Charred Hope (#3, Heart of Fire)

by Lizzy Ford

  “I think we need to do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of the community. No matter what that entails,” he said quietly. “This is new territory for me, too, Sky, but I think we must always do what is best for the shifters as a whole.”

  She nodded. Never in all her time did she think she’d be in this position, the unofficial shifter queen, charged with making hard calls to protect the very people she once hunted. She felt neither worthy nor prepared, but she was grateful to have Chace with her throughout it all.

  “And … as for us. Are we good?” she asked uncertainly.

  “Absolutely,” he replied without hesitation. “We’re in this together.”

  She believed him. They were too different to see eye-to-eye on everything, but she hoped they were able to build on their relationship to work through those differences while guiding the shifters into a more peaceful era.

  “Do Protectors live as long as shifters?” she asked curiously.

  “I’m not sure. I don’t see why you couldn’t, since you pretty much are a shifter.”

  She stuck her tongue out at him, not liking the reminder.

  “Even if you don’t for some reason …” he continued, hushed. “Sky, I’ve lost everyone I ever cared about. At one point, it made me harden myself to the world.”

  She studied him as he spoke, hearing the pain in his voice.

  “But with you … I can’t live without you. I don’t want to live without you. I’d rather spend eighty years together and eternity with the knowledge that my best years were with my Sky than walk away and never know how incredible it is to be with you,” he said softly. “I guess we’ll find out. Either way, I’ll never, ever regret you, Sky, or take advantage of every second we spend together.”

  Her eyes misted at the sweet words, and she ducked her head, the giddiness inside her wanting to explode with happiness.

  “Now, let’s see what we got waiting for us!” he said with forced lightness and opened the door to the cabin.

  Turning her mind to their mission, she followed him outside. She smelled fire the moment she stepped onto the porch and sought out the source. Black smoke rolled into the sky from the direction of Mason’s hideout.

  “Chace …” she murmured.

  “I see it. Want a ride?”

  She nodded, trusting his wings more than hers.

  He stripped and shifted, turning into the magnificent teal dragon that once terrified her. With a tight smile, she rubbed the soft spot between his nostrils then stood back when he took flight.

  Chace picked her up gently and soared into the sky, staying a few feet above the treetops as he made his way towards the base where Mason had taken her. She saw the damage before they reached it: the compound was on fire, along with the forest around it. Her senses picked up on the shifters in the vicinity, and she cataloged them quickly. Four alive, over a dozen dead.

  Mason was among the living.

  Chace found a nearby meadow and lowered them into it. The moment her feet hit the ground, she was running towards the shifters she sensed were alive, assured that Chace would be at her heels as soon as he shifted. Her heart pounded and her hands trembled from concern that was too strong to be anything other than one of her newfound instincts. She didn’t even know these shifters, and she was terrified for them.

  “Mason!” she cried, reaching a picnic area near the lake.

  Smoke ballooned overhead. The breeze was carrying it in the direction opposite her, but it filled the sky.

  Forcing herself to focus on her shifter senses, she picked up on the lion shifter and altered her course. He and the others were close to the lake.

  Skylar pushed through trees to reach the opening around a cluster of boulders and tree stumps. The four living shifters she sensed were present covered in soot and ash.

  She slowed when she reached them, assessing them quickly. None of them appeared to be too badly wounded.

  “Mason, what happened?” she demanded, sinking onto the ground beside him.

  The lion shifter appeared exhausted. His clothing was torn and charred in spots, and there was blood on his arms and chest.

  “Something I didn’t expect,” he admitted with a sigh. “Dillon and Freyja teamed up. I think things are about to get nasty.”

  “Teamed up?” she echoed, astonished. “They hate each other!”

  “But they hate you more,” he said, meeting her gaze. “Think about it. With the legit leaders of the shifters coming into power, what could be worse? I just wish …” His gaze clouded and a look of agony crossed his features. “These were the only ones I could save.” His whisper was so low, she barely heard it.

