Embers (The Slayer Chronicles Book 2)

by Val St. Crowe

  “There’s no way in back here besides that hallway,” Foster called. “I don’t think we’ll have any company in here.”

  “You sure there’s no way in? No secret tunnel access?” I called back.

  “Positive,” said Foster.

  I shut my mouth. I guessed that meant everything was okay. What did I know?

  Naelen studied his fingernails. “I’m sorry about earlier.”

  “What are you talking about?” I said.

  “About what happened when we were kissing,” he said. “I got carried away, and I should have behaved myself. You were right. There’s nothing sexy about this situation.”

  Nothing sexy…? Oh. He was talking about propositioning me after what had happened to Beverly. I shook my head. “I’m not angry or anything. It’s what I’ve come to expect from you.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  I squinted at him. “You sound offended.”

  “Well, I’m trying to apologize here, and you’re not really cooperating.”

  “For you to apologize, I don’t have to cooperate.”

  “Tell me I’m forgiven, then.”

  “I did,” I said.

  “No, you didn’t. You made some snippy comment about what you expect from me. What is it you expect from me, exactly?”

  “You know, just that you’ll want to sleep with me. That’s a constant in the universe. The sun comes up, and Naelen tries to get me into bed.”

  He folded his arms over my chest. “You think I’m ridiculous, don’t you?”

  “No,” I said. “I never said that.”

  “You find me foolish. You’re never going to be serious about me, not someone like me. We’ll get out of here and you’ll go back to Logan.”

  “I don’t find you foolish.”

  He laughed softly. “That’s the part that you’re denying, hmm?”

  “Naelen, I thought you were apologizing. Seems to me that you’re only accusing me now.”

  He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not trying to accuse you. I’m sorry. God damn it, Clarke, I don’t apologize, and you’ve got me doing it twice in the span of minutes.”

  I smirked. “You don’t apologize? Really?”

  “There’s no point in it. Not in my line of work. If I’m doing something horrible, apologizing doesn’t change the fact that I’ve done it. It only makes me seem wishy washy. As if I don’t believe in my own actions. So, I don’t apologize.”

  “But that’s when you’re being a venture capitalist. This is hardly the same thing.”

  “I know that.” He sucked in air through his nose. “Never mind.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  It was silent.

  I wondered what was going on with Foster and Celia. Were they dead back there? Certainly, if there had been a dragon attack, they’d have made some noise, right?

  If they were dead, and I hadn’t heard it because of drama with Naelen, I was never going to forgive myself.

  “I am sorry, though,” he said softly. “If you could try to erase that part of it. Think of what I said before, about how I’d break down any obstacles I had to get through to be with you. I mean that.”

  “Look,” I said. “It’s not that I think you’re foolish. I wouldn’t use that word. But I do think it would be better if you would stop pushing for something that’s never going to happen. You can’t break the obstacle of me.”

  He started to speak. Stopped. Scuffed his toe against the floor. “You mean it, then? You’re really not interested at all?”

  I moistened my lips, feeling a tiny tingle in my stomach. “I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that you’re an attractive man, but… that’s not enough.”

  “Right.” He bobbed his head.

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  “What?” He forced a laugh. “You don’t need to… I’m fine.”

  “Of course you are. I didn’t mean to imply that you weren’t.”

  He jammed his hands into his pockets.

  Neither of us spoke for a long time.

  “How long does it take to find some coats?” I muttered, turning into the hallway.

  “Wait.” He grabbed me by the shoulder. His voice was dark and lilting. “It’s more than what you’re saying, Clarke.”

  “Naelen, don’t,” I said, and my own voice was soft now.

  “I know I shouldn’t have made a pass at you after what happened with Beverly. It was juvenile and disgusting,” he said. “It’s only that sometimes, when I’m touching you, I lose control a bit. Something about you makes me—”

  “Thought you guys were watching for dragons,” said Celia as she appeared around the fork in the hallway, her arms loaded with coats.

