Finn pushed off the wall and strode to face Dave across the table. “I’m not delivering her to you.”
“I won’t kill her, Finn.”
“You’ll stick her in a cage.”
“For the safety of you both.”
“No.”
“You have some gall standing here and saying that to my face, when you swore to kill the damn dragon. And now see what happened. Why keep her alive?”
“None of your business,” Finn bit out.
“It’s damn well my business. You are my business.” Dave’s fists slammed on the desk. “What will it take to get it through that thick skull of yours, aelfr, that protecting the Gates is my sole purpose in this life, and you’re the tool?” He leaned forward, his thick brows drawn together. “My tool.”
And it sounded so much more ominous than it should. Was Finn goading Dave into admitting more?
“I don’t belong to you, Guardian,” Finn said quietly but his eyes gleamed like steel.
“Then who do you belong to?”
“I thought slavery was abolished,” Ella snapped, getting fed up with the interrogation. “Cut it out, Dave.”
“It’s a war,” Dave said. “The circumstances aren’t normal.”
Finn jerked forward, shoving the desk — and Dave — against the wall. His hands fisted. “Back off.”
Ella could see anger gather on Dave’s face like a storm cloud.
“Hey.” She touched Finn’s arm. “Dave may be right on this one. We don’t know if shooting your dragon was done on purpose or not, but protecting her means we protect you.”
Finn was breathing hard through clenched teeth, but he stepped back.
Dave pushed the desk back to its previous place and patted non-existent dust from his pants. “So, about the dragon.” He lowered himself in his chair as if nothing had happened. “Where is she?” He sighed when Finn didn’t answer. “I assume you can call her and she’ll come, am I right?”
Finn’s mouth thinned. He looked away.
That, as far as Ella could tell, was Finn-ish for, ‘damn you, Dave, okay.’
Dave seemed to get it, too, because he nodded. “Good. We’ll find a quiet spot for this. Tonight.”
Chapter Two
Clear
“Whoa, whoa, slow down,” Ella muttered into the phone as she dug through her drawers for her gloves. “The what?” She listened to Sarah’s tinny voice as she triumphantly pulled out her leather gloves and threw them on the bed. Snow was falling outside and it was damn cold. She turned to look for her scarf and stopped. “The Weaver? You found information about him?”
A small noise from the door made Ella turn, her heart booming. It was Finn, leaning on the doorjamb, arms folded over his Kevlar-encased chest. His bandana was pulled low over his eyes.
“We should meet,” Sarah said. “I hate saying the same thing ten times over.”
“Yeah, life sucks that way.” Ella grinned and finally located her scarf. “So who’s the Weaver?”
Finn took a step into the room, his gaze dark.
“Well it’s not an elf, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Sarah muttered.
“I never said it was an elf,” Ella snapped. “What is he?”
“Uh-uh. I can’t tell you.”
“Why the hell not? You called me.”
“Only because Finn doesn’t have a phone. My deal is with John Grey.”
Ella considered throwing her cell against the wall, but she couldn’t afford buying another right now. “Fine. We meet tomorrow.”
“How about tonight?”
“No can do. Got important work to do.”
Sarah huffed. “Fine. Tomorrow morning. Nero Cafe, at the junction of Mason and Colby.”
Ella put down her cell and sighed.
“She doesn’t know who the Weaver is?” Finn asked. His hands were balled by his sides, the knuckles white.
“She says she does but wants to tell you face to face, because her deal is—
“— with John Grey.” Finn ground his jaw. “Faen.”
“Yeah.” She grabbed gloves and scarf. “We should get going. Dave’s waiting.”
Finn’s fists trembled and she wondered if he’d punch the door; wondered in fact if he’d end up breaking every door in the apartment. She understood the need for an outlet for his frustration, the pent-up anger that boiled behind his eyes, but if she didn’t have money for a new cell she certainly didn’t have enough to repair so many doors.
