by Lola Gabriel
She looked up as Luka pulled the head from the bag and stared at it in wonder, like it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
“You’re clearly pleased,” Finley said with a smirk.
“Indeed I am, Finley. You have impressed me with your skills,” he beamed. “Tell me, where did you get a Falchion sword?” Luka raised the head and pointed to the slice pattern on the skin. “His head was cut off by a Falchion sword. Those are very rare swords because—”
“Of their single edged blades, yes, I know what a Falchion sword is.”
“Where did you get it?”
“The Dragon Prince had one in his basement, sealed up in a glass cage. I figured if he was going to die, what better way than a single edged sword? Isn’t that how most of the greats ended their enemies?”
Luka glanced at her, studying her for a moment, and smiled with satisfaction. “You are an extraordinary creature, Finley. I would love to have someone like you as my right-hand man, or woman, in this case. You are a true gem.”
“I only did as I was told,” she answered quietly.
“And that is what I like about you,” Luka said, placing the head back in the bag and throwing it to Wade. The burly vampire caught it with ease. “Burn it and make sure there is nothing left but ash.”
“Yes, boss,” Wade said and disappeared down the hallway.
Luka smacked his lips and approached Finley. “Tell me more about you. Where and when are you from? Your past must be a fascinating tale.”
“There is not much to tell. I did what I had to, to survive, and I have no regrets doing so,” she responded.
“You are much too modest. What is your origin?”
“I do not wish to bore you with trivial details.”
Footsteps sounded, much to Finley’s relief, and Wade and another vampire entered the room. Wade gave Finley an evil side-eye as he passed her, and he whispered something in Luka’s ear. When Wade stepped away, a strange feeling ran up Finley’s spine.
“It seems that I was mistaken,” Luka remarked bitterly, approaching Finley.
“What do you mean?”
“I knew it was too good to be true. A little newborn vampire like yourself thought you could trick me,” he hissed.
“What are you talking about?” Finley asked. “I’m not a newborn.”
She was grabbed from behind, and Wade turned her head to the side. Luka ran his fingers down her neck and pulled her shirt to the side, revealing the bite mark on her skin.
“Only a newborn carries the mark of the vampire who turned it,” Luka hissed in her ear. “Why did you lie to me?”
Finley pursed her lips and stared at him silently. She wasn’t going to tell him about Pyre or the stone. She didn’t want him to have any part of this, but then she remembered that within any moment, Pyre would come crashing through the window to save her and get the stone.
“Tell me!” Luka screeched.
Sure enough, and as if on cue, a loud crash was heard, and a large black SUV came crashing through the wall, shaking the ground under Finley. She slipped out of Wade’s grasp, grabbed the Blood Stone from the ground, and threw it through the shattered windshield of the SUV, hoping Pyre would find it.
Before she could see if it was him, she was tackled to the ground by Wade.
“Lock her up!” Luka called out angrily, his eyes flashing through the veil of dust and smoke.
9
As soon as the SUV came to a complete standstill after crashing through the wall of Luka’s supposedly impenetrable mansion, Pyre heard Finley’s screams and climbed out of the SUV. The air was filled with dust and smoke, making it hard for anyone to see, but Pyre was used to it. He saw Finley being dragged off by two of Luka’s burly bodyguards, and Luka lay on the floor, a deep gash on his side. His black blood seeped onto the light carpet, but Pyre knew well enough that he wasn’t dead.
He grabbed Luka by the throat and pulled him upright.
“You,” Luka hissed. “I knew she hadn’t killed you. You don’t own a Falchion sword.”
“Not since you stole that from me, too,” Pyre growled and threw Luka down onto the ground. Luka was on his feet within an instant and leapt towards Pyre. The two men tumbled down onto the kidney-shaped coffee table, which gave way under their weight, and they crashed to the ground
Luka sunk his teeth into Pyre’s arm, and Pyre growled out in pain. He threw Luka off him, and his eyes flashed angrily.
“Temper, temper, little Dragon Prince. You wouldn’t want to explode, now would you?”
