by Jane Godman
“This is about money?”
“No. It’s about dragon hoard. That which we value most. What the Cumhachdach stole from the Moiteil in the height of battle was treasure. The gelt we had accumulated over many centuries,” Alban said. “Now the time has come to take from Torque that which he esteems most. That is no longer a material possession... It’s you.”
“No.” Dalton’s voice shook. As Alban cast a furious glance his way, he backed down from his initial protest. “I mean...you said you would let her live.”
“Oh, come on, Dalton.” Hollie turned the full force of her scorn on him. She swept an arm around her, indicating the piles of newspaper and gasoline cans. “You didn’t seriously expect me to believe that?”
“This was another trap for your dragon boyfriend. I was to let him believe you died in a fire here.” He cast a nervous look at Alban. “But Torque knows where you are.”
Her heart gave a wild bound of delight. “He does?”
Then why isn’t he here?
“I hate to wipe that look of joy from your face, but he only has a vague idea of your location. That’s why we’re leaving right now,” Alban said.
“And I hate to be the one to disappoint you.”
Hollie gave a little cry of delight as she heard the beloved voice she had been longing for. Swinging around, she saw Torque standing in the doorway with Finglas just behind him. Fury burned in the opal depths of Torque’s eyes. “But you are not going anywhere.”
* * *
Rick had managed to get Finglas into Khan’s hotel suite with a story about lost keys. Once there, the werewolf picked up Karina’s scent from a soft toy he had found on the pillow of her crib. He had also found a patch of fresh blood on the carpet nearby.
Powered by anger as well as his wolf instincts, Finglas led Torque to an apartment block close to the fairground.
“You’re sure they’re in here?” Torque looked up at the building in dismay. It was ten floors high. If the Incinerator got a hint that they were after him and started a fire in there, the outcome would be catastrophic.
“Positive. Karina is only half werewolf, but her scent is strong. And my tracking instinct, even as a human, is powerful.”
“Do you know whose blood it is?”
Finglas shook his head. “It’s not Karina’s. That’s all I can tell you.”
That meant there was a possibility it was Hollie’s blood. The thought that she had been injured while he wasn’t there to help her chilled Torque to his soul. This was the side of loving no one had warned him about. That giving his heart to another so completely meant she had possession of his soul, as well. That if anything should harm his mate, it would come back and hurt him double, leaving him unable to function, barely able to breathe.
He had to take those feelings of helplessness and loss and turn them around, force them to become actions, or he would be useless. He pictured Hollie’s face, her sweet, warm smile. Keeping her image before him, drawing strength from it, he pulled himself back from the abyss.
They were standing to one side of the building, away from the fairground and out of sight of any of the apartments and the front entrance. The whole team, apart from Khan and Sarange, was together awaiting Torque’s orders. He hadn’t heard from Alban since he’d sent him to check out the storage depot. It was infuriating because he needed confirmation from his dragon friend that he had neutralized the trap.
There was no time to waste. The Incinerator would be expecting to find out that his rigged explosion in that container had been successful. If Alban hadn’t triggered it, or if something had gone wrong, he would get suspicious and that would put Hollie and Karina at risk.
“Finglas and I will go into the building,” Torque said to Ged. “Hopefully, Fin can follow Karina’s scent and lead me to the right apartment. The rest of you wait out here until I send for you.”
“Be careful,” Ged warned. “It could be another trap.”
Torque turned to Finglas. “What do you think? Are you ready to walk into a trap?”
The young werewolf tilted his face upward. “Khan’s daughter is in that building. Hollie is probably at her side. I’m with you.”
The words summed up the spirit of Beast and powered Torque forward. Although he allowed Finglas to go slightly ahead of him, he was ready to surge in front at the first sign of trouble. If there was any fighting, a werewolf would be useful, but a dragon would be better.
There was an out-of-order sign on the elevator, but Finglas bypassed it and went straight to the stairs. Confidently, he led Torque up to the fifth floor. When they got there, he paused outside one of the apartments.
He sniffed the air before giving a nod of satisfaction. “This is the one.”
The door wasn’t fully closed and Torque could hear voices from within. One of them was Hollie’s, and his whole body flooded with relief at the realization that she was safe. After listening for a moment or two, he could hear that she was alive, well and angry enough to be arguing with her captor. He spared a second to admire his feisty scientist. Then he recognized the answering voice and his blood froze.
Alban? Reality hit him hard, leaving him momentarily questioning everything he had believed about himself and his life.
Then the fire and fury of a centuries-old dragon feud crashed over him. Every slash, bite and flame-filled breath of Cumhachdach against Moiteil flashed before him and he knew what had happened.
He pushed open the door in time to see Alban seal his own death warrant by taking hold of Hollie’s arm.
“Torque!” She wrenched herself free of Alban’s grip and ran to him. The feel of her warm, trembling body was like heaven. A sweet, brief reminder of what he thought he’d lost. He dropped a swift kiss on the top of her head. And another for Karina, who, recognizing him, managed a tearful smile.
“Go with Fin. Wait for me outside.” He looked over the top of Hollie’s head at Alban. Met a pair of unflinching blue eyes. “The Moiteil and I have unfinished business.”
