by Amelia Jade
“I AM KALLORE!”
The force of his voice tossed the men back like ragdolls.
Chapter Sixteen
Kallore
They had pushed too far, and too hard. Cutprice and the others had insulted Elin too much. She had fought hard, and done her best to settle things her way, peacefully and through words. Kallore had stayed calm and done as she’d asked. After all, she was his mate and he needed to learn to listen to her sometimes.
Now though, as she darted from the room and he used the power of his voice to rid himself of the fastest responders, he decided it was time they learned to properly respect him, while at the same time paying for their treatment of his mate. Nobody talked to her that way while he was around. Not if they wished to escape unharmed.
A bullet whined as it impacted off his chest. The force of the blow swayed him slightly, but the dragonbone armor rose to his defense as always, pushing up through his skin. Ridged and bony it covered him in a lightweight layer of protection that he doubted even the best of their automatics could handle.
“I want him alive!” Moore shouted as more bullets fell to the ground at Kallore’s feet or bounced back in a different direction. Behind him Knefferson watched impassively on the screen.
Kallore’s right hand shot out and summoned the flames at long last. They started to form in his palm, curling around themselves into a long cylinder that flickered with orange-red heat, but didn’t burn his skin. Lifting his hand with a wicked grin, he snapped it back down. A length of fire cracked through the air with a snap-hiss before it fell to the ground in a coil at his feet.
“Shall we?” he challenged, holding the whip made of pure fire at his side.
“Don’t just stand there, get him!” Moore shouted, holding a pistol in one hand, pointed in Kal’s direction.
Faster than the men could blink Kal’s hand flicked out. The firewhip simply sliced through the barrel of the weapon, leaving the metal molten-hot, several droplets falling through the grating before it cooled. Sparks flew and some of the screens went dead as the liquid metal hit critical wiring.
Whirling it around, he flicked his hand out again, this time the fire slicing through a wicked-looking device two men were trying to manhandle onto a tripod. The weapon malfunctioned and went off. Kal watched as the projectile expanded and became a net. It hit three of the other men and he could see the electricity coursing through it. That looked painful.
“Stop him!” Moore shrieked, spittle flying from his mouth as Kallore advanced on the flabby figure in the overly fancy dress uniform.
Men charged at Kallore, but he fended them off with the whip at first, then his hand and even a foot. The firewhip lashed out, wrapping itself around one of the men. It burned through his clothing but at a command from Kallore it did little more than singe his skin. The soldier seemed hopeful until Kallore yanked on his end. The man flew through the air, taking out a handful of his comrades as he went, tumbling them all to the ground.
Like the general, Kallore wanted to ensure nobody died. That would be detrimental to the point he was trying to prove. Men flew away from him like so much shrapnel, barely slowing him down as he approached the general.
Someone drew a blade and sliced it down at his arm. Kallore hissed as the metal scored a hit. The armor protected against impact, but slicing was different, and his blood spattered on the ground. The men reacted with renewed energy, more of them drawing blades.
“Kallore look out, behind you!” Elin screamed from the doorway.
He spun without hesitating, trusting his mate’s words implicitly. He brought up his left arm and willed a shield of fire into place. The metal blade impacted the burning field and simply melted, slogging off it and dripping to the ground. More sparks flew and half the lights went out as the melt burnt more wires.
Kallore reared back and shoved his huge booted foot into the man. The soldier saw it coming, but had no way of avoiding it. Kallore didn’t stop to see the expression on his face.
“ENOUGH!” he roared, a trio of men in range thrown to the ground by his voice.
“You will stop him or I’ll have you shot for insubordination!” Moore ordered, standing tall next to the command table.
Behind him Knefferson reacted to the command with a wince. Obviously not the best strategy, but he wasn’t the man on the scene, so all he could do was watch.
Watch as Kallore dismantled the entire squad of twenty-four men, beating them to within an inch of their lives in some cases, but never did he cross the line, carefully reining in his temper, much as he wished to unleash hell on the assholes.
Finally there was nobody left standing except for Moore, Kallore, and behind him, Elin.
“It’s over, General,” he said, facing Knefferson, completely ignoring General Moore. “I told you, I do not fight for you.” He stabbed a finger at the screen, letting flames play over it to add to the impact of his statement. “I fight for her.” He looked down as Elin joined him at his side, though she kept a professional distance.
“What do you want?” Knefferson said at last.
Kallore rolled his eyes and shook his head. “That’s the wrong question, General. I’ve already told you what I want. It was in the reports. I want my treasure, and I want my mate. I’ve got one, and I’m still waiting on you to deliver the other.”
“It’s coming. You have my word.”
He laughed. Once. “Your word means nothing. You have no honor.”
Knefferson fumed, but said nothing.
“You shouldn’t be asking me anything, General,” he added. “I’m not part of your military, something you need to understand. You don’t own me, you don’t command me, I am here of my own free will. There is nothing you can do to stop me. If you wish me to stay, the you need to listen to Colonel Mara here.”
“The Major is—”
“I didn’t misspeak, General,” he said warningly.
