The edge of the waterfall neared with each struggling breath she took. The roar of the river crashing into the basin below became deafening, overwhelming Jade’s senses. Arms made of lead kept her afloat, while her legs kicked against the current, trying to turn her around, away from the closing void. Her mind was too weak now to stave off the piercing pain in her shoulder.
Reality dimmed all around her. Her head slipped once below the surface. She reemerged, her arms drudging against molasse. Tired beyond control, her body stopped obeying her commands, and she was left with her thoughts.
What an irony to die when she might have found something to live for.
23
Dragon spurred Carellian, following from above the rapidly dimming winged figure that hurtled faster and faster down the flank of the ridge.
Two shots were fired before the assassin and Jade spiraled into a deadly descent toward the jagged rocks below and the dangerous waters of the Green River. Dragon caught a glimpse of red mist haloing the hugged bodies as they plunged, but he couldn’t tell if she was wounded.
His heart beat fast against his ribcage at the thought that Jade could be mortally shot. A void ate at him from the inside as if he were losing part of himself at the mere speculation of losing her.
At his mental command, Carellian pointed his head down and flattened his wing to the side. A moment later, they entered the canyon between Sol Palace’s ridge dome and one of the six surrounding it. Narrowing in places and with jutting terraces popping out around hairpin corners, the geography of the ravine was prohibitive for the large body of the draglet. Dragon guided his steed with soothing commands, even if he wanted nothing more than to throw caution to the wind and hurry to the bottom of the canyon. The waters below dragged everything toward Rainbow Fall, and the clockwork wings of the assassin would drag both him and Jade down to a certain death.
If Jade was still alive.
But she must be, he chided himself. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have jumped. And she’s an assassin. If anyone can survive that fall it’s her. If she hasn’t been shot, his treacherous mind added.
With an enraged roar, he urged Carellian around a tight bend, fighting his feelings and relegating his fear deep inside his heart. Skirting an edge, his draglet followed an aerial path that progressively widened until he could spread his wings. Finally, the assassin’s mechanical wings came into view as he broke the river’s surface. Even from a distance, Dragon heard the ominous sound of crushing bones and machinery.
He watched without breathing as the slender body of his mercenary detached from the assassin. The dark waters dragged both man and gear under, and they disappeared a few seconds later. Jade started swimming against the current, but her movements were sluggish and too slow to gain any distance from the incoming doom.
Although rain season had just passed, every lake and river on the planet was pregnant with an abundance of water. Rainbow Fall was at its most dangerous, the river feeding the waterfall with enough aquatic energy to power the entire valley for the rest of the year. Not even an assassin could survive unbridled nature.
Dragon’s next roar tore at his heart, freeing the fear he had carefully stored there, and Carellian responded to his anguish. The draglet flattened his body parallel to the river, his wings catching a thermal as he gained precious time in their quest to reach Jade before the current dragged her over the cliff. Dragon let his dragon talk directly to Carellian, relinquishing authority.
Jade’s attempts at moving toward the riverbank grew feeble.
As if suspended in time from a few meters above, Dragon watched the edge of the waterfall approach. He glided to the side of Carellian, his arm dangling, his fingers reaching for the water, ready to grab Jade. Her head bobbed up and down a few times and finally slipped under the surface.
Almost there, almost touching her, but the current transported her to his left, forcing Dragon up again and down the other side of Carellian. Under the current, Jade’s eyes were closed. The raging waters dragged her under and toward the edge of Rainbow Fall at the same time, making Dragon’s mission to save her impossible from atop his draglet.
Dragon’s massive build didn’t make for a graceful swimmer, but he didn’t think twice as he hurled himself off Carellian.
Cool water engulfed him. His dragon came from an aerial dynasty and didn’t like any aquatic environment. As a result, Dragon’s senses were dimmed in the liquid environment that sapped his strength. Fortunately, he could hold his breath for several minutes without the need to break the surface for oxygen.
He dove, searching the churning water for Jade. The edge was closing upon him when he finally caught the white of her hand floating away from him. He pushed his body to its limits, swimming after her, his outstretched hand grasping at her fingers. He missed once, twice.
Close to the fall, water roared loud, swirling fast around them. His legs pushed against an invisible wall and propelled him forward. The hood of Jade’s leather vest came close to his hand and he seized the opportunity, closing his fingers on the fabric and pulling it toward him. Her body smashed against his, and he hooked his arms around her waist, anchoring Jade to him as he directed both of them up.
It was too late. They were falling already. From top to bottom, the jump was two hundred meters.
Still holding his breath, Dragon closed his lips over hers and pushed air into her mouth as they were pulled down toward the basin. United in a never-ending kiss, their bodies were jerked in every direction, but he kept Jade close, his arms crossing her back, creating a shield against the rocks jutting from the vertical wall of the fall.
When the basin water finally met his feet, he took most of the impact, then released her and hoisted her up a moment before he too reemerged. Sputtering and dragging air into his lungs, he swam toward the shore with one-armed strokes as he kept her afloat.
