by Holly Hook
Sven fired.
"No!" I shouted.
Adler growled as an arrow buried itself in her jaw. She raised claws longer than my hands to the injury and slipped down the other side of the gravel pile.
Sven had hurt a dragon.
The den would officially put him up for death.
"The junkyard," he shouted at me. "She won't stay distracted long."
We ran together, but this time he didn't grasp my hand. There was no time. Adler growled in pain as she tried to dislodge the arrow from her mouth. I glimpsed the chain link fence of the junkyard. Stacks of old cars and appliances waited. Beyond the junkyard, there was nothing but forest and open country. The thought hit me like a train. Did Sven realize?
This would be where he'd live or die.
The weeds vanished as we reached the trail of cigarette butts and drink bottles. Adler continued to growl back in the dark and somewhere in the pit. I rattled the fence to get Sven to climb over. We did, landing among random old bicycles, car engines, and appliance parts.
"Good thinking. There's cover here," Sven said. "If we can hide until daylight--"
"You shot her," I said.
"She was going to eat me."
That confirmed my worst fears. Sven hadn't had a choice. Adler would have knocked me out of the way and then closed her jaws around Sven. He'd die just as Beowulf had.
My gaze landed on an old van. More gravel hissed as Adler climbed out of the pit. It seemed she had trouble taking flight. "Get inside," I said, opening the door.
Sven climbed inside the old van which reeked of mildew. I followed. The seats were stripped. "She'll know we're here," he said. "Felicia, what if the dragons call you a traitor?"
"I'm too valuable. According to Adler," I said. The window of the van was cracked and grimy. I couldn't see a thing in the dark and it was terrifying. We couldn't hold out until morning when Moe came to the junkyard and Adler would have no choice but to back off.
Wings flapped.
My muscles tensed.
She was out of the pit. I couldn't miss the awful sound.
Sven kneeled and took my arms, pulling me down. "Look," he said. "I will have to fight. I don't want to." Fear filled his words. "But if I don't, I will die. I'm sorry, Felicia. I have to break my promise."
"No," I managed. A lump formed in my throat.
Sven trembled. Wings beat above us and the air whistled. A shadow fell over the van and raced over as Adler searched the junkyard. Another jet of flames blasted the center of the yard, illuminating old microwaves and bicycles. Maybe she couldn't detect heat through the van. It was the only reason Sven wasn't dead yet. How intelligent was she in dragon form? She'd figure out our shelter in no time.
And then she or Sven would die.
He gulped. "I'm sorry. This would never work."
The necklace heated against my skin. "Sven," I said. "Give me your armor and weapons. I'll distract her. Run away and hide. Nobody has to fight tonight."
"I'm not letting you put yourself at risk. And running is cowardice."
"Stop listening to your father. I know Adler's weakness, and that's me! And if there's anything I can do, it's lie." It was dark. The flames in the middle of the junkyard were dying. Only the weeds lit now. We had to take advantage of that.
Adler flapped her wings as she slowed to turn around.
"I know you're scared," I said. "Me, too."
I seized Sven's cheeks, pulled him to me, and kissed him.
Pressing against his chest plate, I had to turn my head to reach his lips. His upturned visor pressed into my forehead. Sven hesitated at first, then melted into me. More heat rushed through my body, hungry and begging for freedom, but this was a different heat.
The whooshing sound intensified and then the entire van trembled and creaked. We broke apart. I held in a scream. Metal screeched. The ceiling buckled. A single black claw the size of my hand broke through the ceiling, raining bits of metal on us.
She'd figured out where we were hiding.
Where else would we be? This might be the only van in the junkyard.
"Your armor," I repeated.
Sven held me in a terrified gaze. "I trust you, Felicia."
Then he stripped off his chest plate as Adler growled right above us. I feared she'd crush the van, but the ceiling held. Another claw ripped through the roof with a horrible screech that would haunt my nightmares forever.
"That. And your helmet," I whispered.
Adler growled again. It was a challenge. I wasn't sure how I recognized that. She wanted to face Sven in the open.
He helped me don the chest plate. Sven removed his helmet and put his quiver of arrows over my shoulder. It felt heavy at first, like I was carrying a load of rocks, but then my body adjusted to the new weight. My strength was already improving. It would help with the deception.
"My sword," Sven said.
He brushed my hips as he tied his belt around them. Adler continued to wait, but at that moment, there was only Sven.
"I'll run straight out and look like I'm about to shoot," I say. "She'll put her attention on me. While she's doing that, run."
Sven panted with nerves. "Felicia, don't let her hurt you."
"Fire can't harm me." I hoped. A jet of raging flames beat a grease fire.
Sven hung the sword from the belt. It banged against my jeans as I took a step. The chest plate was too big for me, but in the dark, that might not matter.
Even if I looked like Sven for a few seconds that might make all the difference in the world.
And once Adler found out the truth, I'd have to stand up for myself. I wasn't sure how that would work yet, but—
The dragon raked her claws along the ceiling. The awful screech made me squeeze my eyes shut. Metal shavings rained down. She was getting impatient and opening the vehicle like a can of soup. And there was food inside.
