dragons breath 01 - stalked by flames

by Susan Illene

  Conrad took a quick glance back at Bailey. “Not great, but Aidan says she’ll be better in a couple days. She’s got to go through some kind of transformation process first.”

  “How long did you know what she was up to?” Trish whispered accusingly. “And why didn’t she tell me? I’m her best friend.”

  “I only found out because Aidan showed up while I was around,” he explained, lowering his voice as well. “But Bailey didn’t want you looking at her differently. She’s still not comfortable with the idea of being a dragon slayer. Don’t be mad at her for it.”

  Aidan caught the expression on Trish’s face. It was a mixture of hurt and betrayal. He could understand her being upset, but he was also pleased Bailey had kept the secret. And Conrad was softening the blow for her. The man was young, but he could occasionally show signs of intelligence. Even in the dragon world, handling females could be a delicate process. Many male shape-shifters lacked the finesse needed to handle a mate without enraging her.

  “Can I come in to see her?” Trish addressed Aidan, stepping into the doorway.

  “You may,” he answered. In the few minutes Bailey had been awake she’d made one thing clear to him. Under no circumstances was Aidan to stop Trish from seeing her. Whether he liked it or not, he’d honor her request.

  Trish had curly red hair unlike anything he’d seen before—not even Kayla’s had such a fiery tint to it. Shape-shifters tended to have darker colors. He’d only heard of one family line whose offspring tended to get red hair, but they were in the Straegud clan in the eastern part of America.

  “How is she?” Trish kneeled on the opposite side of the bed from Aidan.

  “Changing,” he answered.

  Her brows knitted. “Danae said something about that. What does that mean?”

  Aidan was growing tired of giving explanations. He’d do it one more time because it was Bailey’s best friend who asked, but after that the rest of them would have to inform each other. “Two mornings from now she will wake fully healed. Bailey will be physically stronger and less prone to injury. She will no longer age, either.”

  “Seriously?” Trish lifted a brow.

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  She stared down at Bailey, who shifted in her sleep. “But what’s the catch?”

  Aidan gave her a grim smile. “She already had immunity to fire and an instinct to fight dragons. Once she has changed, the urge to fight and kill will grow even stronger. She’s had a taste of it now and her ability to resist will be difficult. As long as dragons are present she will feel the need for battle.”

  “So she’ll be putting herself in danger all the time and risk getting killed,” Trish surmised, worrying her lips.

  “Yes. She will be able to sustain injuries far worse than any human could survive, but the risk of being killed is high. Her race exists only to protect humans. Most of them die young fulfilling that duty.” Aidan traced a finger over Bailey’s cheek, unable to help himself. She turned her head toward him as if she sought him out. His dragon was gratified to see it, but he was not. Every moment he spent with her was only making his life more difficult.

  “You care about her,” Trish said, her gaze softening.

  He grunted. “More than I should.”

  ***

  “Help me hold her down!” Aidan shouted. “She has not finished healing.”

  Conrad, Trish, and Danae each took a corner of the bed and pushed Bailey’s limbs down. Aidan had the side with her injured arm and held her shoulder instead. She was struggling in her sleep, screaming and fighting invisible enemies. Already, her strength had increased dramatically in the first day that had passed. He could have held her down on his own, but he would have risked injuring her further to do it.

  “Her skin is burning up,” Danae said.

  “I told you this is normal,” Aidan replied.

  “She’s not going to burn us by touching her, is she?” Conrad asked.

  Aidan couldn’t exactly blame him for asking. “No. Her body does not run as hot as mine.”

  Bailey’s struggles ceased. They waited a few minutes to be sure before letting go. An hour later her skin turned cold and she began shivering. Her teeth started to chatter as well. It was the last stage and would continue until the morning.

  “So cold,” Bailey moaned.

  She’d been sweating so much they’d removed everything except her underclothes. Only a sheet covered her for modesty—at Trish’s insistence. Silly humans and their shame of their bodies. Aidan took one of the blankets they’d set aside and laid it on top of Bailey. When that didn’t help, he added another. Still, she shivered and her lips were turning blue

  Trish rubbed her face. “It’s almost a hundred degrees in here. How is she this cold?”

  They watched Bailey helplessly, unsure what to do to make her more comfortable.

  “I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Conrad said, shaking his head, “but Aidan should get under the covers with her. He can warm her up better than anything else we can do.”

  It wasn’t a bad suggestion. Aidan had been stifling the urge to hold her since the change had started. He’d wished he could make it easier for Bailey somehow.

  “I’ll do it.” He lifted the blankets and crawled in next to her.

  She immediately burrowed into him. Her smashed arm was beginning to improve with the bone taking proper shape again, but he was still careful not to jostle it. Aidan held her as closely as he dared, relieved when the shivering died down.

  The day and night passed with him only getting up once to eat and drink something. By the time he returned she’d begun shivering once more and it took him nearly thirty minutes to warm her back up.

  The following morning she woke. Her brown eyes were clear as they opened to stare up at him. He stiffened, unsure if he should move away and give her space.

