“He will be.” She brushed a strand of red hair that had fallen loose from her bun onto her face. “That was some wallop you gave him. Even if your magic didn’t burn him somehow, it almost killed him. Magic tends to go wrong even for those experienced in its use. Black Rock is being irresponsible putting you up to this. And you are a fool for going along with it. Next time, you might not be this lucky.”
My face burned red. Was she trying to hurt me? She didn’t mention the untamed taking a chunk out of his neck, but she was right. How could I argue? Instead of dwelling on that, I slipped around her and tore into the infirmary like a coward.
The room was a single space filled with medical equipment and technology I couldn’t name. Large computers took up one wall, cabinets the other, but my eyes were drawn to the center of the room.
Ki lay on a hospital bed, his torso bare, his bottom half covered by a crisp, white sheet. Monitors beeped above his head and an IV snaked from a pole down into his wrist. He looked pale and withered. A sob caught in my throat.
At the sound, Ki’s head slowly turned in my direction. “Lila.”
I was at his side in an instant. Lacing my fingers through his, I pulled his hand up and pressed my lips to it. “You’re okay.”
“Yeah, I guess. All my limbs work.” As he turned his head to examine his body, the white bandage on his neck appeared. He winced, touched the dressing and laid his head back on the pillow. “Slow and steady. That’s what the doc said.”
“Ivy knows what she’s doing,” I said, hating that I was complimenting her, but it seemed true. She was a hell of a doctor, so maybe it hadn’t been too hard for her to give up on her magic. I glanced over my shoulder to thank her, but she’d disappeared. Grateful for some alone time with Ki, I made a mental note to track her down later and express my appreciation, no matter how hard.
For now, I held his hand and stared into his dark brown eyes.
“Ki, whatever I did to you on that beach—”
“Lila, stop. You saved us. Without your magic, those untamed would’ve eaten us alive. One already got a taste.” The hand not holding mine gently probed the bandage on his neck, sending the IV tube to swing.
I shook my head, fighting the torrent of tears behind my eyes. “I couldn’t control it. It all just happened so fast. One minute I had nothing. The next...” I swallowed hard, forcing myself not to cry.
“I couldn’t control my power either. It’s just... mine is a trickle. Yours…” His hand squeezed mine, his eyes waiting until our gazes locked together. “Your power is a flood.”
Dropping my head, I pushed the idea away. What did it matter how much power I had if using it came to this?
“Black Rock did this,” I murmured, the anger sprouting again. “Him and Santiago.”
“Don’t be too hard on Santiago. He has his reasons for doing what he did.” Ki’s thumb rubbed my hand soothingly. Even now, nearly dead in a hospital bed, he was trying to comfort and calm me.
“You could’ve died. He has no right to refuse like that.”
“Lila, not everything is so cut and dry, black and white. There’s shades of gray in everything. Give Santiago time. He’ll understand soon enough that fighting for what’s right, even if there are consequences, is what we’ve been put on this planet to do.”
I pressed my cheek to his hand, soaking in his words. Just his presence settled the riot that had been going on in my chest. “What would I do without you?”
His head rolled toward me, gaze lingering on my face. “It’s you we all worry about. It’s you we need, Lila. We’d do anything for you.”
His words, like arms, wrapped around me, warming me up. When I’d thought I might lose Ki, it was as if the force field that held me together disintegrated and I had broken into bits. Now, holding his hand and gazing into his eyes, I was here. I was whole.
Leaning in, I closed my eyes and pressed my lips to his.
The softness. The warmth. His lips were sweet, tentative. Ki was a lighthouse calling me home. My hand cupped his face as his arms circled my back, easing the tension, soothing the ache. I tilted my head down, resting it on his chest as it rose and fell in steady succession.
“Don’t ever scare me like that again,” I whispered.
He chuckled lightly. “If I get a kiss like that every time I’m knocked out, expect a lot more where that came from.” He did a mock swoon, smiling.
“Eh-hem.” Something shifted in the back of the room.