“But I need to...” Hollie raised fearful eyes to his face.
“Tell me later.” He placed a gentle hand in the small of her back, signaling to Finglas to go with her. “We will have all the time in the world when I’m done here.”
“What about the guy?” Finglas jerked a thumb in the direction of a man who looked like he was trying to blend into the peeling wallpaper.
“I’ll deal with him later.”
“That’s Dalton Hilger. He was working with Alban all this time because he somehow knew, even five years ago, that you and I would get together.” Hollie cast a glance over her shoulder toward Alban. “Please be careful, but also make him pay.”
“I intend to.” His jaw was aching with the effort of talking while his teeth were so tightly clenched.
Alban seemed unnaturally calm. He had felt the force of Torque’s anger before, but this? The Moiteil was about to discover what it was like to be caught up in the eye of the most violent storm the Cumhachdach could unleash.
Hollie carried Karina out of the apartment and Finglas, grabbing Dalton by the arm as he took his gun from him, marched out after them. Torque took a step closer to Alban. He had never felt fury like this. It was like molten lava building up inside him, creating a pressure so intense that, when the time came for release, it would scorch everything in its path.
“We were forged from the same fire, you and I. Enemies and friends. We hate each other and love each other with equal passion. But when we do it, we do it face-to-face.” Torque’s jaw was so tense he was having trouble getting the words out. “This? Hiding in the shadows is not the way of the leader of the Moiteil.”
He could see his words had stung. Throughout the centuries of dragon clan warfare, the two sides had clung to their identities. The Cumhachdach were the mighty, the Moiteil the proud.
“Och, would you lecture me a
bout dragon ways?” Alban attempted to regain some of his swagger. “You, the great Cumhachdach, who has been hiding himself away behind the swaggering rock star instead of facing his fears—”
The punch Torque swung missed its mark. Instead of connecting with Alban’s nose, it caught him on his cheek, but it still rocked his head back. It provoked Alban to come swinging back at him. A balled fist caught Torque in the stomach and he doubled over. Alban used his advantage and kicked his legs out from under him, getting him down on the floor and straddling him.
Torque had lost count of the times he had fought this man. Of the beatings, the broken bones, the blood and the dust. Each time, they had fought with honor and shaken hands at the end. This time it was different. Alban had threatened Hollie. There was no going back from that.
As they traded blows and swapped places, they knew there could only be one outcome. They were both breathing hard when Alban asked the all-important question.
“To the death, Cumhachdach?”
Torque jerked his head toward the window. “To the skies, Moiteil.”
* * *
Hollie sank onto the grass at the side of the building. It was a warm night and the shivering that gripped her had nothing to do with the temperature. Nearby, Finglas stood guard over Dalton.
Ged came to kneel beside her, draping his jacket around her shoulders. “Torque will be okay.”
“They are both dragons.” She wished she could make her teeth stop chattering. “Both Highland clan leaders. They are equally matched and they are both fighting for a cause.”
“But Torque’s motive is stronger. He is driven by love,” Ged said.
Hollie brushed away a tear, resting her cheek on Karina’s head. “Have you spoken to Khan or Sarange?”
Her words were accompanied by a cry of relief from the open window of a car that pulled up on the street nearby. Sarange leaped out and darted over to them. Scooping Karina up from Hollie’s arms, she smothered the baby’s face with kisses before checking her over. Karina chuckled with pleasure and waved her plump arms. Khan wrapped his arms around them both, holding them as close as he could.
“Oh, Hollie. How can we ever thank you for keeping her safe?” Sarange turned to her with eyes that were bright with tears. “When we were finally able to check our messages and realized what was happening, we were frantic with worry.”
Hollie made an attempt to answer her. It was a miserable failure. Her voice didn’t work and all that came out was a gulp. It was followed by a sob and soon she was weeping uncontrollably on Ged’s shoulder as the full horror of the past few hours hit her.
When she could finally talk, she gestured toward the apartment building. “Torque.” It was the only word she could say, the only thought on her mind.
“Torque can take care of himself—”
Khan was interrupted by the sound of breaking glass from high above them. Hollie got to her feet, covering her mouth with a shaking hand as two figures tumbled from the window of the apartment she had recently left.
The scene was perfectly illuminated by the lights from the fairground. Torque and Alban were in free fall, heading for the ground, arms and legs windmilling wildly. Hollie’s every sense seemed heightened. The screams of the people watching from the attractions were overloud and the breeze in her face became an icy wind. For an instant she could almost have sworn Torque looked directly into her eyes. His gaze pinned her in place, searing into her mind, blazing into her heart.
With only feet to go before they hit the ground, there was a sudden upward rush of air. A ricochet of force that sent Hollie reeling back. In an almost choreographed move, both men stretched out their arms, shifting in the same instant. Two giant dragons snorted twin plumes of smoke, banking around hard as they rose above the apartment building.
“Son of a...” Khan threw back his head, watching the spectacle above him openmouthed.
The dragons circled the building in a tight arc before facing each other across the roof. The ground shook with the depth of a single dragon roar. Hollie knew for certain that Torque was the challenger. When Alban’s answering bellow came, it was equally thunderous.
