Dragon Awakened

by Jaime Rush

  Chapter 11

  I want you to stay in my office.”

  Ruby flinched at the order as Cyn drove. Though he appeared calm, she saw the flames darting in his eyes.

  “What? You’re the one who’s always goading me to jump in, to not be afraid. Like hell I’m going to hide out in your office. The demon’s after me.”

  “Which is my point. You’re not ready to fight as Dragon yet. I don’t know what we’re walking into.”

  “I can use my fire Breath to hurt the demon, right?”

  “Ruby, you’re not listening to me. You are not ready, and if I have to focus on keeping you under control or out of danger, I’m not watching my own back, or Glesenda’s.”

  Ruby crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re saying I’ll be more of a distraction than a help.”

  “Exactly.”

  “But I—”

  “No.”

  “I—”

  “Remember, Ruby, you follow my orders.”

  She let out a huff. “Remember, Cyn, I didn’t agree to that.” She hated the thought of being a liability. Truth was, she probably would be. She could throw knives and shoot guns, but this was a whole new arena. “What was the first call about? You got all tensed up, and from what I’ve seen, that’s unusual.”

  “Later.”

  “I really hate ‘later.’ It’s never good.”

  He didn’t deny that, watching the road ahead. Damn.

  “You’ll see everything now. That will help. But always keep Rule Number One in mind. You can’t give away the Hidden.”

  “I know, I know.”

  He parked at the curb and jumped out. She met him as he came around the front of the car. The harbinger demon wasn’t out front. Cyn pushed open the door, holding it for a second while he scanned the lobby.

  Glesenda stood at her post behind the desk, talking to a man about their classes. All seemed normal, except her eyes flared something fierce. The man’s, as he turned to follow Glesenda’s dire gaze, did not.

  Mundane.

  Not so mundane, the four demons lounging in the lobby. Three of them were humanoids, she thought Cyn had called them. One stood at Glesenda’s shoulder, licking at her ear. She flicked it away, trying to appear normal. Another was involved in a stare-down with Allander, the Elemental Cyn had shown her earlier. The harbinger lounged in the waiting area eating from a dish of hard candy. Suddenly, all four demons focused their creepy red eyes on Ruby, making her take a step closer to Cyn without even thinking about it.

  She felt her Dragon stir against her skin. God, that was weird. Okay, not as weird as, say, four demons looking like they couldn’t wait to sink their fangs into her.

  Glesenda gave the man a genuine smile. What self-control. “We’re about to close, but you’re welcome to come back tomorrow, try a class even.” She came around the desk and put her hands on his shoulder to guide him to the door.

  He gestured to the same room where Ruby had first seen Cyn. “Can I watch—”

  “Sorry, that’s a private class.”

  One of the humanoids slid up to the man, reaching its rubbery hands toward his neck. Ruby started forward. Cyn grasped her wrist, mouthing Rule Number One.

  The demon gripped the man’s throat, its long fingers digging in. On the way to the door, the man tugged at his collar, obviously feeling it. Ruby strained forward again, and Cyn jerked her back.

  “But we can’t…”

  Her words lodged like sharp rocks in her throat at his fierce look. As the demon and man passed Cyn, he swiped at the demon. It fell back, releasing its hold on the man. He quickly left, obviously feeling something ominous here.

  Cyn locked the door, and Glesenda made her way over, the demon still close by.

  She nodded toward the room. “Class full of Mundanes.”

  “Yeah, I thought so,” Cyn said.

  “One demon, I could handle. Two, doable.” Glesenda flicked the one whose long, pointed tongue was reaching for her ear like a snake. It flinched.

  Another one moved closer to Ruby, and Cyn snarled. It backed up, but not much.

  He said, “They know we can’t Catalyze.” His hand still holding Ruby’s, he led them back to the Obsidian Room.

  Obsidian, like the kind of Dragon Cyn was.

  “I thought this was a safe zone,” she said, meeting the gaze of the demon who followed close behind and trying not to shudder in revulsion. That’s what it wanted, she realized, to toy with them.

