Ranger Drew

by Meg Ripley

  “I wasn’t certain you were going to come back,” a man’s voice spoke from next to the bed as he walked into the bedroom. “I thought maybe you’d finally come to your senses.”

  How had he missed him? Victor must have been there already, waiting for him to slip out. And now he stood not more than two feet from the woman who had become his life. “Get away from her, Victor.”

  “I bet you’re feeling pretty confused at the moment, wondering how I was able to slip in beneath your radar?”

  Cade was silent, though that was precisely the question that was pounding in his head.

  “It’s funny, really. All this time, you killed all those evil witches, but you never took anything from them. But I did. Spells, potions, curses—all the things you hated so much. You have no idea how much power they can bring. I can make it so neither you, nor any other dragon, can ever find me. I can creep up on you at any time because you’ll never sense me coming. You could have had it, too, Cade, but you’ve been so caught up, living among the humans. You even missed your big prize, the one you’ve been seeking out for so long.”

  “Get out, Victor. Just leave. If you hurt her, you know I’ll have to kill you.”

  “I knew you’d gone soft, but when I saw you with this woman, a spitting image of the one I’d killed not so many years ago, I knew it was far worse than that. The witch was right there under your nose and you were completely oblivious. So, you must understand why I have to save you, Cade. I need to make you strong again. I once looked up to you.”

  “I won’t let you hurt her, Victor.”

  “It’s too late, Cade. You don’t think she’s been sleeping through our little meeting, do you? Don’t feel too bad about it. You really did go to great lengths to try to keep her safe.”

  “What did you do, Victor?” His heart lurched in his chest as he looked down at the peaceful form sleeping in his bed. She hadn’t moved once since he’d walked in, but she wasn’t sleeping. Her eyes, her beautiful blue eyes were wide open. No, he couldn’t be too late. Her breathing…it was shallow, but he could still see the slow rise and fall of her chest. Oh God, what had Victor done? He’d failed. He’d soared over the island for no more than a minute, and in that brief time, he’d lost everything.

  “Oh, I suppose she’s not dead yet, but it’ll happen soon enough. You see, with the invention of modern medicine came these tiny little syringes,” he held one up in his hand. “It’s so much easier to inject someone with one than it ever was to force them to drink the damn potions. One tiny pinprick and all the work is done.”

  “You bastard,” Cade roared.

  “She has better senses than you, Cade; so much, that she was able to sense my presence despite the potion. And I bet you don’t even know why,” he scoffed. “The moment I slipped in through the window, she was wide awake, not that it did her any good. She may have keen senses, but her muscle is no better than a mere human’s. But don’t worry, I made sure I didn’t make that same mistake twice. The poison winding through her veins is enough to take down a small army.”

  The roar that rose up from Cade’s chest began as a man’s, but in a flash, he became the black beast, his massive size tearing off the roof of the villa, violently collapsing the walls around him. His roar shook the ground as Victor shifted before his eyes, the red dragon taking his place. He lunged at the son of a bitch, teeth bared and talons extended.

  He delivered the first blow, a mighty slash across the scarlet beast’s belly. Victor stumbled back several yards, but Cade’s attempt failed to send him careening to the ground. Instead, the dragon he’d known for hundreds of years began to spin, flinging his tail like a heavy, spike-encrusted whip. One spike made contact, tearing through the unguarded flesh of his ribcage. It was fitting. He now wore a near-identical wound to the one that still marred the soft flesh covering Hope’s torso.

  An image of her near-lifeless form and terror-filled eyes flashed through his mind, and another roar ripped clear out of his chest. She’d been awake; she’d heard everything he and Victor had said, but she was powerless, her body overwhelmed by whatever potion worked its lethal magic in her veins.

  The fire in his belly rose up and spewed forth, incinerating the shrubs that had outlined the path to the once-beautiful villa. It was no longer a haven. It was hell. It was the place he’d lost Hope.

