Dark Heat

by Donna Grant

  “I didn’t hear anything.”

  Strong fingers locked on to her jaw and squeezed. She bit back a cry of pain as tears stung her eyes.

  “I know you heard. He knew better than to take my call with someone else around. But doona worry, sweet Jane. Richard will pay for his mistake.”

  The way the man’s voice had grown soft and cold sent Jane’s blood pounding in her ears. Whatever awaited her wasn’t going to be good.

  And Banan had no idea where she was. She was as good as dead.

  CHAPTER

  TWELVE

  Banan stared out the window in Jane’s flat, watching the water run down the glass as the rain continued to pour. He hadn’t known where else to go. He had seen her packed bags waiting on her bed, and a sharp, unrelenting pain went through his chest.

  He rubbed the spot on his left side. The ache hadn’t abated. If anything, it had gotten worse.

  “Henri still has nothing,” Rhys said as he ended the call and put his phone on the table. “I’m sorry, Banan.”

  In all the centuries Banan had lived, he had seen it all. He’d watched wars, famine, and drought. He had been content, if not happy.

  Many times he’d held in his anger at not being able to take to the skies as he had as a Dragon King. He had even experienced loss with the death of dragons and Dragon Kings.

  Of all the feelings he had dealt with, not once had he felt helpless. Until now.

  He was a Dragon King. Immortal and powerful. Yet he could do nothing to save one human female who had touched his heart and soul as no other.

  The door to Jane’s flat flew open, and Guy and Elena rushed in. For just a heartbeat, Banan had thought it might be Jane. The disappointment was like a knife to his gut.

  He solemnly turned to stare out the window. Everywhere he looked in the flat, he felt Jane, smelled her clean scent.

  “Anything?” Guy asked.

  Banan didn’t bother to reply. He wasn’t angry at Guy for doing what was necessary to ensure Elena’s safety. Banan himself would have done the same for his woman.

  He squeezed his eyes closed. His woman. Never had he thought even to think those words, but after last night, that’s exactly what Jane was.

  His.

  “No,” Rhys answered. “Henri couldna help us.”

  “There is one who can.”

  Banan turned at Guy’s words, a thread of hope breaking through. “Who?”

  “The Warriors. Broc MacLaughlin has the ability to find anyone, anywhere.”

  Elena looked from Guy to Banan. “What are you waiting for? Call this Broc. We must find Jane.”

  “It’s been hours since they took her. Besides, Con would never allow us to approach the Warriors of MacLeod Castle,” Rhys said.

  Nevertheless, the idea appealed to Banan. If he went alone, maybe he could convince the Warriors to help him without ever disclosing what he was.

  When Con found out—and he would find out—there would be hell to pay.

  Banan would take whatever came his way as long as Jane was free. The only way he could contact Broc, however, was to go alone. Something Rhys and Guy wouldn’t allow if they knew his plans.

  He didn’t have time to go all the way to MacLeod Castle, but then again, he didn’t have to. He had Henri North as a friend.

  “I’m going to go to the warehouse district. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find her,” Banan said as he headed to the door.

  He glanced at his watch to see it was after six in the evening. The rainstorm had turned the sky a nasty shade of gray, and the rumbling thunder announced that the storm was only going to get worse.

  “Banan, wait,” Guy said.

  But he was past waiting. He’d been waiting for hours, hoping whoever had Jane would call, since all his other leads at finding her were gone.

  “Dammit, wait!” Guy yelled.

  Banan took his hand off the doorknob and turned to his friend. “What? I can no’ stay here another minute. Jane could already be dead. And I’ve done nothing.”

  “Not nothing,” Elena said. “Guy is trying to tell you what I told him. He wants to explain why he didn’t follow Jane.”

  “I know why,” Banan said before Elena could say more. “And I understand. I doona blame Guy.”

  Elena set down her purse and threaded her fingers with Guy’s. “Richard ordered me to lunch, Banan. Actually ordered me. He’s never spoken to me that way before. He was … scared. That’s the only way I can explain it.”

