Dragon Bites
Stormwalker, Book 6
Allyson James
Jennifer Ashley
JA / AG Publishing
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Author’s Note
Also by Allyson James / Jennifer Ashley
About the Author
Copyright
Chapter One
Janet
“Heels, check. Party dresses, check. Lipstick, check. Cash for g-strings, check.” Maya Medina hefted her bright red overnight bag as she opened the door of her pickup waiting in the dirt lot in front of the Crossroads Hotel. “Ready to go.”
My bag held a few more sensible things like jeans and T-shirts, but I’d thrown in my one sexy dress and high-heeled shoes. No makeup—I didn’t wear it, and with Maya around, no one would be looking at me anyway.
I’d promised Maya a girl’s weekend as soon as I got done with my three totally selfish weeks with Mick riding the back highways of the West and up into Canada. We’d camped when we felt like it, stayed in luxury hotels when we felt like it …
No battles, villains, dragons, goddesses, or demons to interrupt us. No bad storms stirring my Stormwalker magic. Waking up next to Mick every day in the morning sunshine was the best thing that had happened to me in a hell of a long time.
Now Maya herded me out of town again. I’d barely had time to make sure all was well with my hotel, wash my underwear, and repack. I’d said good-bye to Mick earlier this morning, wanting to do it alone before the hotel guests were up. Our good-byes could get steamy.
It was nine now—we’d make Vegas by mid-afternoon if we didn’t stop too often. I tossed my shoulder bag onto the floor of the pickup’s passenger seat and climbed up after it. “Ready.”
“Hot damn.” Maya slid behind the wheel and started up the truck. “Okay, some ground rules.” She touched her fingers as she counted them off. “No magic. No demons. No destruction. No ruining my clothes, my sanity, or my weekend. Got it?”
“Got it. I need a vacation too.”
“You just had one,” she reminded me teasingly. “While I was here working.”
Maya happened to be the best electrician in Magellan. When she wasn’t fixing the wiring at my creaky old hotel, she was running around our small town keeping everyone else’s in order.
“Vacations with Mick can be … intense,” I said. “Not bad intense, but let’s just say I’m ready to relax. I’ve already got my spa day booked.”
“Too tame for me,” Maya said. “I’m going to haunt the casinos, the night clubs, and the male strip shows. Nash can suck it.”
Nash, the Sheriff of Hopi County, was Maya’s boyfriend and definitely not a party guy. All work and more work was Nash’s motto. He loved Maya, and she him, but they mixed like oil and fire.
Maya beamed me a huge smile as she gunned the engine. The truck’s wheels spun and we headed for fun and freedom.
We hadn’t made it to the end of the dusty parking lot before a thud sounded in the back of the pickup. I cranked my head around to see my half-sister, Gabrielle, launch herself into the truck’s bed, following the duffel bag she’d thrown into it.
Maya slammed on her brakes, and the truck skidded us sideways. “No, Janet,” she snapped. “Just no.”
Gabrielle peered through the cab’s open back window. “Come on—what am I going to do skulking around here by myself? You should be keeping an eye on me, Janet.”
Maya answered before I could. “You can go home to Janet’s grandmother. Aren’t you supposed to be there anyway?”
Gabrielle rolled her eyes. “Ruby is doing nothing but fussing over Pete’s wedding. If I go home, I’ll have to run errands and clean the house—which is pristine already.” She switched her dark gaze to me. “Your grandmother is truly out of control.”
My father, Pete Begay, planned to marry Gina Tsotsie, the lady he’d fallen in love with, later this month. Grandmother, thrilled Dad was marrying a respectable, ordinary woman after all these years, was going overboard with preparations. They’d have a traditional wedding with all the trimmings, with a special hogan being built for the occasion. Grandmother called me often, not to ask my opinion, but to regale me with all the things she expected me to do. I couldn’t blame Gabrielle for not wanting to be in the middle of the chaos of home.
I sighed to Maya. “If we don’t let her come, she’ll follow us, or make things go wrong with the truck until she catches up. Easier to bring her along.”
Maya gripped the steering wheel. “You keep her under control then. If she gets herself into trouble, I’m ditching her. You too. I’m not wasting my weekend chasing her around.”
She spoke from experience. Gabrielle and I shared a mother, a malevolent goddess of Beneath, who was as crazy as she was powerful. Gabrielle had inherited her magic and also some of her insanity.
“Yay!” Gabrielle punched the air then sank into the bed, resting her back on the cab. “We’re going to have so much fun!”
Maya sent me a dark look but she stepped on the gas and we flowed out onto the desert highway, heading west, a stream of reddish dust rising in our wake.
* * *
Things went well at first. The drive, which I always liked, took us through Flagstaff with its high mountains and soaring pines, and then down a long hill back to the desert, the sheer cliffs and rocks calling to me. It was October, the air crisp and cool but still warm enough to enjoy. We turned north at Kingman and moved through ever more barren land along the Colorado River to the new bridge that soared nearly a thousand feet above the river from cliff to cliff.