  Naelen and I sprang back from each other as if we’d burned ourselves.

  I tugged arrows out of my quiver. “Definitely watching. Ready. Sorry.”

  Foster snickered. “You two are like… together?”

  “No,” I said.

  Naelen sighed, shoved his hands in his pockets, and walked out of the hallway.

  * * *

  After forty-five minutes, we began to pull on the coats and boots. There were also goggles for our faces and thick gloves for our hands. I didn’t think I was going to be able to use them, though. There was no way to shoot arrows with gloves like that.

  Foster and Celia had managed to find a coat for Naelen that fit pretty well. It still strained around his upper chest region, but it was zippable. He had extremely broad shoulders.

  He hadn’t said much to me in the past three-quarters of an hour. Admittedly, none of us had said anything to each other, but his silence seemed different. I wasn’t sure, but I thought that he was hurt. I’d finally gotten through to him, made him realize that his advances were unwanted, and that had hurt him. He was dealing with it through stoicism.

  However, I felt relieved, as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. This was what I had always wanted, for Naelen to get it, and to leave me alone.

  Well…

  I wanted to feel relieved, but I actually had this uncomfortable sensation in my stomach when I looked at him.

  Anyway, I didn’t have the luxury of thinking about that.

  We needed to get out of here. The whole place was going to explode.

  Once we were all in our snow gear, we pressed our backs into the wall again.

  “Okay,” I said to them. “I’m going to go first, and Naelen’s going to bring up the rear. We head straight for the snowmobiles. Got it?”

  They nodded.

  We began to inch our way across the smooth surface of the wall.

  As we moved, I kept my eyes on the dragons. They were still milling about like behemoths, not paying us a bit of mind.

  I could see the snowmobiles, parked in an alcove, not twenty feet away.

  We kept inching toward them.

  Beepbeepbeep. “Self-destruct in five minutes.” Beepbeepbeep.

  The dragons all started at the beeping noise.

  I cringed.

  Were they going to see us?

  Damn it, yes, two of them turned.

  “I got them,” Naelen said. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that he had his hand outstretched. He was concentrating. “I got all of them,” he said. “Go!”

  I pushed Foster and Celia ahead of me and we headed for the snowmobiles as fast as we could.

  The dragons were all frozen in place, not one of them moving a muscle. Naelen’s magic was holding them there.

  We reached the snowmobiles, and I got out the keys we’d taken from Nicole. There were two sets on the ring. I started to separate them, but I fumbled, and my fingers slipped.

  One set fell to the floor.

  “Damn it.” I handed the first set to Foster.

  He took them, grabbed Celia’s hand, and dove for the first snowmobile.

  I knelt down to pick up the keys, eyes on the dragons. Even though they were frozen, I couldn’t chance looking away. I felt aroun
d on the floor blindly. Where were they?

  There.

  I picked up the keys. I went over to the other snowmobile. I threw a leg over it, straddling it. Then I searched for a place to put in the key.

  The machine suddenly seemed daunting and foreign. Complicated.

  Next to me, Foster and Celia had their snowmobile running.

  I couldn’t even find the place to put in the key.

  Oh. Wait. There. I shoved it in and turned it.

  Nothing happened.

  Okay. So, it wasn’t like a car? “How do you start this thing?” I yelled at Foster.

  “Turn the key,” he said.

  “I did,” I said.

  One of the dragons moved its head.

  “Naelen?” I twisted to look at him.

  His face was drawn and gray. He was still holding out one hand, but it was trembling.

  “Naelen!” I remembered that the objects took their energy from the person using them. There were so many dragons there, and Naelen was not only keeping each one frozen, but overriding the dragons’ magic as well. That was a lot of power expenditure. It was taking it out of him.

  Foster was getting off his snowmobile and coming over to mine.

  “Go!” I yelled at him.

  “But you can’t start yours.”

  “Never mind me, get the hell out of here!”

