by Anna Lowe
He wasn’t, of course. There was, however, a Land Rover parked by the picnic area at the end of the road, so she parked beside it and looked around.
“Ella?” she called quietly.
Her heart was pounding, and the emerald under her shirt made her skin itch.
There was no one at the Land Rover, so she adjusted her backpack and walked down a hiking path. And damn, the emerald and pendant must have been sitting the wrong way because the friction increased until she wanted to rip them both off. She was just pulling them out of her shirt when a voice made her whip around.
“So nice to see you again, my dear.”
Even before she saw who it was, her blood turned to ice. That wasn’t Ella’s voice. It was a man’s.
Tessa gasped and stepped back, clutching both necklaces.
“Were my instructions easy to follow?” Damien Morgan grinned, showing the points of his teeth. His eyes flared with a feral glow when he focused on the bulge in her hand.
“Where’s Ella?” Tessa sputtered, looking around. God, what had he done to Ella?
The dragon shifter purred just as he had right before attacking her in his Phoenix mansion. “Oh, Ella’s not here. She never was here. It’s just you and me.”
Chapter Fifteen
Tessa backed away from Morgan, crouching in self-defense. The emerald burned in her hand, and her mind spun. Was he after the emerald? Could she just give it to him and get away?
It is your job to keep it safe, her grandmother’s note had said. Keep it in the family. If you do so, it, too, will keep you safe.
Tessa wanted to scream. How was a gem going to help her against a dragon?
Damien Morgan pulled back his lips, showing a row of teeth that grew pointier as she watched. His nose bulged, too, and she stumbled back.
He made a come-to-me gesture, flicking fingers with nails that elongated into claws.
“Good girl. You followed my directions perfectly, and you’ll continue to do that, won’t you?”
She was about to whirl and run for the Jeep when the earth crunched with footsteps. Three men appeared from the boulders behind Morgan, their suits out of place in the rugged terrain. Their eyes glowed red, several shades darker than the sky.
Morgan chuckled. “All right. Maybe not entirely alone. I have brought a few men, as you see. My best men, unlike the incompetents I never should have sent.”
Tessa didn’t stop to wonder what that meant or what kind of shifters they were. She backed away slowly, calculating the distance to the Jeep. Even if she managed to beat Morgan’s men there, they could simply reach into the open vehicle as she drove. God, what was she going to do?
“But I know you’ll cooperate. Won’t you?” Morgan went on.
Like hell, she’d cooperate.
“As you will when you’re my mate.”
Her stomach lurched. “I will never be your anything. Get that through your head.”
Morgan went on as if she’d never spoken. “You will bear me many heirs…”
She blanched. Had she just been transported to medieval times?
“…and I will reward you,” Morgan said, looking terribly pleased with himself.
Tessa didn’t want to imagine what his idea of a reward might be.
“Sadly, I might have to share you with that fool, Drax.”
Tessa just about choked on her next breath. Share?
Morgan’s face soured. “The first child will be mine. He can have you for the second.”
Her stomach turned. The man was truly sick.
“But compromises are unavoidable as I work my way to the very top of the dragon world. Ultimately, you will be mine, however. And you know why?”
Tessa didn’t want to hear another word.
“Because you are special, my dear. One of the very few.”
The very few what? Tessa shook her head, trying to block out his words. The man was crazy anyway. She had to run for it. Were the cliffs an option? She was a good swimmer. If she jumped into the sea, would Morgan follow? Did dragons like water?
She edged toward the drop-off for a peek, but even before she saw the full distance to the water, her stomach flipped. No way could she throw herself off that.
When she looked back at Morgan, he was frowning. “You’re not listening, my dear.”
“No, I’m not, you jerk.”
Morgan shook his head slowly and clucked. “Now, now. You have a lot to learn about your mate.”
“I’m not your mate.”
“Ah, but you will be. Soon. And though I need you alive, I have no qualms about teaching you how to behave. Shall we start with lesson one?”
Tessa clenched her fists, trying not to shake.
Morgan raised his arms in a grand gesture. The fabric of his jacket tore. Tessa gaped as his skin darkened, dried, and stretched into a leathery expanse.
Wings. Holy shit. He had wings. In Phoenix, she’d barely glimpsed them. Having them right in front of her in the broad light of day was entirely different, somehow. She hurried backward, putting as much distance between them as she could.
Morgan was taller than her, but those few inches became a few feet as he lengthened and puffed out a chest armored with scales. His pants ripped, too, and he shook off the scraps of fabric with bent limbs that ended in claws.
“Lesson one,” he growled in a deep, resonating voice. “Do not anger your dragon master, or he shall show you fire.”
All dragon now, he opened his mouth and let out a plume of red-hot flames. They swirled and stretched, cutting halfway into the ten yards separating Tessa from Morgan.
She jerked backward and fell flat on her rear then scrambled to her feet, moving parallel to the cliff.
The dragon’s eyes glowed brighter, and he showed his fangs. Huge, pointy fangs that flashed a brilliant white against the deep copper of his skin.
“But, my dear,” he admonished in that strange, choked voice — the last remnant of his human side, forcing its way through his dragon’s snout. “That is only a tiny little fire. You’ll have to get used to more if you want to live with me.”
