Charred Hope (#3, Heart of Fire)

by Lizzy Ford

  “I couldn’t feel your magic,” she said, disappointed. “The cabin came back without it?”

  “Looks that way.”

  She was studying him. He felt a familiar jolt of desire stir his blood. He was almost close enough to smell her peachy shampoo.

  Skylar caught the bars Mason tossed her.

  “So … after all the complaining you’ve done about shifters …” Chace started, unable to contain his amusement.

  “Our roles are reversed,” she snapped.

  “Ouch.”

  “Not to interrupt, but do you feel ready to shift again, Sky?” Mason asked. “We’ve got incoming.”

  She rubbed her face with one hand, clearly tired.

  “You gonna tell us how you got up here?” Chace asked her.

  Her gaze shot up, and she narrowed her eyes. He didn’t understand the sudden flare of anger that crossed his features.

  “If I push you off the cliff, will you be able to fly?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest. She walked away from him to snatch the canteen from his backpack.

  “What’s going on?” Chace demanded.

  “What’s going on is that we need a way down from here,” Mason said. “Quickly. I’m open to ideas.”

  “If we grab a griffin, maybe I can shift into one?” Skylar asked. “I couldn’t quite feel them.”

  “You mean steal their magic?” Gunner asked.

  “You felt it?” she asked curiously.

  “Yeah.”

  Chace couldn’t take his eyes off her. There were moments over the past few days where he hadn’t thought he’d ever see her again. Now that she was before him, he wasn’t entirely certain whether he was happy or frustrated.

  “If you need a break, we can take over bird control,” Gunner offered. “You up for it, Mason?”

  “Yeah.” Mason wolfed down a protein bar.

  He and Gunner moved away to shift while Chace turned his gaze overhead. The two griffins had been joined by three more, all much smaller than Dillon.

  But it was just a matter of time before their leader sought them out.

  Skylar joined him, eating her bars quickly and quietly. She tucked the last wrapper in her pocket. Too aware of everything she did, of her body heat and scent, Chace struggled not to break the plane between them. He still didn’t know where they stood, especially after their interaction when her father was killed.

  “I can’t feel your magic, Chace,” she murmured, breaking the awkward silence between them. “But … it’s there, isn’t it? You healed me, and the cabin came back to life.”

  “It’s somewhere,” he agreed.

  By her long look, she was thinking. Hard. He wasn’t able to read her.

  “How’s it feel to be one of us?” he asked.

  “Shifting hurts.”

  “You get used to it.”

  Still the look.

  Chace wasn’t able to interpret it. Unable to stand so close without touching her, he took her cool hand.

  Her expression softened, and she glanced down at their clasped hands.

  “I keep thinking I don’t know why my mother wasn’t able to shift and protect herself,” she said.

  He wasn’t certain what to say, so he kept quiet.

  “I wonder if her magic was trapped like yours,” she added. “Because it’s in you, isn’t it?”

  “Every once in a while I feel it,” he said.

  “When you’re with me?”

  “Usually when you’re in danger. Like with Dillon, or when I healed you.”

  “Except for Gavin.” Her hushed tone and averted gaze made him realize how much she was hurting.

  “That I can’t explain, except maybe because he was there, the magic figured he’d save you.” He squeezed her hand.

  “Interesting. So maybe, if I’m in danger and only you can save me …”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “You know how moody dragons and their magic can be. I’m working on myself, but I can’t begin to guess how much I have to make up for.”

  She was studying him again. “You’ve changed a little, haven’t you?”

  “A lot, I’d say.” He smiled. “Still wanna drag you off and fuck you.”

  Red crept up her neck and face.

  “Or … maybe that was too much, too fast.”

  “No, it’s okay,” she murmured.

  The roar of Mason made them both turn. He’d succeeded in dragging one griffin out of the air. As they watched, he tore out its throat then tossed the carcass over the ledge. There were six more griffins in the sky, and two of them were huge.