  Skylar’s gaze skimmed over the other three. They, too, showed the signs of having gone though a war zone. Her thoughts grew darker as she considered the dozen that didn’t make it.

  What if she and Chace had tried to stop Dillon instead of spending the night together? Was this her fault? Was she already failing in her role as the Protector?

  Guilt trickled through her. She’s been so happy to have her dragon back, she hadn’t thought twice about what Dillon and Freyja might do or the risk they posed to the rest of the people she was supposed to be protecting.

  “They’re completely insane,” she said. “Do they think this will inspire other shifters to follow them?”

  “They probably think it’ll prevent shifters from following you,” Mason replied.

  Because I couldn’t save their lives. Her jaw clenched. Skylar sank into her thoughts for a moment, unable to fathom the idea of people dying around her, because she wasn’t able to help them. It was the reason she’d worked so hard as a slayer – to protect innocent humans from dangerous dragons – only to discover the truth about who she was. Her instinct to protect others had always been present.

  “I need to find them,” she said and rose.

  “And do what?” Mason asked.

  “Stop them. Somehow. I’ve still got one lasso. I can put them to sleep.”

  “I think it’s too late for that, Sky.”

  She glanced at him, not liking the ominous note in his voice.

  “They’re splitting the community between those who are afraid to oppose them and those who are hoping you and Chace can help. Once they’ve eliminated the opposition, the war between Dillon and Freyja will start again. No one will be left standing.”

  She’d come to a similar conclusion. Chace was right: Freyja and Dillon had to be stopped, at any cost. She had to be ready for everything that entailed, even if it meant doing something she’d hoped not to in order to stop them from hurting people.

  “I can find any shifter from a mountain,” she said. “I promise you, Mason, we’ll figure out how to stop them.”

  “Chace can take you up.”

  “Yes. He’s …” right behind me. She turned all the way around. She neither heard nor saw him.

  In fact, her Protector senses and the fire in her blood told her he wasn’t anywhere near her.

  “What the hell is going on?” she muttered, exploring the instincts with impatience. “He was here and now he’s …” With Freyja.

  A new emotion rose within her, hot and quick. Why was her lover with his ex?

  Skylar shook her head, not about to go down that path, despite the suspicious circumstances. No, she had more important issues right now. If he was with Freyja, she had to assume something was wrong.

  She texted Chace quickly, knowing he’d respond if he was able to.

  “You.” She turned to the Pegasus shifter resting against a stump. “Can you fly?”

  He nodded.

  “Don’t do anything without a plan, Sky,” Mason warned.

  She hesitated, grappling with her emotions. She was torn between wanting to find Chace and pursuing Dillon before anyone else got hurt. Chace was no longer vulnerable. If he left her side, it was for a good reason, and he was the most capable person she knew when it came to taking care of himself. Why not tell her though? After yesterday, did he
still feel the need to prove himself by taking care of the Freyja issue? Or had Freyja tricked him somehow?

  Trust him.

  She paced. Concern messed with her ability to think logically, and she took a deep breath, pushing it aside.

  “Even if … something is wrong, and Chace is in trouble …” The words made her gut twist into knots. Shaking her head, she continued. “They still want me. That’s been the constant. It seems like the best way to draw them out is to open a dialogue.”

  “Yeah. But you want to get them on your territory.”

  “I don’t have territory!” she exclaimed.

  “The desert near The Field, where the shifters are. The bar is still there, and so are about two hundred shifters that are loyal to you and Chace. You freed over half of them from hibernation, and Chace provided refuge at the bar for the rest,” Mason pointed out. “If you want to dangle a piece of meat in front of them, do it where you’ve got numbers.”

  She rubbed her face. Focus, Sky! Mason was right. No matter what was happening to Chace right now, she had to find a way to knock Dillon and Freyja off balance, to pull them into the open and capture them. Any danger Chace was in would be neutralized without the two strongest shifters able to contain him. She’d lasso the two troublemakers.

