Emma (Dark Fire)

by Cooper, Jodie B.

  The hardware/feed store kept big equipment, mulch, and potting soil in the high fenced area. A dozen or so bright red feeding bins gleamed in the sun.

  The crowded yard was empty of people.

  “Hello? Tyler?” Emma called out.

  Silence greeted her.

  Frustrated, she stomped into the yard and snapped at him. “I saw you come back here. Just because you’re too stubborn to listen to me, doesn’t mean I don’t need to talk to you.”

  Her words must have made an impression, because a dark-haired young man stepped from behind one of the tall pallets and slowly walked toward her. He was easily six feet tall with jet-black hair, but that’s where the similarity to Tyler ended. Glancing at his ragged jeans, t-shirt, and tennis shoes, she groaned.

  Why she hadn’t looked closer at what he was wearing?

  “Sorry, wrong person,” Emma said, shaking her head, she started backing up only to thump against a rock hard chest.

  The guy behind her chuckled and every muscle in her body clenched in concern.

  “We might be willing to help. Who are you looking for again?” he asked.

  Before his hands had time to wrap around her arms, she jerked away from him.

  The boys crowded closer and she quickly found herself hemmed in. It certainly wasn’t the most brilliant thing she had ever done.

  Talk about stupid, she knew better than to get caught in a situation like that. If Uncle Keith found out, he’d ream her. Silently, she hoped he’d get the opportunity to holler at her.

  The town was flooded with strangers. It’d be the perfect opportunity for a couple of creeps to kidnap a girl. They’d never get caught, not with everything else going on at the moment.

  Little by little, they backed her farther into the rear corner of the lot. The black-haired one resembled Tyler in build, but his eyes were hazel and his face was rounder, boyishly soft when he grinned. The other one was a hunk, looking like next year’s mega movie star. With dark golden-brown hair and odd amber colored eyes, he seemed more approachable than the dope who kept grinning at her. His question had been curious, not mocking.

  He smiled and her brief feeling of hope disappeared. The teen’s sharp canines were a little longer than Tyler’s teeth, but at least they didn’t look like vampire fangs.

  She tried shoving her fear and frustration to the back of her mind, hoping the boys would listen to reason. She gave them another once over. It would help if she knew whether they were friendly or more along the Mexico City variety.

  “I’m looking for Tyler. He’s a black dragon,” she said in the dragon language. “Do you know him?”

  “Tyler’s my cousin. Surely, now that you’ve met me, you’d rather talk with me than him,” the ebony-haired baby face said with a cocky smirk.

  “Humph!” she said, snorting her disbelief. “You can’t honestly mean what I think you do.”

  He answered her with a smug smile. “You can either talk to me - who happens to be one of the most eligible and handsome young man of the Alliance - or you can keep searching.”

  The brown-haired teen rolled his eyes, appearing annoyed at his companion’s obvious egotistical attitude. “Just ignore Andrew. My name’s Kyle.”

  “I’m Emma.” She smiled at Kyle, trying to be polite, but not wanting to encourage the other boy. “I really need to talk with Tyler.”

  At her words, Kyle shook his head. “Tyler is one of my best friends but trust me, you don’t want to talk with him right now. If you’ve met Tyler, you’ve seen how, um, unapproachable he can be. This morning he was in a blacker mood than I’ve ever seen him in. He was as surly and grouchy as a hungry bask lizard.”

  “Moody or not, I need to talk to him.”

  With a shrug, the movie star look-alike said, “Sweetheart, one look at his scowling face and he’ll have you in tears.” He switched topics before she could reply. “You’re obviously from this world. How did you meet Tyler?”

  The arrogant baby face ignored his friend. “I, on the other hand, know exactly how to treat you.” Acting like a puffed-up peacock, he smiled and reached for her. “Perhaps, I simply need to persuade you.”

  She hastily stepped away from him. “I can’t believe either of you pretty boys think you can compare to Tyler, even if he is in a rotten mood. The idea that I’d pick either of you over him is beyond me,” she said with a slight sniff. “It’s like comparing a mighty war stallion with a couple of ribbon-bedecked prancing ponies. Surely, your medieval brains can figure out that comparison.”

