And on Bates’s back, Clancy could see small, ineffective wings that revealed that this had once been part of his dragon, but time and evil had warped him into something much more horrible.
Fuck, Bates hadn’t been joking when he’d said that he was the biggest, meanest swamp dragon alive.
And its breath, fetid like week-old carrion rotting under the summer sun. Bates was definitely poisonous whether he still could breathe fire or not.
Clancy exhaled, then shifted, thinking of his friends back at Dragonclaw. With the storm raging, they’d certainly be busy around the ranch, probably watching for basilisks.
Then he thought of Billie. Of her cute, brave face. Of all the unforgettable moments they’d had this past week. Moments he would have liked to continue forever if the past hadn’t truly caught up to him this time.
It wasn’t about the dragon’s talon or his history as a gunslinger or his legend as the head wrangler of Dragonclaw Ranch.
What Clancy truly was inside was now displayed in front of him, in horrible, monstrous relief, as lightning cracked the dark sky above them.
He knew Billie had every right to never forgive him.
But as Clancy took to the sky and Bates lunged at him as the battle began, he prayed in his heart that someday, maybe long after this dark day had passed, she might be able to think fondly of him after she’d moved past loving him.
Because he’d never stop loving her, even with his dying breath.
22
The crack of distant thunder awoke Billie from her restless slumber. She’d been up nearly the whole night, crying.
Clancy had told her to go back to her home or to her father, but Marian had insisted she stay the night at Dragonclaw, so she had.
But waking up this morning only made everything more final.
Clancy was gone.
She stood and pulled her clothes on, feeling numb and wondering where Clancy was now.
But it was stupid to think about him anymore, she guessed.
She looked out at the window at the gray sky and muted plains.
Rain was beginning to fall, fast and torrential, and a flash of lightning lit up the room.
And in that moment, for some reason, she couldn’t shake the strange feeling that something wasn’t quite right.
Maybe it was just the raging storm outside making her uneasy.
She pulled out her phone and flipped through her images until she came upon the old family dragon painting. All those years, she’d been carrying around a picture of Clancy.
Fate had a cruel sense of humor.
It had all been a lie, everything. Everything she’d believed about the Quickdraw Dragon and everything she’d loved about the awesome man she’d fallen for.
Her finger hovered over the delete button for a second. Maybe she’d trash the photo, go home, find the painting, and burn it. Then she sighed, turned her phone off, and set it on the covers next to her. She couldn’t go that far.
Clancy had saved her family and, in doing so, had given her life. She couldn’t destroy her family’s history. And despite how she felt, things that belonged to Tucker Thompson were still important because they were attached to the man she thought she loved.
The man she still loved, if she were honest. She still couldn’t put the Clancy she knew with the hard, cold man who’d rejected her last night.
Restless, Billie picked up her phone before realizing that she had no reception. That must have been because of the storm. She looked around the room, listening.
Except for the sounds of harsh wind, rain, and thunder outside, the house was quiet and desolate.
And she still couldn’t help wondering where Clancy had gone last night after he dropped her off.
He’d looked so despondent.
Pushed onward by that thought, she moved quietly downstairs, careful not to wake anyone up.
She grabbed a yellow rain jacket from the closet next to the front door. As she stepped out into the rain, the storm buffeted her legs and licked at her heels, but Billie pressed forward into the yard.
She saw nothing.
He was probably at his cabin. Nothing to worry about. So why were the hairs on the back of her neck and arms standing up?
“You’re up early,” a voice called out.
Billie turned around to see Marian pulling her coat around herself as she walked outside to meet her.
“I just… didn’t sleep well,” she said.
“Right,” Marian said. “Where’s Clancy? Why didn’t he stay last night?”
Billie really didn’t want to tell anyone what had happened, so she stayed silent.
“He didn’t show up to help with basilisk duty this morning. Maybe he was sick and didn’t want to be a bother to you,” Marian said. “That’d be just like Clancy. ‘You stay here where it’s safe, darlin’, and just let me puke my guts out alone.’”
Marian’s words caused horror to rise swiftly in Billie.
Because she was right. Clancy would definitely put on a strong face to anyone if he thought it would save them from trouble.
The Clancy she’d known before last night at least.
Was he in some kind of trouble?
This couldn’t be a coincidence. A mysterious figure showed up last night, calling himself Clancy’s family, and suddenly, Clancy disappears?
She thought back to when he had explained a bit about his family. Or his lack thereof. He’d said that he had no family, that dragons like him were evil and deserved to be extinct.
Billie hadn’t been able to understand that. She loved and adored his dragon, even if he felt disgust for it.
What could the man who showed up yesterday have possibly said to Clancy to cause all of this?
“What’s wrong?” Marian asked, looking concerned. “You look like you’re thinking really hard.”
“So you haven’t seen him today? Even though you asked him to come over?”
Marian frowned. “No, I haven’t seen him since last night. I’ve been wondering what he’s up to, but I just assumed he might be sick and need some rest. The other guys can handle it.”