  Or kill them. Chace’s insistence it might be the only way to prevent more deaths made her feel a little ill.

  “We need the dragons,” she murmured and glanced at her watch. It was almost noon. They had a long wait before the nocturnal shifters would be out. “Come on. We need to warn the others, if nothing else.”

  Mason nodded. The Pegasus shifter rose wearily and moved a few feet away to shift.

  Skylar watched, mind racing. Chace had his magic back. He was more than able to fight off or escape from either Dillon or Freyja.

  Why, then, had he voluntarily gone with one of them?

  She didn’t like the ache in her breast, the one that made her recall that the man she was in love with had once betrayed her.

  You can trust me, Skylar. The tender look on his face when he said the words made any doubt she had about him melt. She didn’t know what was compelling enough for him to walk away from her without so much as a farewell, but whatever the reason, she was going to trust him. He did dive off a cliff to save me, she reminded herself. And told her he loved her then proved it in how he made love to her.

  She pulled out her phone and texted him. Everything all right?

  “I can carry one of you,” the Pegasus shifter said.

  “I can carry another, I think,” Skylar added.

  “No offense, Sky, but I’m not riding with you,” Mason said. “Not until I can see with my own eyes you know how to fly.”

  “I’m learning.”

  “Oh, hell no. We’ll drive. That way we all reach the place alive, even if Dillon kills us soon after.”

  Skylar sighed, frustrated with her Protector skill. One day, it’d be an incredible one to have. But for now, she was stuck between knowing what it was and not being able to wield it well enough to help them.

  Chapter Nine

  Miles away, Chace landed beside the great silver-white dragon at the base of a mountain about an hour flight from the meadow where he’d left Sky. The door in the stone before him was camouflaged by boulders that rendered it impossible to spot from the sky. There were no roads nearby or any trace that anyone had ever been here. It was a perfect place to keep something hidden from a dragon.

  He shifted and dressed, watching as Freyja did the same.

  She was as beautiful as she had been in the dream and as he recalled from their short time together so long ago. Her smile was cold and didn’t reach her eyes. She dressed in leggings and a tunic, her blonde hair reaching the small of her back.

  When she’d appeared out of the forest an hour ago, after taking Skylar to a field near the compound. He’d been ready to tear Freyja limb from limb on sight. He was certain there was nothing she could say to keep him from doing it, either. And then she spoke. One simple sentence turned his world around.

  I know where Sky’s mother is.

  How could he not follow her here?

  Chace watched Freyja approach the stone door and type in a code on a keypad. He glanced down at his phone and saw that Skylar had texted.

  I’m good. Be there soon. Don’t start without me, he replied then tucked the phone away.

  “You were really busy for someone who was supposed to be hibernating,” he stated.

  “I failed with you. I wasn’t going to fail with her,” she replied. “It took some work and help from others like Dillon, but I succeeded.”

  “I never doubted your determination.” Your heart is another matter. “So you attack Mason to lure us out then bring me here.”

  “I don’t need Mason or his kind anymore,” she said. “I do need you, Chace.”

  “And Sky.”

  “Either one of you can get rid of my Dillon issue.”

  The bolts to the door clicked, and she pulled the heavy door open. Freyja disappeared into the darkness beyond.

  Chace trailed warily. He suspected he was being set up. But with his magic back, he had nothing to fear. Once he saw whatever it was Freyja wanted to show him, he’d return to Sky.

  Hopefully with news about her mother. He’d witness the expression on her face whenever she mentioned her family, a sense of loss he understood after almost losing her. If there were any way to save Skylar the pain that came from not knowing, he’d find a way to do it, even if that meant following Freyja into a potential trap.