I lifted my head, spotting Ivy in the doorway. She was clean and dressed in pressed slacks and a form-fitting green blouse that brought out the color of her eyes. How in the world did she always look like she had hair and makeup waiting in the wings of every room?
“My patient needs rest,” she said, her voice even, commanding without being overly harsh. “And I’m sure his brother would like to see him before I boot everyone out.”
Ki’s hand squeezed mine as if he wanted me to stay, but I knew Ivy was right. Fang needed to see Ki was okay. Plus, I had unfinished business.
Turning to Ki, I planted a kiss on his cheek this time. “Get better. We need you out there. Our team doesn’t function without you. You’re the glue.”
“And you’re the fire.” His thumb rubbed the back of my hand. “Go easy on Santiago.”
Giving his hand a final squeeze, I strode toward Ivy. “Thank you for healing him. I really appreciate it.”
“Of course. It’s what I do.” She stood with her hands clasped behind her back, emotionless and beautiful. At least Ki would have something nice to look at while he healed. Hello, nurse.
As I turned to go, Ivy grabbed my arm. “Was it really Tara you saw?”
I nodded. “She’s back.”
Ivy sucked in a breath. “Then we’re all in a lot of trouble.”
“Tara’s in a lot of trouble,” I said, the fire rekindling. I could already feel it threatening to burn right through me.
Ivy let me go, walking over to check Ki’s wounds.
Just as I turned to leave, Fang came running in. He’d awoken and looked terrified.
“He’s okay, Fang. He’s okay.” I assured him, nodding my head repeatedly and taking his hand.
Relief washed over him, and he almost seemed to collapse to the floor with it.
“Go see him,” I said. Ivy would at least let him make sure his brother was, indeed, okay.
He walked tentatively into the infirmary, and I left them to it. I had someone I needed to see.
Stalking through the halls, I was grateful when no one else was around to catch the tendrils of my wrath. My blind rage led me to the door at the end of the hall.
I bashed my fist against it. Boom, boom, boom.
Heavy footsteps walked my way. Then the door opened.
“Lila.” Black Rock’s golden eyes swept along my body as if assessing me for wounds. Little did he know my wounds were in places no one could see. He was dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt that hugged his massive chest. His dreads were tied back, resting against his broad shoulders. I could smell that he had showered and shaved, the scent of sandalwood and lavender wafting around him.
None of it mattered. He’d almost killed us all.
“You son-of-a-bitch.” I reared back and punched his face.
Pain exploded down my hand as my knuckles met rock. Black Rock. He stumbled back, probably more from shock than any punch I could throw. He held his cheek and stared at me, his expression so complicated there was no way I could discern what he felt.
It didn’t matter what he felt.
“You did this to us!” I shouted. “You left us to die. Ki almost did. How dare you?!” My hands were fisted again. I waited for him to speak just so I could lash out again. Let him give me some bullshit answer. I had at least one more hand that wasn’t broken.
Instead, his face crumpled and his shoulders sagged. “I’m so sorry, Lila. I’ve had time to think about it and I’ve realized I was a fool. I never should’ve pushed you like that.
I thought I was doing it for your own good, but I was wrong. It all went so wrong.” He gripped his head, appearing more vulnerable than I had ever seen him.
An apology. That wasn’t what I was expected. I didn’t want it, either. I wanted to rage.
“I can’t believe I ever liked you and thought you were hot, you ignorant, selfish, egotistical asshole.” I raised the hand that wasn’t throbbing and readied to strike.
He grabbed my wrist in midair, stopping me. Our eyes met. My chest was heaving as it waited inches from his. I wanted… I wanted to…
He pulled me into his arms and my hungry lips met his.
Chapter 13
The door slammed shut, and Black Rock pushed me against it, kissing me. Hooking his hands under my legs, he lifted me up, pinning me under muscle and the heat of his caress. His mouth left mine and traced a line of kisses along my jaw.
What are you doing, Lila?