  “If they start working together to corner our cats, we won’t last long,” Chace observed. He went to the ledge and peered over. Skylar kept a hold of his hand and moved with him. “There’s no fast way down that would save us from getting killed if we tried.”

  “We don’t have much time to figure this out.”

  “Shit,” he muttered. There were twice as many in the skies, and they’d started to coordinate their attacks on the great cats. “Sky, get down!” He pushed her to the ground and covered her with his body.

  A griffin slashed his back. Chace grated his teeth together, aware of the warm body beneath his.

  The creature flew off, and Chace rolled.

  Another was diving for them.

  He yanked Skylar up and towards the rocky peak at one end of the ledge. Ducking between the boulders and rock wall, they barely escaped the long talons of the griffin pursuing them. It swept up and away.

  “I think we have a problem,” he said, eyeing the other griffins.

  “We could really use a dragon right about now,” Skylar said in frustration.

  “I know, Sky.” Her words stung more than he wanted her to know. “If I knew how to make it work …” He shook his head.

  “I have an idea.”

  He glanced at her. Her eyes were on the sky.

  “It’s not a pretty one,” she added with a half-smile. “And if it works, you have to swear now that you’ll forgive me.”

  He almost asked what she had planned but stopped himself, deciding that he not only trusted her, but meant he’d do whatever it took to win her over. “Whatever you have in mind, I’m all in?”

  “Good. Do you think I can fly if I shift into a griffin?” she asked almost absently. “I can feel their magic.”

  “No way,” he said firmly. “If you had trouble using your paws as a lioness, you’re not going to know how to fly.”

  She frowned. “Okay then. Well, my idea –”

  The dive of a griffin cut her off. She ducked down, and he mirrored her movement.

  This griffin was smarter. He landed on the boulder in front of them and began slashing at them with one talon and his beak.

  Chace tumbled out from the safe spot, Skylar landing on top of him. They vaulted to their feet and started to run. Not two steps later, he was yanked backwards as the griffin tore Skylar away from him.

  “Chace!” Skylar’s cry made his chest seize.

  He spun in time to see a large griffin hauling her away. She was panicking and wriggling, trapped in long talons wrapped around her body.

  “Sky!” he shouted. “Gunner!”

  The big cat turned then darted towards them.

  Chace chased after the beast. He didn’t have a chance for the helplessness to steal his hope. One second he was running, the next, he, too, was being dragged into the midday sky. The talons around his midsection gripped him tightly, and his breath caught as he stared at the two cats on the peak below. They grew smaller quickly as the griffin charged into the sky.

  Chace twisted to see what direction they went and was somewhat relieved to see that they were following the griffin that had Sky. He mentally calculated how long they’d have to wait for a dragon to find them.

  At least six hours. Way too long. His frustration turned to fury, mostly directed at himself. His magic wasn’t responding to him, even now, when they were in danger. Not one tiny spark filled hi
s blood when he begged it to.

  The griffins didn’t take them far. Across one mountain range, over a lower range of peaks and onward to a towering plateau with sheer, rock walls pockmarked by caves. There was no visible way down except to fly.

  The griffin lowered them to the ground then dropped him and landed, folding its wings.

  Chace climbed to his feet, eyes seeking Skylar.

  She was a few dozen feet away, separated from him by three large griffins.

  “You okay?” he called.

  “Yeah.” She met his gaze. “You?”

  He nodded. “About that idea of yours …”

  A griffin snapped at him.

  Skylar appeared uncertain, as if she wasn’t convinced her idea was going to work. She looked away.

  “It’s okay if it involves lassoing me or injecting me with fire,” he said.

  “Nothing like that,” she assured him. “Something worse.”

  Not sure what that means.

  “You promise you won’t hate me, right?” she asked again.

  “Never,” he vowed quickly.

  “We’ll see.” She smiled. “If it works, maybe we can figure out a way to start over. Together.” Her face grew pink.