We drove into the afternoon sun, to the glitter on the horizon that was Las Vegas.
The city had grown even since I’d been there a year or so ago. It spread farther across the valley floor every year, flowing out toward the eleven-thousand foot mountains on its edge. Businesses and houses sprawled in a tangle, but the draw for outsiders was the long road of towering hotels, now gleaming under powerful sunshine, that offered every entertainment imaginable.
Gabrielle had remained quiet during the ride, hunkering down in the back to sleep. As we pulled into the parking garage of the hotel, she popped up again, leaping out of the back as soon as Maya stopped.
Maya had reserved one room for two people. I thought we’d have to pay extra for Gabrielle, but by the time Maya and I reached the desk to check in, Gabrielle had completely vanished. I mean literally. One second there, the next second gone.
We didn’t mention her, got our room keys, and headed up to the fifteenth floor.
Gabrielle waited for us near the door. She leaned against the wall, arms folded, a little smile on her face.
Maya stalked past her and stuck the key into the slot. “How did you know which room we’d get?”
Gabrielle shrugged. “I made the computer kick out the room number I wanted and scooted up here to wait for you.”
“You can do that?” I asked as we entered the room.
“Sure. Can’t you?”
I chose not to answer. Gabrielle can work quiet and subtle
things with her magic I can’t begin to comprehend. I could do tiny spells to unlock doors, or I could destroy small towns. Anything in between was difficult for me.
The computer had given us a suite. Two bedrooms surrounded a small living area with a sofa bed, and a huge bathroom connected the bedrooms. A giant window showcased the city and the mountains, which were already dusted with snow.
“Thanks, Gabrielle,” Maya said grudgingly.
“Don’t mention it.” Gabrielle flung herself down on the sofa and dropped her bag next to it. “I’ll sleep here.”
I knew she wasn’t being kind, taking the foldaway bed. It was closer to the front door, so she could sneak in and out when Maya and I were fast asleep.
Not that either of us planned to sleep. This was Vegas, baby.
We showered, put on our party clothes, and headed out, me in black, Gabrielle in a glittering blue dress. Gabrielle was very pretty, I had to admit, with a roundish face, long straight hair, and eyes so dark brown they were almost black. Maya, in a bright red short thing, mile-high heels, and knockout beauty, outdid us both.
The first stop was the all-you-can-eat buffet where I discovered how much food Gabrielle could put away. As I watched her shovel in sirloin steak and a mountain of potatoes, followed by three different desserts, I wondered if her parents had starved her. Sadly, that could have been the case.
Maya’s body didn’t have an ounce of fat on it, but not from dieting. She took plenty of helpings from all the food stations, including a large hunk of prime rib. I ate more modestly, worried I’d fall asleep if I stuffed myself, and I didn’t want to sleep until daylight.
Afterward we hit the casino, and I played slots. I heard my grandmother’s voice in my head warning me of gambling addiction. She disapproved of casinos in general, and was angry that the Navajo Nation had finally decided to build casinos and resorts. She’d been of the school who thought the Diné should stay firmly out of the gaming business.
Gabrielle had no worries as she stalked to a blackjack table and charmed her way onto a seat. That particular table had a high minimum bet, and I had to wonder where she got all the chips suddenly stacked in front of her.
I watched her win a little, lose a little, win again. Sure enough, I saw a spark of light brush the cards right before she was dealt a hand that gave her twenty-one. I marched right over and took her out of there. The last thing we needed was for her to get arrested for cheating.
“Oh, come on, Janet, these places have tons of money,” Gabrielle insisted. “They can afford to lose a little.”
“Where did you get enough to buy all those chips in the first place?” I demanded.
Gabrielle shot me an innocent look. “Colby might have lent me some money. I told him I’d double it.”
I growled as I continued to drag Gabrielle out, over her protests.
Maya had already grown bored with gambling and was ready to hit the male revues. We found one in a hotel a block off the Strip, and Gabrielle shoved most of Colby’s money into the g-strings of the well-muscled, slick-bodied dancers.
We made it back to our hotel in the small hours, tired, but determined to stay up the whole night. What else was Vegas for?
“There’s another restaurant down there,” Gabrielle said, tugging me along a less-traveled corridor of our giant hotel. “And a chocolate fountain. Seriously, Janet, a fountain that pours chocolate. You should get one for the Crossroads.”
Cassandra, my hotel manager, would look at me with cool eyes if I suggested that, and explain about costs, liability, return on investment, and other things I gladly left to her.
The halls we traversed led to the spa, the pool, the gift shop, the garage, and a bridge to a shopping mall—the maze of corridors met in one massive intersection under a domed ceiling.
Down one of the corridors, I saw Mick.