She didn’t want to see more, and she sure as hell didn’t want to live with him. She wanted to slip back into her old life and pretend this nightmare wasn’t happening. Better yet, she wanted to teleport herself into a fantasy life with a good dragon — Kai.
But, shit. That wasn’t Kai before her. It was a very angry dragon, and he was inhaling deeply, ready for another blast.
Morgan shot an even bigger flame, and it left his mouth so fast, shooting right for her, that all Tessa could do was block her face by throwing her hand up — the hand clutching the emerald. It was a flimsy defense, and she winced, preparing for the agony of a searing burn. But all she felt was a hard shove that pushed her three steps back.
She stared at Morgan, but his huge dragon jaw had dropped, too. They both watched the flames bounce away and sear the ground with a hiss.
Tessa blinked at the emerald. Whoa. Had Morgan missed, or had the flames really just bounced back?
Morgan’s eyes glittered with fury. He inhaled deeply, preparing for another fire spurt while Tessa backed away. The dragon pulled back his head and thrust forward, casting an even bigger burst of flame that roared through the air, crackling and hissing.
“No!” Tessa screamed, shielding her face.
The air around her grew unbearably hot, but a moment later, the temperature dropped as if she’d stepped away from a roaring fireplace. She peered up. The earth around her was singed, and the emerald glowed in her hand, but she was untouched.
“The Lifestone,” Morgan breathed. “The real thing.”
“The Lifestone,” one of his men echoed.
Tessa stared at the emerald. The whatstone?
Now you are the guardian of this great gift from our ancestors, her grandmother’s note had said.
Tessa gulped. She didn’t know anything about being a guardian. If anything, the stone had protected her.
P
erhaps it will reawaken the way the legends say…
Her hand trembled as she glanced from the gem to the seething dragon just ten yards away.
“One of the five,” Morgan whispered to himself. His eyes glassed over with greed.
Wisps of smoke streamed from Morgan’s nostrils. The men behind him started to shift, too — two into dragons, and the third into something massive and furry. A wolf? A bear?
Tessa eyed the cliff then the distance to the Jeep. The emerald might allow her to repel fire, but she doubted it could repel five sets of claws if the shifters took her by brute force. How could she possibly get away?
Morgan grinned, dragging his greedy gaze over her body. “Thank you, my dear. Now I profit doubly. I win myself a breeding female as well as a gem. Perhaps you have the other four, as well?
She had no idea what he was talking about. “Other four what?”
“The other four Spirit Stones, my dear. Where have you been keeping them?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“No? Truly?” He cocked his head while the other shifters spread out, surrounding her. The dragons moved with skipping little fly-hops along the ground, and the wolf — yes, it was a wolf, and nowhere near as friendly as Boone — kept close to the ground, swishing his tail.
Morgan stretched to his full height and gnashed his teeth, all too much like a fire-breathing Tyrannosaurus Rex. Tessa yanked her necklaces off to be able to wield the emerald more freely. She ducked and held up both stones — the placeholder, as her grandmother had called it, and the real thing — as Morgan blasted her with another plume of fire.
Apparently, he’d been holding back before, hurling little baby spits her way. This was an inferno, and even holding up the emerald as a shield, Tessa was knocked clear off her feet. She lay trapped in a thick veil of flames, gasping for air within the heart of the fire.
“Give it to me,” Morgan boomed, cutting off his fire and motioning with six-inch claws.
Tessa rolled to her feet and took a step toward the Jeep. Another dragon hopped into her path, puffing a lick of fire in warning.
She gulped and separated the two pendants, hiding one in each hand.
It is your job to keep it safe. Keep it in the family. If you do so, it, too, will keep you safe.
Tessa took a deep breath. These men — these monsters — had her surrounded. There was no way she could escape. Unless…
She brought her right hand to her mouth, kissed the pendant, then clutched it even harder and closed her eyes in a silent prayer.
I’m so sorry, Grandma. I don’t want to let go of this, but there’s no other way.
“Give it to me,” Morgan hissed, taking a step closer.
Tessa summoned all her strength and let herself get angry. Really angry. “You want this stone? You can have it,” she yelled, challenging her foe. Then she turned, facing the sea, and brought her arm back to throw.
“No!” Morgan roared.
She arced her arm forward, putting her whole body into the throw. A flash of brilliant green soared through the air.
“You fool!” Morgan screamed, following it with his eyes.
The other dragons and the wolf did the same, while Tessa sprinted for the Jeep.
“You, get her!” Morgan shouted. “You and you, follow me.”
Voices grunted. Claws scraped the dry earth. The air pulsed with beating wings. Tessa looked over her shoulder just in time to see Morgan and the other two dragons leap off the edge of the cliff in pursuit of the stone. They folded their wings, ready to dive into the sea.
The wolf watched them, too, then turned its restless eyes on her.
Tessa’s sandals scraped over the soil, and prickly shrubs scratched her legs. Her ears buzzed — an aftereffect of being blasted at from close range by fire, perhaps, but she didn’t care. All that mattered was somehow getting away.