I grabbed the crossbow off the old carpet. "After I go, you go."
Then I shoved the van door open. Only a few small flames danced around the center of the yard. Armor clanking, I ran towards them, dodging old appliances and clumps of weeds. The armor slowed me, but
Adler growled, announcing the fight.
She took off into flight. The lie was working.
Keeping the crossbow in front of me and raised, I continued to pump my legs as fast as I could. Wings snapped. Wind blasted against me, fanning the flames ahead. Dry weeds caught, promising to spread the fire. But I jumped over them, stopping once I reached darkness.
I prayed Sven was running.
But Adler wasn't. Once again, she circled, ready to unleash her fury. I stood there in the dark, visor down, raising the crossbow.
I didn't fire.
The dragon dove towards me, sucking in a breath.
The world turned to raging fire. I stood inside a volcano. Heat wrapped around me, trying to eat, but no pain followed. The fire couldn't harm me. I lifted the bow and whirled in a circle, unsure what to do. The fire intensified, roaring and blasting. Weeds curled and blackened at my feet.
And then something popped and exploded nearby.
At the same time, the ground quaked as the dragon landed.
I didn't know where to run. She thought I was Sven. Next, she'd try to--
The dragon poked her face through the fire, surveying me with those glowing red eyes. Her head was easily the size of me. Her arrow wound closed as I watched, with a deep infernal glow inside. The flames reflected off her purple scales, scales the color of royalty, as she opened her mouth wide. Teeth as long as a man's fingers rushed at me, and I lifted my bow and tried to fire. But it was no use. I didn't know how to use a crossbow.
I dropped the weapon.
In the split second before Adler closed her jaws around my chestplate, her eyes lit up with recognition.
But it was too late.
Her teeth pressed the chestplate into my ribs. Pain compressed them for a horrible second before she let go and let out a terrified growl. I crumpled to to the gro
und, crying out in shock and pain, as the dragon backed away from me, looking back and forth as if she'd been caught doing a fatal act. Adler refused to face me, to face her mistake. I sucked in a breath and my ribs protested. One or two of them might be broken or bruised. Maybe she'd punctured my lungs and I'd die right here in Moe's Junkyard before I had to mature into the type of monster before me.
Adler turned away. I glimpsed a purple, spiked tail in the second before she took off into flight, leaving me lying in the burning weeds.
I took another breath. The pain intensified for one horrible second and them ebbed again. My ribs were injured. Numb in every other way, I ran my hand down Sven's chestplate. It was dented. Adler's teeth had almost gone through metal.
Through me.
Her wings flapped into the night, fading.
She didn't return.
Chapter Twenty
I lay there, watching the fire curl around the weeds and blacken them. A whole brush fire had started around the junkyard, creating islands of metal in the expanding embers. The pain slowly ebbed as I recovered. Perhaps I was developing some healing abilities already. Or Adler had stopped right before she could break bones and I was just brusied. If my injuries were anything like my emotions, they'd hit later.
The stars went in and out with the rising smoke. No sirens went off in the distance. Moe didn't live near the junkyard. I had a thought that he'd have a surprise in the morning and blame it on local kids trying to smoke around the dry underbrush. That was what Dirk would report. He'd be all over the story.
I laughed to myself.
But where was Sven?
I rose, picking up his crossbow. It felt wrong to leave it there for Moe to find. The last thing I needed was for Dirk to report on that as well.
“Sven?” I called.
For the first time that night, I felt that he might be safe. Adler had fled in shame. Her vow to protect me had shattered the moment she realized what she'd done.
It was a grimy thing to do to her, but at least she was alive. Sven might still be alive. Neither of them had to die tonight. I didn't know what would happen after this, but before I thought about that, I had to find Sven again. I whirled in a circle. The junkyard was alight with flames, and they even surrounded the old van now, which was empty.
“Sven!”
“I'm over here, being a coward.”
It took me a second to see him on the other side of the fence, hanging his head. What if he'd seen Adler trying to close her jaws around the one she swore to protect?
“You weren't a coward,” I reminded him. “If you'd tried to fight her, you'd be dead. That's worse than running.”
I climbed the fence. It wasn't as if Sven could enter the junkyard with much of it burning. At least the fire wouldn't spread far outside the place. The quarry was all gravel and dirt. On the other side of the junkyard, irrigation ditches for other farms blocked the way. And to top it off, a dirt road would stop the fire heading in that direction. I hoped.
“But I ran and left you to deal with it,” Sven said.
I handed him his crossbow and listened to the sky. Silence. Other than the quiet snapping of embers, there were only the insects and a few bats squeaking overhead. The animals had come back out. It was a sign that Adler had left the area.
But to where?
“I dealt with it,” I said.
“But she almost bit you in half.”
“She realized her mistake in time and then she fled.”
“What if she hadn't?” He let that hang.
“Do we need to answer that?”
Sven grimaced. “I don't think either of us want to.”
We'd both come out of this scarred. Guilty. I took off the helmet and handed it back to Sven, who donned it. It beat carrying it.
But at least we'd share the shame.
“You saved my life twice,” he said, “and I couldn't even save yours.”