  Andrew’s face went blank and his mouth snapped shut. From the red splotches spreading across his plump face, the gist of the message got through loud and clear.

  Kyle’s laughter broke the silence. From the look on his face, he must think she was crazy.

  “Well,” Emma said with a matter-of-fact tone of voice, “now that we have that cleared up, where is Tyler or Lydia? I really need to talk with one of them.”

  When neither of them answered, she hid a grumble of frustration.

  “You can talk with me as we eat lunch together. Wouldn’t you enjoy that?” From the look baby face gave her, rather the look he gave her boobs, the pervert would rather grope her than talk to her.

  Kyle, on the other hand, was looking past her head.

  She turned. Tyler stood a few feet behind her looking more gorgeous than ever. She wasn’t sure if his quiet appraisal of her was a good or bad thing. Early that morning, she’d taken forever getting ready, finally choosing a cute yellow top that bared her shoulders while tightly covering her arms to her elbow. If she moved just right, the top revealed her belly-button ring of twisted silver with a ruby.

  She figured she must have gotten it right when he glanced at the bare skin of her stomach and went back for a second look.

  “Good morning,” he said, revealing his dimple as he smiled at her.

  Her tongue felt glued to the roof of her mouth. She hadn’t realized exactly how much she’d missed him and it caught her off guard, stunning her.

  “I’ve been looking for you.”

  “Yeah?” he asked softly, running his fingers through his hair.

  “Well?” Andrew inquired with a touch of impatience.

  Having forgotten about baby face, she glanced at Andrew and dismissed him with a flick of her fingers. “Leave me alone.”

  “I’m offering to take you on a date,” Andrew said.

  “Not interested,” she said, nose wrinkling in distaste. She didn’t give Andrew a glance, keeping her eyes on Tyler.

  “Are you dumb or what?” Andrew demanded, curling his lips back in a snarl. He reached for her.

  Tyler’s eyes iced over. Then he moved. Smacking the palm of hands against Andrew’s chest, he shoved his leering cousin backward several steps. Baring his teeth, he snarled a harsh warning at the boy before turning his attention to Emma.

  “I wondered if you’d be in town,” Tyler said quietly.

  Andrew must’ve not taken Tyler’s warning seriously, because he inched forward cupping her elbow in his hand.

  “Let go,” Emma snapped, trying to jerk away from the boy.

  Tyler’s eyes went white as he issued an open-mouthed growl of warning.

  Andrew refused to let her go. Leaning closer to her, he sniffed her hair.

  Ew, ew, yuck!

  Tyler went nuts. Growling low, his fangs flashed in another warning. “You’re usually not this dense so I’ll be blunt, she’s under my protection. Do not touch her,” he snapped, clamping a hand around Andrew’s wrist, he shoved his cousin away from her.

  Turning his body toward Emma, he curled an arm around her, pulling her securely into his embrace.

  Tyler’s snarled words suddenly appeared in Emma’s head. “I don’t want her to be… could be my… hand off her!”

  She stiffened, unable to move if her life depended upon it. Hearing his thoughts in her head was like having an old fashion walkie-talkie stuck in her brain. She was receiving more static than hear
ing actual words. As suddenly as it started, it stopped.

  Emma felt like screaming. She had heard enough of Tyler’s mental thoughts - and his tone - to know he only grudgingly wanted to help her. He didn’t really want her, but he didn’t want anyone else to have her either, which was a load of male chauvinistic bull crap.

  She felt like a bag of candy, grabbed and yanked around. She was tired of it. She was so mad by that point, she honestly didn’t know if she wanted to scream in anger or frustration.

  Either he wanted her or not, but he couldn’t have it both ways. Not that she wanted either of the pretty boys, but she wasn’t letting anyone order her around. She certainly would not allow, a stupid dragon - who couldn’t decide whether he even liked her or not - tell her what to do.

  “Hey!” Emma stiffened as an older male shouted at the group of teens.

  “What’re you kids doing back here?” he demanded.

