by Jaime Rush
“Ruby, are you okay? Talk to me.”
She nodded, feeling the weight of her head. “I…think so.” She looked down. Her chest puffed out in shiny scales of red. She lifted her hand, starting as it flexed its talons at her command. Then she lost her balance and stumbled.
He was beside her, holding her weight for the few seconds it took to regain her footing. That hot, hungry part of her reacted to his closeness, and she heard it emit a growl deep in her chest.
“Watch it, hot stuff,” he said. “Maybe I didn’t make it clear that the Dragon part of you is very horny.”
“That would have been nice to know.” She had ravished him. The memory of it should have embarrassed her, but it excited her instead. She wanted more of him, his skin against hers, his—
She moved away from him, overwhelmed by his heat, and, damn, the hunger for him. Her Dragon wanted his Dragon bad. Focus on me, not him, silly beast.
She lifted her hand again, this time ready for the shift in weight. “I’m a friggin’ Dragon.”
His chuckle was soft and low. “Indeed you are.”
Another wave of energy hit her, and it was exactly as he’d described, like holding on to one of those bronco things in a country bar. She felt the energy of the Dragon, separate and yet connected to her. She raced around the room, a wild freedom soaring through her.
Then it hit her. She also felt complete. The emptiness she’d suffered from most of her life was gone. It had been her Dragon, hungry and waiting within her. The power! She inhaled it with her soul. She was strong, and magnificent, and everything Cyn said she was. She caught sight of her reflection, the elegant lines of her body, the spikes along her back and the regality of her face. Orbs schmorbs. She’d much rather be Dragon.
She turned to look at her tail, circling to watch it slide behind her. With her will, she flicked it. Wiggled the tip. Then she allowed herself to meet Cyn’s eyes, taking him in in a whole new way. No, her Dragon was taking him in, soaking in his beauty, responding to his power.
“Focus on learning, Ruby.” He nodded toward the far, blank wall. “Try to Breathe your fire at the circle in the middle.”
“Circle?” She squinted and saw the tiniest speck.
No problem. She inhaled and Breathed out. One small spark eked out and then died.
He laughed. She shot him a—well, she thought it was a dirty look—and faced the speck again. Breathed again. A few more sparks came out.
Cyn stepped up beside her and shot a stream of smoke right to the target like an arrow. He looked at her, a blatant challenge.
She faced the speck and spit again. “It’s harder than it looks.”
“Your Breath is your most valuable weapon. Try again.”
She focused on the speck again. This time a stream of sparks shot almost all the way to the wall.
“Good job. Keep at it until you hit it.”
The power that rushed through her very soul was intoxicating. She blew out again, hitting the wall but nowhere near the target.
Power.
Finally. But hungry.
The thought surprised her because it wasn’t hers. The idea of an independent entity inside her startled her, even though Cyn had warned her.
This time her Dragon blew out the spikes and hit the target.
“Ruby, your Dragon is taking over. Remember, use your will.”
She heard Cyn’s voice from what seemed like far away, even though she saw him from the corner of her eye.
“Ruby, come back to human. Now. I remember how seductive the Dragon can be when you’re not used to it. Come back.”
She shook her head, only it wasn’t her doing the shaking. She’d lost control. Seductive, yes, and scary and exhilarating, all at once. Her Dragon did not want to obey Cyn, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to listen to her. It ran, dragging her along with it.
“Damn it,” Cyn muttered somewhere behind her. “Back,” he ordered. “Now!”
Her Dragon dodged him like a playful puppy. Panic prickled at the edges of her soul. What if she couldn’t regain control?
Cyn slammed her to the floor, pressing his weight down on her. Her Dragon body struggled, whapping him with her tail, hard enough to knock him off balance. She leaped to her feet and ran, turning in time to see him unleash a cloud of black mist that shot right at her. She felt her body fly to the side, hitting the wall. And then nothing.