  “It’s a courtesy rule that churches and other designated places like this are considered safe. That no one should enter with violent intent. Whoever’s behind this doesn’t feel he has to obey the rules.”

  Allander followed them, making to grab at the back of one of the demons.

  “No,” Ruby said, remembering that poor creature at the library. She shook her head. Allander paused, its brows furrowing. “Please don’t get involved.”

  “Ouch!” Glesenda whirled around and stomped on the foot of the demon who’d scratched her, looking like she was stamping a bug. The demon backed away, hissing. Four blood-red lines materialized on her arm.

  Cyn opened the door to the mysterious room. It looked like the one in his home, but the walls were padded. Like for crazy people.

  Which she now was.

  No, you’re just part of a crazy world.

  She followed Cyn’s lead, filing to the side against the wall. Glesenda locked them in, the click tightening Ruby’s chest and clawing at her throat. The demons were now locked in the room with them. Good for the Mundanes. Bad for the Dragons.

  Cyn stripped out of his clothes and faced Glesenda, who was doing the same. “She’s not ready for this. She’s newly Awakened with one short session of training. I was going to send her to my office, but leaving her alone doesn’t seem like a good idea now.”

  “I am ready,” Ruby said, realizing she, too, would have to strip.

  “I can take her out of here,” Glesenda said. “But that leaves you alone. Even you’ll have a tough time dealing with four at once. So no, not doing that. She’ll have to hold her own. I’ll watch her back.”

  “I’m right here,” Ruby said, shoving down her pants and kicking them aside. “Don’t act like I’m such a neophyte that I can’t even hear you. I can handle this, now that I see the damned things.” They were all looking at her. I’m their target. She pulled off her shirt and bra.

  Then all hell broke loose.

  The first demon launched at her, the others following. Cyn shoved her to the side and Catalyzed. She hit the floor as Glesenda, already a deep yellow Dragon, blocked another demon. Ruby’s Dragon strained to be released, and then she Catalyzed. Power surged through her, along with a general pissed-offedness. Like hell they were going to keep her out of the fight when the damned things wanted her.

  A smack drew her attention to a demon flying through the air right past her. It hit the wall and slid down, grimacing in pain. Then it jumped back to its feet, no worse for wear. Cyn’s Dragon sent a burst of black smoke at the horrid thing. It dodged it, then reached for Cyn with its unearthly long arms. Cyn shot it again, the smoke like an arrow this time. The damned demon was fast, but not fast enough. Spike after spike lanced the demon’s shoulder, its leg, and finally plunged into what might have been its heart. It dropped to its knees where a final arrow disintegrated the creature.

  Fight. Kill.

  Would she ever get used to hearing a separate entity inside her?

  The harbinger still looked like an old man, but it sure didn’t act like one. It leaped high into the air, aimed at her. Claws sprouted from the toes of its bare feet, claws that slashed down her scales. She bumped it, sending it skidding across the floor. It darted for her tail, and she remembered how the demon in the library had gotten hold of Cyn’s neck by skittering up his back. She lashed just as it reached her tail, leaving a welt across its face.

  It lifted its upper lip, revealing an even set of pointed teeth. She sent a blast of fiery Breath at
it, burning off its clothes and pushing it back. Before it circled back to her, she flicked a glance at Cyn, who was facing off with another demon. He lunged, his fangs cutting into the demon’s shoulder. It screamed and shot away, dark red blood pouring from the wound. Immediately it readied itself to attack again.

  The third demon jumped on Glesenda. She whipped her spiked tail up and lanced it as it scurried along her back. It screamed, falling to the floor where it gained its footing and darted forward to bite Glesenda’s leg.

  Ruby’s focus shifted back to the singed harbinger, its mouth curled in a macabre smile. Naked, it looked less human and more demonic. Its corded thigh muscles tightened as it readied to launch at her.

  Ruby acted first, charging with her teeth bared. It stood defiantly until a second before she would make contact. Anticipating that it would dart to the right, she changed direction. Her teeth connected with flesh. It howled in pain. Before she could go for another attack, its rubbery fingers clamped her snout closed. She jerked her head back and forth, but the thing clung like a leech. Even crushing the demon between her and the wall didn’t dislodge it, though the attempt gave her a screaming headache.

