For the Heart of Dragons

by Julie Wetzel

  Byrd growled his anger, and Noah committed the man’s name to memory as he pulled on the shirt and buttoned it up. He tried to button the pants, but they were too tight. Leaving them open, he fluffed the shirt out over the open fly and went to the door. They would stay up for what he needed to do. Glancing back, he considered the men’s shoes, but both pairs looked too small for his feet. A second thought occurred to him, and he went back for Lambert’s ball cap. He pulled it down tight over his hair and returned to the door.

  Easing it open, Noah glanced up and down the hall. No one was around. Pulling the cap low over his eyes, Noah pushed the door open and stepped out. Unsure which way to go, he turned away from the direction the men had gone and walked towards the door at the far end. It opened into a large room. Wrong way.

  “Mine,” Byrd grumbled.

  “I know,” Noah growled. They needed to find Kara, but he had no idea where to start. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself and thought. If only he had a way to find people. An idea hit him, and he whispered his aura spell. Blinking a few times, he turned around and surveyed his surroundings. Viewing things on an astral plane took a lot more work than seeing them with his eyes. The energies of living creatures radiated out, unhampered by inanimate objects like walls, but it was harder to judge spatial distance than with normal sight. Thankfully, this was a skill Noah was used to. If the mages were working on getting Kara’s dragon out, they would be concentrating hard. He scanned around until he found what he was interested in. A grouping of intense colors. That was where Kara would be.

  Byrd growled his impatience.

  “Easy,” Noah soothed the dragon as he released the spell and blinked the effects away. Contrary to his words, he hurried back into the hall, past the room where he’d been kept. He’d expected a few powerful auras, but what he’d found were a few very determined people surrounded by a haze of auras dense enough that it was hard to distinguish the individuals in the group. They must be working on Kara in a wide area where anyone could watch.

  Byrd’s anger grew. His mate was being tortured on display, and no one was stopping it!

  Noah held on to his dragon but let that anger push him forward. At the end of the hall, he turned right and started looking for a staircase. The grouping of energy had been lower than he was. His feet picked up speed as he searched. When the hall ended in a door, he slammed through it.

  The hum of energy stopped him in his tracks. Catching the door, Noah looked around. The path ended abruptly in a railing. To the left was a set of metal steps leading down, but it was the people who captured his attention. Towards one side of the room was a wide space where three men in dark robes stood around a table. Noah didn’t have to look to know Kara was laid out on that table. It was the stacks of crates surrounding the area that stopped him from racing down there and killing them all. There had to be twenty people perched on those boxes.

  Noah shut the door so it wouldn’t slam. Turning around, he rubbed his face, trying to come up with a plan that wouldn’t get them both killed. Byrd wanted to leap down there and rip them apart, but Noah held him in check. Jumping into that many people was a surefire way to injury, and he still hurt from yesterday’s fall and today’s explosion. The last thing he needed was a gunshot wound when he didn’t have scales that were mostly impervious.

  Byrd pushed for them to shift and attack, but Noah shook his head, vetoing that idea. Even in dragon form, he was too small to take on that many while trying to protect Kara. A thought filtered into his head that made him stop. “How big can you get?” he asked.

  Pausing in his fight to get to Kara, Byrd questioned him. “Big?”

  “Yes,” Noah said, staring down into the room. “Raven was large when she took me.” He raised his fingers to touch his collar. “If it wasn’t for this, how big could we get?” The question floated around inside Noah as Byrd considered his answer.

  “Big!”

  A vague mass filled Noah’s head. He looked down at the room and mapped out his options. There was no way he could sneak in and save her. He could do a massive area spell, but that would take time he wasn’t sure he had, plus there was no way to single Kara out. The only answer was a surprise attack on a grand scale. But there were problems with that.

  In their grand form, they might be able to take out some of the people, but taking them all out would be tricky.

  “We do it!” Byrd piped in.

  “But what about Kara?” Noah pointed out. “If even one of them gets through, they could use her to stop us.”