Chapter 10
Cyn watched Ruby morph from Dragon back to woman, her body sprawled on the floor. She’d landed on her side, hair spread wildly all around her. He knelt down next to her and checked her pulse. Racing, no surprise.
His fingers remained at her neck, because for some reason he couldn’t pull them away. She was out cold. He tapped her cheek. “Ruby. Wake up. No time for slacking.”
She murmured but didn’t begin to revive. He allowed his gaze to drift over her shoulder, her waist, where he saw the outer edge of her new brand. He continued to the curve of her hip and toned legs. She wasn’t a child, much as he’d like to see her that way. Should see her that way. He had no right to look at her and feel a stirring anywhere.
There wasn’t much that aroused him anymore, though he did enjoy the sensual pleasures of life. Right now his body had decided that the sight of her was one of those pleasures. He stood, cursing softly, and dressed.
Ruby flexed her fingers, then opened her eyes the very moment he pulled on his pants. Her gaze went right to him, and she came back to herself in that moment. Flames danced in her eyes now, even as they widened with embarrassment. She sat up and pulled her bent knees close to her, tucking in her feet for as much modesty as she was going to get.
He turned away, picking up her pile of clothing and handing it to her behind his back. “Look at your stomach.”
He heard her soft intake of air. “The rash, it’s…”
“Your Dragon.”
“You looked,” she said, the accusation clear.
“I couldn’t see it. Wrong angle.”
The silence told him she was wondering what he had seen. He heard the shuffle of clothing being pulled on. “I wasn’t able to get control over it.” Anxiety permeated her words. “It took over, like you said it might.”
“You’ll get the hang of it.”
“No, I’m not doing it again. You can turn around now.” She brushed her hair from her face, and he could see fear in the tight lines around her mouth.
He stepped closer, resisting the urge to brush the stray lock of her bangs back in place. “You have to Catalyze again and practice gaining control.”
She shored up her shoulders. “That’s one thing you can’t make me do.”
“I know it scared you—”
“It didn’t scare me. It freaked me out, like I’d been possessed.” Her cheeks reddened, clear enough to see even in the soft light of the candles. “And speaking of, that thing we did, that I did…to you…” She rubbed her fingers across her mouth. “I’ve never done anything like that in my life.”
“Interesting that you’d fixate on that over everything else you just went through.”
“I think that bothered me more. I feel like I don’t know myself anymore, like I no longer have control over every aspect of my being.”
“The Dragon is a sensual creature, and it ignites your own sensuality. You’ll get used to that, too.”
“I don’t have any sensuality to ignite. Why are you smiling at me like that?”
Hmm, he did have a smile on his face. “Because I know that you do now. Let me see your tattoo.”
She lifted the bottom of her shirt, exposing her long waist and the new Dragon peering at him. It spanned from her ribs to below her waistband.
“Beautiful,” he said, drawing his finger down the line of its back.
She froze for a moment, her eyes widening at his touch. Then she moved away, looking anywhere but at him. He noticed she said nothing about the pain she’d endured. Hadn’t whined or complained about any of that. Only the kiss bothere
d her enough to mention.
His Dragon tingled at the memory of her mouth on his, her tongue sliding against his. Sucking on his. Igniting something inside him, too.
Forget it. You know damned well we can’t—I can’t let that happen again.
She turned to face him. “I can feel a soft electrical current going through me. Is that normal?”
No, it’s this crazy chemistry between us. Then he realized what she probably meant.
“I’m so used to it I hardly notice. What you’re feeling is the Deus Vis, literally the god force. That’s the weird energy, as you put it, that emanates from the crystals that formed the core of Lucifera. It’s what throws off compasses and electrical equipment in the Devil’s Triangle. Some people believe Atlantis is out there because of that energy. After our people came to Florida, they discovered that leaving the Triangle weakened them. If they couldn’t get back, they withered away. Our god essence needs the Deus Vis to survive. That’s why Moncrief had to come back to Miami every two weeks.”