  Then Bailey smiled. “I killed a dragon.”

  “You did,” he said cautiously.

  She lifted onto her elbows and leaned toward him, giving him a brief kiss on the lips. “Thanks, Aidan. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  He didn’t know what to say. Her reaction to his presence was the last thing he’d expected. Aidan had almost been certain she’d attack him the moment he woke—though that hadn’t stopped him from holding her until then.

  “I really didn’t need to see that,” Conrad commented from his chair in the corner. “That is just so wrong.”

  Chapter 42

  Bailey

  I stepped outside for the first time in days and was surprised to find the air cooler than it had been in months. Dark clouds brewed to the west, threatening to bring rain with them. Thunder rumbled in the distance as well. I’d never been happier to see a storm coming.

  “Looks like we’re finally gonna get some rain,” Earl said. He was sitting on a chair he’d put out on the front porch.

  “Yeah, it does,” I replied.

  “Glad to see you up and about.” He looked me up and down. “And in one piece.”

  “Thanks.” I wasn’t sure what else to say to that. Everyone was acting strange around me except Conrad, who had been retelling the story of me killing the dragon with great embellishment. To listen to him, you’d think I took it down with a fingernail file.

  Earl scowled. “Were you plannin’ on tellin’ me you could slay dragons anytime soon? Or was killin’ one in my neighborhood your way of announcing it?”

  I shrugged. “That was the first one. It wasn’t exactly planned.”

  “But that’s why you were practicin’ with that sword, wasn’t it?” he asked, gripping the arms of his chair. “You were getting’ ready for it, but couldn’t be bothered to tell anyone else.”

  I gazed down at him. “Would you have believed me if I’d told you?”

  He was silent for a moment. “I guess you got me there.”

  Some of the tension eased between us and he relaxed his shoulders. I had a feeling I’d be hearing about this for a long time t
o come, though. You’d think people could have been a little happier to have someone around who could fight dragons.

  Justin came walking up the lawn. “I see you’ve returned to the land of the living.”

  “I could say the same about you all. How did you guys get away?” I asked.

  It was still a shock to find so many people from our group still alive and living in Earl’s neighborhood. I could have kicked myself for not coming here sooner. All that time I’d suffered thinking they were dead. There were still a lot of people missing, including some of Justin’s comrades, but everyone I cared about was here.

  He worked his jaw. “When they attacked the south entrance, we escaped through the west side. It wasn’t easy getting away and we lost half our group, but Earl found us in the neighborhood when he came looking for you. We kept expecting you and Conrad to show up soon and worried when you didn’t.”

  “He was shot…” I began.

  Justin put up a hand. “Conrad already explained it all to us while you were…changing or whatever it was you were doing.”

  “You don’t look too pleased about it,” I noted.

  He frowned. “I never took you for the warrior type—until recently.”

  I shrugged. “It surprised me, too.”

  Earl stood and put a hand on my shoulder. “Well, we’ve been lookin’ for a defense against ‘em and now we found one. Just not sure I like it.”

  “Are you going to tell my parents?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “No. Just talked to them a few days ago and they’re doin’ fine without havin’ me worry them with that kind of news. You’ll need to try callin’ them later, though. They’ve been askin’ for you.”

  “I will,” I promised. It was a relief to hear they were still doing okay. They were the main reason I’d chosen to become a full dragon slayer—to find a way to save them.

  Aidan stepped out the door, squinting in the sunlight. It was still too early for a dragon to be up and I doubted he’d gotten much rest while he was watching over me. I couldn’t believe he’d willingly stayed among humans for two days just to be sure I changed over safely.

  When I’d woken, I’d caught the guarded look in his eyes and the tenseness in his body. He’d worried I’d attack him. My slayer instincts were stronger than ever—I could feel them urging me to hunt even now—but he was safe.

  While I might have been mostly insensible for the past two days, I’d known he was there. He’d been my rock. The person who’d helped me get through the process. The urge to kill him was back when I stared into his yellow eyes, like an itch under my skin, but I could resist it. I worried more about how I’d handle him in his dragon form.

  “Are you leaving?” I asked.

  He looked good, even with his black hair tousled and circles under his eyes. His camrium vest and pants did an amazing job of highlighting his muscles. I could sense the power he kept restrained inside himself. It was in the way he moved—as if he could defeat any enemy who got in his way, no matter their size. For some reason, he’d decided not to be my enemy.

  “Yes.” He took a step closer to me. “It is better if I return before they wake at the fortress and I must check on Donar.”

  “Well,” Earl said, stepping off the porch. “Justin and I need to organize a group to put out containers to collect the rain that’s comin’ soon. We’ll leave you two to talk.”

  Justin gave Earl a grateful look. “That’s an excellent idea.”

  I waited for them to leave before turning my attention to Aidan. I’d forgotten about his cousin. “You shouldn’t have stayed with me. Now I feel bad about Donar.”

  “Don’t.” He took hold of my chin. “My cousin was already improving when I last checked on him. It was you I worried about.”