But he only spun on his heel, grabbed his jacket from the sofa and led the way out. He pulled it on as they waited for the elevator. Ella zipped up hers and wrapped the scarf around her neck. Her breath formed white ghosts in the air and they weren’t outdoors yet. They were in for a hell of a frigid night.
They stepped out onto the snow-covered street. A passerby hurried past them, huddled in her dark parka.
The engine of her old Honda took a while to warm up, and she rubbed her gloved hands together as they waited, her fingers frozen under the thin leather. Sunlight reflected off the snow, striking gold across Finn’s face and the jagged fall of his hair. Soon the sun would set.
Ella avoided crossing the busy city center and drove toward the suburbs. Last time she’d driven through the area, Norma was having a heart episode next to her and Finn was bleeding in the back seat. That was right before Sarah had saved their ass by inviting them to a clinic controlled by the mysterious Organization and before she threatened to kill Finn for being John Grey.
Ella shivered.
The street lamps came on as the light faded, but in the darkness in between she saw bright lines flash on Finn’s skin.
Stress.
The dashboard lights glowed faintly, and he gave off a mist of silver light as they exited the city. They took a secondary road that wended through marshes and groves looming in the dusk like lurking monsters.
Yeah, funny. Get a grip, Ella.
They headed toward a military airstrip Dave had sworn would be free of military presence. It belonged to the Organization, which Ella had come to consider as a sort of all-powerful mafia controlling half the globe, and he’d said his men would be waiting there to capture the dragon.
They both knew, however, that capturing the dragon depended on Finn’s control of his pet. She wondered as they saw the spotlights of the airstrip from afar whether he’d thought to bring his dragon a treat. What would she like to have? A steak? Half a cow? Ella was somehow sure carrots wouldn’t cut it.
They parked at the edge of the strip. A hangar stood on one side, a hulking shadow. A couple mini-vans were parked in front of the hangar doors. Dave stood there, a statue washed silver by the harsh lights. He waited as Ella and Finn climbed out of the car. Men spilled out of the mini-vans behind him, dressed in dark uniforms.
“How will you transport the dragon?” Ella asked by way of greeting. Finn was a brooding presence at her back, the air was wet and chilly, and although she saw the necessity of what they were about to do, she didn’t have to like it.
The men held what looked like oversized tasers and she hoped the guns held tranq darts and not bullets.
“Your men know they can’t kill the dragon, right?” she asked.
“They’ve been briefed,” Dave said and nodded at Finn. “Are you ready, son?”
Finn seemed to be chewing on the inside of his cheek. “You won’t hurt her.” It wasn’t a question, but Dave nodded.
“I swear it.”
Finn scowled, clearly not trusting any oath taken by Dave. “Move back.” He glanced at the men. “All of you. And whatever happens, don’t step in until I tell you.”
Dave raised his hand and the men stepped behind the vans. He followed them, drawing his gun as he went, cocking it.
Ella turned to join him, when Finn reached out a hand.
“Stay,” he said, his voice quiet.
“But the dragon...
“She knows you.” He hesitated, his hand still hovering in mid-air. “I may need
your help.”
She nodded, speechless, and took his hand. It wasn’t every day Finn asked for help, and if he did, then he must really need it. Together they walked to the center of the airstrip.
And waited.
Finn’s eyes closed, his fingers slackening around hers. She was shaking from head to toe. Nerves. Fear. She hoped the dragon remembered her and didn’t take her for the treat Finn hadn’t thought of bringing.
Moments slipped by, and it was as if the air thickened, pulsing with energy. Something flashed in her vision and she blinked but saw nothing but the airstrip. She frowned when it happened again — a streak of light, a murmur of agreement, and a shiver of pleasure.
Then Finn’s fingers clenched around her hand, grinding her bones, and the image coalesced into a dragon descending from the clouds. A booming noise like thunder echoed overhead and she was glad for Finn’s crushing grip, because her knees felt weak and trembling.