  Byrd quieted as he thought.

  Noah looked around the room. It was a massive warehouse. Shelves filled with crates were everywhere. He could shift and knock stuff over as he attacked. That could possibly distract or injure some of the people. Another shake of the head ruled out that option—his aim would have to be dead on, or the shelves could land on Kara. Their best option was a snatch and grab. Byrd pushed him to go, but Noah held him back for a moment. “We need an out,” he explained.

  Glancing over the warehouse, Noah got a feel for the space. The room was huge. Most of one end was filled with tall shelves, but the area where the mages were working was open, like a shipping bay. Noah searched the wall and found what he was looking for. A bank of loading docks! Most of the doors were closed, but the one at the far end was open. A guy on a forklift was moving pallets of boxes around, but the truck that would take them hadn’t backed up to the opening yet. “Do you see it?” Noah asked.

  Byrd growled his positive answer, anxious to get underway.

  Noah pushed the waist of his pants down over his hips. “This is a snatch-and-run operation,” he warned the dragon. “We aren’t going to stay and kill them.”

  This did not make Byrd happy. “Eat them!”

  “I know,” Noah said. “I’m not sure I want to eat them—kill them, yes—but we don’t have time to take them all out.” He stared down at the group. He could feel the intensity of the magic building. “We need to get her out of there now.”

  Byrd grumbled but agreed with Noah. “Protect Mine.”

  “Yes. Mine first.” Noah’s fingers touched the leather band at his neck. “Are you ready for this?”

  A note of fear passed through Byrd, but the need to save Kara drove it away. “Yes!”

  Working the clasp on the back, Noah pulled the band off. He gasped as the spell released him. The energy of his dragon snapped away, but Noah reached out and grabbed it. “Stay with me, buddy.” He opened himself more, drawing the dragon closer to him. It was a weird sensation, but he held on to Byrd until the power stabilized. Now he knew why Byrd was protective of the collar. It held them together until their bond was settled. Raven hadn’t taken him as a mate. She had done this for Byrd.

  Pushing that thought away, Noah tucked the collar between his fingers and wrapped it around into his hand. There was no way he was leaving behind something so important. “Ready?”

  Byrd growled, more than ready to go.

  Pulling loose his shirt, Noah stepped up to the railing. Making the mistake of looking down, he clutched to the handle, rethinking his plan. The fall was impressive.

  Byrd rubbed up against his mind, reassuring him.

  Noah swallowed and started to climb. He had to jump. The platform was much too small for Byrd to shift on. Taking a deep breath, Noah drew up his courage and leaped out as far as he could. The sensation of falling sent a spike of fear and adrenaline racing through Noah’s system.

  Byrd loved it.

  As they plummeted towards the ground, magic raced over their skin, ripping what was left of the stolen shirt and shifting their shape.

  Byrd roared his anger as his wings spread, changing their fall into a glide. Screams rose from the group as Byrd dropped down on top of them. His jaws snapped, crushing one of the mages and slinging him away from Kara. He roared again, sending his surprised victims running in terror. The urge to chase filled him.

  “Byrd!” Noah snapped, redirecting the dragon’s a
ttention. “Kara!”

  Refocusing on his goal, Byrd wrapped his front feet around Kara’s limp body and beat his wings. Yells and gunshot sounded as he slammed his wings down and leaped into the air. Ramming his shoulder into a shelf, he knocked it over on the scattering people as he shot for the open loading bay. The door was a tight squeeze, but he tucked his wings in and hopped through before the men chasing him could catch up.

  Aiming for the sky, Byrd clutched Kara to him and flapped hard.

  “No!” screamed Noah, trying to catch Byrd’s attention. “Clouds won’t cover us. Drop low.”

  Byrd shifted his course away from the bank of clouds. An attack spell skittered across his scales, just missing him. He tilted his wings to swing away from it.

  “Go towards it!” Noah yelled.

  Byrd flipped his wings and leaned towards the missed spell. Another spell shot past him in the place where he had been heading.