Knefferson raged impotently for several long minutes. “Fine. Colonel Mara it is. I suppose you wish to keep her as base commander?”
“That depends, General.”
“On what?”
“Do you want to win the war or not? If you do, you’re going to need her here when you wake them up.”
“What makes you think we’re going to be waking any more of your kind up?”
Kallore smiled icily. “General, I’ve seen the footage. I know what you’re up against. You’re going to need more of my kind. Lots more. And they’re going to want treasure, and they’re also going to want their mates. So be prepared to help them in both of those tasks. Otherwise you’ll lose them as fast as you can awaken them.”
There was a silent pause while the general looked at Kallore, gauging him, trying to decide how he might manipulate the situation.
“General,” Elin said, speaking up at last. “You can take all the credit for the operation here once it goes public. I don’t care about that. I’m only here to give humanity the best chance possible against the Outsiders. I want us to win. To survive. Give me the money and tools I need to wake more of his kind, and you can take all the glory once the fight begins.”
Kallore hated to see his mate throw all of her hard work to the side like that, but he recognized what she was doing. To Elin, the end goal was the most important thing. To provide humanity with a fighting force that could go toe to toe with the enemy’s heavy hitters. Without that, they were doomed, in his opinion. He was proud of her for looking at the big picture, but hated that she wouldn’t get any of the reward that was her due.
“Very well, Colonel.” Knefferson’s image turned sideways. “General Moore. Report to me tomorrow morning at 0800.”
“But General, I—”
“Rick, don’t be an idiot. Get it through your thick skull. You fucked this up. It was supposed to be a peaceful transition. You promised me that when you came to me and told me what your plan was, asking for my blessing. Well, you blew it. Now get your ass back to headquarters before I bust you back down to
colonel.”
Kallore watched as General Moore’s eyes flicked toward Elin. Yes, if he opened his mouth one more time, he’d be reduced to the same rank as her. The dragon smiled, silently begging for Moore to prove how stupid he was.
“Yes, sir.”
“Aww,” Kal complained softly so that only Elin could hear. She glanced at him warningly, but he just smiled.
The videoscreen went dark. Before he could react, Elin threw her arms around him and squeezed tightly. “Thank you,” she said softly.
There was a snicker from Moore’s general direction. While he wasn’t the only human over there, he was the only one on his feet. Elin whirled and stalked over to him, cocking back a fist. Kallore, not having expected violence from her, had stayed put. Now he darted forward and caught the fist before she could throw the punch.
“Come now, Colonel. I know that you want to hit this turd-cutter, but trust me, he isn’t worth it.”
Elin looked up at him. “Where did you hear that term?”
He grinned. “Doesn’t matter. Just believe me when I say it’s easier to go. You have rules and regulations, and I’m sure hitting a superior officer goes against several of them, no matter how much they deserve it.”
“You’re right,” she said unhappily, still glaring at Moore. “But you aren’t in the military.”
Kallore’s grin widened as she picked up on his hint. “No, I’m not.”
Moore gulped noticeably.
“Do you run, General?” he asked, his voice deadly calm, to the point where even the general picked up on just how much trouble he was in.
“N-N-No,” he squeaked.
Kallore extended his left hand. “I think now’s a good time for you to take it up, don’t you?”
With a gesture he conjured up some more flames. This time they congealed into something far larger than a whip or a shield. The flame snake curled up at Kallore’s feet, poised to strike the whimpering general.
“Yes. Yes I do.”
Moore darted from the room as Kallore sent the snake in pursuit.
It was tough, but Elin managed to hold in her laughter until after the door shut behind him.
“Oh my God, that was amazing. I’ve never seen the miscreant move so quickly before!”
Kallore chuckled with her. It felt amazing. He could sense the weight that had been lifted from the shoulders of his mate. Seeing her tormentor again, confronting him, and this time ending up the victor would do her wonders, he hoped.
“What do we do with all of them?” he asked, jerking his chin to indicate the unconscious men.
“I’ll have my security team remove their gear and send them on their way,” she decided.
“Excellent.”
He took her hand in his, and together they walked from the commander center. Behind them sparks flew and another monitor flickered out. Kallore had never felt happier for his mate. They had confronted her fears headfirst, and come out unscathed.
Now if they could only do the same for his.
Chapter Seventeen
Elin
She fell into a sleep with unaccustomed ease that night.
Kallore had been wonderful. After ensuring that she was okay, he’d handled everything to do with removing the general’s security team from her base. The regulars on the base, those who liked her and respected her, were more than eager to be rid of the interlopers. They hadn’t balked at taking orders from Kallore, despite him having no military standing. Apparently CCTV of the fight had discreetly made its rounds. Her guards were fighting men, and they respected one of their own. Especially with how he’d done it all for her.
The rest of the day she’d decided to take off. After the adrenaline wore off, her nerves had been shot. A hot shower had helped to restore them, but even still, she was nearly useless. Tomorrow would be a fresh start. She intended to have a very frank conversation with Kallore on just what it was that he could and could not do with his powers. None of them had any idea about the whip, or the snake, or the armor that seemed to rise up out of his skin to protect him. This was all brand new to her, but she could just see them now, cutting through the Outsiders and driving them back into the portal to their own world.