  Banan crossed his arms over his chest and waited for the rest.

  “He was in my office when Jane came to PureGems. I never saw her, and I don’t believe Richard knew anything about her being taken.”

  “So,” Banan stated.

  Elena licked her lips and glanced at Guy. “What I’m trying to tell you is that when we went to the restaurant, Richard didn’t eat. He drank. Heavily. But he never ate. He didn’t talk much either, just kept looking around him as if he expected to see someone show up at any moment.”

  Banan dropped his arms as he realized what had happened. “Arnold might no’ know they wanted to take Jane, but I’m guessing that somehow he knew Jane found the number of the person who called Arnold the other day.”

  “Aye,” Rhys said. “Arnold must know they’re coming for him.”

  Guy rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “It must be the others, because Arnold has no way of knowing we’re closing in on him. Besides, he’s no’ the big fish we want. We want the man controlling him.”

  “True, but we didn’t know about the bigger fish,” Elena pointed out. “Not until we began to look into Richard.”

  “None of this is helping Jane, or helping me find her,” Banan said, and ran a hand down his face. “All this tells me is that whoever this bastard is, he’s two steps ahead of us at all times. And he knows what we are.”

  Rhys scooted back his chair and stood. “Which shouldna be possible. But how do we find this arsehole?”

  “Good question.” Banan reached for the doorknob again, only to have Guy’s voice stop him.

  “There’s no need to go to Henri for Broc’s mobile number.”

  Banan slowly turned to his friends. “I doona know what you’re talking about. I already said it wouldna be a good idea to contact the Warriors.”

  “Aye, so you did,” Rhys said with a cocky grin. “That doesna mean we shouldna do it.”

  Banan looked at them and found his lips tilting up in a smile. “I’ve wasted enough time. Call him now. I need to find Jane. And Rhys, see if Henri can put a tracker on Arnold’s mobile so we can see where he’s at.”

  Guy already had his mobile out when Banan’s phone rang. He pulled it from his back pocket to see PRIVATE CALLER show up on his screen.

  “Aye?” Banan answered the call.

  “Tell me, Banan, how does it feel to have something taken from you that you care about?”

  Banan knew instantly the man was referring to Jane. He squeezed the phone until he heard it crack. Rage burned within him, urging him to find whoever the man was and crush him with one stomp of his massive dragon paw.

  “Are you there, Banan? Don’t tell me you’re too angry to speak. I thought you were the one Dragon King who didn’t allow emotion into his life.”

  Banan took a deep breath and swung his gaze to Rhys and Guy, who had moved closer to him. He lowered the phone and put it on speaker so everyone could hear.

  “Who are you?” Banan demanded of the caller.

  The man laughed softly. “Oh, you’ll never figure that out. Trust me. But, that’s not why I’m calling. I’m calling because I have a sweet morsel in my possession.”

  “Leave Jane alone,” Banan stated angrily.

  It was too long since he’d felt the need for battle. How Banan longed for it now. He wanted to shift, to spread his wings and take to the sky. He yearned to use his dragon sight to hunt down the scum who dared to touch Jane.

  And then Banan would rip him apart with his teeth.

  �
�Jane got herself in this situation,” the man said. “Or should I say you got her in this. It was you, after all, who sent her searching in Richard’s desk. It was you who got to know her. If only you’d left her alone, then we would’ve left her alone. She is quite the beauty, I must say.”

  “If you’ve laid one hand on her!” Banan bellowed.

  “He’s been following Jane,” Guy mouthed. “It’s the only explanation.”

  Banan hated that his friend was probably right.

  The man’s laughter cut through Banan’s thoughts. “What are you going to do? Not even your MI5 friend could help you. With all your power, with all your magic … with all your immortality, you’re powerless, Banan. I’m going to make sure each of the Kings feels such helplessness. And I’m starting with you.”

  “Why?”

