by Zoe Chant
Dai hissed under his breath, forked tongue flickering. That meant that the woman who'd made the call, saying she was trapped by a dragon in a burning building, had either hung up or lost consciousness. The rest of his fire crew wasn't far behind, but even with Chase's reckless driving there was no way they could reach the scene as fast as he could.
*See you there,* Dai sent to Ash, then broke contact. He swept his wings back into a dive, arrowing toward the fire.
Even before he saw the other dragon, Dai knew it was no ordinary blaze. The wooden barn was burning with the white-hot ferocity that could only be sparked by dragonfire. The leaping flames silhouetted a lean, pale form hunched in front of the barn door like a cat in front of a mouse hole.
Anger rose in Dai's chest, and he had to swallow his own dragonfire. He roared instead, hurling a thought into the stranger's mind like a javelin. *Stop!*
The white dragon leapt, wings twitching open and head snapping round. The stranger's startlement lasted barely an instant, however, before his wings and tail settled into a posture of offended dignity.
*How dare you!* His mental tone was as rich as gold, and imbued with an absolute sense of his own power and righteousness. His snout turned upwards disdainfully at the sight of Dai's own crimson scales. *Some peasant Welsh red, interfering in my business? Who do you think you are?*
*Firefighter Daifydd Drake, of the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service,* Dai shot back as he backwinged in to land. He drew himself up to his full height, glaring down at the white dragon. *Stand aside, now!*
*You can't possibly challenge me.* The other dragon's head spines bristled in indignation. *Don't you know who I am?*
*Yes,* Dai replied. The other dragon squawked as Dai lashed out with his muscular tail, knocking the smaller dragon clean off his feet. *You're in my way.*
Before the other dragon could recover, Dai shoved past him. Much as his own inner dragon wanted to formally challenge the arrogant bastard, there was no time for it. He appraised the burning barn with a single practiced glance. There was no way he could enter in dragon form without bringing the whole lot down on the heads of both himself and whoever was in there.
He shifted back into human form. Even as the other dragon struggled back upright, hissing with outrage, Dai ducked through the burning door.
Immediately flames surrounded him, licking at his skin—but the only fire a dragon-shifter needed to fear, even when in human form, was that which came directly from the jaws of a rival. This blaze had been started by dragonfire, but now the flames were just fueled by ordinary wood and air, and so couldn't harm him. Dai still wore the standard protective gear of a firefighter, but it was more for the look of the thing than any real need.
He drew in a breath, the heavy smoke passing easily through his lungs, guiltily savoring the tang of it like an ex-smoker sneaking just one puff from a friend's cigarette. The fire called to his dragon, beguiling in its beauty and power.
Pushing down the instinctive urge to luxuriate in the flames, Dai ducked to peer through the thinner smoke near the floor. "Fire and Rescue," he shouted. "Can anyone hear me?"
*That woman is my rightful prey!* The other dragon shoved his head through the door, the burning wall disintegrating around him. *She's stolen from my hoard. I demand—*
"Get back before you bring the building down!" Dai yelled back as beams snapped and popped warningly overhead. He couldn't burn or suffocate, but even a dragon could be hurt by a collapsing building. Not to mention the fact that there was a human trapped in here. "Or so help me God, I will find your hoard and personally melt it into slag!"
The other dragon narrowed his orange eyes, but grudgingly retreated. Fresh air sucked in through the hole it had made in the wall, making the flames roar greedily. Dai calculated he had barely a minute before the whole thing came down anyway.
Bits of falling debris clattered off his helmet as he searched through the swirling smoke. According to Griff—the dispatcher who'd taken the call—she'd taken refuge near the back of the building, away from the worst of the flames...
Just as he was giving up hope, he found her. She was unconscious, lying full-length on the floor with her face pressed against a crack in the wall. She must have been desperately trying to suck in fresh air from outside as the smoke overwhelmed the building. She wasn't a small woman, but Dai easily lifted her, cradling her limp form against his chest. He hunched over, trying to shield her from the falling embers as he ran for the door.