  He shrugged, went back over to his machine, climbed on, and zoomed forward.

  I yanked the key out and got off the snowmobile. Pulling arrows out of my quiver, I yelled to Naelen. “Let them go. You’re going to hurt yourself.”

  “I’ve got it,” he gasped. “You get out of here.”

  Foster and Celia were at the door.

  Beepbeepbeep. “Self-destruct in one minute.” Beepbeepbeep.

  “What, and leave you here?”

  “I’ll be right behind you,” he said.

  “Get on the god damned snowmobile now!”

  “I can’t walk and keep up the magic,” he said.

  Foster had gotten off the snowmobile. He was at the door, keying in a sequence to open it up. The door slid sideways, just like it had when Naelen and I had come in. “If you guys get over here,” Foster called, “I can program it to shut as soon as we’re both through the door.”

  “No,” I called back. “Leave it open. Just go.”

  Foster shrugged. “All right, if you say so.”

  “Go!” I yelled.

  He got back on the the snowmobile. He and Celia zoomed out the door into a swirl of white flakes.

  I could feel the winter chill coming in now. It bit at my fingers, which still held my arrows. I notched one. “Let the dragons go and get over here, Naelen.”

  He turned determined but ashen eyes on me. “I’ve got this, Clarke. Just get out of here, please? Let me do this for you. Let me save you for once.”

  “I can’t turn on the snowmobile,” I said. “I need you. I’ll cover the dragons. Please.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Maybe it was the pleading. Maybe the fact that I said that I needed him. Maybe Naelen was just exhausted. But he dropped his hand and ran for the snowmobile.

  The dragons all sprang to life.

  I let loose all three of my arrows, pivoting as I did so.

  I aimed for where the dragons would be, not where they were, which was easier to do since they were all frozen. Once let go, they simply headed in the direction that they’d been going in before.

  My arrows hit their targets. Three dragons fell down dead.

  I tugged out three more arrows. One was one of those exploding arrows that didn’t work. Stupid pieces of crap. I let it go.

  Bam. A dragon’s head exploded.

  Startled, I lost my balance.

  Behind me, the snowmobile came to life.

  I fell back into it, into Naelen’s arms. “Careful now,” he said.

  “I guess those other ones were duds,” I said.

  “Other what?”

  “Other arrows.” I was feeling around in my quiver for more of the exploding ones.

  Beepbeepbeep. “Self-destruct in fifteen seconds.” Beepbeepbeep.

  Naelen hauled me onto the snowmobile.

  The dragons were lunging at us.

  We surged forward, heading for the open door.

  The dragons were at our heels.

  We sailed through the door, snowmobiles leaping, skis in the air.

  Dragons were coming out after us. Maybe five. Maybe ten.

  I shot arrows at them.

  We hit the snow, burrowing deep in the white powder. The motor of the snowmobile roared as it powered forward.

  And then the entire lab exploded.

  I felt myself get picked up by the force of it. I was tumbling through the air.

  And then I smacked into the cold snow.

  * * *

  I crawled up out of the snow bank where I’d been buried. I could hear the motor of a snowmobile somewhere close by, but it wasn’t the one that Naelen and I had been riding, because that one was upended in a snow bank next to me.

  No, the snowmobile I heard was Foster’s and Celia’s. The two of them skidded to a stop next to me, kicking up snow.

  “You all right?” Celia asked.

  I shivered. Snow had gotten down my collar, gotten under my jacket, soaked through my pants. “Where’s Naelen?” I said.

  There were dragons above. At least five of them, soaring up into the white sky, getting lost in the billows of smoke from the explosion.

  I should shoot them. I would shoot them. But first, where the hell was Naelen? I turned in a circle. “Naelen!” I yelled.

  “He’s there.” Foster pointed next to the snowmobile.

  I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Then I ran for him.

  He was face down in the snow. I turned him over. His eyes were closed. I shook him.