The white dragon dived headlong toward them, long neck winding, wings gathered close — plunging through the air like a heron into water. She began to spread her wings and slow as she descended, bringing down her clawed legs for the landing. Her bony crest gleamed and the scales of her underbelly sparkled like pearls. She showed no sign of being hampered by her bullet wound, though Ella could see a dark stain that might have been blood below one wing.
Wind rose as she approached the ground, a whirlwind that whipped Ella’s hair into her eyes. The dragon’s wings crackled as she beat them once, then a shake went through the ground when the huge talons gouged grooves into the concrete.
Ella’s breath froze in her throat as the dragon took some running steps on the airstrip, sending tremors through the ground, the sound like distant cannon fire. The creature was like a mountain of snow and ice, an avalanche rushing at them.
Then she slowed and halted, claws screeching, not ten feet from Ella and Finn. She flapped her wings one last time and settled down on her haunches to stare at them, still and terrible like a sphinx, her halo of horns shining atop her lizard-like head.
Ella realized she’d stopped breathing. She sucked air into her lungs and pulled her numb hand from Finn’s.
He stepped toward the dragon, his pale hair fluttering around his face, and placed a hand on the white, scaly neck. Ella watched, not daring to approach, as he leaned against the beast, as if about to hug her — then he somehow climbed up, grabbed her horns and swung his legs around her long neck.
Ella jerked forward, her fear forgotten. “Finn?” What was he doing? He was supposed to lead the dragon to Dave’s men.
Finn sat easily as the dragon turned her head, trying to find him. He reached down, placed his hand again on her neck, and she calmed. She puffed tendrils of acrid black smoke and laid her head down on the concrete.
Was that a sign for Ella to approach? How could she be sure? Ella looked from the dragon’s slitted eyes to Finn. He nodded at her and smiled.
Looked like an invitation, right? But for what? Ella stepped closer, and closer, until she stood below Finn, saw where his black boot pressed against the dragon’s snowy hide. When he reached down a hand, she rose on tiptoe and took it, aware of what she was about to do, and yet moving as if in a dream.
Finn pulled her up as if she were a child, until she could grab a horn from the dragon’s crest and drag herself higher. He hauled her in front of him, pressing her between his hard chest and the dragon’s horns. The scales of the winding neck chafed against her thighs even through the thick cloth of her cargo pants.
“Hold on tight,” he said.
Oh no, he wasn’t! “I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” she stammered. God, her hands shook.
“It must be done,” Finn said, his voice rumbling against her back, his breath tickling her neck. “Hang on tight.”
The dragon rose from the ground in a slow, powerful movement and started to run, each step rattling Ella’s bones. Her hands slipped on the horns, but Finn was there, she sat in his embrace, and his heartbeat was slow and steady, anchoring her.
The dragon splayed her wings, enormous like a small plane’s, and they took off. The icy air kissed Ella’s cheeks like fine needles and her hands ached with the cold. The clouds were closer now, mist and shadow.
Then she made the mistake of looking down and vertigo gripped her. Oh god, oh dear god, she was going to die, there was no doubt about it. The air whistled past. They were flying higher than the highest building in the city, higher than she ever wished to be without a seatbelt, and...
Black spots swam in her vision and she couldn’t breathe. She was going to pass out. Might be for the best.
And then the images hit. Ice palaces and turrets, dark forests crawling up mountain slopes, steep gorges and cliffs, and silver vehicles hovering in mid-air like zeppelins, an aura of wavering sails above them.
Then a jolt and a different world opened underneath — dark buildings and the sea rolling, sparkling, tiny cars moving in the grid of streets and—
—a sudden sense of loss, of disconnection, a pain in her head like a spike, a cry... and Ella knew.
“Oh my god, Finn...” She leaned her head back against Finn’s shoulder, her stomach roiling with nausea. “She had a rider when she arrived.”
He sighed, his lips brushing her ear. “I know.”
***
Ella was vaguely aware they were circling back the way they’d come. She couldn’t feel her legs or hands, but she felt detached, as if floating over her body, hazily hoping that Finn was in control.
She didn’t open her eyes, faint images still playing behind her lids — a pier, a warehouse, a ship, dark water — and besides, she was sure she’d hurl if she did.