Carellian flew down the fall, mournfully whining, and circled above Dragon, following his progress toward the edge of the basin. A narrow sandy shore smoothed out of the low wall of rocks that bordered the pool. Dragon pulled himself out of the water, heaving Jade onto the stretch of soft ground. Carellian landed on soft legs on a nearby boulder, his long neck craning toward Dragon.
“I’m okay,” Dragon reassured his draglet, who softly bumped his feathery head against his shoulder.
The animal’s large, button eyes were filled with worry, and he patted Dragon a second time, then pointed his triangular, flat nose at Jade.
Dragon’s hands were already pressing on her chest, then he pushed air into her mouth. He could hear the faintest of heartbeats, but they were dimming, and her lungs didn’t move. A mortal pallor had bleached all the color from her face, making her look like a porcelain doll.
“Jade!” He filled her lungs with his air once more, then waited. “Jade!” His emotions were a tangle of rage and despair. “Jade—” More an anxious cry than an angry shout. He didn’t stop trying to revive her, but breathing for the two of them, he forced her lungs to receive his air.
“Dragon,” Valerian’s voice resonated close, from somewhere behind him.
Dragon kept trying to revive Jade, long after her last heartbeat drummed ever so softly against her ribcage.
“Come back to me,” he whispered to her cold lips.
“Dragon—” Valerian called.
Dragon held Jade’s too-light body against his, his arms crossed over her back. “Come back to me.” He rocked her softly.
His mouth sought hers for one last kiss.
24
“Come back to me.”
Jade heard the command coming from far away, but it reached her ears, spreading warmth inside her freezing heart. Strong arms anchored her to the here and now when a moment ago she had been enveloped in darkness.
Galloping heartbeats resonated against her ear. Not her blood pumping, but someone else’s.
Dragon.
Dragon, her target, her enemy, the man who had kissed her. Her very first kiss. He was here,
holding her so that she didn’t fall into the vortex spiraling all around her. Her head spun, but Dragon’s arms kept her in place.
Water rushed up to her throat, and her mouth opened to let it all out. She gasped, then sputtered.
“Jade?” Dragon called, his voice close to her ear as his hands caressed her back in long, circular strokes.
She heaved again.
“She’s alive,” someone else said.
Dragon let her throw up more water before cradling her to him, rocking her. “You are okay.”
Then she was being carried away. She was dizzy and the movement made her feel sick again. He leaned her to the side, but otherwise didn’t slow his pace. A moment later, she was hoisted on his draglet and they were soon airborne.
She was in and out of consciousness a few times, but when she opened her eyes next, it was night again, and she was in Dragon’s bedroom, cocooned in a fluff of white linens.
The nocturnal breeze from the open window brought the lulling sounds of bugs inside. The fresh smell of red lavender salve spread from her body as she stirred. Someone took care of her wound while she recovered. She moved her arm expecting excruciating pain, but only encountered a bearable ache and almost full mobility. Shifter medicine worked better and faster than the concoction the Academy used to patch up its assassins, and combined with the nanites in her system, it had already fixed her gunshot wound.
Besides the bandage on her shoulder, she didn’t wear anything, and she wasn’t alone. Illuminated by the pale morning light of Coral, Dragon lay before her.
His body took a considerable amount of space in the enormous bed, and he only wore the sheet, draped over his abdomen, to cover his nakedness. Defenseless, he slept by her side, his dagger and holster on the nightstand.
Plans change. Assassins adapt. The words came back to her, dissipating the hazy memories of a dream made of falling and pain.
She could finish her mission.
The Academy would punish her for her first failing, but they would take her back. She wouldn’t have to spend the rest of her most-assuredly short life looking over her shoulder for the next killer sent to execute her. Her way out of her predicament had just presented itself on a silver platter. Only an idiot would let the opportunity pass, or someone with a suicide wish, and she was neither. She had left the slums of Celestia behind long ago and promised herself that she would never be prey again.
Her training took control. Jade moved in the practiced way that made no sound and slid her feet to the floor. Stimulated by the motion, her wounded shoulder throbbed. Not enough to stop her, but enough to advise her against holding anything with that hand. Good thing that she was equally proficient with both arms and could use the other to carry out her plan.
She glided across the polished cherry wood flooring that felt warm under her soles. At his side of the bed, she leaned over the nightstand and her fingers picked up the dagger in one fluid movement that ended with the sharp edge against the High Lord’s throat.
A firm slash of the blade, and the carotid artery would be severed. Her target would bleed out fast, and when she buried the dagger deep into his heart, he wouldn’t have time to shift and heal himself. She would have to decapitate him—the only way to keep a shifter dead—but killing was sometimes a messy affair. Jade preferred a clean killing, but with Dragon—no, not Dragon, but her target—that wasn’t an option.
A simple jerk of her wrist was all that was needed to put in motion the last part her mission. Afterward, her body would be on autopilot, executing the actions without her mind having to engage.
Just one single movement would end Dragon’s life.
Not Dragon, she reminded herself. My target. The reason I am in this mess, hunted down like an animal.
Her hand held the dagger hovering over his throat, close but not touching yet. She didn’t move, didn’t breathe lest he awake. Her blood thrummed inside her ears.
