of your jaw, the lines that furrow across your forehead when I piss you off…”
He smiled, revealing that elusive dimple. “Talking like that won’t increase your chances of me taking you to the Underworld.”
“That’s okay. You’re going to take me whether you like it or not.” I smirked and danced my fingers down his torso. “Because I have a feeling that’s the kind of relationship we had.”
“You’re right,” he murmured, his lips a hairsbreadth from my own.
“Kiss me.” The words floated from my mouth unbidden.
He clenched his jaw and slowly shook his head.
“What?” I screeched.
He seared me with those eyes, those eyes that shone like windows to my own lost soul. “Then I’ll never go. And I have to.”
My heart ached for him, not to mention my lower half. For the first time in as long as I could remember, I felt alive. I couldn’t let him go now, not when he was the only one to ignite my missing emotions.
My lips crashed into his before I could reason my way out of it. He froze beneath my touch for only a second before his mouth softened, his lips parting. They were soft and familiar like slipping into a warm bed on a wintry night. His tongue caressed mine, every move gentle and tentative. My lusty she-demon wanted more.
I backed Talon into the wall, running my hands over the hard planes of his back. A deep growl shook his chest, the profound rumble vibrating right through me. Digging one hand into the soft hair at his nape, I tilted his head to deepen the kiss and pressed my body harder against his.
“Azara,” he growled against my lips. “I can’t�
�”
“What?” His words were like a bucket of ice to the molten embers burning my core.
Talon staggered forward and held me out to arm’s length. “You have no idea how long I’ve dreamt about this moment. Of getting you back and finally being with you. But not like this. Your memories are gone, you barely have a hold on your demon, and Thax could take you away from me at any moment.” He raked his hand through his hair, driving it up in messy spikes and loosed a breath. “I want you, Azara, more than you could ever fathom. But not like this.”
A swell of anger bubbled up inside, eclipsing the warm and fuzzies from before. Without the prison’s wards, darkness inched into the corners of my vision, and my she-demon crept her way to the surface. “Seriously? Do you have any idea how many dark lords were lined up to spend a single night with me?”
The infuriating dragon’s lips curled into a smirk. “No, but it’s just what I was hoping to hear about.”
I could feel myself slipping away as a dark fog curtained my irises. Black blotted out my vision, and my demon took control. I jabbed my finger into the shifter’s firm chest. “You’re lucky you’re pretty to look at, or I’d drain you dry for disrespecting me. First you want me, then you don’t. Make up your damned mind, dragon.”
He didn’t even flinch. In fact, a hint of amusement danced across his twinkling irises. “I was hoping you’d come out to play. You and I have something to discuss.”
I popped my hands on my hips and narrowed my eyes. “What’s that?”
“I love that girl you’re residing in, and I won’t allow you to ruin her. Do you understand me?”
A sharp chuckle burst from my lips. “Love? How human of you.”
His pupils contracted to thin slits, and a growl vibrated his barrel of a chest. Thick fingers coiled around my neck and hard obsidian rock dug into my shoulder blades as he pushed me against the wall. “Don’t mistake my kindness for weakness. I’d like to work together to get Azara’s life back, but if you refuse to play nice, I’ll find a way to extinguish you for good.”
My eyebrow arched as I scrutinized the surprising shifter. “Don’t get in my way, and perhaps we can coexist peacefully. That means I get my revenge on Thax. Or I’ll make my presence more permanent, and it’ll be Azara’s humanity that gets buried for eternity.”
“Fine. As long as we take Thax on together.”
“Deal.”
His hold around my neck loosened before falling away all together. “Now bring Azara back and don’t you dare tell her about this conversation.”
We’ll see about that. “Ta-ta, dragon douche.”
Chapter Fourteen
The savory scent of bacon filled the air and my stomach rumbled, waking me from a fitful sleep. I pried my heavy eyelids open and scanned the black walls. Dammit. Still in prison.
“It’s about time you woke up, one thirty-eight.”
I pushed the rough blanket back and forced myself up. A mild headache throbbed at my temples, and I took a quick gulp of GG’s potion I hid under the bed before turning to face my dragon bunkie. “What happened?”
Talon strutted over and leaned against the wall by my bed. “Before or after you tried to follow me out the tunnels?”
Ah, yes. That was a miserable fail. “After,” I mumbled.
“Your demon decided to come out, and we had a nice chat.”
My eyes widened, my brows nearly reaching my hairline. “Really?”
“Really.”
“She talked you out of your little trip to the Underworld?”
“Not exactly. I was simply waiting for you to wake up. I thought you’d make a better travel companion than her.”
I leapt off the mattress. “You’re going to let me go?”
“Your demon didn’t exactly give me many other options.”
My mind flashed back to the tunnels, to our conversation and our kiss… Then everything went black. My eyes lifted to his then trailed down his scruffy cheek to his curved lips. “We kissed and then you—”
He raised his hand cutting me off. “You must have imagined it, one thirty-eight. I don’t make out with soul-sucking demons.”
Stupid jackdragon. I wrapped my arms around myself and glared up at my mercurial bunkie. “I didn’t imagine it.”
“Daydream, then?” A lopsided grin twisted his lips.