“Where are they?” Billie asked.
“All over,” Marian said. “Beck is back at Sierra’s place, boarding up for the storm. Harrison’s out on the range with Reno, tending to the herds. Dallas is watching for basilisk emergence. It happens sometimes during storms.” She shook her head. “Still, I can’t believe he didn’t stay here last night with you. Can’t imagine what’s up with him. Want me to go check?”
“No,” Billie said immediately. Whatever was going on with Clancy, he meant to keep everyone out of it, including his friends.
She would honor that, even if she was going to poke her nose in where it wasn’t wanted.
A deep feeling of dread was building in her stomach as more and more of the pieces of the puzzle seemed to not line up.
What if there were things that Clancy wasn’t telling her? Things about his family or his past? He never talked about the time before he became a gunslinger. When it came up, he always changed the subject.
He had always been happy to share any of the stories from his time as the Quickdraw Dragon, but he kept the time before hidden.
And if there was anything she knew about the Quickdraw Dragon, it was that he was legendary at trying to keep trouble out of people’s lives—which sounded exactly like Clancy.
At the end of every story, the Quickdraw Dragon always left town, galloping off into the sunset. She’d always thought that was a quaint, fairy-tale ending and nothing more. The gunslinger off to find his next adventure.
But that wasn’t it. With Clancy, he knew that riffraff and trouble followed him everywhere, and as long as he was around, outlaws would show up and cause trouble for the normal folk.
The Clancy she knew was too kind to have said the things he said last night, and there was only one reason she could think of that he would lie like that.
Marian had just made it obvious enough for Billie
to see through her own pain and confusion.
Clancy was trying to keep her from harm. What harm, she didn’t know.
Relief burst through her at the possibility that all of their fight had been a lie.
That he had loved her all along.
After all, why else would he be so desperate to save her?
Another crack of thunder pierced the air, followed by distant rumbling.
“What was that?” Billie asked.
Marian looked perplexed. “The storm, I think?”
But Billie wasn’t so sure. It sounded like a far-off roar.
Like from a swamp dragon…
Billie ran toward the stables, her heart in her throat at the thought of anything happening to her man.
Not that she could for sure do anything to help him, but she had to do everything in her power to try.
“Where are you going?” Marian asked, running after her.
“I’m going to find Clancy!” Billie shouted back over her shoulder. “I just want to check on him, make sure he’s not sick.”
“Oh no,” Marian said. “Should I try and get in touch with Harrison and Beck? The reception out here is terrible, and they could already be midfight, but I’m willing to try.”
“Not yet!” Billie called. “Just stay inside and safe!” she said. “I’m just going to find him. Then I’ll text you an update, if I can get reception.”
The last thing she wanted was to bring Clancy’s friends into something deadly that he’d specifically tried to protect them from.
She didn’t even know how she was going to be able to help.
But she wouldn’t let the Quickdraw Dragon be alone this time, even if it meant risking her life.
I have to do this, she said in her heart, already halfway to the barn. It’s the right thing, what Tucker Thompson would do. She didn’t know where Clancy was, but she had to listen to her heart. It had led her to him in the first place.
With that, she pulled the stable doors open and ran to the far side where Thunderhead was pacing.
“Come here,” she said, holding out her hand. “I need your help, please. You seem fast, and I need to get to him immediately. Clancy could be in trouble.”
Thunderhead’s nostrils flared, but he calmed and seemed to understand. He trotted over and let her throw all his tack on.
Once he was fully saddled and bridled, Billie put a foot in the stirrup and just prayed Thunderhead wouldn’t spook as she swung a leg over and her butt into the saddle.
But he just blew out a breath and stayed still for her as she gathered up the reins.
She trusted this horse, and he seemed to trust her, and together, they could hopefully find Clancy.
Billie clicked her tongue, and Thunderhead moved out of the barn and into the rain. She wasn’t exactly sure where she was going, and she couldn’t see that far in the downpour, but her heart told her she was going in the right direction.
She clutched Thunderhead’s reins desperately and kissed, urging him into a canter as they sped into the storm, but she could only hear rumbling, and no matter how far they went, they weren’t getting any closer.
After several minutes, she urged Thunder to a stop, breathing hard. She looked around, trying to get her bearings, before realizing that she was in the meadow where she and Clancy had been the other day.
There was no way she would be able to find him, not on this vast, wet range. Not while the storm obscured everything that wasn’t within a dozen or so feet of her.
But maybe something else could.
Billie hopped down from Thunderhead and began to shout. “Hey! Basilisk! Where are you?”
Nothing.
“I know you come out when it rains! I know you’re under there somewhere! I even think you can hear us.”
Nothing.
“You owe Clancy! He gave you mercy that day. I know you can’t be far. You fought right here!”
She frowned, still getting no response, the rain pounding down on her.
Maybe she was crazy.
Clancy had told her a little more about the basilisks after the fight. He hadn’t said much, just that they came out mainly when it rained, fought the shifters at Dragonclaw if they ran into them, then went back into the ground to hibernate.