Pyre hated the fact that Luka was right. Finley was still in the building, and if he had to explode right now, the blast would kill everyone. He took a few deep breaths and snarled, “This isn’t over!”
Luka laughed wickedly behind him as he climbed onto the SUV. His eye caught something on the passenger seat, and his eyes widened when he saw the Blood Stone. Finley had done it! She had managed to get him the stone, even if it meant getting captured herself. She had in fact promised him that she would get the stone no matter what. And she had meant it. All Pyre had to do was take it.
Soon, it would be back where it belonged.
Pyre scowled at the bite marks on his arm as he stood in his bathroom the next morning, cleaning the bitten area before it became infected. He recalled the last time he had been bitten by a vampire and had spent multiple days unable to walk around in the sun, feeling the need to eat raw meat.
It was a strange few days, and his youngest brother, Dax, had cruelly convinced him that he was going to turn into a vampire with dragon wings, which was an abomination in itself. Luckily, his fiery blood had burned the venom out of his system, and he was still 100 percent pure dragon.
The four deep holes stung as Pyre stuck his arm under the warm water and closed his eyes. After he dried it off and bandaged it up, he sat on his bed and glanced at the Blood Stone which lay on his pillow. The red and orange of the stone swirled like smoke, and specks of gold sparkled in the sunlight shining through the window. He had gotten exactly what he’d wanted, so why did he feel like shit?
It wasn’t just the vampire venom making its way through his veins, but also the guilt of knowing that Finley had been captured by Luka. He could only imagine what torment and torture she was going through at the hands of Luka and his bodyguards. Pyre ran his fingers through his hair and fell down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He had wanted her out of his life so badly, and now that he had gotten what he wanted, it wasn’t enough.
His phone vibrating beside him tore his mind away from his self-torture.
“Hello?”
“Oh, my god. Please don’t tell me that you’re hungover.”
“Hey, Oryn,” he mumbled and sat upright. “No, I was just thinking about something.”
“Are you being all dark and broody again? What’s going on?”
Pyre glanced at the Blood Stone. “You will never guess what I have in front of me right now.”
“It’s not a half-naked woman sleeping, is it? Because I told you, I don’t want to hear about how good the women in Miami are,” Oryn joked.
“No, actually, it’s the Blood Stone,” Pyre said to him.
There was a gasp on the other side of the line and a moment of silence. “What? You got it? How?”
“Finley and I, we…” Saying her name took the breath right out of him, and his shoulders slumped.
“Who’s Finley?”
“No one. We managed to steal it form Luka.”
“Well, that’s great! We’ve been trying to get it back for almost a thousand years! You should be happy and relieved. I know I am.”
“I suppose I should,” Pyre answered grimly.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” Oryn said.
“Nothing is wrong. I just feel a little guilty.”
“Guilty? Pyre, you thrive on things like this! You got the Blood Stone back from a stupid vampire who was doing stupid things with it. Why on Earth would you feel guilty about it?”
&
nbsp; “That’s not what I feel guilty about,”
“I swear to the gods, Pyre, if you don’t tell me what’s going on right now, I’m going to get up from my desk—”
“And get Naomi to come beat the shit out of me?” Pyre guessed.
“Yes,” Oryn confirmed. “And then I’m going to beat it out of you, just like last time.”
“That was two thousand years ago.”
“And I could do it again today.”
Pyre rubbed his eyes. “I left her there.”
“Who?”
“I left Finley there. She got captured by Luka, and I just left her there. I was so preoccupied in getting the stone that I just left her. And now I feel all kinds of guilt about it.”
“Well, you should. You bailed, just like you always do.”
“This is not the kind of advice I was hoping you’d give me, Oryn,” Pyre sighed.
“But it’s the truth. You always bail, especially when there’s feelings involved.”
“But she’s a vampire! You know how I feel about them!”
“I do, but I can hear in your voice that there is so much more to it than that. You have feelings for her.”
“You’re right. There is much more to it than that. She’s my True Mate.”
