by Juniper Hart
He turned to give her his full attention. “I figured that. What would you like to know?”
“How do you know I’m your mate? You have to realize it seems pretty unbelievable.”
He looked her directly in the eyes. “I know I’m meant to be with you. I have no doubts. You need to ask yourself how you have so easily accepted what I’ve told you. You’ve accepted it because you feel it too.”
He was right. Every cell in her body wanted to be near him. From the moment she first laid eyes on him, she felt a connection, but her mind denied the attraction. It was the reason she didn’t shoot him. It was the reason she kissed him right after she’d slapped him.
Can my soulmate really be a dragon? Do soulmates really exist?
She inhaled deeply. Oh, boy. This was not how she expected the day to go when she woke up that morning. She expected by this time to have killed off the Keeper of the Wind and have a very healthy bank account because of it.
Instead, she was stuck in a cave with him, and the dragon was practically proposing to her.
“And what if I don’t feel the same way?”
There was a physical pain in his eyes when she said that. “You leave,” he said. “We go through with the deal we made.” He took her hand in his. “And then I follow you,” he said. “And win your heart.”
She liked the sound of that. “I can be stubborn,” she warned. “I’m not easily won over.”
“I’ve got time,” he told her. “I’m immortal, remember? Lilith, finding a soulmate isn’t something I take lightly. You’re a masterpiece, Lilith. A diamond among stones.”
“You hardly know me. You met me today.”
“I’ve only met you in person today,” he said. “I’ve waited for you for thousands of years. I didn’t know your name. I didn’t know what you would look like. But I knew that I would recognize you, and I did.”
Looking into his eyes, she could see his heart. He truly cared for her, despite having never met her. She’d never had a man look at her like that. Even her closest boyfriends hadn’t. It was a stare of absolutely devotion, of desire, and of unrestrained passion.
He wasn’t forcing himself on her. Storm truly wanted her to decide. Somehow, without knowing him and with hating him earlier that day, she just knew she could trust him with her life—literally.
“If I say I’m open to exploring this,” she said. “What happens?”
“I cherish you,” he said. “You become immortal. And then I’ll spend eternity making your every wish come true. I’ll protect you from any dangers you face—even when you think you don’t need protection. I laugh with you in your highest moments and comfort you in your lowest.”
“I don’t know. You really only want one woman for eternity?”
He stroked her strong cheekbone. “Well, hopefully you won’t be the only woman in my life.”
There it was. She knew it was too good to be true. Well, at least he was honest about not staying loyal.
“If you stay with me,” he said, “I hope we will both have another girl in our lives.” He gave her a sweet smile. “She’ll call you, Mommy.”
Damn, he was good.
8
Wow.
Lilith felt like she should say something, but her mouth refused to work properly. She couldn’t quite form words. Nobody had ever said such a thing to her, and it took her completely and totally by surprise. How should she feel about it? Should she be offended? That didn’t sound right. Should she be pleased and flattered? Maybe…it had a ring of truth to it.
Before she could form a coherent thought, Storm stepped back towards the exit of his childhood playroom. “Don’t give me an answer. Just think about it.”
Lilith tried again to say something clever. Nothing came to mind. She was never at a loss for words. Her wit was as fast as lightning. Nothing took her by surprise. And it wasn’t just because Storm was ridiculously hot. She’d had plenty of good-looking boyfriends and friends. An attractive member of the opposite sex wasn’t a deal-breaker for her. She was still clever.
Yet Storm had the innate ability to make her tongue-tied. She hated not having a response. Even if she didn’t say it, she liked to know she had a response prepared.
While Lilith tried to figure out her new feelings, Storm crouched down and attempted to wiggle his way out of the small door. His shoulders caught.
“Uh-oh.”
Lilith managed to shake herself out of her daze. “What?”
Storm pushed harder. “I’m stuck.”
“Are you serious? Back out.”
“Gosh, I’m sure glad I didn’t think of that one,” he said sarcastically. “I’m wedged. Push me through.”
She hesitated. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Okay…”
She planted her foot on his rear and pushed. Nothing. He really was stuck.
“You’re going to need to try harder,” Storm grunted. “I’m not quite the size I used to be.”
Lilith sat down on the ground and placed both of her feet on his rear, while using her hands for support. She pushed using the force of every muscle in her legs before finally pushing him through.
He grinned from the other side of the door, laughing at himself easily. She joined him in his amusement.
Who would’ve known? She figured she’d hate him. He was the Keeper of the Wind, world-renowned powerhouse and legendarily impossible to kill. She’d expected a challenge when she went after him. She had not expected to be considering an eternity with him.
The thought made her pause. How would she become eternal?
No! No, she was not that easy. She didn’t meet strange men that she had intended to kill and agree to spend eternity with them. They hadn’t even had sex yet! That wasn’t her.
Still…
So much had happened. The only life she had known was a lie. She was simply relying on Storm for emotional support. That’s why she felt so strongly connected to him, right?
Using reasoning, he had probably discovered Night Star and Red Shadow’s plan to execute him by word of mouth. Or, Night Star had been discovered while being at the hotel. It was only logical. Maybe, just maybe, she needed to let logic play a role in the decision.