  The first flicker of doubt flashed through Victor’s golden eyes, as if he were only now contemplating the possibility that he might not win this fight. He took flight and Cade followed, meeting him in the sky. He knew precisely where to aim; not at the unarmored underbelly of the dragon, but in between the scales on his rough back.

  He hit his mark with deft precision. His talons dug into the flesh beneath the scales and tore clear into the muscle that controlled his wings. The red beast roared in agony, and his flightless body crashed to the ground.

  He swooped down, landing directly in front of the fallen dragon, but neither the wounds nor the crash had killed him. Victor must have found a bit of magic that strengthened his body, but it didn’t matter. No spell, potion or curse would thwart Cade’s vengeance.

  He spun, flinging his own lethal whip, making contact with Victor’s snout as the beast tried to right himself and stand up. The blow had been enough to faze him, and Cade moved in one last time, slashing with lightning speed into the creature’s chest. Victor stumbled back as his eyes met Cade’s. The crimson dragon had seriously believed he would win this fight, but he knew now that he’d lost. Warm blood flowed down the beast’s body as he stumbled back one more step, falling to the ground.

  Victor was dead, but it did nothing to save Hope.

  He walked back toward the broken villa, shifting to his human form as he reached the debris that surrounded her. She was still breathing, but the movement of her chest had grown even shallower and a single tear slid down her cheek.

  No. This couldn’t be it, damn it! There had to be something he could do.

  The witch was right there under your nose.

  Victor’s words came back to him. The witch had shown up when he’d been distracted with Hope? He must have meant at the charity dinner. Image after image flashed through his mind, remembering every person he’d seen there. A woman in the corner—her name—someone had said her name. Genevieve. He’d seen the name on the list—the list of guests from the dinner that were staying at the hotel—and he hadn’t recognized her name, though he knew every other guest there. It had to be her.

  “Hold on, Hope. Please, just hold on,” he whispered to her, and then he flew like never before back to Vegas. He was there in no time and landed on the hotel’s roof, shifting as he hurried down to her suite, breaking down her door. She was there, sitting in a chair in the suite’s living room, next to the window. It was definitely her, the same face he remembered from centuries ago. And he hadn’t even noticed she’d been right there in the same banquet hall, staying in his hotel.

  She smiled. “I was wondering when I’d be seeing you again.”

  He didn’t have time to cajole her, and there was no guarantee a threat would work. It was risky, but he could do it. Her eyes widened as Cade dashed through the room without a word and grabbed the screaming woman up in his arms. He jumped through the window and the moment the glass shattered around him, he made it happen, shifting right there. He had to go straight up, without a second to spare, or else there was an even greater risk of being seen. He kept the witch wrapped in his arms as he flew back to the island, all the while wondering if he was too late. Had he wasted his last precious moments with Hope in vain?

  “You heal her, and I let you live,” he growled at her once he’d touched down and shifted back. “Do you understand me?”

  “Heal her? And just how do you expect me to do that?”

  “I know exactly who and what you are. If you can’t undo whatever the potion has done, then my body’s stronger than hers. If she were like me, she could heal, she’d survive.”

  “Oh? So, being like yo
u isn’t as bad as you thought all this time?”

  “Enough!”

  “I can’t make her like you, Cade. She isn’t like you. She’s like me.”

  What?

  “What do you mean, she’s like you?” The witch was trying to deceive him. Hope didn’t have time for this.

  “You knew it. You already knew there was something different about her. Those eyes, they never lie, and if you’d tasted her blood, you would have known it wasn’t human blood. I bet since being around you, she’s been noticing things about herself, things that never broke through the surface before.”

  “She can’t be like you. She isn’t a god damned witch,” he bellowed. “If she were like you, she would have known it, which means I would have known it, too.”

  “It isn’t like being a shifter—something that’s a little hard to go unnoticed. Being a witch, as you call us, it’s something deep within. If you don’t know the power you possess, you never think to use it.”