  Emma wiggled out of Tyler’s grasp and greeted the owner of the feed store. “Hi, Mr. Winston, we didn’t mean any harm” she said with a charming smile for the older man, waving toward the three boys. “This is Tyler, Andrew, and Kyle. Some of Uncle Keith’s buddies came up for a visit and I’m showing their boys around. We were trying to decide whether to go home and get lunch or try the café, but we could barely hear each other out on the sidewalk. I didn’t think you’d mind if I brought them back here.”

  Her heart skipped a beat as Tyler moved up behind her, slipping an arm around her waist. Her face flushed deep red as Mr. Winston’s bushy gray eyebrows shot up.

  Bloody, wretched dragon! She was going to strangle Tyler when she got him alone. Once the uproar over The Arrival died down, she’d be the talk of the town. Winston was a sweet old man, but he was also the biggest gossip around.

  “Sir, pleased to meet you. I’m Tyler,” he said politely, shaking Mr. Winston’s gnarled, old hand.

  “Huh, polite young one, aren’t ya?” Mr. Winston grunted then looked toward the feed store as someone called for him. “You kids get on outta of here.”

  The moment the back door closed behind Mr. Winston, Emma shook Tyler’s hand off her waist with a flick of her arm. “Hands off!” she snapped at him.

  Folding her arms, she glared at him. “You made it perfectly clear yesterday what you thought of me. Mr. Macho and your ‘don’t touch her’ attitude can take a flying leap into Beaver Lake.” Poking him in the arm, she continued her rant. “You don’t want me. You can’t even stand looking at me, but you don’t want anyone else near me either. You’re full of crap!”

  As her rant ran out of steam, Andrew grabbed his chance. Putting his arm around her shoulders, he ignored Tyler’s growl and grinned at her. “Guess that means you’re avail…”

  Well, crap! The boy really was denser than stone.

  She didn’t pause. The moment Andrew touched her she twisted under his arm away from his reach. She kicked her foot out, slamming her shoe into the back of his knee.

  Before Andrew knew what had hit him, she’d flipped him over backwards. He crashed to the ground. The heel of her hand slammed into his throat.

  Knowing Tyler wouldn’t like her attacking one of his friends she glanced up, seeking his reaction.

  Tyler blinked, staring at her as if she’d grown two heads. His infectious grin caught her off guard. “Can you do it again?” he begged. “That way I can enjoy watching him get the stuffing beat out of him.”

  “Guys,” she grumbled. Stepping around Andrew’s sprawled body, she quickly moved behind Tyler.

  Vivid blue eyes twinkling, Tyler smiled. A dimple appeared, softening his bad-boy appearance. “As much as wrestling with you might be fun, I’d rather not find myself joining him on the ground.”

  Grinning, she couldn’t help but respond to his teasing words. It would’ve been like not blinking when a camera flashed.

  The dimple was her downfall; it was adorable. She shoved her hands in her tight pockets. She had to do something, because if she didn’t, she might’ve given into temptation and run her fingers across his cheek.

  “No problem there, I’m not a complete idiot. Anyway, you get the honor of standing between those two yahoos and me. I kind of like the idea of living to a ripe old age. You all are stronger and faster, so now they know I’ll fight back, they’ll be on guard. I won’t get that lucky again and I want them to keep their hands or paws or whatever to themselves,” Emma said, shifting a bit closer to Tyler as she spoke.

  Andrew stood up. His baby face contorted in anger.

  She grimaced, steadily inching closer to Tyler. She hadn’t really thought about how big baby face was until he stood opposite of Tyler.

  Andrew bared his teeth at her and growled.

  ___________

  Tyler sighed. Anyone else would have gotten the point.

  Andrew was family, but he was a notorious troublemaker. Maybe Emma went about her lesson in the wrong fashion. She was mortal. She could be hurt or killed so very easily. He shuddered at the thought, knowing anyone of them could snap her neck with a flick of his wrist.

  Andrew leaned toward her and snarled. “I’m wér-dragon, not a bloody wér-wolf or gryphon. I don’t have paws.”

  She all but curled around the back of Tyler’s arm without touching him. The smell of her fear hit him in the gut with the force of a sledgehammer.

  Tyler stiffened. Flashing his teeth at Andrew, he kept his body between his cousin and Emma.

  “Werewolves?” Emma asked with a squeak, unconsciously leaning her shoulder against Tyler’s bare arm. “There’s such thing as werewolves?”