  In answer, Banan heard a scream, a scream he recognized as Jane’s. His gut twisted, and anguish snaked through him.

  “Jane has given us all the information we need. Her time is up,” the man said.

  “Nay!” Banan yelled, but it was too late. The call had ended.

  The mobile fell from his numb fingers to bounce on the carpet. Jane was still alive, but not for very long. He had precious few moments to find her.

  There was no longer time to call the Warrior Broc. There was only one way Banan could find Jane.

  He lifted his gaze to find Rhys and Guy watching him. There was no need for words. They all knew what had to happen.

  “The storm is getting worse,” Rhys said.

  Guy nodded. “It’ll be to your advantage, Banan.”

  “They’ll never expect you.”

  “Nay, they willna,” Banan said, and removed his boots and socks.

  “Uh … not to interrupt,” Elena said as she moved to stand beside Guy. “But what the hell are you three talking about?”

  Banan smiled weakly. “I’m going to risk everything we are as Dragon Kings.”

  “Oh, God,” Elena said, and covered her mouth with her hand.

  Rhys took off his shoes as well and rubbed his hands together. “I’m coming with you. No way I’m going to miss this.”

  “Nay,” Banan said. “I’m risking too much. I might be able to get away with it, but there’s no way people will miss two dragons in the sky.”

  “You’re no’ going alone.” The smile was gone from Rhys’s face, and the hard edge of a Dragon King took its place.

  Guy opened the door for them. “Go. I’ll contact Con.”

  Rhys was the first out the door, but Banan hung back. He looked at Guy and Elena. “Get Elena to safety. Doona risk her life any more.”

  “I doona plan on it.”

  With a nod to Elena, Banan hurried out of Jane’s building and into the rain. He lifted his face to the sky. It had been a Dragon King’s place to protect the humans, but this night Banan was going to break his oath.

  He was going to kill a human. And rejoice in it.

  “Come on!” Rhys shouted over the rain.

  Banan lowered his head and took off at a run to catch up with Rhys. Together they weaved their way to the outskirts of London. They were too large, as dragons, to shift where they were. It was going to take privacy.

  Fortunately for them, the sky had grown even darker, and people were in such a hurry to get out of the rain, they never looked up.

  By the time they reached a safe spot, the urgency pushing Banan was too much. He barely spared Rhys a glance before he closed his eyes and shifted.

  The change happened in an instant. He turned his great head first one way, then the other. Another second was spent stretching out his wings.

  It felt so good to be in dragon form that for just an instant he forgot his mission. All too soon, the memory of Jane’s scream echoed through his mind.

  “Ready?” Rhys’s voice sounded in his head.

  Banan gave a nod and jumped into the air. The rush of wind as his wings caught a current sent excitement through him. It had been too long since he was in his true form. Too long to deny what he truly was.

  It wasn’t right he was getting such a thrill of being in dragon form in order to save the woman who he had fallen in love with.

  Banan climbed higher and higher in the sky, soaring in between the clouds as his vision locked on the warehouse area of London. He could see heat signatures through the buildings.

  They appeared like bright orange figures, but picking out which one might be Jane wasn’t so easy.

  The many passes he made over the warehouses were blurred as he got closer and closer, hoping to see or hear Jane. He’d do anything if he could detect where she was.

  His heart clenched when he heard her terrified scream. With a roar, he rolled and turned to fly back the way he had come. She screamed again, and it helped him home in on the warehouse. He gave a roar that was drowned out by thunder.

  And then dived toward the warehouse.

  CHAPTER

  THIRTEEN

  Jane screamed and stumbled backward, tripping over her feet and nearly falling as her eyes locked on Richard Arnold, who pleaded for his life to the thug with the gun. The goon wasn’t the same man who had threatened her earlier, but that made little difference.

  Villains were villains, and the one holding the gun—along with his malicious smile—stated just how much he enjoyed killing.

  For the briefest of moments, when Richard had walked into the warehouse, Jane had thought he was in charge. It had taken less than a heartbeat to realize he was being dragged to the warehouse kicking and screaming.