“Your True Mate is a vampire,” Oryn laughed. “How fucked up is that?”
“Oryn, come on! I don’t know what to do here!”
“Okay, answer me this. Is she important to you, regardless of what she is?”
“Yes.”
“And would the fact that she is a vampire completely put you off her?” he asked.
“No. She boils my blood in the best possible way,” Pyre told him, and a small smile formed on his lips as he saw her face clearly in his mind.
“Overshare, but okay. And if she hated dragons, and had a terrible history with them, would you be upset about her not wanting to give you a chance, because you might be different?” Oryn enquired.
Pyre gritted his teeth and muttered, “I hate it when you do that.”
“Well, I hate it when you think you know what you want, when you have absolutely no idea.”
“Thanks for the advice, Oryn. I really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. Now go save your vampire girl. Just please, don’t do anything stupid,” Oryn pleaded hopefully.
“Oryn, you know I can’t promise that.”
“I know. Stay safe.”
The call disconnected, and just as Pyre wanted to place the phone down on the bed, it rang again. He noticed that it wasn’t the first time the caller tried to get through to him, and he answered it quickly, hoping it was Luka.
“Hello?”
“Oh, my god. You answered.”
“Lisa?” Pyre’s heart stopped for a second. Why would Lisa be calling him? Had something happened to Eric?
“Hey, Pyre, I am sorry to call you so early.”
“No, it’s fine. Is everything okay?”
“Eric was in an accident earlier this morning. The team was called out, and so was Eric. On his way home, some crazy person ran a red light, and Eric drove into the barricades on Forty-Eighth Street.”
“Holy shit,” Pyre gasped. “Is he okay?”
“He’s in the hospital, and he’s stable. He just got out of surgery. No major injuries. Just a broken arm and a few ribs. The usual, as you always say,” Lisa answered.
“Did they get a description of the car? A plate number?”
“Eric thought he saw a black SUV, but he couldn’t be sure. The police officers said that there was surveillance they could look at of the interchange.”
“Okay, good.”
“He’s okay, Pyre.”
Pyre exhaled the breath he was holding. “I am so glad to hear that. You gave me such a fright.”
“Now you know how I feel every time I get a call from the EMT’s office.”
“I’m sorry, Lisa.”
“For what?”
“That I wasn’t there.”
“Pyre, you can’t be everywhere and save everyone.”
“So I’ve heard,” he sighed.
“Would you come see him? He wants to talk to you.”
Much to Pyre’s surprise, a tear ran down his cheek, and he took a deep breath. “I will. There’s just something important that I have to do first. I know Eric will understand.”
“What’s going on, Pyre? Are you okay?”
“I made a mistake, and if I don’t fix it, then I’m going to regret it for the rest of my life. And I deserve better than to be miserable until the day I die, right?” Pyre asked her, his voice breaking slightly.
“Of course, you do. This sounds serious. Don’t you want to talk to Eric before you do this?”
“No, this can’t wait.”
“You’re really starting to scare me, Pyre. Please don’t do anything stupid.”
“You know, my brother told me the same thing a few minutes ago.”
“And what did you tell him?”
“Something that you don’t want to hear, Lisa,” Pyre answered. “I have to go, but tell Eric I’ll come see him when everything is done.”
“What does that even mean?”
“Bye, Lisa.” Pyre disconnected the call, not answering Lisa’s questions. He looked at the Blood Stone on his bed and grabbed it. His eyes flashed, and the fire inside the fireplace suddenly ignited. Pyre walked to the fireplace and took one last glance at the Blood Stone before throwing it into the fire. As soon as the stone fell into the flames, they turned an eerie shade of purple, consuming the stone within a few seconds. A sizzling sound emerged as the blood inside the stone broke through the hard surface and evaporated into the air.
Even though Pyre idly stood by, watching the one thing he had wanted for a thousand years melting away by the flames it had once been born from, Pyre’s heart felt lighter. He was now free from the obsession of obtaining the stone. He was free from the shackles of thinking that it was the only thing that mattered to him.