She didn’t know if what he said was true. Did dragons have prophetic dreams? Did dragons have soulmates? As a Slayer—now a former Slayer—she had only learned about their strengths, weaknesses, and habits. She knew practically everything about Storm in this way. If she had been able to get close to him at the hotel and they’d gone hand-to-hand, she was prepared to put him down. From the Slayer community, she knew Storm favored his left hand while fighting. Rare. Most people fought with their right hands primarily. He tended to expose his ankles when he fought. A Slayer had once put a bullet in his left chest, which was an easy thing to exploit. Who was she kidding? She couldn’t beat him—especially not in hand-to-hand combat. She wasn’t even entirely sure her enchanted bullets and rifles would do the trick.
Not wanting to purse the soulmate conversation further, Lilith remained quiet. As she thought about her life, Storm’s revelation about Slayers being the bad guys made more sense. How could she not see through the lies?
As the minutes—and eventually hours—ticked by, Lilith watched Storm, the Keeper of the Wind. She observed him, making a mental note of everything that he did to decide what she thought about him. They talked, but the conversation was light and easy. He was clever and witty. And, she admitted to herself, rather charming. He certainly had a silver tongue. He had a sense of humor and laughed easily, which she found to be a good thing. Slayers weren’t typically a jovial bunch.
Frustratingly, she couldn’t decide what do. She liked him. There was no doubt about that. Were they soulmates? Maybe, but Lilith wasn’t interested in diving into a relationship with the pressure of staying together for eternity.
She had other things to worry about, anyway. The most obvious problem she had in that moment was that she was out of job. Obvious
ly, she couldn’t kill dragons. And that meant that she would no longer hunt werewolves or vampires either. Were all beings—including animals—sentient? Would she even be able to eat meat again? Probably not.
I guess I’ll become a vegan chef, she joked to herself. Wait, I don’t like to cook
She couldn’t even do well with an imaginary job. She’d only been a Slayer. She was doubtful those skills would translate to another career choice. Luckily, she had saved most of her money over the years, but that wouldn’t last forever. It likely wouldn’t even last five years.
As if the money wasn’t enough, she knew the Slayer community would come after her when they learned she betrayed them. Who knows? Maybe she would even get a bounty on her head. If she split from Storm, she’d have to keep moving until she could find a safe place to stay, where other Slayers couldn’t find her.
A place like that didn’t exist. There was always a loophole, a way to find a target. Lilith knew that from experience. Even when her target was seemingly impossible to find, she’d find a way.
Lilith and Storm finally made their way back to the place in the cave where they had fallen in.
Lilith sat down, still with Storm’s jacket wrapped around her shoulders. “So,” she said. “I’m bored.”
“Only boring people get bored.”
“My dad always said that…”
“He probably got it from me,” Storm said. “It’s funny. When you’re my age, you see things that you helped create.”
“Like the United States, in your case,” she said with a knowing smile.
“What do you mean?” asked Storm.
“During the Revolutionary War, Washington was able to get his men to safety because of thick fog during the Battle of Brooklyn. That wasn’t luck, was it? It was you!”
“How did you know that was me? I’ve never told anybody about that,” said Storm with a wide grin.
“A giant fog storm shows up in the middle of nowhere, and nobody thinks that the Keeper of the Wind is related somehow? Yeah, sure…”
“So, what are you thinking?” he asked.
“About what?”
“Everything,” he replied. “Your profession. Your life. What’s the plan for Red Shadow?”
“Red Shadow doesn’t know,” she admitted. “I know I’ll give up being a Slayer, but I just don’t think I can stay here.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not going to follow you and commit my life to you after a couple hours of knowing you.”
He pursed his lips. “I understand, but I want to you know that you don’t have to commit to me forever by agreeing to stay. Get to know me and see where it goes from there. You will always be free to leave whenever you wish.”
“Tell me more about your dream,” Lilith said. “I want to know how you knew how to find me.”
“The first night, the dream was unclear. I could see your hair, but to me it looked like a lion’s mane. I didn’t realize it was a woman until the next night, when I saw your face. Slowly, over a period of weeks, everything came into focus. I knew you were going to be at the hotel to kill me. We caught Night Star because I wanted to talk to you alone. I sent my men to find you, wherever you were. Problem is, you evaded them.”
“Your men were going to kill me! Of course I evaded them.”
“They had explicit instructions to keep you safe.” His eyes darkened. “Did they harm you?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Storm took a seat next to Lilith and pressed his brawny shoulder up against hers. She didn’t fight it. In fact, she welcomed it.
She sighed.
“What?” Storm asked her. “Are you okay?”
“Just confused,” she replied. “I can’t decide if you’re nuts, or if I am.”
“Well, I can verify I’m rational. As for you… I’m starting to have my doubts.”
“Hey!” Lilith protested halfheartedly, looking up at him.
A cold burst of air blew through the hole up above. She wished he would hurry up and heal so he could fly again and they could escape.
Shivering from the cold, Lilith thought, Well, if I’m stuck here for a while, I should make the best out of this situation.
