by Riley Storm
Anger was boiling in Asher as he processed everything, and his fury seemed to be matched by the sky above as the storm clouds rumbled, a flicker of lightning visible in the depths. Clouds that had been gray all day were growing darker as the storm came down off the mountain, moving with a speed that would surprise those who didn’t live in a mountain range. It would be there before long.
“Where is my money?” Asher called, reluctant to call it a treasure in front of Emma. She couldn’t know.
That’s what was bothering me earlier! He called her my mate over the loudspeaker. But only a dragon would have used that word.
Asher cursed himself for being a fool. He could have told Emma to go then, to get her clear. Now he had to find a way to extract her, while Doran was standing right there.
If the other dragon was willing to disregard the Scarlet Accords, then who knew what else he was willing to do? Was he even sane anymore? Asher had to plan for anything, including the use of dragon powers in front of a human.
“It’s somewhere,” Doran said, flashing the pair of them a smug smile.
He was so confident in his victory, and that irked Asher some more.
“Why are you doing this?” Asher called, unable to resist asking. “It makes no sense. You haven’t accomplished anything besides pissing me off.”
“Haven’t I?” Doran cackled. “Oh, but I have. You see, word of the stolen treasure is already getting out. People are starting to ask questions. To look at one another suspiciously. Distrust is forming! It will all be amplified after you’re gone, of course,” Doran added.
“He’s going to kill you,” Emma said quietly. “And me too?”
Asher was pissed. He should have known it was another dragon, not a human. How could he have brought Emma into such a situation! This was all his fault.
“What do you mean? What’s going to happen after I’m dead?” Asher asked, trying to ignore the implications. He needed to try and get all the information he could out of the man, while he was feeling cocky and arrogant.
“Well the missing treasure must be found, of course,” the man chuckled, raising his voice a bit more to be heard as the wind picked up. “An anonymous tip will show that the treasure is safe.”
“Safe? It was safe where it was!” Asher roared, anger getting the better of him for a moment.
“Perhaps, yes,” Doran said, laughing so hard he slapped himself on his knee, a very human action. “But then again, I think the Rixa clan vault is a little bit safer. Don’t you?”
Asher’s mouth dropped open. That was his plan then. If Asher’s treasure was discovered in the Rixa vault, it would set Clan Aterna against Clan Rixa. Logan might be a dick, but if he thought that someone in Clan Rixa had murdered his brother and stolen his treasure, he would be on the warpath looking for revenge.
Except he would be looking the wrong direction.
“Asher, what the hell is going on? Why would the Rixa family be involved in all this? How do they fit in?” Emma asked worriedly.
Asher wished he could tell her. If she knew that the five mountain families were all different dragon clans, then maybe she would better understand what was at stake here. What Doran was threatening to do, and how big its consequences would be.
The clans would be at each other’s throats. Possible warfare. People would die, and if it got bad enough, it might even spill over to the other, larger chapters of the clans that guarded the other pair of Gates to the Otherworld.
And if the dragons weren’t there to guard the Gates…
Asher shook his head, unwilling to contemplate that scenario.
“Just trust me that what he’s trying to do would be bad, on a level you likely would never believe if I told you,” Asher growled. “He must be stopped.”
“Now, you’re obviously telling your woman what’s going on, in hopes that she can warn someone. Which is admirable, but Asher, you must know that I can’t let either of you leave.”
“Does he mean to kill us?” Emma asked, her voice quavering, but not quite breaking.
“He means to try,” Asher growled.
The winds grew stronger and he felt his skin prickle. The temperature was starting to drop.
“Brrr, that’s cold,” Emma said. “What are we going to do?”
Asher watched Doran, knowing that the temperature drop was his doing. There was only one way he was going to get them out of there, one way to ensure that Emma survived safely.
Asher was going to have to reveal his true nature to her. If he didn’t, Doran would freeze them solid in a matter of minutes as the storm grew stronger and the temperatures continued to dip. Emma would go first, followed by Asher not long after.
Unless he did something he’d sworn he would never do.
Reveal himself to a human.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Emma
Pulling her arms across her body, she huddled in behind Asher, trying to ward off the sudden increasing cold. The storm was coming on fast and shaping up to be a brutal one.
“What do we do?” she asked, hoping to hear that he had some sort of miraculous plan that would save them from whatever Doran had planned. “Asher?”
But she got no response from the big man. He seemed to be overcome with shock at the revelation of who his enemy was.
“So, we are going to die then,” she said, looking behind her, back toward the front of the quarry and the offices. The heated offices.
It was a long run, and if Doran was intent on killing them, then there seemed to be little in the way she could do to get there. Something told Emma that straight up running would not work out for her. She would be dead before she was in sight of the office building.
She looked around as a low growl cut through the storm, growing louder.
“What the hell is that?” she asked, looking around wildly.
It took her a moment to realize it was coming from Asher.
“Do you trust me?” Asher asked her suddenly, still facing forward, not willing to put his back to their mutual enemy.