  He didn’t respond.

  “Naelen,” I said. He didn’t look wounded. There was no blood.

  “What’s wrong with him?” said Celia.

  “I think he used too much magic,” I said. “Passed out.”

  “That can happen?” Foster.

  “Yes,” I said, even though I really didn’t know about regular dragon magic. Maybe overusing that could exhaust a dragon, maybe not. I waded through the snow to our snowmobile. Were we going to be able to get that thing out?

  Foster was next to me right away. Together, we rolled the thing over, got it upright.

  I squinted at it. “No keys.”

  “Damn,” said Foster.

  “He’s got the key,” said Celia, pointing at Naelen.

  Sure enough, there in one fist, Naelen was clutching the keys in a death grip.

  Not a death grip. He wasn’t dead.

  Oh, God. He wasn’t, was he? I hurried back over to take his pulse. But once I was close, I could feel his warm breath, and I knew he was alive.

  I wrapped my arms around him. “Be okay. Please. Be okay.” He needed to shift. If we could get him somewhere with a pool or a lake or…

  I wrested the keys out of his hand.

  Foster helped me get Naelen back onto the snowmobile. We draped him forward, over the handles, and I got on behind him. This time, the snowmobile started right up when I turned the key.

  “Before,” Foster said, “you probably needed to pump the throttle.”

  “The throttle?” I said.

  “This.” He pointed.

  “Oh,” I said. “Uh huh. And how do you drive one of these things exactly?”

  Foster just laughed. “It’s not that hard.”

  But it was. It was much more difficult than I might have imagined. But after a few false starts, I managed to figure it out well enough that I could keep the damned thing going.

  I caught up to Foster and Celia, who were waiting patiently for me, the way Foster did every time he got too far ahead, and we made our way through the frozen white world of swirling snow.

  I could no longer
see the dragons overhead, but that didn’t mean they weren’t coming for us.

  * * *

  After nearly an hour, we spotting a building up ahead, which was a good thing, because I was fairly sure my nose was about to fall off. I was wearing gloves since I wasn’t trying to shoot dragons, and that helped my fingers, but they were really cold too. If it hadn’t been for the warmth of Naelen’s body next to mine on the snowmobile, though, I’m fairly sure I would have been a popsicle.

  Once we saw the building, we also saw a chair lift, which wasn’t moving. A storm of this magnitude even shut down ski lodges. And that was what we’d found. A ski lodge.

  “Yeah, I knew this was here,” said Foster.

  We had parked our snowmobiles outside the door to the lodge. Inside, we could see lights in the windows and smoke curling from the chimney.

  “I remember hearing about it too,” said Celia. “We even joked we were going to come down here on our day off.”

  “Right, like we ever had a day off,” said Foster.

  “True,” she said.

  “Help me with Naelen?” I said.

  Foster came over and together, we lifted Naelen off the snowmobile.

  “He can’t walk,” I said. “We’re going to have to carry him.”

  Celia came over too. “I can help.”

  “Are you sure?” I said. “Isn’t it bad to lift things when you’re pregnant?”

  “I’m barely pregnant,” she said. “It’ll be fine.”

  But Naelen lifted his head. “What’s going on?” he murmured.

  “Naelen?” I said.

  He pushed to his feet. “Where are the dragons?” He peered up at the sky.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “They got away. It’s too cold out here to think about it. We need to get you inside.”

  His head flopped forward, chin resting on his chest, and he leaned heavily on me. “I’m fine. Really fine.”

  “You’re not,” I said. “Come on, let’s go.”

  The three of us supported him and managed to get to the door of the lodge.

  Then we opened the door and burst inside.

  We emerged into the foyer. Directly in front of us was a desk with a computer. A sign on the wall read, Welcome. Check in here. There was no one behind the desk. On the other side of the room was a fireplace flanked by several couches and chairs.

  Five people, all in sweaters or sweatshirts, were standing up and staring at us.