  The harbinger’s claws slipped beneath her scales, stabbing her flesh. A roar bellowed out of her, pain and rage, and this time she slammed the thing against the unpadded door. It fell to the floor, and she bashed her hand down on it. Her talons sank into its flesh all the way through to the floor. It screeched and wriggled and then bit her wrist so hard that she had to pull back as pain radiated up her arm. The demon bounded to its feet again.

  Damn it, they were as hard to kill as cockroaches. A black arrow streamed past her to the demon, which dodged it by a hair. Cyn’s arrow hit the wall and left a seared mark that smoked. The demon raised its hands, razor-sharp talons ready to slice. Its eyes shifted from her to Cyn, who had come up beside her. She heard Glesenda still fighting but didn’t dare take her attention from the demon in front of her.

  “Ruby, back up. I’ll handle this one.”

  I want it.

  Her Dragon took over, lunging at the demon. Her fangs sank into flesh. Its claws ripped the delicate skin around her nostrils. Warm blood gushed down her mouth and tasted of copper. Her blood. She fought through the pain, tearing into the demon, hardly able to hold on to her own creature.

  “Damn it, Ruby!”

  His long, elegant neck flashed in front of her, and then his gleaming white fangs as he snapped the demon into two pieces. Its eyes widened in shock at the dark blood pouring out of the lower half of its battered body. It fell to the floor and disintegrated.

  She felt blood pouring from her nose and the sting of a hundred razor blade cuts. Her Dragon’s rage at Cyn, for taking her kill, suffused her more than the pain. Was the red she saw her blood or her rage?

  “Get control, Ruby,” he said in a low voice, his fiery eyes holding her gaze.

  The bucking horse threatened to explode into a frenzy.

  Back down!

  She fought it, pulling the reins. Her Dragon started to throw her soul back, as it had in Cyn’s room, and she struggled to overpower it.

  Got…you.

  It bucked again. Or not.

  A weight pressed her against the wall, all heat and muscle and Dragon. Her Dragon pushed against the invasion of her space. With a burst of power, she wrested control, barely holding on.

  “Got it,” she said, her vision clearing. With a final gasp, she stepped fully into her body. Cyn was about to crush her. “Get off me.”

  The regal face, only inches from hers, assessed her. “Yeah, that sounds like Ruby.” He finally released her. “Learn how to command your Dragon before you get yourself or someone else killed.”

  He moved toward Glesenda, who was fighting what Ruby realized was the last demon. It was trying to get around the yellow Dragon, eager to sink its fangs into Ruby by the fierce look in its eyes.

  “Glesenda, Ruby, Catalyze back to human, get dressed, and leave. I’ll deal with this one.” Cyn stepped between the demon and Glesenda, who immediately obeyed the order.

  No. Her Dragon again, being stubborn. Or was that her own voice?

  Everything inside Ruby rebelled at leaving Cyn to handle it, but if he had to restrain her again, that would leave both of them distracted, just as he’d said.

  Damn it.

  Ruby inhaled deeply and focused on being human. She fought the Dragon that hungered to fight. Human. Now.

  The struggle for control reminded her of the wrestling matches she’d watched on television once in a while. She conquered the impulse and found herself human again. No time to revel in her victory. She pulled on her clothes as Cyn blocked the demon from slipping around him with a whip of his tail. He was right; she still had a lot to learn. He had a few scratches, and she was battered and bleeding. Dizziness assailed her.

  Glesenda grabbed her arm, pushed Ruby out of the room, and locked the door behind her. Ruby’s lips tickled, and she scratched, only to feel the slipperiness of blood. It covered the tips of her trembling fingers.

  Glesenda was already on it, shoving what looked like the contents of a whole box of tissues at her. “Hold this over your nose.”

  “Where are we going?” She felt even dizzier as the woman rushed her outside into the late afternoon.

  “Apartment, upstairs right here.” She gestured to the upper floor at the end of the shopping plaza.