  “Drop to street level.”

  Folding his wings, Byrd dropped like a rock from the sky. Another spell burst above him. Spreading his wings, he caught the air just before hitting the ground. Zipping past cars, Byrd dodged over streetlamps and power lines.

  “Go left!” Noah yelled as they came to a T-junction in the street. “We need to get off the road!”

  Flapping, Byrd gained some height but kept below the line of the buildings.

  Noah searched the ground, looking for a place to land. Going back to Eternity wasn’t an option. If this group had agents there, it wasn’t safe for any of them. He needed to tell someone. Someone he knew was safe to talk to. A dragon. His mind churned as he ruled out possibilities. Suddenly, something plausible popped into his head. Where are we?

  Byrd looked around but didn’t see anything that looked familiar.

  “We should be safe for the moment,” Noah guessed. They had come a long way along the roadway. It should be safe to get above the buildings to see where they were. “Go up.”

  Climbing, Byrd got them up where Noah could get the lay of the land.

  “That way.” Noah pointed to the west. “Stay just above the buildings,” he warned. They were probably safe from the mages by now, but, as someone who had taken dragons down before, he knew a spell could be very effective, even over long distances. There was no reason to make themselves a bigger target than necessary.

  “Where?” Byrd asked as he skirted around the city.

  Noah stared out of Byrd’s eyes as the suburb sprawled out in front of them. “Somewhere safe.” Memories of a pub Laurence was fond of came to mind. Noah had only been there a few times, but the owner was an ex Eternity Elite. If anyone could help, it was him. What other choice did they have? Noah pushed away his fears and prayed his intuition was right.

  11

  A swirl of emotion filled Noah as they drew closer to their destination. The old barn tucked into the trees didn’t look like much, but it held one of the few places Noah knew of that was safe… he hoped. The man who ran the tavern, Brigs, had been an Elite in his days in Eternity. That, coupled with the fact that he was an old dragon, made Noah willing to seek out his help.

  Having found an employee of Eternity among the enemy had been distressing. If there was one traitor in the group, who was to say there weren’t more? A memory tickled at Noah’s mind. A man swinging a blackjack at his head. It pained him, but Noah forced the memory into focus. There was something very familiar about the man. Suddenly, things snapped into place. A vision of the same man, standing in the lab back at headquarters flashed into Noah’s head, making him nearly drop Kara.

  Byrd gurgled his annoyance and clutched his mate tighter.

  “Sorry,” Noah said, but his mind raced over the memory. It had been just a few days before the gala. Having forgotten something, Noah had gone back to the lab and had found a man poking around the amulet Daniel had sent for them to study. Noah didn’t know the guy by name, but he knew he was a governmental liaison who had been following the case. After vaguely answering the man’s questions, Noah had promised to get a full report to Daniel as soon as they had answers. It seemed perfectly normal at the time, seeing as the amulet had been the biggest break in the case.

  Looking back, Noah realized he should have known something was amiss. In addition to the questions on their work, the liaison had asked very specific things about the agent who had brought the amulet in. He’d been very interested in knowing the whereabouts of the agent and the condition of his new mate. The fact that Noah couldn’t answer him seemed to frustrate the man, but Noah had written it off as stress from the case. It wasn’t very long after the liaison had visited that the amulet’s power had dissipated.

  It wasn’t uncommon for magical items to fail after a while, so no one had thought anything of it at the time. But after seeing the man in Raven’s home, Noah knew he had done something to break the spell on the piece. This had to be brought to Daniel’s attention.

  A growl from Byrd drew Noah’s mind away from the betrayal. They were coming up on their destination fast. There was a note of unease in Byrd’s heart.

  Noah pushed his doubts away so he could soothe Byrd. “It’s all right. Brigs will help us.”

  “Mine,” Byrd rumbled as a warning, but he landed on the ground just outside the open barn doors. He very carefully laid Kara out on the ground before stepping back and bumping her with his nose.