All around her, people were gathering to watch the spectacle. Cell phones were raised to capture the scene for all time.
“Do something,” she begged Ged. “He will hate this.” If he lives. She shook the thought aside. He had to live. She couldn’t think about the alternative. It was hard to watch the scene above her, impossible not to.
“I can’t stop other people from filming. I can only try to limit the damage.” Ged didn’t take his eyes off the two winged figures in the sky as he drew his own cell phone out of his pocket.
Above them, Torque, distinguishable to Hollie because of his red-gold scales, launched a stream of fiery breath toward his opponent. Alban jerked violently as he absorbed the impact of the flames. Tilting his nose to the heavens and streamlining his body into an arrow shape, he took off with Torque just behind him.
Twisting and weaving to make himself a difficult target for his pursuer, Alban kept going until he had gained sufficient altitude. Then he pulled up abruptly. Seeing his intention, Hollie cried out a warning even though there was no chance of Torque hearing her.
Alban seemed to hang in midair before starting a nose-down strike. Torque, coming up beneath him, was flying too fast to turn. One of Alban’s long-clawed feet hooked into his lower left flank and he spun away with a roar of pain.
Sarange handed Karina to Khan and came to stand next to Hollie, placing an arm around her shoulders. “I don’t know much about dragon fights, but I know about good guys. We always win and Torque is the best there is.”
Whirling back on course, Torque dove after Alban. From the ground, the next few minutes were a blur of aerial wrestling as they engaged in a tooth and claw battle. Straining to see what was happening in the eye of the dragon storm, Hollie glimpsed Torque’s lethal talons tearing into his opponent. The hit to his upper right shoulder sent Alban reeling from the blow, knocking him off course. He fell, hitting one wing on a corner of the apartment building.
Alban emitted a high-pitched screech of pure fury and veered away. Torque was too fast for him. Lashing out again, he inflicted a long gash on Alban’s already injured wing, limiting his ability to maintain height.
Gripping his victim in his claws, Torque opened his powerful jaws wide. Clamping on to Alban’s muscular neck, he used his huge fangs to tear through the thick dragon hide. Although Alban struggled, he was powerless to break free of the excruciating grip and Torque gave him a final shake before sending him plummeting to the ground.
Chapter 20
As he landed and shifted, Torque could see Ged doing what he did best. Crowd control and public relations.
“Nothing to see here, guys.” Ged was signaling to the other members of the band to help him out. They were working as a team to keep people away from the point where Alban had crashed to the ground, shifting into human form as he fell. Forming a human barrier against prying eyes, everyone was giving the same message.
“That’s right. It was a promotional display for Beast’s new album. Glad you enjoyed it. Realistic? That’s what we were aiming for. Spread the word to your friends...”
Incredibly, Alban was still alive. Just. Torque knelt beside him.
“It was a good fight, Cumhachdach.” The words were barely a wheeze. “Best dragon won.”
Torque took Alban’s hand, and his clasp was returned. “You did the Moiteil proud.”
“No.” A shadow crossed the other man’s face. “You were right. What I did to you...to Hollie...that was not the dragon way. I guess it was jealousy. It affected my ability to think straight.”
“Jealousy?” Torque frowned.
“Teine once told me your most precious treasure would not be gold coins and jewels, but a human woman you would love. I never gave it mu
ch thought until five years ago when I got a letter telling me you would soon find her and, unless I could stop you making her your mate, the Cumhachdach would rise again. I believed Teine was dead, so I did’nae know who sent that letter. I know now, of course.” A spasm of pain crossed Alban’s face. “Even though I didn’t know it was Teine who sent the letter, it named Hollie...told me where to find her. I tracked her down, and once I knew what her job was, I came up with the Incinerator plan. Jealousy is the only word for my motivation. I couldn’t stand the thought that you would have all the things that would never be mine. A mate. A clan. A new life.”
“I can’t have those things. I’m a dragon-shifter. We can’t convert our mates.”
“Och, you can do anything you choose. You are the last of the Cumhachdach...believe in yourself, man.” As he spoke, Alban’s voice faded, his clasp on Torque’s hand loosened and his eyes drifted closed.
Torque remained on his knees with his head bowed, only vaguely conscious of someone placing a blanket around his naked body. This man—this dragon—had been part of his life since he was born. All his memorable moments, good and bad, had been shared with Alban. The Cumhachdach and the Moiteil. The names were ingrained in Highland legend. Now the Moiteil were no more. The last of their name was gone.
Dragon honor. It was the code by which Torque lived, the one by which Alban had died. The leader of the Moiteil had brought dishonor on himself, but that didn’t make it any less painful for the one who had been forced to strike the death blow. To a dragon-shifter the shedding of dragon blood was the greatest offense one of their kind could commit, permissible only in battle, or for the punishment of high crimes.
The stupidest part of all was no matter how much he hated what Alban had done, Torque would mourn him for the rest of his life. Not this man, the warped criminal whose mind had conceived the Incinerator plan. The other Alban, the brave warrior, loyal friend and sensitive intellectual. The man who could make him laugh until he had tears in his eyes had now made him cry for an entirely different reason.