He also had said that they still weren’t really sure what the basilisks wanted or why they arose.
Even calling one out was a risk, but it was really her only option at this point.
“I know you’re out there!” she shouted, wandering around the soaked meadow. “I know you understand English!”
Nothing.
She shook her head, then tried again. “When Clancy told you to back down, you backed down! And despite what everyone says, I know you don’t really mean people harm!”
Still nothing.
“Please,” she murmured. “I really need you.”
Then Billie heard a scuffling sound behind her, coming from one of Thunderhead’s saddlebags. To her surprise, Gary poked his head out from one of the pouches and dove to the ground, digging voraciously with his little paws.
Tears came to her eyes. Gary was right. She couldn’t stop now. Billie fell to the earth and began to dig as fast as she could, pulling up piles of mud and dirt with her hands, heart breaking with worry for Clancy.
He was clearly doing all of this to protect her, and she would be damned if she didn’t do everything she could to protect him in return.
Then, as if on cue, the ground began to shift. At the movement, Thunderhead bolted, heading back in the direction of Dragonclaw. Gary scuttled over to Billie, taking shelter behind her.
Out of nowhere, the basilisk rose fully from the mud. It was titanic and covered in huge chunks of rock and mud with a few blue and green scales peeking out from beneath. Unlike Clancy, it had no wings and stood on all fours, staring down at her with red, reptilian eyes.
Huge, pointy spikes lined its back, going down its long tail.
“Please!” she shouted, shaking from head to toe. “Clancy’s in danger, and I can’t reach his friends. You’re the only one that can help me.”
The piercing eyes narrowed on her, and her shaking intensified. Whether it was from cold or fear, she wasn’t sure.
“I don’t care if you kill me! I’ll die anyway without Clancy!”
The basilisk’s eyes widened for a second, then slowly turned from red into blue, the color of the afternoon Texas sky. Then, to her utter shock, it got down on one gargantuan knee.
Billie couldn’t believe it.
It huffed, cocking its head at her expectantly.
“Wait,” Billie said, recognition flaring through her. “You want me to get on?”
The basilisk nodded, lowering itself even closer to the ground.
It was now or never.
She reached around, gently grabbing Gary from where he was sitting hunched in the mud behind her and tucking him into the side pocket of her jacket, where he stayed, shivering.
Then she stepped forward and began to climb for all she was worth. Using the rocks and mud and spikes as handholds, she clambered up the basilisk’s back until she was sitting in a small crook between its horns on the top of its head.
So far from the ground.
“Can you take me to him?” Billie asked, shouting through the rain.
In response, the basilisk let out a deafening roar and took off, its pounding footsteps echoing through the rain and wind.
Billie held on for dear life, clinging to the basilisk’s spikes. It seemed to know just where to go. Whether that was by sound, distance, or something else entirely, she wasn’t sure.
She just hoped it was taking them toward Clancy, hoped they would be able to make it in time to help him.
Gary peeked out from her coat, eyes wide as he looked down at the basilisk’s head for a second, then up at her as if asking a question. Billie reached down and petted him on the head before he disappeared back into the pocket.
“Don’t worry, Gary. We’re going
to save Clancy.”
23
Lightning cracked overhead as Clancy and Bates circled each other. Clancy didn’t know how long the fighting had been going.
He just knew things were looking bad.
His right wing was broken to tatters, ripped to shreds by Bates’s huge jaws that snapped down with such force it sounded like thunder. There was a long gash across his shoulder that wasn’t healing due to the gigantic, evil swamp dragon’s poison. And across his back and sides, there were endless cuts and scrapes as the two of them had collided, trying to rip the other to shreds.
The rain, which had only thickened in the past few minutes, lent a further air of gloom as small rivers of water trickled down his back and turned green, the color of his blood, as it reached the earth.
But Clancy wasn’t the only one injured. Bates was missing half of his left leg after Clancy had chewed down on it. And there were deep wounds across his monstrous, alligator-like jaw and face that led up toward his small, reptilian eyes. Eyes that were creased with mirth, turned almost totally blood-red since the moment the fighting had started.
Unlike Bates, unlike others of his kind, Clancy wouldn’t give in to the blood-induced rage that made swamp dragons so deadly. He wouldn’t give in to his monster, to the beast that was no longer dragon but merely a chomping, chewing, killing machine.
He wouldn’t risk hurting innocents once he lost hold of who he really was.
There was stillness for a moment as the rain continued to pelt them both. But neither of them was bothered. After all, water and mud and rain were practically home.
Then Bates lunged, jaw wide as the huge beast crossed the distance between him and Clancy in mere moments.
Clancy didn’t have time to think. He just reacted. Though smaller, Clancy stood back on his hind legs, ducking back just as Bates’s jaws snapped shut, mere feet from where Clancy’s face had been a second ago.
Then Clancy reached forward, digging his talons into the top and bottom of Bates’s crocodilian mouth, holding it shut.
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