She pumped her arms and leaned forward, fighting for every bit of speed. The emerald cut into her palm, and she made a thousand vows to fight to the death over it. It seemed that important, somehow. That critical.
It will keep you safe.
She was still reeling from the way the stone had repelled fire. But something told her it wouldn’t do much against the three-inch fangs of that werewolf.
Wolf shifter, Boone’s voice echoed in her mind.
In her desperation, she nearly laughed. Funny to think how much of the shifter world she’d internalized in such a short time.
The soft footfalls of the wolf grew louder, but so did the buzzing sound in her ears — and that grew exponentially. Like a huge mosquito, rushing toward her.
The air pressure dropped behind her, and a pair of wolf jaws clacked. She screamed, darting forward as something tugged on her shirt. Make that, something jerked on her shirt, tearing at the fabric. The wolf. The wolf was that close. Close, and opening his jaws again, leaping at her.
“No!” she screamed as she tripped.
The wolf came for her, showing off his huge jaws, telling her it was the end. But just as he was about to attack, his head jerked to the right.
Zoom! A huge shape hurtled out of the sky, bowling the wolf over.
The thunderous buzz changed sound as it passed. Tessa pushed her hair out of her eyes and stared.
A helicopter. Holy shit. Did Morgan have helicopters at his disposal, too?
She gasped in realization. “Kai!”
Move to the side! his voice cried in her mind.
She rolled, still clutching the emerald as the sound of the helicopter changed again. It looped around and came back for a second pass just as the wolf leaped for her legs.
Duck! Kai yelled.
She yelped and jumped clear as the rotor whirred over her head. The skids passed just inches behind her body. They clipped the wolf and tumbled him over and over in a blur. Tessa backed away, watching Kai slow the helicopter enough to force the wolf back, step by step, until it turned and ran for its life.
“Get in! Get in!” Kai yelled, motioning toward the helicopter.
Tessa ran and jumped in while he was still hovering an inch over the ground. The second she was in, Kai took off. Tessa pulled herself into the front passenger seat, fumbled the seat belt on, and stared as the ground rushed by.
“Are you okay?” Kai cried, touching her arm.
Okay? She’d nearly been mauled by a werewolf and beheaded by the rotors of his helicopter. No, she wasn’t okay. She thumped Kai on the arm. “You could have killed me with this thing.”
He laughed. “That’s my Tessa. Now, hang on.”
That’s my Tessa. Her whole body warmed and relaxed — for half a second, at least. Then Kai pushed the joystick forward, making the helicopter rush forward at an angle. For the first stomach-churning minute, the ground blurred past, barely a yard away. Tessa clutched at her seat until the helicopter gained altitude and straightened out, when she finally worked up the courage to reach out and slide the door shut.
She looked back at the cliffs. One dragon dove into the sea while another emerged, shaking water off its wings.
“What are they after?” Kai asked, shouting over the engine.
Tessa gulped and tightened her hand around the emerald. A moment of truth, because Morgan’s dragon eyes had glazed over with greed the moment he laid eyes on the gem. Would Kai do the same? Would he care more about the gem than her?
Shiny things, precious things, Boone had said. No sooner does a dragon have one than he wants another.
Would Kai lose his interest in her when he saw the gem?
“Tessa, what are they looking for?” Kai asked.
She pulled in a few steadying breaths then held up her hand.
“This,” she said, revealing the emerald. “They’re looking for this.”
Kai stared at the gem, then jerked the helicopter back on course. “Holy shit.”
She sat perfectly still, waiting for his eyes to glaze over with greed. But Kai just reached for her hand
— her left hand, the one without the emerald — and squeezed it. “Are you okay?”
His eyes stayed trained on her face, and the wobble in his voice told her all she needed to know.
“Kai, look. Do you know what this is?”
He glanced at the gem briefly, then looked back at her, nodding. “The Lifestone. What do I care about it if you’re not okay? Did they hurt you?”
Tessa let out a long, slow breath and shook her head. No, Morgan hadn’t hurt her. And, yes, Kai really cared. She pulled his hand closer and brushed a kiss over his knuckles — and ended up hanging on a little longer than she’d intended.
Mate, a little voice whispered in the back of her mind. A woman’s voice, ancient, feminine, and wise. This man is your mate.
The emerald glowed in her hand and warmed her skin.
“I’m okay,” she murmured. But her hand was trembling, and cold fear sliced into her belly now that she had time to consider what had just happened. She’d been attacked by a trio of dragons and a werewolf…
She spun around. “God, Kai. There are three of them. Three dragons.”
The helicopter was already out over the ocean, heading full tilt back to Maui, but it still wasn’t fast enough for her.
“Can you outfly them?” she asked, gripping Kai’s arm.
Kai made a face. “As a dragon, yes. But in this thing? No. Not unless we have a big enough lead.”
Tessa forced herself to look back. The sun was touching the horizon, casting the sky in ever bloodier tones. For a moment, there was nothing, but then a dragon exploded from the water.
“Um, Kai…” she hedged.
A second dragon emerged, and both circled the Kaunolu cliffs, perhaps deciding whether to follow her or to continue their search for the gem — the false gem she’d cast into the sea as a decoy.