  An older man stepped into their path, his white hair and beard a tangled mess. His eyes pleaded with her, and she thought he was a homeless person. He wore the creepiest shawl she’d ever seen, brown and fuzzy and—oh, God, not a shawl but a demon growing out of the man’s body like a strangler fig. Her stomach lurched because, in that moment, she recognized the face from her distant memories. Her grandfather.

  He reached for her, uttering a strangled sound that might have been a groan or a word. Her Dragon responded to the threat, vibrating with the need to Catalyze.

  Not here.

  She jerked away before Brom could touch her.

  “Go, go,” Glesenda said, shoving her past the man.

  Ruby glanced back as they ran down the sidewalk, dodging people who had no idea what they were looking at, other than a homeless man with mental issues. Brom watched her, his expression stark.

  Glesenda unlocked an exterior door and tugged Ruby into a tiny foyer with an elevator and a wall of mailboxes. Ruby nearly tripped on the stairs, her knees so weak she could barely lift her feet high enough to clear the treads. A short run down the hall, a second to unlock a door, and Ruby was ushered into a neat, small apartment.

  “Sit.” Glesenda shoved her down onto a chair and went to the kitchen. She returned a moment later with a damp washcloth, which she used to wipe the blood from Ruby’s nose. Ruby gasped at the pain that was settling in now that her shock was wearing off.

  The door burst open, and Cyn rushed in, his gaze going right to her. “I’ve got her. Get back to the dojo before the class gets out. Clean up the blood all over the floor.”

  Glesenda nodded, releasing the cloth to Ruby before dashing out. Cyn closed the door behind her.

  Her blood. But the pain and the thought of her blood on the floor wasn’t as horrifying as what she’d seen. She clutched Cyn’s arm. “Brom! Did you see him?”

  His eyebrows furrowed. “No. Where?”

  “Right out there on the sidewalk. He tried to grab me! He’s behind this. That’s why Mon warned me about him.”

  Cyn knelt down in front of her, pulling the washcloth away from her nose. He pressed his fingers around her nose as he examined her and then gently pressed the cloth back as more blood kept pouring down. “Are you sure it was Brom?”

  “Of course I am. Well, pretty sure. I haven’t seen him in fifteen years.”

  “That’s my point. But considering Moncrief warned you about going to him, maybe he’s back in Miami. Did he say anything?”

  “No, only made some kind of grunting sound.” She shivered. “And he
was part demon.”

  That snapped his attention to her eyes. “Part demon? Describe.” When she did, he said, “A parasitic demon. Ruby, I need you to Catalyze.”

  “Here? Now? But—”

  “Your nose is torn in half, the cartilage crushed.” He stilled the hand that automatically went to verify it. “Don’t. And you’re losing a lot of blood. Didn’t you hear yourself slur just now? As Dragon, you’ll heal faster.”

  It was bad. She felt the throbbing pain of it, but Cyn’s words caved her in. “I want to see—”

  He wrapped his fingers around hers and tugged her to her feet. “Come to the bedroom.”

  Had she not been bleeding all over, she might have wondered at the alternative meaning of those words. And just to illustrate how dizzy she actually was, some part of her got excited by that prospect.

  He helped her settle onto the three beds all pushed together in the center of the room. “Do I want to know what this room is used for?” she murmured.

  “For healing. Like now.” He turned around and waited.

  Oh, yeah. Get naked. She pulled off her shirt, the tears and blood splattered all over it turning her stomach. Let’s not get sick now. This is bad enough. She summoned the Dragon, feeling the surge of power, the need to do something.

  Cyn, still human, pressed her down. “Lie still and heal.”

  “You like being bossy, don’t you?”

  His mouth quirked. “I like being obeyed. There’s a difference.”

  She snorted, a puff of smoke coming from her mouth. He sat on the edge of the bed, his shirt unbuttoned and bloody. Also her blood. He examined her body, his fingers sliding against her scales. As hard as they were, she could feel his touch as though it were on her skin.

  “What’s a parasitic demon?” she asked, needing something else but the pain and his touch, wildly different sensations, to focus on. “Is it something Brom summoned?”