Dragon slept on his back, with his arm arched over his head. The letters DS were branded on his forearm, the burnt edges contrasting with his tan skin. For an inexplicable reason, Jade fought the urge to trace the contour of the raised brand with her finger. She blinked, swallowing a curse, and pressed the blade against his throat. All she had to do was pull her arm, then slash.
He saved my life. The thought wasn’t welcome, but it wouldn’t go anywhere. Instead, it took root and refused to leave. He could’ve killed you in the cave but didn’t.
Her hand subtly trembled. A tremor due to her poor physical conditions while her nanites were still working on healing her wound. Hunger, exhaustion, having barely survived a fight could do that even to the most skilled of mercenaries. There’s nothing else going on here.
She firmly centered her body, redistributing her weight on both legs, and readied for the kill.
You wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for Dragon, her inner voice said.
The dagger felt heavy in her grip.
Dragon’s chest rose and fell, his face as relaxed as his body. He slept the innocent slumber. Such a magnificent specimen of a man. A good, honorable man—
He’s my target, and I must finish what I’ve started.
The blade caught a stray ray of pink light. She looked down and saw her face reflected on the polished surface.
A fat tear hung at the corner of her eye.
Jade forced her hand to press forward, but she couldn’t.
Dragon’s opened his eyes then, and at the same moment, his hand was on hers. His movement was a blur.
To Jade’s astonishment, he didn’t disarm her. Instead, he pressed both their hands down against his throat until his skin bled. She gasped.
“You won’t have another chance.” The control in his voice was scarier than the storm brewing behind his eyes, now a deep cobalt.
His hand enveloped hers in a cage. She could only push down as if he wanted to make the decision easier for her. The tear welled and escaped the edge of her eyelid, sliding down her cheek, followed by a second and a third. Her arm sagged under the weight of her decision. Her fingers released the blade but his punishing hold kept them in place. She crumbled around his hand, falling on her knees and unable to stop herself.
His other arm caught her by her waist and hauled her on top of him. The dagger clanked on the wooden floor as he cupped her face with both hands. His mouth took hers in a punishing kiss that reverberated with the violent current sizzling between them. Her body hummed, molding urgently against his, seeking pleasure.
Without breaking contact with her mouth, he moved her under him, hoisting his torso up on his bent arm. The sheet was a feeble barrier that only inflamed her senses until she reached down to pull it aside, but he pinned her hands to the headboard with one of his.
Her shoulder ached and she winced. Dragon immediately released her, guiding her wounded arm to the pillow with a tenderness that was at odds with the hunger in his kiss.
It was too much.
Something finally broke inside her, and she sobbed.
25
At the sound of her heart-wrenching crying, Dragon jerked away from her mouth.
“Did I hurt you?” He moved to the side, freeing her body.
She folded in herself, making her long body small, her knees to her chest, her arms hugging her bent legs.
“Jade?” He wanted to touch her, caress her, make sure he hadn’t caused her physical pain.
She had tried to kill him, once again, but he couldn’t fathom hurting her. He should have known better than to try to domesticate a phoenix-panther; the fiery predator might consent to be a pet but it would always end up burning you. Still, he couldn’t help but feel this unbearable, irrational longing to make her his.
She hadn’t killed him though. Feigning sleep, he watched her under his lashes and saw how she hesitated when she could have inflicted the fatal blow. Of course, he would never allow her that, but she didn’t know he was awake when she positioned the blade against his throat. At her reluctance, his heart almost
betrayed him. Another of the perks of not being mortal was that he could command his body to do anything he wished, including appearing lifeless if he so desired. But when she didn’t pull back to sever his carotid artery, he let himself hope that the sinuous assassin could be tamed yet.
His hand left the bedding to land on her wounded shoulder. His finger skimmed her cold skin, mindful not to apply any pressure. Her sobs mixed with a long shiver.
“I can’t kill you,” she whispered.
“I’m glad to hear that.” Dragon made light of her statement, but inside, his dragon roared in triumph and unabashed joy.
Under his touch, she uncurled, displaying her naked body that was too thin and yet so feminine. Her chest heaved as she gulped some air after all the crying, and her small breasts were covered in goosebumps, her nipples rigid under his stare.
“I can’t complete my mission, but I won’t be your whore.” Her voice sounded broken but louder.
As if slapped, he jerked away from her, raising his hand from her shoulder.
“You won’t have my body.” Her eyes bore into his, challenging him. “I won’t be willing,” she added.
He seethed. “I won’t force you.” He didn’t remind her that only a moment ago she had grabbed at the sheet separating them, trying to remove the flimsy barrier. Only his will had stopped things from going any further.
Uncovering his body, he swung his long legs to the side of the bed and pushed himself up. As he walked out of the bedroom, he grabbed his kilt and shirt and hastily donned them. As an afterthought, he picked up the holster and his ceremonial dagger. No need to give her ammunition.
In the foyer, Valerian and Lars turned at hearing the door slam.
“Is everything okay?” Lars asked while Valerian studied him.
“Everything’s perfect.” Dragon’s arousal had vanished the moment Jade compared what was passing between them to a paid exchange of sexual favors or worse yet, rape, but his anger was mounting.
The Fifth Moon’s Dragon Page 8