He burst out into clean air just as the central support beam in the roof gave way with a cataclysmic groan. There was no time to shift—Dai could only hurl himself to the ground, covering the woman's body completely under his own as burning debris sprayed in all directions. Pain pierced his shoulder as a foot-long splinter of wood hit him with enough force to get through his protective gear. Dai didn't flinch. He kept his body between the woman and the collapsing building until the last strut had crashed to the ground.
A sharp talon prodded him on his wounded shoulder. *As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted—*
Dai had never been so glad to hear the sing-song wail of the approaching fire engine. "If you have a legitimate grievance, you can either take it to the Parliament of Shifters, or have it out with my commander right now." The post-adrenaline surge crash was starting to catch up with him. His shoulder throbbed, and a dozen lesser pains were clamoring for his attention. "If you're feeling very brave. He's not very sympathetic to arsonists."
The dragon hesitated, glancing uncertainly in the direction of the siren. He backed up, opening his white wings. *Just remember, the treasure is mine. And I will be back to claim it.*
"Now there's something to look forward to," Dai muttered as the dragon took to the air.
Dai pushed himself up, wincing as the wooden splinter dug deeper into his muscle. With a bitten-off curse, he reached over his shoulder and yanked it out, tossing the red-stained wood away. He could feel blood trickling down his back, but the wound clearly wasn't life-threatening so he dismissed it from his mind. He was far more worried about the woman he'd rescued from the blaze.
She was still sprawled bonelessly, her eyes closed and her rich brown skin flecked with pale ash. Dai crouched over her, checking to see if her airway was clear. To his relief, she stirred at his touch, coughing.
"It's all right," Dai said, slipping an arm under her shoulders to support her in a more upright position as she fought to clear her lungs. "You're safe. Everything's all right now."
The woman opened her eyes. Dai looked into their warm, dark amber depths, and suddenly, for the first time in his entire life, everything was all right.
"Dragon," the woman whispered.
"Yes," Dai said, voice cracking as delight and awe spread through him. Of course, of course his mate would be able to see straight into his soul, recognizing his hidden nature at a glance. Then her eyes flicked away from his, her gaze skittering over the surroundings as a look of panic spread across her face, and he belatedly realized that she'd meant the other dragon. "I mean, no! It's all right, the dragon's gone. You're safe with me now."
She clutched at his hand. "You...saw?" Her voice sounded like she was having to drag words out of her throat on rusty barbed wire.
"Don't try to talk." Dai scooped her up, unable to help noticing her stunning, lush curves as he did so. She fit into his arms so perfectly, he never wanted to put her down again.
Cradling her with infinite care, he carried her further away from the fire, out of range of any further debris. He could feel the way she had to fight for every breath, and his own chest tightened in anxious response.
*Where ARE you?* he sent to Chase, the driver. *I need the crew here right NOW!*
Astonishment rippled back down the mental link. *You want me to go faster?* Chase's gleeful laugh echoed in Dai's head. *Well, if you insist...*
Barely seconds later, the fire engine screeched into the farmyard in a blaze of noise and color. Dai could have sworn that t
he madman actually managed to get the fifteen-ton vehicle to travel sideways round the corner. He had to duck to protect the woman yet again as the truck screeched to a stop in a spray of sharp gravel and dirt. The driver door flung open, and Chase bounced out, his tousled black hair nearly as wild as his grin.
"And it's a neeeew woooorld record!" Chase announced to the world in general, raising his clasped hands above his head as if posing on a podium.
"Out of the way, featherhead," John rumbled as he squeezed his seven-foot bulk out of the rear seats with some difficulty. He crossed the distance to Dai in two long strides, holding out his enormous hands. "Are you hurt, kin-cousin? Shall I take her?"
"I'm fine," Dai replied, reflexively holding the woman closer as his inner dragon snarled at the thought of someone taking her away from him. "I'll look after her. Where's Hugh?"
"Setting up on the other side," said Fire Commander Ash, jumping lithely down from the fire engine. "He's not geared up, so I want him to stay back."
