Death Stalker: Dragon

by C. L. Scholey

  * * * *

  The helmet light cast eerie shadows. Her nerves frazzled, Haven was certain she’d come across two forty-foot-high fire-breathing shifter dragons fighting. She needed to get her wits together. Darkness gave Haven a different perspective of the massive trees she veered around. One false move and she would need a rescue team. Not that any would be coming.

  Wind howled with a vengeance. Heavy flakes determined to blind her slapped her frozen face. Her teeth chattered. If Neron was alive in this mess, he wouldn’t be for long. Haven imagined even shifters could get hypothermia. The crumpled body in the snow came on her so fast she almost ran him over. Neron was shivering, naked. Haven would have to help him dress; he seemed paralyzed in certain areas. From cold she thought, until she saw strange spines sticking from certain places. Haven yanked them out. They needed shelter. Neron tried to talk as she struggled out of his coat and wrapped it around his shoulders. She fumbled in the backpack and yanked his clothes on article by article. His flesh was ice. Neron could barely move.

  Haven used his boot laces to tie long branches to the skis. She rolled him onto her make-shift sleigh and used the rope in her pack tied around the branches and her waist. Haven was on the move. She knew this area. The snow was deep, but Haven pulled Neron’s weight along. The small cabin that came into view was for snowmobilers needing to warm themselves or meet up. She had to throw her body against the icy door to open it. Inside the darkness was the stale smell of cold, a heaviness that hung in the air and crept down her throat into her lungs. Her helmet light shining, scanning the inside of the cabin, she spied an old ripped mattress in a corner and Haven, grunting and groaning, dragged Neron to it. She flew to the small, black, pot-bellied stove and found matches, tinder and larger pieces of wood.

  Hands shaking, she started a fire, feeding it with small pieces of kindling and old leaves blown into a corner pile, until larger wood could be added. Snow was as dangerous as it was fun. Blizzards blew up unexpected, hypothermia was deadly. Haven spent a lot of time outside. She had a waterproof bag containing a silver blanket, sugar packs and tea in her backpack. The mug was a device an old boyfriend made, it was collapsible and when formed would hold hot water. Haven filled it with snow from outside the door and sat it on the old stove. She went to Neron and covered him with her blanket. He was watching her as she strode to the stove.

  The snow was melting fast as the cup heated. Moments later she approached him and helped him sip the warm sugary liquid.

  “Your badass is now a cold ass,” she said.

  “I’m going to kill Gunner.”

  “Ah, yes, you mentioned you were death.”

  “I am.”

  “We had an interesting day, Orion and I. Our long-time friend turned into a grizzly and whisked my sister away into a cave to keep her warm. See me shaking? I’m not cold. I’ve been shaking like this since he shifted. I know you’re a shifter. Gunner informed me he thinks you’re my mate. I also learned my sister should never be allowed near you. Why is that?”

  “Manni is a demon shifter. A freak of nature. He can’t be allowed to create more.”

  “So, Death, kill him.”

  “That’s the plan. I got a good bite into him before he spit at me. Half of me can’t move.”

  “Seriously, you bit him, he spit at you. Do you both shift into two year olds?”

  “I shift into a Komodo dragon.”

  Haven was shaking harder. No wonder he hated snow. She couldn’t be the mate of someone so opposite her. He hated snow, she loved it, she was human, and he was a dragon. Those creatures were badass and scary as all crap.

  “What does Manni shift into?”

  “Are you sure you want to know? You look like jello in a paint mixing machine.”

  “I saw yellow eyes and rows of fangs. Do you know how terrifying a Komodo dragon is? Of course you do, you’re Death.”

  “You missed mentioning the ratty wings, dragon tail and mangy lion ass.”

  “Not looking forward to being an aunt.”

  “Don’t be. Manni wants you dead. He wants Orion to himself. If you haven’t guessed, you belong to me.”

  “No thanks. You want to kill my sister.”

  “I don’t want to.” His lips were blue and his teeth chattering he almost seemed, human. “If she draws shifter demons to her, she is a danger to you and everyone else. I’m hoping with Manni’s death another shifter will show himself, a normal one.”