I threw the poor excuse for a pillow at his head. He ducked, and it hit the wall and slid down to rest on the dirty floor. Eew. “So, when do we leave?”
“As soon as you’re ready.”
I eyed the black jumpsuit hanging from the edge of my bed and grimaced. “Do I have to wear that?”
“No, I still have some of Ella’s clothes. I grabbed them from the tunnels yesterday.” He sauntered over to his bunkbed and bent down, flashing me an eagle’s eye view of his perfectly sculpted butt. A second later, he popped up with some clothes pressed to his chest. Tossing them at me, he turned around to face the back wall.
I slipped into the warm clothes and laced up my prison-issued boots as I watched Talon from the corner of my eye. He actually kept his eyes glued to the sleek obsidian the entire time.
“You ready?”
I jumped up. The idea of getting my revenge on Thax had my adrenaline pumping. I was itching for a good fight. “Yup.”
He spun around and stalked toward the door to our glass enclosure with a quick glance back at the empty bottom bunk. I was about to ask him about our missing angel cellie. “Are any of the guys coming with us?”
Talon shook his head. “This was supposed to be a solo mission. The SIA still doesn’t know you’ve been found, and when they find out, I don’t want to take my brothers down with me. Hiding you is my call, and I won’t let them take the fall for it.”
The muscles around my heart squeezed, and my whole chest tightened. I may not have remembered much about Talon, but from what I’d heard from the guys, he was all about his job. “Why are you still protecting me?”
“Because it’s what I do.”
Somehow, I knew it was the truth.
“Ready?” He ticked his head toward the empty corridor.
“Well, I was supposed to be an SIA agent, right?”
He nodded and ushered me toward the door. “That you were.”
We walked in silence through block eight as the lights flashed on and our inmate neighbors awoke. As usual, all eyes were on me. I’d been back for over a week now, but still, anytime I went anywhere I couldn’t escape the burn of eyes on my back.
“Why does everyone look at me like that?”
“Maybe they’re scared of you.”
As the line of inmates waiting at the commissary parted at our approach, I started to realize it wasn’t only me they found frightening. “I don’t think it’s just me.” Everyone we passed either avoided our gaze or blatantly ogled. “What did you do to get this assignment?” I whispered. “I can’t imagine working undercover in a prison is a highly coveted position in the SIA.”
We rounded the staircase and Talon picked up his pace. I hurried to catch up with him as he trudged down the steps to the tunnels. When I was fairly certain he wasn’t going to answer, he stopped and spun around. “I had previous experience inside a supernatural penitentiary.” He turned on his heel and disappeared into the tunnels without another word.
No way strait-laced Talon was in jail, right? “Wait up!” I called out as I jogged to keep up. “You were like imprisoned?”
He dipped his head, keeping his eyes straight ahead.
“What did you do?”
“That’s a story for another time, Azara.”
“It’s not fair. You won’t tell me anything. All the other guys have been more than helpful in piecing together my past, but you? You won’t give me anything.”
He stopped marching and clenched his jaw. “You never knew in the first place, and it has nothing to do with you. It won’t help you get your memories back, it won’t bring back the past. It has no bearing whatsoever.”
I crossed my arms against my chest and glared up at the stubborn dragon. “It’ll help me know you.”
Talon’s shoulders slumped, the puff of his chest deflating. He began to walk slowly, and I trailed a few steps behind. “I’ve never told anyone—not even Vander.” His voice was so soft I could barely make it out through the cavernous passageway.
I lengthened my stride to walk beside him, but he didn’t say anything else. Not for another long minute.
“I don’t know how much Vander told you, but his parents raised me.”
I nodded. His werewolf brother had filled me in on how they’d grown up together.
“Anyway, when his dad died, it was like losing mine all over again. I did a lot of stupid shit. One time I went too far and lots of people died as a result.”
“What happened?” I couldn’t help it from popping out of my mouth.
“I’d been learning to control my dragon and let’s just say I let his anger get the best of me. I set fire to an entire village in the mountains of Draeko. I didn’t even know people lived up there.” He drew in a slow breath. “I was out on a joy-ride, roasting everything in my path. The smoke was so thick I completely missed the small houses. When you first arrived to Darkblood, you were so upset about killing a few dozen Fae. I killed nearly a hundred of my own dragons—women, children, everyone.”
A streak of pain raced across my chest at the devastation in Talon’s voice. “I’m sorry.” I squeezed my eyes shut and terrified faces and agonizing screams ripped across my mind’s eye. Flippin’ faeries, was that a memory? I tried to hold onto the terrifying images, but they slipped away as quickly as they’d appeared.
“Not as sorry as I am.” His gravelly voice drew me from my own dark thoughts.
“But it was a mistake, Talon. You didn’t take those lives on purpose.”
“No, but it was my fault, and their memory will haunt me for the rest of my life.”
We lapsed into a heavy silence after that. I wanted to say something, to comfort him, but nothing seemed right. I cursed myself and my lost emotions.
The soft pitter-patter of our footsteps filled the stillness as we traversed the tunnels to the mountaintop. I’d been back at Darkblood for nearly a week and still the memory of the frigid trek through the mountains brought on a rush of icy chills.