  “It is wér-wolves and they’re part of the Alliance, Emma. You don’t have anything to worry about,” Tyler said, growling at his cousin. “Andrew, on the other hand, is about to find out why it’s not a good idea to touch or growl at you.”

  “Bring it on. I can’t wait to stomp the Wér-Dragon’s precious son,” Andrew said, eyes flashing white.

  “Stop! Not here,” Emma said urgently, wrapping her hands around his arm. “How could I have forgotten? I don’t know if speaking dragonish is a good idea. If they hear us, they’ll question what’s going on.”

  The instant she wrapped her small hands around his muscled arm he froze. He felt himself responding to her touch. He leaned closer to her. “We’re actually speaking Tuatha Dé.” He frowned; the slight wrinkling of his forehead narrowed his eyes. “If who hears? There’s no one near us and I got the impression mortals don’t have very good hearing.”

  Disgruntled, Emma glared at him. “I have perfectly good hearing. I was talking about the military. They have listening devices, we call them bugs.”

  “Bugs?” Tyler asked with a puzzled frown.

  “Why should we worry about bugs?” Kyle asked curiously. Having stayed out of the confrontation, he stepped closer.

  “Bug is just a nickname.” She sighed, nibbling her lip she tried to explain. “Bugs are a type of technology. They can be very small. So small, they can be sewn into clothing or hidden just about anywhere. They pick-up sound or conversations and send them to a device called a receiver.”

  “Em, there’s no need to be concerned over these bugs. They can’t understand us,” Tyler said.

  At the condescending tone of his voice, Emma stiffened. Pulling back, she propped her hands on her hips. “I can guarantee you the military are already swarming the area between here and your castles. Are you telling me those silly little pixies won’t bite one of them?” At his frown, she rushed ahead. “If you aren’t careful, those bugs, you don’t seem too worried about, will broadcast your next move. They’ll know what you’re planning half a planet away.”

  “That’s not good, but we’ll talk with your government soon and hopefully sign a peace treaty.”

  “Right, sure you will. At the moment, the military doesn’t see you as anything except a giant flying lizard. You’re not human to them. They’re actually trying to talk to those killer vampires in Mexico, while ignoring the opportunity to speak with
you guys.”

  “All right,” Tyler grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck, “maybe I misspoke.”

  “It’s okay,” Emma said quietly, giving a small shrug. “Uncle Keith said if I found you or Lydia to ask you back to the house. Tyler, we don’t want a war any more than you do and there’s a lot of important stuff that you don’t understand. If we can keep the military from attacking you and keep your king, or whatever, from attacking us, we might be able to stop all the killing before it reaches here.”

  Another frown darkened his face, Tyler asked, “What killing? We’ve been very careful not to kill anyone.”

  “The last I heard, millions of people had been killed in Mexico. That’s, um,” she sighed, “well it’s a long way south of here, west of the Gulf of Mexico.”

  “Wormwood? You mean vampires,” Kyle snarled. Baring his fangs in anger, he looked to the south as if he could see the armies massing against the Alliance.

  “You would lump us with the Southerners?” demanded Andrew. Growling, he took a menacing step toward Emma.

  “Back off,” Tyler snarled at Andrew, sick and tired of his cousin’s attitude. “She doesn’t know any different.”

  “The news showed dragons fighting alongside vampires,” Emma said with a questioning look on her face.

  “They aren’t part of the Alliance. The majority of dragons are either loyal to the Alliance or independent, but there have always been a handful of vampire-dragon mated pairs. When it happens, the pair pledge their loyalty either to the Alliance, Wormwood, or go independent,” Tyler said.

  He paused. Glancing toward the back of the feed store, he tugged her toward the alley. “Someone’s coming, come on.”

  They entered the alley just as the back door popped open. In the safety of the alley, before they reached the tall wooden gate opening onto the town’s largest street, she stopped.

  “Tyler,” Emma said, placing her slender hand on his arm, “Will you come to the house?”

  He nodded his agreement, and said to the boys, “Find Lydia and tell her I’ll wait for her at Emma’s house. Then you better head back and report what Emma told us about bugs and the killings. The Council needs to be aware.”