“It just keeps getting weirder and weirder.” At least she didn’t look distressed. More like grimly resolved.
He tuned in to the energy around him. “What’s not normal is the slight fluctuation you’ll feel if you’re sensitive to it. Solar storms affect the Deus Vis, even the flares that precede it. You’ve probably heard the Mundane scientists talking on the news about the large storm that’s predicted to erupt tomorrow. They’re worried about possible interruption of power grids and GPS when the wave hits Earth two days later. Crescents feel it in our bodies.”
“Yeah, they showed a video of the sun’s swirly red spots.”
“Those ‘swirly red spots’ are the flares.”
She made a face at him. “Why do you do that, repeat what I say with this patronizing tone?”
“I assure you, I don’t mean to…patronize you.”
“Augh.” She threw her head back. “I’m sure you don’t.” She gave him a look that indicated her sarcasm. “So will this wave hurt us?”
“It mostly affects people who are already weak. We might get tired, irritable.”
Her expression grew somber. “The newspaper articles I read at the library speculated that the boating accident was due to the Triangle’s weirdness. Well, they had the weird part right anyway.” She grew silent for a few seconds, her frown deepening. “They made my father out to be some whacked-out bad guy.”
“All I know is what Brom told me. He saw a vision of mass death because of something affecting the Deus Vis and knew it was connected to a project your father was working on. Justin was secretive about the project, but it appears that Brom’s warning was a wake-up call. Days later, Justin sabotaged his work and went on the run. For that, he was executed.”
Ruby swallowed hard. “Why kill my mother? She wasn’t involved in any project.”
Looking back, Cyn now saw a Dragon fighting to protect her young rather than a villain. The memory stabbed him harder than any of her fiery spikes ever could.
Ruby pointed to herself. “And they wanted me dead. Me, a kid!”
“The assassin was probably ordered to take out everyone on the boat so there would be no witnesses.”
“Who gave the order?”
Cyn’s chest tightened. He had to be careful. There were things she couldn’t know yet. She would hate him, would never work with him. He wanted to tell her as much of the truth as he could, though, so she would understand.
“It came through the Guard.”
“What kind of police agency has assassins?”
“Our government and police force are primarily in place to keep the balance between the different classes of Crescents and to enforce Rule Number One.”
“Mon mentioned that, and so did Leo. What is it?”
Cyn leaned against the wall. “Never reveal your magick. If the Crescent is found to have revealed the Hidden out of recklessness, he or she is terminated. If it was an accident, and the Mundane can’t be memory wiped, he dies.”
“So the Guard goes around killing people?”
“Not always. Generally they act in a right and just way.”
Ruby’s expression crumpled, creating a dimple at her cheek. “How is killing a child just?”
“That’s obviously what the assassin thought.”
“He was someone you worked with, wasn’t he? I want his name, damn it.”
“His name is not important. He was doing his job, nothing more. If he’d refused, someone else would have done it. Someone ruthless enough to complete the task.”
She rubbed her fingers across her mouth, deep in thought. “I guess I should be thankful that he wasn’t completely ruthless. Still, he killed an innocent woman. Maybe an innocent man. I want to know who he is, to have a face and name to focus my hatred on.”
“You’ll have your chance to confront him. But now we focus on you.” He would tell her, when the time was right. Let her vent, gouge his eyes out, whatever she needed to do. Maybe it would make him feel better, too. But not before he trained her.
She stepped closer, her gaze on his. “Promise?”
“I promise.”
“All right.” She pressed her fingers together, a dangerous glint in her eyes. The same glint he’d seen when she held the tip of the letter opener to his chest.
Something about her fire ran through him like a flame across a thread. He had felt nothing in decades. You can’t afford to feel something for this girl.
His cell phone rang from its place inside the cabinet. His first thought was Glesenda, but he didn’t recognize the number.
“Hello,” he answered, unwilling to give out any more information until he knew who was on the line.