“There's no need to feel inadequate,” I said. “So, what did Tasha say? That she overheard Adler saying I was making love to Dirk in the quarry shack?”
Sven blushed. “Basically, yes.”
So my theory was sound. “Why would I pick the quarry shack?”
“Because it's away from your parents?”
“And why would I pick Dirk?”
Sven smiled. “It would be less complicated. Maybe you like danger?” At least I was getting him off his guilt trip, even if my ribs still did ache.
I rubbed them.
“You're okay, aren't you?” Sven asked. Then he put down his crossbow and reached out with both hands, awaiting permission.
“If you want to check, check,” I said, nodding.
Sven ran his hands up and down my lower ribs, making me draw another breath. “Nothing seems to be broken,” He said. “My trainers taught me how to look for and treat injuries.”
I picked up Sven's crossbow for him. “My parents. They're tied up inside my house and guarded by two dragon shifters that I don't know. Or maybe I do know them. And since I'm not mature yet, they won't let them go. Adler has them thinking I'm just going down to the caves once they're ready. Will the dragons hurt my parents?”
Concern washed over Sven's face. “If they raised you, probably not. Before, I thought they would have, but now I'm having doubts.”
“But we have to free them,” I said. “And they have to know I haven't matured yet.”
Sven threw on his quiver. Amazingly, it hadn't burned. “Since your parents don't want you to mature, and the den does, then they're not going to give them up easily. But I'll go to your house with you if you want. It's not as if our secret is secret anymore. At least, not to Adler.”
“She might be the only one who knows about our relationship,” I said. Then I told Sven about the things she'd said to me during my captivity. We walked along the cigarette trail and back towards my house.
He nodded. “Dragons do have a code, then. I guess they'll kill me if they find me again, now that I've shot one."
“I thought Slayers knew a lot about them?”
“Not everything. Mostly, how to kill dragons.”
“I'm shocked Adler hasn't returned. I didn't realize she wanted to keep her vow that badly.”
“I do know that dragons can be proud,” Sven said. “She must be ashamed about what she almost did to you.”
“But she's supposed to be worried about my safety, and she took off while I was lying on the ground.” That part didn't make sense. There was more to this story than I originally thought. "Unless her vow forces her to count herself as someone who's hurt me. That's it. Adler hurt me, and now she has to stay away from me to fulfill it!"
That one promise had probably saved Sven's life. It was the only reason she would have flown away and left me lying in the junkyard. I could only imagine what she was going through right now.
Sven took my hand with his free one. "It looks like in order to survive, I will need to stay near you, then."
Breathless, I struggled to speak. "I'm not sure how her vow works. Technically, she's supposed to keep all Slayers away from me as well. She can't do that while keeping her distance." This might have become even more dangerous. I still didn't know who the dragons of Olivia all were, and it would only take recruiting them to her cause to rip us apart.
He shook his head. The faint firelight made moving shadows under his neck. "I'm not sure, either."
"And there's one more thing," I said. "Did you realize you gave me a piece of stolen dragon treasure?"
* * * * *
Sven swore up and down that he didn't know the sword pendant was an ancient find from a dragon hoard. We walked hand in hand down Olive Road in the dark, with only the stars to illuminate our way and the dark trees standing guard. Sven's sword and crossbow banged against his armor as we walked. At least no one would try to mug us. The thought brought a laugh to my throat.
"But it looks old," I said.
"My family has purchased a lot of old things in the past legitimately
," Sven said. "My father told me that this pendant once belonged to his grandfather."
"But did he say that his grandfather bought it?"
"Yes. He did," Sven said, sounding convinced.
"Then your father lied," I said.
Sven went silent as we continued to walk. I listened to the night, but the insects continued to sing. Principal Adler dared not approach me again. Where was she now? Not knowing was the terrifying part.
I'd made her obey her own vow.
Vows were binding for dragons. I'd have to remember that. And now she was out there, suffering because of it. And if I wanted to protect Sven, there was no leaving him now.
"He must have," Sven said at last.
"I know it's not easy to face." My hand trembled in his. "Look at what I'm going to deal with soon."
"You'll still be Felicia."
"I don't know about that. Not after what I saw."
"I know you won't try to kill me. Not after tonight."
Sven's words sent another wave of warmth through me, but this wasn't the angry heat I'd experienced right before making Jens burn to death. This was different. I felt warm in a way that no one had ever made me feel before.
"We're here," I said. My gaze landed on the reflectors standing outside my driveway and the rectangular sign that marked the farm.
Sven let go of my hand and loaded arrows into his crossbow. "Just in case," he said. "I won't fire unless I absolutely must to save my life."
I had the sense that he wouldn't even do that to survive. Right now, he was acting on his training and nothing more. Because I wasn't going to get killed by the shifters, I led the way down the driveway. The irrigation system was off. For the first time, I noticed its absence. The noise had been part of my life for the past two years.
And my house was dark. I walked up to the driveway and realized that no unfamiliar vehicles were in the driveway. Of course, it was getting late.
"Where are they?" Sven asked.
"I don't know," I said, running up to the front door. I tugged on the door with all my might. The lock broke with a snap and it opened. Then with dread curling in my gut, I flipped on the light switch.