Finn didn’t seem to require her help to direct the dragon, which made her wonder why he’d needed Ella with him in the first place. They were flying lower now, descending toward the ground — but more images of the seafront flashed in her mind.
The warehouse. One side crumbling, the wall torn down, facing the heaving sea. Seagulls crying. Dogs lying about. A heap of broken carton boxes and other trash. Warmth. Home.
It was Pier 02. The abandoned harbor.
Hands grabbed her waist and Ella lifted her head, blinking. A man she didn’t know was dragging her off the dragon’s neck. “Who’re you?” she slurred, her lips frozen with cold. “What’s going on?”
“Just helping you down,” the man said, his voice half-drowned by the wind, and against the glare of the floodlights on the airstrip Ella saw Dave standing apart, arms folded over his chest, and a cluster of men in dark uniforms, holding someone down.
The unknown man was tugging on her arm and she painfully unclenched her fingers from around the dragon’s horns. She let him haul her off and was handed down to another man — might as well; her legs were so numb they felt like lumps of ice. The man below caught her and she sagged in his hold, dizzy, her knees rubbery. Leaning against him, she took a few unsteady steps.
She glanced back at the dragon who crouched, unmoving, one bright yellow eye watching her.
Breaking the cold gaze, Ella turned forward and stopped.
Oh god, Finn.
Two men held him facedown on the concrete, one of them sitting on Finn’s back, the other holding down his legs.
“Dave,” she called out, her voice hoarse. “Let him go, dammit.”
“Not before he explains his actions,” Dave said.
“I brought the dragon back,” Finn hissed, his cheek pressed to the ground, a bruise on his jaw.
“You don’t take off without telling me. Do. You. Understand.”
“You know nothing about dragons,” Finn spat and writhed.
“Not a good answer,” Dave said.
The man on top of him pressed a knee in the small of his back and Finn groaned.
Ella jerked forward, brought short by the man holding her. “Stop it.”
“I had—” Finn wheezed as the man on top of him pressed harder. “To tell her. What to do. And wh
y.”
“You could’ve done it on the ground.”
“No, I couldn’t.” Finn twisted, trying to throw them man off. “Get off me.”
Dave walked over and leaned into Finn’s line of vision. “Explain why.”
“Connection is stronger,” Finn panted. “When flying.”
Dave straightened, a frown on his face. “Bullshit.”
“Her magic is more open—”
“Never heard of this,” Dave said. “You’re lying. What were you really trying to do?”
The man holding Finn’s legs cursed and pressed harder, making Finn cry out.
Damn, his leg. “Enough, Dave!” She elbowed the man holding her and lurched toward Finn, her ponytail whipping in the wind. “You’re hurting him. Take the dragon and let us go.”
She was grabbed again from behind and she kicked and jerked until she was released.
Then she felt the cold mouth of a gun on the back of her neck and stilled. “What the hell, Dave?” she whispered.
“We don’t seem to understand each other very well,” Dave said, looking down at Finn who was staring past him, straight at Ella, his eyes wide. “You obey me. I’m the only reason you’re still alive. You want to keep fighting me? You think you can take the pain? Think again. I can hurt people you love.”
Finn twisted again and was shoved down.
“Dave, goddammit!” Ella’s fists clenched.
“So let me spell it out for you,” Dave went on, as if he hadn’t heard her, and his voice held anger. “If you don’t do as I say, Ella gets hurt. Mike gets hurt. Norma gets hurt. Are we clear?”
Clear as day.
***
The dragon observed them with her yellow eyes as the men prepared syringes with enough tranquilizer to put out a horde of rabid elephants. Finn leaned against Ella, an arm around her waist, his face blank, his jaw swollen and bruised.
She was going to kill Dave, if he didn’t kill her first. A good reminder, she thought, of who and what he really was. Not nice, not really caring whether she lived or died. A cold-hearted robot with an agenda.
Boreal and John Grey Season 2 Page 16