  “What the hell is normal about shifting into a Komodo dragon?” she shrieked.

  Neron slumped and groaned. “I feel like frozen wet crap. I can’t warm up. The dragon in me is flipping its shit.”

  She should watch him die, she should, but she wouldn’t. Haven took off her coat and got under the blanket with him. He was ice. Neron was watching her. His flesh quivered when she picked up his hand and brought it to her cheek. So cold. His fingers were popsicles and a thought struck her. She sucked on his fingers, one by one and tried working the circulation back into them. Haven’s hot breath bathed his palms. The intimacy of her actions made her breath catch. Instead she moved to his frozen feet and, using her thumbs, rubbed in a circular motion. She was thinking as she warmed him. The intimate contact drew her breath away. After a while it was he who heated her. How is that possible?

  “I don’t belong to you,” she said, more to convince herself.

  “A shifter knows his mate.”

  “I’m not a shifter.”

  “I know. You have to feel something when we touch. You don’t seem as freaked out as I thought you’d be.”

  “My mother insisted shifters were real. Maybe she saw Manni. Maybe the accident that took hers and daddy’s life wasn’t an accident at all.”

  “I’m guessing not.”

  Haven moved to his feet and took off his loose boots. “All I have is my sister. You’re going to swear on your life you won’t hurt her.”

  “If she attracts demon shifters…”

  “Then you can kill them. That’s what you do right? Death? Why not make it easy and have them come to you?”

  “I don’t want them near my mate. Or my offspring.”

  “Excuse me, when did we have kids?”

  “I won’t allow you to be in danger.”

  Haven sat back letting his foot go. She got up and put her coat on. She began fiddling with his boot laces to release her skis.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To find my sister.”

  “In a blizzard?”

  “I found you didn’t I?” she retorted.

  His leg shot out and she toppled onto him. Neron flipped her beneath him, pinning her. Haven’s breath expelled in a whoosh.

  Chapter Five

  When Neron gazed into her eyes he expected fear, but she was sad. Haven’s eyes were watery with unshed tears. She didn’t try to hit him, or struggle. She lay quiet.

  “Are you going to bite me?” she asked.

  “No, not here or now. My sperm is an antidote regardless. My mate will never be in danger from me. Manni is still out there. With any luck he’s dead. Orion will be safe with Gunner. Well, at least she won’t freeze to death. That fat ass is a rug with a built-in furnace. He cares for you and your sister. If Manni comes for Orion, Gunner would die to protect her. But he would die. Manni doesn’t want your sister dead. Not so with you. You shouldn’t have come after me. I can’t let you leave here unless I know you’re safe from Manni.”

  He swept a lock of her hair from her face. Her full lips were a tease and he leaned down to kiss her. She didn’t respond. Her gaze remained sad. Haven didn’t understand Orion wasn’t the only person in her life. Neron was her mate. She was his responsibility. Dejected blue eyes almost melted his frozen heart. He sighed, conceding.

  “I won’t hurt your sister, Haven. I’m not happy about it, but don’t be surprised if I have to kill people at our mating ceremony.”

  “What if I don’t want to mate you, are you going to kill her?”

&nb
sp; “You are going to be difficult.”

  “I’m not the one pinning you.”

  “Why did you come for me?” he asked.

  “You were in trouble. Naked in a blizzard doesn’t scream a happy ending.”

  Neron sat up. Her kind only defended those who they cared for, and the defenceless. “I’m still in trouble, Haven. I’m with my mate who is in danger. I need to warm up, shift, and go back out there. Wait for me? We can talk about everything. You can ask me anything. Right now I must make certain you are safe. Trust me when I say nothing is more important to me than you.”

  He hoped the passion in his words convinced her. Haven sat up beside him. He tilted her face with a finger under her chin. The pads of his thumbs slid across her cheeks. Her warm sensual mouth on his fingers was a nagging memory. Those beautiful lips were a tantalizing delight that brought his flesh to life. This time when he kissed her, she kissed back. Tentative, sweet and a bit reluctant. She was shaking again. Neron’s blood began to sizzle. His mate was a flame that warmed him from within. Manni’s paralyzing effect couldn’t battle the depths of desire. Haven made Neron’s flesh sing. She made his muscles scream with want, her touch demanded no less and she wasn’t even aware of what she did to him. Blood began to flow to areas in need. The paralyzing effect of Manni’s spines were wearing off.