  “And once she knows…she’ll become like you? Like all the evil, vile creatures I’ve destroyed over the centuries?”

  The witch seemed to ignore his question, and turned her attention to Hope, though she continued to speak to him. “This was no doubt Victor’s work. I knew he was up to no good at that banquet of yours, but Victor miscalculated despite knowing what she was. You see, spells and potions aren’t as effective on us, especially one like her, but they’re not completely without effect. Otherwise, she would have sensed Victor’s anger a mile away.”

  “What do you mean ‘one like her’?”

  “She is far stronger than I am, Cade, and I have only ever met one other that was stronger than myself. Hope’s mother.”

  “You knew her mother?” He brushed back the wisps of hair from Hope’s forehead, remembering the sadness in her eyes when she’d spoken of her mother.

  The witch ignored him. “I can feel the potion coursing through her veins, and it is strong. Not many of us could survive it. Victor knew what he was doing. I believe it’s strong enough that it would have even bested me. But while most bloodlines weaken over time, hers has only strengthened. I can only imagine how magnificent your offspring will be; the two mightiest creatures I have ever known.”

  “She’s going to survive?” The tiniest bit of relief tingled through his veins, but perhaps she was lying, just trying to buy herself time to figure a way out.

  “Come on Hope. I know you can hear us. Sense it there in your body and fight it. Banish it from your veins. Don’t keep us waiting.”

  Her breathing returned to normal after a moment and color returned to her cheeks, but she still didn’t move a muscle. She didn’t even blink.

  “Don’t worry, sometimes it takes a few minutes. She’s new at all of this.”

  He waited with baited breath, stroking her hand, caressing her cheek, staring into her eyes. There was a determination in them that hadn’t been there moments ago. And his heart, which had been growing cold with despair, began to fill with warmth once again.

  “Cade,” Hope’s soft voice whispered after another moment had passed.

  “Oh God, Hope, you’re…okay,” he forced the words past the lump in his throat.

  “Yes, but I don’t understand. I could feel it. It was death. It felt like fire spreading throughout my whole body, first where he pricked me, and then all over.” She ran her hand over her arm where Victor had stabbed her with the syringe, but there was no mark, not even a tiny pinprick.

  “It doesn’t matter now. All that matters is that you’re alive. I’m so sorry I let him in. I couldn’t sense him, Hope.”

  “It’s alright, Cade. You couldn’t have known. I heard you. I could hear everything, and I know it wasn’t your fault.” Her eyes grazed over him as if she were looking to confirm he was really there, but she must have caught sight of the gash across his ribs. Victor had cut deep, and perhaps a human might have succumbed to the injury, but not him.

  “He hurt you,” she whispered as her hand grazed over the wound gently, but as she moved, the torn flesh mended beneath her fingers, disappearing completely as if it had never been there.

  He looked up at her awestruck, but it seemed to have surprised her just as much.

  “I told you she was strong,” the witch spoke from the edge of the bed.

  Hope turned toward the witch, “You’re Genevieve. You were a friend of my mother’s, but after she died, I never saw you again.”

  “I’m afraid that’s true, my dear. I had to leave. I had to draw him away from you.”

  “Victor killed my mother? My father told me she’d died in a car accident.”

  “He had to tell you that. Your mother should have lived a very long time, Hope. She was three hundred years old when I first met her, and she was born more than a century before that. Your father had only recently found out what your mother was, and though he didn’t understand it enough to do anything more than despise it, he knew he had to keep it from you.”

  Her easy camaraderie with the witch made him worry. Hope hadn’t known what she was, but she did now. “She’s going to become like you?” He couldn’t reconcile the thought. He couldn’t fathom Hope being anything like the cold, vile things he had rid from the world.

  “Not all witches are evil, my boy.”

  “Oh, please. They’re all misunderstood saints?”

  “Oh no, I didn’t say that. Just like with you dragons, there are those who use what they possess for good, and others who use it for their own selfish desires,” she motioned to the massive bloodied corpse.