“What? Do I trust you? What does that have anything to do with this? Asher, he’s trying to kill us. I’m not sure this is the time!”
Asher growled, louder this time. “Do you trust me?” he repeated.
Emma tried to get to the side of him so she could look up at his face, but the moment her face was exposed to the oncoming wind, she pulled back behind his broad shoulders to avoid the chilly bite on her exposed skin.
She thought about his question. Did she trust him?
“Yeah, I guess?” she told him, adding an unseen shrug.
“No,” Asher came back quickly, the wind growing stronger, starting to buffet her even in the shelter of his body mass. “It’s got to be a complete, one-hundred-percent yes, you trust me completely and thoroughly with your life. If you do, then we will survive, but your life will be forever changed. Everything will be changed.”
“Oh.”
“If you don’t, then you will die. I will as well. Then many more after that.”
Emma frowned. “How the hell are those my only two options?” she asked.
“Because,” Asher said, half-turning his head toward her. “If I save you, if I save us, I can only do so by revealing something to you that you cannot share. That you cannot tell anyone. It will change your view of everything, for now, and forever. If you speak about it, it will likely get you killed despite my best efforts to protect you.”
Emma drew back from Asher, scared at the gravity of his words. The shit had well and truly hit the fan, and she had to make a decision, here and now, that would affect the rest of her life? That didn’t seem fair.
But if you trust him, you will have a rest of your life. If you can’t bring yourself to believe in him, then your life ends here. Today. As does many others, including his.
The air was growing frigid about her.
“How is it so cold in July?” she moaned, her mind momentarily distracted.
There was nothin
g natural about the storm. It couldn’t be. Any moment now she expected to see it start to snow, ice forming on her skin, it was getting to be that cold.
Abruptly, she was buffeted by warmth. Emma closed her eyes and sighed in relief. There, that was better. Things were normal again on that front.
But when she opened her eyes, the storm was still raging outside, and as she took a step back, the cold once again ate at her. Eager to remain warm, she huddled in close to the heat. In close to Asher.
Reaching out, she pressed a hand to his back. He was incredibly warm. Pulsing with heat that was spreading out and encompassing her as well. Asher was the one warding off the cold—it wasn’t going anywhere.
“Do you trust me?” Asher asked.
Excess cold. Asher emitting more heat than a fire in the same weather. Mysterious men doing battle with one another over a treasure that seemed ready to start a war, by the way Asher talked. What the heck had Emma gotten herself into?
There was only one thing that she was sure of now, amidst all the confusion, weird weather, vague threats and mystery. It was that she knew Asher had her best interests in mind. That he was only looking to protect her, not to harm her.
I trusted him last night, to look over me while I slept. He was the one who could keep the dark at bay, keeping me calm and asleep while the night before I thrashed and turned, fighting off night terrors, unable to sleep.
This morning, I trusted him with my body. With my very most private and intimate moments. He respected me, showed me that he cared, that he was interested. That my trust wasn’t misplaced.
Now he wants to know if I trust him with my life.
The question was a big step or should have been at least. Yet Emma was no longer certain it was as big a jump as it should have been or would have been a few days earlier. There was something going on between them, something that connected them.
Plus, I want to live, which is nice. And then I’ll get to find out everything he’s been holding back. Whatever it is that he’s not telling me.
Maybe they would finally be able to do away with keeping secrets between them.
“Yes,” she said, making her decision. “I do trust you, Asher. Completely.”
“Very well.”
The warm feeling grew stronger. Taking her from a comfortable summer day, to a hot beach. It reached out and surrounded her.
“There’s one more thing,” Asher said, reaching back and pulling her around to his front, keeping her back to the enemy so that she wouldn’t have to look at him.
“What? What else?” she moaned, leaning into him, terrified.
“You must not freak out. You’re going to want to scream and run away. If you do that, you die. It’s as simple as that. If you stay, you will live. Do you understand me?”
Emma shook her head. “No! No, I don’t. Asher, what are you talking about? Please, just get me out of here.”
A strong hand gripped her chin and tilted it upward. She was forced to meet his eyes. Emma gasped. They were so bright! The gold that was normally so prominent was even brighter than she could remember, despite the dark skies above.
“Do. Not. Run. Away,” he growled, his eyes boring into hers.
“Okay,” she said.
“Just remember,” Asher said. “You trust me. I’m only doing this to protect you.”
Emma nodded, steeling herself. She could do this. She could stay still. Whatever happened, nothing would be as bad as going back out into the storm. The wind was reaching a fever pitch now, and ice pellets and snow were swirling around them, tightening, like they were in the middle of some sort of snow globe.
She watched Asher, waiting for him to do whatever it was he was planning.
You can handle this.
Then Asher changed, and she began to scream.
And scream.
And scream.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Asher
He tried to ignore her screams, to prevent them from cutting to his core.
Despite knowing that they were coming, despite thinking he was prepared for her reaction, Asher still couldn’t quite prevent the knife from twisting in his guts as the look of sheer revulsion and horror spread across her face.