  “Yes, Byrd. Ours,” Noah agreed. There was no way he was going to fight with Byrd about his claim on Kara. The dragon had made up its mind, and Noah knew enough about dragons to know resisting that pull would be pointless. Besides, he was really starting to like her. “Now, back down so I can help her.”

  Byrd growled again but pulled back, leaving Noah in control.

  Noah stared down at her limp form, but there wasn’t much he could do. “I can’t work like this,” he rumbled.

  Another growl issued from the dragon, but Byrd recoiled further, allowing Noah to shift into his human form.

  Noah shivered as the scales withdrew, leaving his naked skin exposed to the air. He looked down at his hands to find the collar still caught between his fingers. “Good job,” Noah praised the dragon.

  “Mine,” the dragon answered.

  A smile turned Noah’s mouth as he wrapped the leather band around his wrist twice and buckled it in place. It was the best place he could think of storing the item without pockets. He wanted it secure, but needed it easily accessible in case he needed to whip it off and transform again.

  This pleased Byrd.

  Now that the collar was secure, Noah focused on Kara. She was much too still for his liking. Squatting beside her, he searched for the pulse in her neck. A steady beat met his fingers, driving some of the anxiety from his heart.

  “Kara,” he called as he rubbed the back of his curled fingers against her cheek. “Wake up.” His free hand rested on her chest as he checked her breathing. It was shallow, but steady.

  “Kara,” he called again, patting her cheek.

  She breathed in deeply and let out a light moan, but she didn’t move.

  “Come on,” he said as he gathered her in his arms. “Let’s get you inside.” The feel of magic tingled against his skin as he held her close.

  Byrd growled at the familiar spell.

  “Easy buddy,” Noah said, quieting his dragon as he crossed the hard-packed dirt to the barn. “We’ll fix her, but we need to get inside first.” He could have started breaking the spells on her right there, but the barn offered a more secure location. Besides, he was naked. Working sky-clad had never bothered Noah, but he usually didn’t do it in a public location. Claiming that he was a dragon may help with some public decency laws, but that would only get you so far. He wanted to avoid any contact with the law for the moment.

  Heading into the barn, Noah paused to look around. There wasn’t very much here. Along one wall were shelves stacked with supplies for the pub below. At the far end of the room was a door. Noah wasn’t exactly sure what was behind it, but he did re
call his friends telling him that Brigs had some kind of storage place for the dragons that frequented the pub. The middle of the floor was empty, but there was enough space that he could shift if necessary.

  Heading to the back wall, Noah found an empty spot and sat with his back against the wood. He shifted around until he had Kara cradled comfortably in his lap with her head cushioned in the curve of his shoulder. Tipping his head over, he laid his cheek on top of her head and relaxed. The feel of the magic on Kara rubbed against his senses, and he opened himself to them. Usually, this was a very dangerous thing to do, but Noah had been picking spells apart since he was young.

  The power of the spells washed over him, and he grabbed them before they could take effect. He pulled at the magic, studying it. Dissecting it. Two spells.

  Byrd growled in anger.

  “Shh…” Noah calmed his dragon before the magic got loose.

  Byrd backed down to let Noah work.

  Noah concentrated on the spells. The first one was familiar—a simple sleeping spell that Noah himself had used on occasion. Finding the weak point in the magic, he broke the spell and let it fall away. It would take a moment for the power to fully release Kara, but that would have no lasting effects. The second spell, however, worried him. It was very similar to the spell he’d used to free Byrd from Raven, but there was an issue. The spell had separated the dragon’s energy from Kara, but it hadn’t gathered that energy into a form that could be used.

  Pulling at the magic, Noah found a weak spot and broke the spell away.

  Kara drew in a sharp breath but didn’t wake.

  Noah nuzzled her hair, comforting her for a moment before getting back to work.

  Byrd fidgeted in worry. They both could feel the damage the spell had done to Kara. They may have saved her life, but it was going to take a real miracle to save her dragon.