I’d come here to demand an explanation for what he’d done, and instead...
I squirmed, both enjoying his attention and fighting my own weakness. Black Rock’s lips dipped to my neck, igniting something savage within me. I pushed him away, got free of his hold, and landed on my feet.
He stood there, panting, and staring down at me, a strange light in his eyes that made him feel more dragon than man.
Possessed by instincts I didn’t know I had, I pushed him until the back of his legs hit one of his leather chairs, and he fell into it.
Before I knew what I was doing, I was on top of him, kissing him again, inhaling his freshly-showered scent, and losing myself in the pyre our bodies seemed to create.
His hands wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer. I pushed him away again as if to tell him I was in control, not him. He stopped pulling and waited. His expression seemed to say I’ll do what you want, Lila. There was something vulnerable about the look in his eyes, as if he’d never surrendered himself to anyone before.
His gaze fell to my mouth, my neck, the curve of my breasts, and it was like fire traveling down my skin. Guided by a mixture of anger and desire, I kissed him again. Everything about the way we moved against each other was like a war, a wild battle that couldn’t end well.
I withdrew, breathless.
He threw his head back, his golden gaze connecting with mine. He looked utterly intoxicated, more so than the way I felt.
Winning over my own desire, I jumped to my feet.
He tried to capture my hand, but I pulled it back. “Lila…”
“No, I just can’t. This is… not right.” I turned my back on him and took a moment to calm myself, to drown the want that coursed through my veins like wildfire. When I was back in control, I got back on track. I’d come here for a reason, and I couldn’t let the desire between us blind me.
“When you said it would be dangerous,” I said, measuring my words and keeping my breaths in check, “you never mentioned you’d abandon us to our fate. We couldn’t even shift to escape.”
I fought to keep my anger in check. This thing with Black Rock was heat and passion, and anger seemed to be its fuel, and I had no intention of ending up on his lap again. At least not until I got something better than “sorry.”
Black Rock shook his head, blinking, eyes roving all around as if he’d forgotten where he was. After a long moment, he stood and paced in front of the fireplace. Pressing both hands against his face, he scrubbed up and down, then, finally, turned to me.
“I wanted to get Tara for you, bring her to justice,” he said. “I was so focused on that I didn’t realize there were more untamed waiting to attack you. I thought you all would be safe. It was never my intention to abandon you.”
“The only justice Tara deserves is death,” I said through clenched teeth.
Black Rock shook his head. “It’s not our way, Lila. Besides, you don’t want blood on your hands. You would come to regret it.”
“Dammit! I make my own decisions, Black Rock!”
“Oh, yeah? So you can end up shell shocked like Santiago? You know he’s been talking to Ivy about the Erudite Society? I had to set him straight about what a ridiculous idea it is.”
I opened my mouth to say something, then closed it. Had I pushed him to this? I had tried to force my own will on Santiago, hadn’t I? It had been a matter of life and death, but what if it had gone all wrong like with the untamed on my kitchen table? What if Ki was alive because Santiago hadn’t listened to me?
Feeling weak and confused, I collapsed on one of the chairs. When would this end? All I wanted was to see Dad healthy and back home.
“You would have let Ki die,” I said, my voice nothing but an incredulous whisper.
“Of course, I wouldn’t have,” Black Rock said. “I know how much he means to you, how much each of them mean to you.” There was jealousy in his tone, even though he tried to disguise it.
That suffocating moment back at the beach when all the untamed piled on top of us flashed before my eyes. I ran my fingers through my hair as my head throbbed with a sudden migraine.
“I could have killed all of them. I almost killed Ki. I did kill all those untamed.” I stared at my hands, my warden ring.
“I underestimated your potential.” Black Rock sat across from me. “We don’t know exactly what Tara used in the dragon-making concoction she injected you with, but Ivy thinks it might have been a combination of DNA from powerful dragons, including herself.”