“Cyntag, it’s Peter Fernandez,” the familiar voice said. A voice he hadn’t heard in probably twelve years, the last time his mentor and former boss had tried to get him to return to the Guard. “Can you talk freely?”
Cyn glanced at Ruby, who stood near the line of candles running her fingers across her tattoo. “Half moon.” How easily the code words came back.
“Understood. I’m giving you information at great risk. The mission that caused you to resign.”
Cyn’s whole body stiffened. “Yes?”
“The man who issued the assignment came in this morning.”
“Name?” His voice gave away his tension, making Ruby glance up.
“Smith. He inquired about the officer who carried out the hit, if I was sure he had, indeed, carried it out. I assured him that he had but would not give out his name. He mind-probed me and said the first name of the Vega officer. Correctly.”
“I see.”
“Did the officer carry out the entire task?”
Ruby now stood before him with curiosity in her hazel eyes. No doubt piqued by his terse responses and the fact that they gave away nothing. “As far as you know.”
Fernandez cleared his throat. “That’s what I was afraid of. We should talk.”
“I’m afraid I can’t help you with that.” Another call beeped in. Glesenda. “Thanks for the heads-up. I’ve got to take this call.”
“I need you, darlin’,” Glesenda said without preamble.
“Be right there.” He disconnected. “Get your shoes on. We’ve got to get to the dojo.”
He was halfway through the house when he realized Ruby wasn’t moving as fast as he. Soon she’d feel the speed and energy of her Dragon even while in human form.
“The demon?” she asked, catching up quickly.
“Glesenda needs us. Which means things are seriously screwed up, because she never asks for help.”
The Book of the Hidden
Garnet woke to the trembling of the castle’s walls. Thump. Thump. Thump. The prince leaped from the bed and ran to the window, she at his side.
“Am I having a nightmare?” she asked, staring at the three-headed monster that crushed the forest and flattened the hills as it stalked toward the castle.
“No, it is the Black Doom.” He gathered her f
ace in his hands. “It’s what we’ve been preparing for.”
He’d trained her ruthlessly, loved her fiercely, and, under his spell, made her love him, too.
They turned Dragon together, flying out a window large enough for their exit. Dragons, Deuces, and the few angels that resided within the castle came out, ready to defend and fight.
Opal darted in front of the monster’s eyes to distract it, but the horrible beast swatted her, sending her crashing against the trunk of a tree. Her limp body landed on the ground in a feathery heap. Garnet let out an agonized cry. Anger filled her with its power, and revenge sharpened her senses. She and the prince pounded the monster, weakening it enough so that an angel severed one head; then a Dragon severed another.
“We must fight it together,” the prince told her. “Use our Breath to incinerate it.”
She inhaled, as he did, and expelled a Breath filled with spikes and venom. The monster roared and knocked the prince directly into the path of their combined stream. Her own lance of fire cut into him like a sword, making him arch in pain. The monster grabbed the injured prince in its huge fist and crushed him, letting him drop to the ground. Like Opal.
With his death, the spell wore off, and Garnet dropped, too, no longer Dragon. She had no time to mourn or to ponder the loss of the beast inside her. Once she had come from magick. Now she would conjure the power she needed. As the monster reached for her, she created an orb of fire and threw it. While the others distracted and pounded at the monster, it was Garnet who had to defeat it. Garnet alone, she realized, looking at the broken body of her husband.
And so she threw orb after orb, but none did more than singe the monster. Then she had an idea, one that came from her Deuce instincts. She created an orb that looked like a pearl and sent it floating toward the monster. It stopped warding off its enemies and stared at the luminescent orb that very gently landed on its finger. The monster tilted its head as it brought it closer, smiling at its beauty. And when the orb exploded, so did the monster’s head. Its body fell with a force that cracked the castle walls. The castle’s residents applauded and begged her to stay as their queen. But this place of beauty had been her prison long enough. It was time to return to her kingdom and find out what was left.