  The dark tunnel leading beneath the mountain was narrow and short, the ceiling an inch or two above his head. He saw a faint glow indicating a perpendicular hallway and the ghost-like figure of Freyja walking ahead of him.

  She turned towards the light, and he followed. A heavy door was on either side of the shallow hallway, and the light came from the crack beneath one.

  Freyja typed in a code on a keypad on the wall beside the door opposite the lighted room then entered, triggering a motion sensitive light.

  Chace walked into the steel vault. It was tiny, about three meters by three meters, with a pedestal in the center upon which a floodlight shone. A single shifter figurine was in the center of the pedestal. His heart slowed, and he was almost afraid to hope that the human statue half the size of his thumb was the mother Skylar had been searching for her whole life. He felt both honored and concerned at the idea of doing something so incredible for the other half of his heart.

  “Is that her?” he asked in a hushed voice.

  “As far as you know.”

  His anger stirred, and he faced Freyja.

  “I don’t do anything for free, Chace,” she said. Her arms were crossed, her pale gaze on him.

  “What do you want?” he snapped.

  “Dillon’s head.”

  He rolled his eyes. “You’re a dragon. Go get it yourself!”

  “Slight problem with that. Right now, we’re allies working together to ensure the shifters don’t flock to you and your Protector. I can’t openly oppose him.”

  “You want me to eliminate the competition.” He considered. On the surface, Dillon’s death suited his purpose as well. With the leader of the griffins out of the way, Sky was one step closer to stopping the war between dragons and griffins. “What’s stopping me from leaving here with her mother and killing you both?”

  “The challenge of being a Protector away from her guardian.” Freyja smiled. “She’s vulnerable. The griffins are tracking her, and you left her alone. They have orders to kill the Protector in an hour, if I don’t tell them otherwise. Agree to my terms, and I’ll have them stand down.”

  “It’s not in your interest to spare her.” He carefully avoided showing Freyja she’d found a pressure point. Any suggestion that Sky was in danger made him want to rip off the head of anyone standing between him and her, sweep Sky up and take her to the safety of his lair. While he doubted the griffins could get her, he
hated the idea he’d contributed to her danger by leaving her.

  Half of Sky’s danger is standing before me, he reminded himself.

  “I didn’t go through all this trouble to kill her now. I can still use her magic to rule the shifters. But if Dillon kills off the shifters before I can stop him, I’ll have nothing left to rule over,” Freyja continued.

  Chace studied the figurine, half-listening. It was similar to the ones he and Skylar had found at Caleb’s house and awoken from hibernation, with the exception he’d never seen a human among all the hundreds of stone statues. He really had no way of knowing if it was Skylar’s mother or not without waking the sleeping statue. If it was, and he had a chance to save her, what did he tell Skylar if he walked away?

  If it wasn’t, and this was an elaborate plan to trap him and Skylar both …

  “Bring me his head, and you can take Sky’s mother with you.”

  On the surface, it sounded like a good idea. He had every intention of taking out Dillon anyway. All he had to do was leave here, find the griffin, kill him and return. It would solve one of Skylar’s problems as well.

  Freyja never does anything that doesn’t benefit her. He sought some explanation or theory as to why he had the feeling this deal was too good to be true. Without their leader, the griffins would be easier to capture and place into hibernation. He’d have to deal with Freyja either way eventually.

  And he’d be able to deliver an answer to Skylar about what happened to her mother.

  “Bring you his head,” he repeated slowly. “You call off the griffins and I leave her with her mother.”

  “I want what’s best for the shifters, Chace,” she said. “All I’ve done has been to make our community stronger. I never hurt the shifters that got killed. That was all Dillon and Caleb.”

  “I really don’t care. You tried to brainwash Sky and the others and made them hunt down their own kind,” he growled. “The damage you’ve done is irreparable and you’re still determined to get rid of the rightful leaders of the community. Is there any chance you’ll fall in line and be grateful we spared you when this is over? Or will I have to come for your head next?”