The Fire Commander's dark, calm eyes swept the scene, taking in every detail at a glance. "Daifydd, get the casualty to Hugh. Chase, stay on the radio, warn us when the police are about to arrive. John, let's take advantage of our lack of mundane onlookers. I'll contain the fire. Can you call the rain?"
The other shifter nodded, the charms woven into his long blue braids clinking. "The clouds are melancholy tonight. I shall sing their tears down."
"Good. Let's get to it, then, gentlemen." Turning to face the burning ruins of the barn, Ash flung his arms wide as if to embrace the fire. It leaped unnaturally in response, stretching out to the Fire Commander as if straining to reach a long-lost lover.
Ash slowly brought his hands together, and the fire grudgingly concentrated itself into a white-hot circle. John tilted his head back, beginning a droning hum in his own language as Ash chivvied stray flames back into the herd.
Dai was happy to leave them to it. His own talents lent themselves more to the "Rescue" side of the work, and it always made him feel inappropriately morose to have to put out a perfectly good fire.
"Hugh!" he called, striding round the truck. "I have a casualty for you!"
"Put her down here." Hugh's distinctive silver hair gleamed in contrast to the red fire engine behind him. He'd already unrolled a blanket and opened up a first aid kit.
Dai carefully lowered her down to the ground and stepped back to give Hugh access to the patient, though his inner dragon growled at having to move even an inch from his mate. He forced down the dragon's possessive instinct as Hugh crouched next to the woman, his intense blue eyes narrowed in assessment.
"Hello," Hugh said to the woman. "I'm a paramedic. Can I help you?" His clipped, upper-class English accent made it sound like he was merely making polite conversation, but Dai knew he was assessing the woman's ability to respond.
"Throat," rasped the woman. "Hurts."
A tiny crease appeared in Hugh's forehead at her tone, and Dai's heart missed a beat. His dragon rose up, desperate to fight whatever threatened his mate.
She's in good hands, he told his inner dragon as Hugh tugged off one of his disposable plastic gloves with a smooth, practiced motion.
Hugh touched the woman's neck lightly. As his bare skin brushed hers, she winced—and so did Hugh. His mouth twisted in a distinct grimace of pain as he slowly slid his hand down from jaw to collarbone. After a moment, he drew back his hand, flexing his fingers as if shaking out pins and needles.
"Can you tell me your name?" he asked the woman.
"Virginia." She looked startled at her own voice, which was much clearer than before. She drew in a deep breath. "Virginia Jones. Wow, that feels better." She rubbed her own throat, staring at the paramedic in wonder. "How on earth did you do that?"
"Mild irritation from smoke often clears up quickly," Hugh said, his curt tone dissuading any further inquiry. He snapped his glove back on before taking her pulse, expression back to his customary reserve. "Can you tell me what happened, Virginia?"
"Uh." Virginia's brown eyes went from Hugh to Dai and back again. "It's all a bit...confused."
"He knows about dragons too," Dai said. "He won't think that you're crazy."
Virginia let out a brief bark of half-hysterical laughter. "I think I'm crazy." She wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging them to her chest. "That monster...it can't have been real. Dragons aren't real!"
"Alas, if only that were true." Hugh murmured as he checked her for any further injuries. Catching Dai's dirty look, he added, "You can't deny we'd all be a lot less busy." He sat back on his heels. "Virginia, you don't have any burns, and you don't have a concussion. However, you've gone through a lot of trauma tonight. For safety, I would like to call an ambulance to take you into hospital for observation and any further treatment."
Virginia's hand suddenly flew to her coat pocket, gripping something through the fabric. "No. I want to go home. I feel fine. Can I just go home?"
Hugh sighed. "One day, one of my patients will actually want to go to the marvelous temple of modern medicine. Yes, you can go home, if," he raised one long finger forbiddingly, "you can call someone to both take you there and take care of you tonight."
Virginia's face fell. "Oh." She rubbed her forehead. "I'll...think of someone."
*Can you give us a minute?* Dai sent to Hugh.
The paramedic's pale eyebrows rose, but he got to his feet. "I'll go report to Commander Ash. Let me know when you decide what to do." Flashing Dai a curious glance, he left.