  Trish and Danae came out of a house down the street, holding buckets. They noticed us and stopped to stare. Aidan saw them and dropped his hand. I was disappointed, but I understood. He’d told me after I’d awakened that morning that we needed to keep our distance from each other.

  Our relationship had to be about getting rid of the pure dragons and nothing else. Aidan was right. Our worlds could never mesh well together. It would only end in heartache and resentment that we could have prevented. For us, we could never be intimate without our feelings becoming so strong they’d overrule our judgment on anything else. I felt that every time I was close to him and he did, too.

  I took a deep breath. “So where do we go from here?”

  “Meet me at the training site in one week. We’ll discuss it then.”

  I nodded. “Okay.”

  He clasped my arm. I could see in his eyes he wanted to do more, but he held himself back. “Take care until then, Bailey.”

  I nodded, forcing myself to keep my arms at my sides. It took everything I had not to grab him and hold him like he’d done to me just that morning. “I’ll try.”

  Aidan hesitated for a moment before letting go and walking away. He’d only made it halfway across the lawn when the ground shook. It was a light tremor that wasn’t even enough to unbalance me.

  Then the sky lit up in a brilliant array of colors much like the northern lights I’d seen the day the barrier between our worlds began to fall. Aidan stopped and lifted his head to watch. The shaking ended a moment later.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  He looked back at me with a smile playing at his lips. “It’s done. Our worlds are reunited once again.”

  “How do you know?”

  Aidan shrugged. “I can feel the balance has returned and there’s a sense of wholeness in the world I didn’t realize was missing.”

  Now that he mentioned it, I understood what he meant. For the past few months, the world had felt fractured. It had given me a constant sense of doom, but now that was gone. Like it had disappeared in an instant and left me feeling lighter. Hopeful.

  “This is a new beginning isn’t it?”

  He stared at me for nearly a minute before replying. “Yes, yes it is.”

  About Susan Illene

  Instead of making the traditional post high school move and attending college, Susan joined the U.S. Army. She spent her eighteenth birthday in the gas chamber — an experience she is sure is best left for criminals. For eleven years she served first as a human resources specialist and later as an Arabic linguist (mostly in Airborne units). Though all her duty assignments were stateside, she did make two deployments to Iraq where her language skills were put to regular use.

  After leaving the service in 2009, Susan returned to school to study history with a focus on the Middle East at the University of Oklahoma. She no longer finds many opportunities to test her fighting abilities in real life, unless her husband is demanding she cook him a real meal (macaroni and cheese apparently doesn’t count), but she’s found a new outlet in writing urban fantasy heroines who can.

  For more information visit: www.susanillene.com

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  Acknowledgments

  I’ve got a lot of people to thank this time around. First, to Mary and Angela for working so hard while editing the novel. God knows I don’t make it easy on them, but they always do their best for me. Also, to the eight beta readers who were generous enough to volunteer their time and critique some of the early chapters. I’m certain this book is better for all their feedback.

  I also appreciate my cover design team helpers (Sarah, Rachel, and Kristy) for their contributions to my book covers. They help in so many ways to ensure the artwork will be appealing to fans.

  Thanks to my family for their support. Especially my father who read over many of the chapters to give his feedback and didn’t complain that I ran a ficti
tious tornado near his house. Sorry Dad! It was a big help that he could make sure I was getting local details right and not missing something. I also have to thank my grandfather and husband for helping me brainstorm ideas for the book when I was stuck on various plot holes. Mary, my editor, also helped enormously with that.

  A huge thanks to my cover artists. Claudia at Phat Puppy art always makes my covers look amazing and gets them back to me fast, along with Catie (the Font Diva) who handled the typography for this book. Teresa Yeh, who conducted the model photo shoot, is absolutely amazing to work with and always does a fantastic job. Thanks also to Isabella Capri for all her hard work prepping and posing for the shoot. I was blown away and grateful you were willing to spend your birthday getting cover shots done since that was the only opening in everyone’s schedules. It meant a lot to me.

  To Jeff Brown as well, for doing a fantastic job custom designing the dragon background. I still look at it amazed at how well he brought out the look I wanted from scratch. And to Alison Esposito at Wild Wolf Leatherwork for custom designing the leg harness the model is wearing in the cover photo. If only I was a bit smaller so I could wear it myself!

  For research on the book I have to thank Sarah Robbins at the University of Oklahoma Bizzell Memorial Library for taking the time to answer my hypothetical questions on what it might be like living in the library during an apocalypse. Her tips on the whereabouts of food, blankets, and glow sticks were especially helpful. As well as procedures for what to do during a tornado.

  In addition to that, thanks to Chris Mattingly at the Norman water treatment facilities for not hanging up on me when I posed my hypothetical questions to him about how the water situation would work if dragons attacked the city. He went so far as to discuss various scenarios of how things might play out between weather, earthquakes, and dragons. I truly appreciated his time and for him taking me seriously.

  The list goes on and I can’t possibly thank (or remember) everyone who has contributed in some way. There are so many of you, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate your help. And last but not least, thanks to all my readers. Your motivation and love for my books are what helps keep me going.