  “Then why did you curse me?” How could what she did possibly be counted as good?

  “Curse? It wasn’t meant as a curse, but a saving grace. They were scouring the villages, searching out the fire-breathing monsters that terrified them. But you were young, the youngest dragon I had ever seen. In truth, I hadn’t considered where your kind came from back then, whether you were born or spawned, or brought forth from the depths of heaven or hell. But I simply couldn’t just hand you over. There was something gentle in your green eyes. So, I made you what you are, part human to hide you from the dragon-seekers. Unfortunately, I was captured not long after for my evil deeds. By the time I was able to return to you, you were long gone.”

  “Then I was the dragon first, not the human?” He couldn’t believe it. He’d insist she was lying, but he could see the truth in her eyes.

  “Since I changed you, I have learned you are an ancient species, perhaps one of the first. When the giant rock hit Earth and blackened the skies, you were the only species wise enough to protect yourselves, burrowing havens deep underground. All of those giant reptiles perished, but not the dragons.”

  “You aren’t lying,” he told her, perhaps to try to make sense of it himself.

  “I have been watching you for a very long time, Cade. Perhaps now, I won’t have to watch you from afar.”

  Cade nodded. It was still so strange. All the animosity he’d carried for centuries had been misplaced. The witch had done what she did out of kindness, and if she hadn’t, he would never have known Hope.

  “For now, though, I think I’ll leave the two of you alone to get acquainted. You have a lot to learn, about yourselves and about each other. I think it will be a wonderful journey for you both.”

  “I’ll take you back,” he offered. It was the least he could do, though he was loath to leave Hope there alone. He’d have to bring them both back with him, he supposed.

  “There’s no need,” she smiled mischievously, though he had absolutely no idea how she intended to get herself back. She came around the bed then and patted him on the shoulder. “You’ve grown to be a fine, strong dragon, Cade.” She leaned down then and brushed a kiss across Hope’s forehead. “And your mother would be so proud of you, Hope.” She left then without a backward glance, though he stared after her for a moment, wondering how the woman planned to leave with no boat and no wings. But it didn’t seem to concern her. “By the way,” she called ba
ck to them, “I’ll have Steven bring Lexi out to you here. I’m sure my son is anxious to see for himself that you are both alright.”

  He and Hope just looked at each other. His personal valet, and really, the man he counted on in any tough situation, was Genevieve’s son? And he hadn’t sensed anything from the man this whole time? It must have been the same potion or spell Victor had talked about, keeping him from sensing Steven’s true self. The day had certainly been full of surprises.

  Chapter 9

  He’d wrapped her in his great, obsidian arms and flown her to the other end of the island. There were no villas or modern day comforts there, but what was there was even better. The ancient trees created a tall canopy overhead, blocking out the hottest rays of the sun, but letting through enough light to illuminate the waterfall that fed into a crystal-clear river.

  So many questions whirled through her mind, but there was only one thing she wanted to focus on right then: Cade. She reached for him as he shifted back to human form, and the fire deep inside her sprung to life. She let her hands wander, grazing over chiseled muscle and firm flesh. He closed his eyes, and she felt the struggle in his mind, but she swooped in quickly to wrap her hand around his long length.

  “Hope,” he whispered hoarsely, but before he could capture her wrists to still her movements, she stepped back wearing a devilish smile of her own.

  She stripped off her clothes, yanking the T-shirt over her head and shimmying out of her pants as quickly as she could. The wound Victor had left and the bruises that had marred her arms and wrists were gone. They’d healed miraculously as she’d thrust the poison from her body.

  His gaze swept over her body and relief washed over him seeing her healed flesh. Perhaps just to be certain, he ran his hands across her, trailing down her arms and up her ribs. His fingers grazed over her breasts, and her nipples hardened instantly in response to his touch. He cupped her in his hands, and she could tell by his firm grip he’d already begun to lose the tentative control over himself.