  “My aunt was stolen by a shifter,” she said with a quiet breath when they parted. “My mother warned us about your kind. Please don’t steal me away from Orion.”

  “I won’t steal you away. Taking a mate from the ones she loves isn’t usual practice. Something must have occurred.”

  “My mother was positive Aunt Ellen was pregnant when she left.”

  The idea made Neron frown. A human needed the support of family when pregnant. A shifter who gave birth might be more comfortable around her mate simply because there were a rare few baby shifters who came out in shifter form or were capable of immediately shifting after for survival. Infrequent but not unheard of. Something wasn’t right about Haven’s story. He believed her, but there had to be more. For now, Neron needed to hunt. His blood was boiling with Haven’s kiss. The faster he killed Manni the quicker he and Haven could talk. Neron wanted to get lost in the ocean depth of her gaze. He needed to turn her confusion into want.

  When the door burst open, Haven screamed. Neron shifted, his clothes ripping and falling to the ground. The cold air assault was instantaneous. The spines Manni shot hit Haven in the legs. Neron was on him. More spines flew hitting the ceiling as Neron scratched deep claws into Manni’s half furred half scaled chest. The demon shifter was gruesome to behold. It was apparent why many thought he was a Manticore. The mismatched quilted body of the demon didn’t fit together.

  It was said Manni suffered great pain while in shifter form, Neron could see why. Sooty black dragon wings were tattered and ripped, too small on the left, too big on the right, giving the creature a hunchback appearance. A lion should never have paired with a mythical dragon. The dragon tail of the beast dragged the lion ass end down with weight, staggering the hind quarters likening it to a hyena. A deranged human face covered in scales with rows of sharp ill-fitting teeth to extend a small jaw must have been agonizing. The outraged squealing of the beast made Haven’s hands fly to her ears. Manni’s parents did him no favor keeping him locked up—and alive.

  Neron crushed Manni’s head between his teeth in a rage, making certain to contain his mouth. He didn’t want spines sent down his vulnerable throat. Neron’s armoured scales protected him from the deadly spines but the freezing cold lowered his aptitude and his legs had been a target the last time they fought. Manni wasn’t immune to Neron’s bite, more lethal than the average Komodo dragon, the demon was struggling to break loose.

  His long tail whipped Manni’s legs from under him. Neron was infuriated. How dare he attack his mate? The little puke would die, now. Neron shook him, violently crushing the teeth in Manni’s mouth up through his skull. He heard Haven’s cry when he almost ripped the head from the body. Manni hurt his mate. The spines could kill or paralyze a human. Neron needed to act fast. A bite from a Komodo dragon could kill the spines poison with strands of counter bacteria. Then sperm would heal Haven. It wasn’t how he wanted his first time with her. She would be too afraid. Neron was engulfed in hatred.

  Neron’s entire body snapped back and forth in his wrath. He crushed Manni’s face, his claw ripped open his chest. It was then Neron felt the warm sticky flow of blood from flesh. It registered Manni stopped fighting. He dropped his lifeless enemy. Breathing hard he stepped back to stare at a human male as Manni slipped from shifter form. Hearing her whimper Neron raced to Haven fearing the worst. She shied back from him. Kneeling before her, he shifted and cupped her chin. Her pupils weren’t dilated. Her flesh wasn’t icy cold, nor was she gasping for breath. His hammering heart skipped a beat with relief. She was paralyzed, nothing more. There was no poison.

  “It’s Jeff,” Haven said on a sob. Her shocked surprise was filled with hurt. “Oh my God, Neron, it’s Jeff. I thought he was my friend. He asked my permission along with my parents to marry Orion. He held us both when our parents died, consoling me, too.”