  Richard was merely a pawn. A gamepiece whoever ran this criminal enterprise was all too happy to be rid of.

  “Richard, Richard, Richard,” said a familiar voice from the shadows. “I warned you what would happen if anyone discovered what you were up to.”

  Jane searched the darkness for a face. Whoever the man was, he went to great lengths to keep his face from being seen. But why? If they were going to kill her, what did it matter if she saw him?

  Richard glanced at her before he looked at the shadowy figure. “Please. You know how valuable I can be to you. My connections—”

  “I didna contact you for your connections!” the voice bellowed angrily.

  Once more, the brogue was all too clear. Jane took another step back as she tried to distance herself from Richard and the man with the gun.

  “She didn’t hear anything!” Richard yelled.

  He opened his mouth to say more, but the gun exploded. Jane screamed and watched as red blossomed over Richard’s heart, staining his white shirt.

  Richard turned toward her as his legs gave out. He landed hard on his knees, and then fell to the side. His arm was stretched out to her, and his eyes wide.

  Jane couldn’t tear her gaze away from him. She’d seen violent movies, but that was nothing compared to seeing someone killed in real life. It was shocking, appalling. Horrifying.

  And it was something she would never forget.

  Movement from the thug made her look at him. Only to find the gun now pointed at her. She hadn’t understood when they untied her wrists after hours of interrogation in which she had lied beautifully, but now she did. They wanted her to run, wanted to chase her. Like some kind of quarry.

  Every instinct yelled for her to move, but fear rooted her.

  “Banan,” she whispered, hating that she would never see him again.

  She drew in a deep, shaky breath and readied for the sound of the gun going off. Instead, something crashed through the top of the warehouse.

  Jane turned away, raising her arms to block her face from the shower of debris that fell on her. She stumbled against the back wall and quickly covered her ears against the roar that nearly busted her eardrums.

  She chanced a look to see what had happened, and stood in stunned disbelief at the massive midnight blue dragon who now stood in the warehouse. Jane blinked through the torrent of water that drenched her to find the dragon’s gemlike sapphire scales glistening from the rain.<
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  The dragon had a thick body with a long neck and a tail with what looked like a spiked ball at the end of it. The dragon used that tail, whipping it to the side to take out more men Jane had never even known were there.

  One of the dragon’s large feet with four digits slammed into the floor as it roared again. It was then she noticed the wings tucked against the dragon’s body along with the rows of tendrils that ran from the base of its skull down its back to the tip of its tail.

  She couldn’t quite believe what she was looking at. And then the dragon’s colossal head swung toward her. She let her gaze look from the four horns extending backwards from its forehead to the rows of teeth she glimpsed. Jane knew the instant the dragon’s amber eyes trained on her.

  Her heart leaped in her throat. Was this how she would die? Not by a bullet, but by a creature that surely couldn’t exist?

  There was movement near her. Jane watched the thug shoving away debris as he gained his feet. He took one look at her and raised his gun.

  The dragon let out another deafening roar before it clamped down on the brute with its sharp teeth and tossed him in the air.

  Jane followed the thug’s soar, both elated that he was gone and frightened of what would now happen to her. She was about to look away, when she spotted something yellow dip from the sky.

  A shriek lodged in her throat when she saw the second dragon, which quickly ate the gunman.

  Jane waited until the blue dragon was busy swatting more men with its tail before she began looking for a way out. She fled behind a wall where the roof still covered the warehouse and anxiously looked for some kind of door.

  When she found nothing, she turned to retrace her footsteps and found a man standing in her way. His face, along with most of his body, was shrouded in the shadows, but she knew who it was. Despite all the yells from the dying men and the roars of the dragons, this man didn’t seem fazed.

  “You aren’t afraid,” she commented.

  He shrugged. “It’s not the first time I’ve seen dragons. What do you think of them? Are you frightened, Jane?”

  She was terrified, but she wouldn’t tell him that. “Move.”