  Despite the milling griffins, his gaze became riveted to her features. “I’d do anything for that chance with you, Sky.”

  “I’m counting on it.”

  “How touching.” Dillon’s sharp voice came from beyond the griffins. They parted to move out of his way, and he walked towards Skylar. “I didn’t think you’d survive, Chace.”

  I really hate that man right about now. “I’m a lucky dragon.”

  “I’ll make sure you die right this time.” Dillon’s dark eyes slid to Skylar and lingered.

  “We’re both here. What’s your grand plan, griffin?” Chace asked, wanting to keep Dillon’s attention off Sky.

  “Simple. Kill you and use her to find my enemies while they sleep. Easy way to end a war.”

  “What war, Dillon?” Skylar demanded. “One you started because of what happened to your father?”

  “You leave him out of this!” Dillon snarled. His face turned red while his eyes flashed with anger. “You had to kill him, didn’t you, Sky?”

  “For the zillionth time, no! Mason did. Your own ally killed him.”

  Dillon rolled his eyes. “Former ally. Nonetheless Mason wouldn’t do such a thing.”

  Chace heard Skylar make a growling sound. He resisted the urge to move closer to her when Dillon paused in front of her. Every instinct in his body screamed for him to protect her, but he wasn’t about to make matters worse around the lunatic when he had no way to help them out of this situation.

  “Chill, Sky,” he said softly.

  She glanced at him and took a deep breath.

  “The griffins tell me you can shift into a panther, and I’m able to sense you, which means your power has awoken,” Dillon said, circling her. “I can’t imagine how being a panther is very beneficial. What else can you do, if anything?”

  “No idea,” she snapped. “Seeing as how you brainwashed me to try to control the shifters, I’ve got no knowledge whatsoever about what I’m supposed to do.”

  “There’s more. I know it,” Dillon insisted. “How can you turn into a panther? Why a panther? How can that be the great gift that allows you to control the shifters?”

  Chace listened, realizing Dillon had no idea what Skylar was capable of. He inched closer, earning him a glare and gnashing of teeth from the nearest griffin. Infuriated by his helplessness, he stopped and thought hard.

  “It’s not about control, Dillon,” Skylar replied. “It’s about protecting them from things like this – wars, other shifters trying to kill them. From things like you.”

  “I’m not the problem. This war has been going on for thousands of years. The griffins may have been hiding quietly for some time, but it never truly ended,” he returned. “That dragon whore gave us a means to continue it. She wanted what I want: to change the leadership of the shifters from birthright to the strongest. How else can we survive, if we are hiding from humans? The shifters need a leader who will keep order and discipline.”

  “And you propose doing that by killing off those who don’t agree?” Chace challenged. “The leadership is by birthright because it takes the strongest of our kind to safeguard the shifters.”

  “Strong like you?” Dillon laughed bitterly. He approached Chace slowly, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction. “The great teal dragon, protector of the shifters. Where’s your strength now, dragon? You’re the weakest here. You don’t even belong among our kind anymore!”

  “It takes more than brute force to lead, Dillon. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that strength without thought will get you where I am now,” Chace responded with what calm he was able to muster. He imagined transforming into the largest dragon he could and snapping Dillon in two.

  “Weak,” Dillon repeated. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Does it bother you that your woman and everyone else pities you? What use are you to anyone?”

  Chace said nothing. He’d struggled with the same thoughts for days now. Unable to help Sky the way he was supposed to let alone the rest of the shifters, he had spent more hours than he wanted to admit lost in the confines of his mind, wondering why he was even alive when he had nothing to give.

  Except I do. Aware of Skylar’s gaze on him, he knew his place was with Sky. Somehow. If they didn’t survive this together, if he didn’t earn back his magic, the shifter community would be devastated by a war. There was a way to correct the course of events Dillon wanted for the shifters. Chace just had to recover his power and help Skylar make things right.

  “Freyja always told me you were the strongest ever born. Stronger even than Gavin,” Dillon added. “Like most things, that dragon bitch was wrong.”