Asher knew why, knew what it was that was prompting her reaction. He’d called to his dragon, harnessing it, pushing the blood of his heritage through into his body. Taking its power for his own.
By now, crimson scales would be covering his face and spreading down his neck, across his chin. His pupils would be yellow and oval, instead of the usual circular shape. His teeth would be growing jagged and sharp, while a trio of horns sprouted from his head.
His arms easily held her still, preventing Emma from running. She was screaming, and freaking out, and he expected her to try and pull away. It would make escape more difficult, but he hoped to be able to stop her.
Yet she never tried to get away. Her screams slowly faded, but that was more due to shock and lack of oxygen than anything. It only took one quick look at her face to tell him that she was still looking at him with horror and revulsion all mixed into one.
His shoulder blades tightened, and he felt the skin stretch before it burst wide, huge ochre wings stretching wide.
The ice and snowstorm were growing worse now, stronger by the second as Doran saw what Asher was up to and tried to stop his escape. It wouldn’t be long before he too began to shift. Asher knew he had to act first before that happened. Otherwise, Doran would take his full form.
Now that the secret was out, there was no reason to hold back, and once he was in his dragon form, Asher’s half-change wouldn’t stand a chance. Nor could he risk assuming his true form, because if he did, he had no doubt Emma would run away. Into the storm, her brain concerned more with getting away with him than anything else.
The temperatures and snow would kill her before she made it to safety.
Asher pulled her in close, taking a deep breath. Then he unleashed a blast of fire from his mouth, the stream of brilliant orange-red flame reaching out for Doran, forcing him to dive for cover, calling up more ice to counter the flame even as it cracked and sparked, shattering ice pellets at the sudden temperature change.
He breathed again, aiming for a different target this time.
“You missed!” Doran barked, getting back to his feet.
Asher snarled. If it was just the two of them, he would go down there and beat the crap out of Doran. Storm or no storm, the ice dragon wouldn’t know what hit him. The fury of an enraged fire dragon was second to none.
There was more to it than exacting revenge, however, because if Asher did that, he would leave Emma exposed to the elements. He had to look after her first, which meant fleeing from the fight, something he hated doing.
But he would. For her.
Metal creaked and shrieked as weakened supports failed under the temperature changes, and the massive radio tower began to fall. Asher grinned as Doran spun and looked up just in time to see the mass of metal come hurtling toward him.
He wasted no time, spreading his wings wide and leaping high into the air, using all his supernatural muscle to get as high as possible. The wings swept down and pushed him higher and higher with every beat. Soon, the ice storm that had been a hindrance was suddenly a help, masking them from their enemy.
Asher wanted to go back, toward the offices and his car, but he couldn’t. That would put the others in danger, and he had no idea how stable Doran was in his mind right then. To do what he’d already done was risking everything. Now that Asher was getting away, he was scared to think of what else might happen.
Emma was all but comatose in his arms at this point, locked in terror, unable to react or speak. His body warmth would keep her from freezing to death, but he needed to get her out of the storm, and soon.
He picked the one direction he figured Doran would never expect and guided them out into the storm as best he could. A few seconds later, they cleared the dome of ice and snow, and Asher dove f
or the ground, hoping no one would see them, or realize what they were seeing if they did. He was already taking a mighty risk just being in this form.
I was given no choice. It was either that or let Emma die. Asher simply wasn’t about to let that happen. He was going to protect this woman, with his very life if it called for it. She was that special to him.
“Emma,” he said as they landed on the far side of the quarry, hidden from the road by a patch of trees. “Emma, are you okay?”
She was staring into space, nearly unblinking. He could hear her heart still beating, which was good, but Asher needed her to snap out of it. They didn’t have time to deal with what she’d just seen. Not yet. They were still in danger.
Behind them in the swirl of snow, he heard the other dragon roar, and the sound of metal shrieking as he tore himself free of the radio tower.
Focusing for a moment Asher reached out to his human side, reverting the change. His scales sank back under his skin, awaiting him for when he would need them next. The horns on his head shrank and disappeared and the wings folded down into his back and disappeared.
Leaving him standing before her, the same as he had been. Except he no longer had a shirt on. The wings tended to be rough on shirts.
“Emma, we have to go,” he said quietly. “Come back to me.”
He reached out to take her by the shoulders.
She flinched away with a whimper, shaking her head. “No.”
It was the only word she whispered, but it again sank in deep, another cut to his self-esteem. Asher wasn’t ashamed of his heritage, nor was he afraid of embracing what he was.
He did, however, feel hurt every time he interacted with a human, knowing that if they could see the real him, they would run away as fast as their feet would carry them.
But for all the thoughts he’d ever had about just such a situation like this, nothing had ever prepared him for the pain he would feel when someone he’d hoped would accept him for who he was reacted with such fear to his other side.
Asher hung his head, needing to take a moment to fight off the pain and gather himself.
It was just then that the storm broke and rain swept across them, big fat raindrops splattering on his face and bare upper torso. Each one felt like a bullet to his psyche.