I shuddered at the thought of Tara’s DNA mixing with mine. What kind of nasty cocktail ran through my veins that had the capacity to turn me into a dragon? And if it could do that, what else was it capable of? What else had it changed? My personality? I shuddered again, determined to find Santiago after this conversation. I needed to make things right with him, convince him not to do something stupid. I’d been so angry and pushed him away when I should have respected his wishes.
“Your power is unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Black Rock continued. “Instead of learning to unleash it, you must learn to hold it back.”
I pictured Tara’s reptilian face, and all I could think of was letting go and blasting her with all I had. But what if I hurt the others?
“And how will I learn that?” I asked.
“We have several training programs that help increase focus, but they require time, which we don’t have.”
Dad was still languishing on that bed, weaker and weaker every day. I needed Ivy fixated on helping him, not bandaging us up every time we scrapped with Tara. Only when this mess was over would Dad have her full attention. Time was certainly our biggest enemy. He didn’t have much longer. My heart told me so every time I held his hand and his grip felt more feeble than the day before.
“Then what?” I demanded. “What are our other choices?”
Black Rock massaged the back of his neck. “We risk chaos. Call on dragon leaders all around the world to help.”
“Dragon leaders like Ki and Santiago’s fathers?” I asked, shaking my head as I imagined them here, ordering us about and blaming us for everything that had gone wrong ever since Tara kidnapped my dad.
“Exactly like them,” Black Rock said, not too happy about the prospect.
“Santiago’s father gave up on my dad. He said there was no cure.” I still remembered the way his words had torn at my heart, even as I refused to believe them. “He never suggested his son might be the answer,” I said almost to myself.
“That’s because they follow the creed to the letter and it says dragon powers should come to the surface unaided. Harsher methods like mine… well, they are reserved for times of war, and Franco—like any loving parent—would never send his fledgling to battle.”
It was true. Their fathers had ordered them to desist and go home, but Ki, Fang, and Santiago had chosen to stay with me. And now, Ki had nearly died? Was I being selfish by allowing them to stay with me?
Holding back a groan, I grabbed my head, trying to contain the questions that kept popping up. A knock at the door cut through my
confusion.
“Come in,” Black Rock said.
The door opened, and Ivy stepped in. Her gaze traveled from Black Rock to me. For an instant, something flashed in her green eyes. Jealousy? Disappointment? I couldn’t tell. She rearranged her expression too quickly, leaving nothing but indifference behind.
“There is an issue that requires your attention, Black Rock,” she said in her clinical tone. “It’s not good.”
Chapter 14
We gaped at Ivy, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Was it Ki? Dad? Tara back for more? My heart sped up at the thought of what might be coming next.
“What is it?” Black Rock stood as she walked toward him with something in her hand.
Ivy held her phone out to us, tapped the screen and pressed play on a video.
The newscaster was speaking Spanish, so I had no idea what his frantic voice was saying, but I didn’t need to hear the commentary to know it was bad news. The cell phone footage was shaky, but it was clear enough to notice the untamed attacking people on a busy city street. Three or four rabid-looking individuals tore down the sidewalk, scattering pedestrians like birds, smashing into cafe tables and lurching at patrons. People screamed and ran. A man in a torn shirt tried to fend off one of the savage untamed with a metal chair. Of all the words being thrown around, I picked up on one phrase in particular.
“Un zombi!”
“Shit.” Black Rock didn’t watch more. Already, he was striding to his bedside table, rifling through until he produced a cell phone and wallet. I wondered, fleetingly, where he kept those when he shifted. “Where?” he asked in a frightening low rumble.
Ivy pressed pause on the video. “The city. South side. Near the Mapocho River. Four spotted for sure. More assumed in the area.”
Black Rock snagged his coat from the closet near the door. “Endangering detection by attacking in the city. Tara’s really stepping up her game. What’s her end plan here? Draw us in? Put a bunch of civilians in our way to slow us down?” Black Rock shook his head as he shouldered into his stylish denim jacket. “What do you think?”
Perilous: The Dragon’s Creed Series Book 3 Page 9