Elin knew it wouldn’t be that easy, but it would certainly be wonderful if it were.
For the first time in longer than she cared to admit, Elin didn’t have a nightmare. She dreamt of the desert. Sand squished underfoot as she walked aimlessly along the top of a ridge of giant dunes. Little trails bounced and slithered down the slopes, the grains disturbed by her passing falling like miniature avalanches.
It was warm. The sun was just starting to rise over the horizon, she noted, looking around at her surroundings. When it lifted into the air it would banish any remaining hint of the night’s cold. She needed to find shelter and soon. She looked around, but there was nothing besides sand and dunes. No structures, no hard rock with the possibility of a cave. She was exposed. Vulnerable.
The temperature rose swiftly as the rose-red sun lifted above the horizon, an orange sheen coming over the sand. Shortly thereafter waves of heat began to lift into the sky, obscuring the distance. Elin stumbled forward, desperate for any sort of shelter. The pores of her skin opened and sweat began to stream from her skin. She was losing precious moisture at an alarming rate. Without any water she would never make it.
She struggled onward against the increase in heat, but soon breathing grew difficult and her skin on the right side of her body started to burn. Elin frowned. There was something wrong with that. Why didn’t that last part make sense? She looked down, and realized that the sun was on her right. Why wasn’t that side burning? All at once her brain realized it was a dream and she woke up.
The burning didn’t stop.
She opened her eyes. They were staying in Kallore’s quarters that night, and he was passed out on his side in front of her. Obviously in the middle of the night she’d moved closer to try and steal some of his delightful warmth. But this was too much! She yanked her arm away from where it was touching him.
Rolling over, she flicked the light on, gasping at the sight of steam curling into the air from his skin.
“Kallore,” she said. When he didn’t respond she reached forward to shake him gently, hoping he would wake. “Ow!” She snatched her fingers back, sucking on the tips to help ease the pain from the burn. His skin was hot to the touch.
As she watched the steam became smoke. The bedsheets were starting to burn.
“Kallore!” she shouted, grabbing her pillow and moving to hit him with it.
The sheets burst into flames and she smacked him square in the side with the pillow. The dragon shifter jerked awake just as the sheets and her pillow erupted into flames.
“Elin!” he shouted, turning around.
“What the fuck is going on?” she asked, but he ignored her as the blaze grew bigger.
Shaking his head, he stuck his hand out and into the flames. Elin cried out that he was going to hurt himself, but she watched in shock as the flames wavered, as if resisting him, and then suddenly they flowed into him. Wherever he moved his hand, the flames leapt into it, and then were absorbed into his skin. In moments the fire was out. She flicked the ventilation system on high and it whisked the smoke away, hopefully before it triggered the alarm.
“Are you okay?” Kal asked, walking around the bed. “I’m so sorry.”
She waved him off, taking a step back. “I’m fine. Nothing serious, just a minor burn.”
Kallore seemed to fold in on himself, as if he’d just been hit in the gut. “I caused you harm.”
“No, it’s nothing. I touched your skin to try and wake you, and it was hot enough to sting the tips of my fingers. I’ll be fine.”
But he wasn’t listening. Kallore had sunk to the floor, absorbed in himself.
“Kal? Kal! Hey, listen to me. It’s fine. No worse than accidentally stepping on my toe while trying to dance with me.”
He shook his head. “I am a
wonderful dancer.”
The comment left her momentarily speechless. Kallore the dancer? Interesting.
“Kal, what was that all about?”
“I can handle it.”
She looked at him through half-closed eyelids. Well, that confirmed her suspicions that something was bugging him at least. There had been a few occasions she’d felt he was harboring something, when his aura hadn’t matched the mood he was trying to project. Like he was trying to hide something from her. Unfortunately, whatever it was, it was too deeply buried for her to pick up with ease.
Looking around the quarters, Elin wondered about that last statement of his. “Is that why the sheets are a disaster and you nearly incinerated the bed? You know, with me on it?”
There was no reply.
“Kal, come on. Talk to me. You said I’m your mate, right?”
He nodded.
“Then that means you need to trust me. Especially if you want me to trust you about all this. What kind of relationship would this be if we don’t have trust between us? That’s not one I could be a part of.”
She regretted the words immediately. That wasn’t what he needed to hear just then. Whatever was bothering Kallore, he would need her full support. The proud dragon didn’t know how to talk about his problems. This was something he had likely buried away for years, decades, or maybe even centuries. He had run away from it before, like he was trying to do now, just burying it ever deeper inside of him. How was she supposed to convince such a stubborn creature that it was perfectly okay to show weakness, to talk about it? That everyone was vulnerable, even her big, strong, macho dragon shifter?
The whole mental health issue thing had never been a strong suit of hers. Not when it came to helping others deal with it. She acknowledged that perhaps society as a whole needed to change when it came to dealing with it, but Elin Mara was not the one to help with that. She could barely keep her own house in order, much less help someone else sort out theirs. But for Kallore she would try. If he would let her in.