"Please, allow me to watch over you tonight," Dai said to Virginia, as casually as he could with his inner dragon roaring in eagerness. "It's not safe for you to be alone, and not just for medical reasons. The dragon threatened to return."
That bothered him. If she'd never seen a dragon before—and clearly she hadn't—how could she have taken something from one's hoard? Had the other dragon been lying? He pushed the thought away; there were much more important matters to deal with now.
Virginia's eyes widened. "It—what?"
"Shh, shh!" Dai grabbed her shoulders as her breathing started to go shallow and panicky. "It's all right. I'm here to protect you."
"From dragons?"
"Yes. It's, ah, sort of my specialty."
She stared at him, apparently taking in his uniform. "But you're a firefighter," she said blankly.
"Yes. But I'm also a dragon..."
That monster, she had said.
"...hunter," Dai finished.
It was true. Just not...the whole truth.
"A dragon hunter." Virginia made a choked hiccup of strangled laughter. "I managed to call a firefighter who's also a dragon hunter. Boy, is it my lucky day. Apart from the dragon, of course."
"Well, it wasn't exactly luck," Dai said, rubbing his thumbs over her shoulders soothingly. She was still looking rather wild-eyed, but at least no longer on the verge of a panic attack. "Our dispatchers know to send the, ah, unusual calls to our crew. We're used to handling this sort of thing. I really can protect you from the dragon."
Virginia bit her lip. She seemed to waver for a moment, then shook her head. "This is crazy. Everything is crazy. I don't even know your name."
"Dai. Daifydd Drake." Dai exaggerated the soft th sound of the dd—from her accent, she was American, and they always seemed to have difficulty pronouncing Welsh names.
He stuck out his hand. "East Sussex Fire and Rescue. At your service."
Now, and forever.
Chapter Three
This is crazy.
Of course, compared to all the crazy things that had happened this evening—finding Brithelm's burial mound, the confrontation with Bertram, the motherfucking dragon—inviting a strange man to stay the night seemed positively sensible. Nonetheless, the taxi ride back to her rented apartment was long enough for some of Virginia's shock to wear off, allowing second thoughts to creep in.
Am I being stupid, trusting a man I've only just met?
Virginia knew that she sh
ould have meekly gone to the hospital and let the doctors take care of her. But that would mean delaying investigating her find. Virginia once again touched the thrilling weight of the gold nose-guard safely hidden in her pocket and shook her head. She couldn't afford to wait—and it wasn't just to satisfy her own burning curiosity. She doubted that it was mere coincidence that the dragon had appeared after she'd found the artifact.
Virginia was familiar with many dragon legends from across Europe, and a common factor in them all was the great wyrms' lust for gold. Somehow the beast must have sensed her removing the treasure from its hiding place, and come to retrieve it. But how? Virginia mentally added it to the long list of questions to ask Dai later.
She cast a sideways glance at Dai's profile, half-seen in the dim, strobing glow of the streetlights passing by outside the taxi's window. She hadn't even gotten a good look at his face yet, with all the smoke and confusion at the site of the fire.
I don't know anything about this man. Apart from the fact that he'd pulled her out of a burning building, which anyone would have had to admit was a pretty excellent character recommendation.
However, there was still something about the set of his powerful shoulders that projected an aura of danger. Even his tiniest movements seemed controlled, deliberate, as if he had to keep himself tightly in check at all times. He'd opened the taxi door for her as carefully as if he'd been worried he might absentmindedly tear it off its hinges.
Yet despite all that contained strength, Virginia didn't feel the slightest bit uneasy around him. Sitting next to Dai was like huddling next to a roaring campfire—something fierce and dangerous that nonetheless provided life-giving warmth, and protection against the encircling dark.
Virginia shook her head again, more ruefully. If the paramedic hadn't given me a clean bill of health, I would suspect that I have a concussion.
The taxi slowed to a crawl, pulling into a street of close-packed Victorian townhouses, and stopped outside her building. Dai was out of the car and opening her door even before Virginia had managed to get her seat belt unbuckled.