I paused, surprised, sure I’d been wrong. I had another fleeting glimpse of him walking away from me, and then he ducked into shadows and was gone.
I knew Mick wasn’t here. He told me he’d be running errands while I was gone and maybe going out into the desert to meditate. Dragons did that, apparently. If he’d changed his plans, he hadn’t mentioned it—I’d had no messages from him all night.
But I knew Mick. I recognized his stance, his walk, his untamable black hair, his broad back, the dragon tatts on his arms.
I started quickly down the corridor, craning for another look.
Maya came after me. “Janet, what are you doing?”
“I saw Mick,” I said. “I swear it was him.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you.” Gabrielle fell into step beside me. “I talked to Mick while you were packing. He said he had to blow town for a few days. He didn’t say where, but he looked kind of grim. You know, resigned to something.”
I halted and stared at her. Gabrielle gazed back at me, not the least bit contrite. “Seriously, you’re just now mentioning this?” I demanded.
Gabrielle shrugged. “I forgot. Don’t be mad. Mick’s a big dragon. He can take care of himself.”
Except when he couldn’t. I started down the hall. There was the off chance the man I’d seen hadn’t been Mick, but I needed to know.
I called over my shoulder to Maya and Gabrielle. “You don’t have to wait for me. Go enjoy the chocolate fountain—I’ll catch up.”
“No way.” Gabrielle’s light footsteps sounded behind me. “If this gets exciting, I want in.”
Maya said nothing, but I heard her heave one of her long sighs and tramp after us, her stilt-heeled shoes clicking on the bare floor.
The corridor bent out of sight into deep shadow, very few lights burning. The fancy Italian tiles of the main hotel vanished, and soon we were walking on concrete slab.
“Maintenance,” Maya said with the confidence of one who knew her way around the bowels of every building. “The boilers and electric panels will be down here.”
“Cool,” Gabrielle said. “We can mess with the lights.”
I didn’t bother to tell her no. My skin prickled with unease, as though it sensed the electricity Maya talked about, concentrated and crackling in one place.
I caught the faintest whiff of an acrid stench—brimstone, fire, and a heavy cluster of very dark magic.
Gabrielle sucked her breath. “Shit, what is that?”
“What?” Maya, without magic of her own, couldn’t sense what we did. “I don’t like this, Janet—let’s go back.”
I wholly agreed with her. I would have turned around and raced out, maybe back to the male strip show, which had been refreshingly mundane, except that I’d seen Mick come this way.
And if there was bad shit going on in this hotel, I couldn’t let the man I was going to marry face it alone.
I continued, Gabrielle a step behind me, the rise of her deadly magic pressing my senses. Maya followed, muttering that it had been too much to hope we’d keep out of trouble.
We walked a long way. The corridor curved to the right and then to the left, then took us onward in a straight line.
The hall finally ended in a double steel door that at any other time I’d believe led to a maintenance room. But the miasma that came from beyond coated the doors in darkness, a sticky residue that warned us to stay the hell out.
I didn’t want to reach for the door handle. I knew the thing would be locked, only the privileged admitted. I’d have to find a way to tamp down my magic to trickle it into the lock without blowing up the door and the walls and ceiling around it.
Gabrielle darted forward and snapped a spark into the keyhole. The door handle exploded.
Maya ducked and slammed into the wall, cursing as the handle sailed past her and clanked to the cement floor.
I tensed, waiting for who knew what to rush out of the dark opening.
No one appeared. Gabrielle and I exchanged a glance and then we started forward, Maya close behind us, still cursing.
We stepped into darkness. Gabrielle lifted her finger, a light springi
ng from it to show us a hall painted black—floor, walls, ceilings. At the end of it was an opening, from which emanated a red glow.
The stench grew as we neared the arched doorway with a curtain hanging across it. The curtain was white, and I saw as we neared it that it was a bed sheet.
I caught its edge and carefully lifted it.
The roar beyond pushed at me like a wall, red light surging and flaring high. The room I looked down upon was vast, filled with people shouting, screaming, cheering. They were crammed together, standing, in a semicircular space like a sports arena but with no seats, shouting down at the floor far beneath.
A wave of sulfur and heat smacked my face, along with stinging smoke.
When the smoke cleared I saw a creature from hell on the black sands of the arena floor. It had a thick body twice his height, a long neck, two massive legs, tentacles, and a snout full of teeth. Not a dragon, which was a creature of beauty, but a demon from one of the many hells of Beneath.
Facing it, naked, his body covered with cuts, his hair caked with blood and sweat, was Mick.
Chapter Two
I halted in shock, too dazed to make a sound. Mick circled the creature in the arena below me, his hands spread, watching it circle him.
The room was dark except for the red glow rising from the floor and the faint light of incongruous exit signs over the doorways.
Any moment now, Mick would turn dragon and launch himself into the creature, or he’d let fly from his hands the fire that would incinerate it.
Any moment.
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