Slowly, almost like she was asking permission, she leaned her head up against his chest. She could feel his heart thumping beneath her ear. He was strong, and his chest was solid muscle, which she felt through the material of his sweater.
Storm brought her in closer and wrapped his powerful arms around her, which warmed her up immediately. She felt comfortable and safe. She felt protected.
9
Lilith fell asleep.
It wasn’t a conscious decision, but the day had worn her out. So much had happened.
Storm’s fingers tapped her shoulder with his arm still around her. “Hey,” he whispered. “Wake up.”
“What?” she replied, attempting to wake up.
Her brain was still foggy. “How long was I out?”
“Hours.”
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“You were clearly tired,” he replied. “I saw no reason to wake you up.”
She yawned. “Then why did you wake me up now?”
“I heard something.”
“Something? Like I was snoring?”
“A person,” he said. “There’s someone here.”
She perked up, sitting up immediately. “In the cave?”
“Up there,” he replied, pointing up to the hole.
Lilith tried to listen. She got nothing, other than the slight wind and the snow that was starting to fall. “I don’t hear anything.”
“Someone’s up there, trust me.”
“Isn’t that good?”
“Could be…” He stood up. “But I don’t think so. Something’s not right.”
Lilith felt it too; something was amiss. Her instincts told her to run as the hair on the nape of her neck stood on end. She felt like she’d just watched a good horror movie. She was unsettled. And although she couldn’t hear or see anything, someone was watching them.
“Do you still hear it?” Lilith asked.
“Yes,” he said. His nose twitched. “It’s not my men. I don’t recognize the scent.”
Right then, she realized that despite his outside appearance, Storm was very much still a predator. His abilities to smell, hear, and track were much stronger than hers.
She laid a hand on her whip, which sprang to life at her touch.
“Get back,” Storm ordered, putting a hand in front of her like a shield. “I don’t like this.”
This time, Lilith could hear it.
The sound of a gun being loaded.
She’d recognize that distinctive sound anywhere. Someone was there to kill either Lilith or Storm, or both. She cracked her whip. “Let’s get further into the cave,” she said. “Now.”
At the bottom of the hole, Storm and Lilith were easy targets. If they went deeper into the expansive, dark cave, they would have a fighting chance. Well, it would give her a fighting chance. She wasn’t immortal.
Lilith scampered back into the cave with Storm beside her. She wished she still had her rifle. It would be easy to pop a bullet into the skull of whomever was hunting them. As it was, Lilith had only her whip, and Storm couldn’t shift without tremendous pain because of the rip in his wing.
“A partner of yours?” Storm asked as they vanished into the darkness.
“You killed Night Star,” she replied. “I was only working with him on this job.”
What appeared to be a collection of marbles dropped into the hole and bounced off the stone floor high into the air. Each marble was about two inches in circumference and decorated with a yellow painted smiley face.
Lilith inhaled sharply. “Fuck,” she said. “Those are Night Star’s!”
“What are they?” Storm asked, eyeballing them.
“You don’t want to know,” she hissed. “Get back!”
The two dashed towards the back of the cave as
the marbles continued to bounce down through the hole at the top of the cave.
One hit the wall and exploded.
The resulting explosion was amazingly ferocious for the size of the marble. It sounded like a firework had gone off and obliterated a substantial chunk of the stone wall into nothing but tiny pebbles.
Lilith hissed, “I thought you said you killed him!”
“I thought we did!’ answered Storm as they continued to run from the continued explosions.
Boom!
Another one hit nearby.
Storm abruptly grabbed Lilith and tossed her like a ragdoll. She sailed through the air and landed hard.
“Hey!” she screamed, ready to fight, but then realized why he had pushed her.
She watched him jump back to avoid a six-foot icicle that smashed into a million pieces directly in front of him. If Lilith had been there and he hadn’t shoved her, she would have been impaled. He saved her. Again.
There was no time for thanks, as both scrambled deeper in the cave. The bombs kept detonating, shaking icicles free and blowing out parts of the wall. Each explosion shook the mountain to its core. Lilith panicked that the bombs would create a new avalanche.
Then, she realized that’s exactly what Night Star was trying to do. If he couldn’t kill them with the bombs, he’d damn well bury them alive.
Stalactites dropped from the ceiling like spears, hitting the ground at breakneck speeds and shattering. The splinters stung like daggers when they hit. Several times, they ripped through Lilith’s clothes. Luckily, her suit offered a little protection, but some sharp pieces still managed to penetrate her skin.
Lilith couldn’t hold back expletives that would’ve made sailors blush.
How was Night Star still alive? Storm’s men said they’d killed him! Night Star was one of the best in the business. She wasn’t feeling optimistic about getting out of there alive.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The smiley face bombs started to explode with increasing regularity. They had to keep running.
Lilith’s foot caught on a rock. She tried to catch herself and keep running. Maybe on another day at a better time, she would’ve been able to pull it off. In that moment, too many things were happening, and she failed. She flew from the ground and landed up against the wall. Her chin slammed into the wall before the rest of her body, and she fell to the ground in intense pain. She tried to get up, coughing and gasping. Blood filled her mouth as the metallic taste and scent took over her senses.