Once upon a time, it had mattered to him, but now, not so much. He had something even more important to him. Something that he had not expected and could not explain, but he knew exactly what it was.
It was Finley, and she needed him. But not nearly as much as he needed her.
He grabbed a change of clothes, shoved it into his specially crafted fireproof satchel, and rushed downstairs. He locked the front door and went through the interleaving door to the garage. His black Harley stood in the middle of the garage, and he climbed onto it. After securing his helmet, he pressed a button on his keychain to open the garage door, and the Harley roared to life. Pyre didn’t even wait for the doors to open all the way before he sped away, like the devil himself was on his tail.
Luka’s mansion was on the other side of town from where Pyre lived, and he needed to get there as fast as he could. He weaved through traffic, which caused a bit of a commotion from the drivers in the cars, their horns blaring, but they quickly became only a distant memory.
As he rode onto the motorway, he noticed two other motorcycles behind him, and he recognized the two drivers right away. The Blood Brothers themselves, and they were after him.
Pyre sped up his Harley, but they soon caught up to him. Shots started to fire at him, and he ducked out of the way, a few bullets hitting his Harley.
“Son of a bitch,” he growled as he took a different off-ramp, just to get them away from him. Of course, they followed him, still shooting at his motorcycle. They knew how to get to him, to aim for the things he truly loved, and to destroy them. Pyre’s misery would be long and drawn out, as opposed to a simple and easy death by decapitation. Luka wanted Pyre to suffer, and he would make it unbearable for him.
Pyre sped up again, but this time, the two motorcycles flanked his Harley and shot directly at his wheels. As the front wheel burst open, Pyre was flung forward through the air and landed painfully in the middle of the street. There were no cars passing by, and Pyre rolled over onto his back. His forehe
ad stung from the impact with the asphalt, and he groaned.
“Not so tough without your Harley, are you, Dragon Prince?”
He heard the laughter of the Blood Brothers and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to regain his composure. He took a deep breath, reopened his eyes, and glared at them. His eyes flashed viciously, and the Blood Brothers’ eyes widened in terror. Even if his human form, Pyre had the ability to spew fire from his throat, just like he would when in his dragon form. He inhaled with a smirk, watching as the two meatheads started to run away. His shoulders contracted, and he exhaled a powerful stream of fire, engulfing the Blood Brothers in flames. They scrambled around, shrieking in a bat-like manner until they melted onto the asphalt into two piles of ash.
“Not so tough without your bodies, are you, you fucking idiots,” Pyre growled, and he stomped his boot onto the ashes, flattening them against the asphalt. He tried not to relish the feeling of killing two vampires in such a malicious manner, but he couldn’t help it when he looked at what remained of his Harley. He took a deep breath, walked to one of the vampires’ motorcycles, and sped off towards Luka’s mansion.
The mansion was exactly like Pyre remembered it, and he parked the motorcycle on the side of the road. He also remembered where all the security cameras were, and he made sure to stay out of their range as he headed to the back of the very large property. Once he reached the back wall, he grabbed onto the large protruding bricks and quite speedily climbed to the top before jumping down the other side. The foliage was thick enough for him to stay out of sight as he carefully approached the back of the mansion. He noticed a vampire close by patrolling the ground, and when he came close enough, Pyre grabbed him from behind, snapped his neck, and threw him into the bushes. Adrenaline and pure exhilaration pulsated through his veins, as it had been a long time since he'd had so much excitement in his life, and all this within one week.
One week, and his life had been completely changed. A week ago, he wouldn’t have cared if a vampire was held captive because of him. A week ago, he hadn’t known that he could possibly feel that way about another person—let alone a vampire—in his entire life. A week ago, he would not have burned the Blood Stone. A week ago, his life had been fairly normal, except for the occasional visits from the Blood Brothers to stir things up a bit. Now they were both dead, Eric was in the hospital, Finley had been captured by Luka, and Pyre was going to make the ultimate sacrifice to save her.