  “Freyja?” Chace repeated. While at the cabin on the Oregon beaches, waiting to die, he’d dreamt about Freyja, the woman he’d one time loved and who made his dragon magic awaken originally. She’d claimed Dillon was too brutish to be the mastermind behind the slayer movement. “What about her?”

  “She’s the head of the slayers,” Skylar said tersely. “She left Mason and me on the peak where you found us. She’s behind the brainwashing and kidnapping of the shifters.”

  Chace stared at her, not expecting to hear the news about his ex.

  “She wanted what I want: to rule the shifter community and to disable the ability for her enemies to defy her. Nearly all the griffins were put to sleep,” Dillon added. “Then the dragons that opposed her.”

  She’s strong enough to talk to people even when she was put to sleep. He doubted she’d gotten much traction, though, if Dillon hadn’t had his own reason for wanting to help her.

  “So you helped Freyja get rid of anyone who might oppose her and brainwash the one person who could someone keep power over the shifters. Then you probably planned to kill me to ensure I never helped Skylar wake up from what you did,” Chace said thoughtfully. “I imagine you’ll have to knock Freyja off when the work is done and you no longer need her help.”

  “More or less. This way works, too,” Dillon added. “It ends soon.” He spun away and motioned for a few griffins to take flight. “I’ll let her know we have you, Chace, and see if that flushes her out of sleep mode. If not, I’ll torture you in front of Skylar until she tells me where to find the dragons.”

  Chace shared a long look with Skylar. By the fear in her gaze, she knew he was defenseless and they were both fucked.

  Dillon headed towards the edge of the plateau.

  “Dillon, wait!” she called. “Mason said you know what happened to my mother.”

  “Do what I tell you, Sky, and I might tell you what I did to her and how long she screamed. I might even wait to torture Chace for a day or two.” Dillon didn’t bother looking at her. He spread his arms and jumped off the side of the plateau.

  Seconds later, the massive griffin rose in
to the sky. He was trailed by several others while three remained to keep watch.

  Skylar was watching him fly, pain in her beautiful blue eyes.

  He hated that look, the one that silently asked him why he was broken. It made his heart ache and his gut twist. Not caring if the guard griffins snapped his arm off, Chace crossed to her. He instinctively took her in his arms, wanting to comfort her as much as he needed to feel her against him.

  She clung to him for a moment, a tremor working through her warm frame. He squeezed her to him more tightly and nuzzled her hair.

  “He’s fucking with you,” he said gently.

  “Is he?”

  Probably not. Chace held her, wishing he could take away her pain or at least, protect her from the danger headed their way. The familiar tension between them was more than sexual; there was pain and disappointment as well, emotions he felt both responsible for and powerless to remove. Was it selfish to want her to smile at him the way she had before their entangled lives got so complicated?

  “I don’t think there’s any chance Ginger is alive,” she murmured. “But I need to know what happened.”

  “I understand, honey. Now may not be the right time to figure it out,” he advised with a glance at the griffins. They looked hungry. The moment Dillon no longer needed either of them alive, they’d be snapped in two. Skylar was going to be able to fly or hold her own for long if she shifted into a griffin. If we get out of here, I swear I’ll teach her to fly. Even without his magic, he could mentor her well enough with a thousand years of knowledge.

  She looked up at him. “You think we’re in trouble?”

  “I do. The dragons won’t be flying until nightfall. We’ve got half a day to survive and are at Dillon’s mercy.” He considered the area where the griffins had imprisoned them. Sheer, rocky descents extended down every side of the plateau. “I’m not seeing any way off this rock.”

  “I have a better chance of killing griffins up here as a lion,” she pointed out. “Or as a dragon.”

  Chace released her, hating himself for knowing he should have power he didn’t. “Is this an I-told-you-so moment?”

  “No, Chace,” she said, taking his arm. “This is a I-hope-you’re-serious moment. As in, I really hope you’d do anything to save me.”