  Neron’s guts dropped. Jeff was Orion’s boyfriend, he was Manni. If the couple had sex she could already be carrying his offspring. That’s what might have set Manni off. He may have felt the need to kill anyone who came near his mate and their child. Neron didn’t want to hurt his mate’s sister. Would he have to kill her baby? A demon mongrel couldn’t be allowed to live. They made that mistake with Manni. There was no way in hell Neron would allow his offspring near a child of Manni’s. Neron turned to look at Haven, he noted his clothing and how cold he was, some garments were torn in a pile on the cold floor. Haven was sobbing, he wanted to hold her. She gazed at him with terror in her eyes.

  “I can’t move my legs,” she whimpered.

  “The effects will wear off.” So far it seemed Haven had been hit with the paralyzing spines, not the deadly ones. Neron wondered what Manni might have had in store for Haven. Neron possessed a natural tendency to heal quickly. If he pulled the spines from Haven now she would be writhing in pain before he could get her to safety. She was in need of greater warmth. For now he left the spines, thinking it a kind mercy.

  “Am I going to die?”

  “No.”

  “If I do, please don’t hurt Orion. If she’s made for a shifter you mate her. Save her.”

  Neron’s heart near melted. Of course she would think of another. Neron didn’t want Orion, he burned for Haven. He ran a hand over his face and slipped into his ripped jeans. What clothing he could salvage, he put on. The long underwear was in better shape and he slipped them onto Haven. She would need the extra warmth with her immobility. For the first time in his life, Neron wished he were a furred shifter. He placed the blanket around Haven after pulling her jacket closed and zipping it up, and lacing the hood up as tight as it would go. Her tiny breaths were visible, nothing more. The blizzard was raging outside sending cold gusts of wind through cracks and the battered door now dragging on a hinge. Neron paused glancing at the fire in the small stove. It was almost out, there was no more wood.

  Manni’s lifeless body was slumped. He had to get Haven away from the scene. On his finger was a false nail, it stayed in place no matter what form he was in. Neron removed it with a series of touching other nails; his personal code, and activated the chip by snapping it and put it in a place where it wouldn’t move. The Death Stalkers cleanup crew would be there to remove any trace of what had transpired. No matter the weather. Neron was expected to disappear and leave any witnesses behind to be relocated. That wouldn’t happen. Haven was his.

  In time he would have to explain to his mate what he was. Though he did consider himself death, he was much more. Neron protected society with a vengeance, though normally in the tropics. The cold was making him slow, his thoughts dense. His inner dragon was done in and exhausted. It was good Manni was dead. In o
rder for Neron to live he had to get them to a warmer place. He had the reverse feeling of Frosty the snowman in the greenhouse—he longed for the greenhouse.

  Crouching before her, Neron again cupped her chin over the material of the jacket. “We have to leave.”

  “I can’t move,” was her muffled response.

  “I can.”

  Wrapping her well, Neron hoisted her over his shoulders and left. Her weight should have been miniscule to him, as his mate, but it wasn’t. Neron was running on fumes. That sparked him to move faster. The snow was blinding, freezing. The wet flakes brought the scent of Gunner to him. He could tell by the smell Gunner was scared. Instinct became everything as Neron tracked the pair. He trudged back to the car, all the while alternating between admiration for Haven and anger that she came so far. Icy snow flew into his eyes and clung to his lashes. He could feel Haven shaking. Neron slid his way down an embankment on cold wet legs and icy feet, and found the cave Gunner and Orion were in. The opening wasn’t large, but the dancing of firelight was visible and welcome. He was close to sighing in relief. Neron never remembered being so weary.

  “Gunner, it’s me,” Neron bellowed to be heard. Who knew if the bear would take a swing at him if he suddenly appeared? He could scent the bear’s relief, and the warmth. The fire and smoke helped guide his way until they were snuggly inside. Neron was ready to drop. Instead he removed the blanket from Haven and sat her as close to the fire as he dared, shoving at Gunner.

  “Move over fat ass, my mate needs the heat,” Neron said with a growl. So did Neron.

  Gunner was in shifter form, his bulk took a tremendous amount of space. Orion grabbed her sister to her when Neron set her down. He battled with himself wanting to shove the woman back but held his temper in check. There was no way for him to detect if Orion was carrying. Neron would be able to tell when his own mate was, but not another shifter’s. The only threat to Haven was the cold, nothing more.