She chewed her bottom lip, pretended to contemplate his growled question, and then slid her empty plate toward him. “Make me another one of these?”
“Done.” Stealing a quick kiss from her smiling mouth, he shoved himself off his stool.
He made her another BLT. How could he not? In the few short hours they’d been together, he’d already fallen in love with her. Which was scarier than facing down any Extraho Venator, but it was still true. She was funny, quick-witted, intelligent, self-effacing, beautiful and fierce. And that was merely what he knew of her now.
“Tell me,” he said, turning back to her, “about your life before moving to Sydney. Or your most embarrassing moment. Or a little about your family.”
“Hmmm.” She took the fresh sandwich, studying it with overt seriousness. “My most embarrassing moment was the time I mistook Chris Pratt for Chris Pine, just before Chris Pratt was about to be interviewed on the show I produced back in Perth.”
Kellan frowned. “Who’s Chris Pratt?”
Reece blinked.
“Kidding.”
“Hmmm,” she said again, before taking a bite out of her sandwich.
He grinned.
Yeah, he was definitely in love with her.
“Before Perth,” she went on, after swallowing, “I lived in New Zealand for a few decades, and before that, Canada with my family. I’m actually a Canadian citizen, if we wanted to be strictly legal by human laws, although I’ve been in Australia now for over thirty years. My fake Australian birth certificate is a work of art.”
He laughed.
“Which brings me to ‘a little about my family’.” She studied her half-consumed sandwich. “My mum and dad died when I was only young—by dragon shifter standards—and I looked after myself from that point.”
The smile on Kellan’s face faded. “I’m sorry,” he said, gut clenching. The lives of their kind—of any non-human being, when it came down to it—were fraught with danger. Humans, for the most part, were still scared of what they didn’t know, and the majority dealt with that fear in ways that were brutal and fatal and cruel. Dragon shifters kept their existence hidden for their own preservation, but when one was discovered, it rarely ended well. “Were they killed by a—”
“Hunter?” Shaking her head, she gave him a small smile. “No. Car accident. Wiped out by a snowplow during a blizzard a few kilometers outside of Saguenay in Canada.”
“Shit.” Such a human way to die. Horrific, but human. “Shit, I’m sorry.”
“It’s a very human way to die, isn’t it.” Letting out a soft sigh, she shrugged. “Don’t stress. It was a long time ago now, and they would have found the irony perversely wonderful; two dragon shifters killed by a snowplow in a snowstorm. They had wicked senses of humor, the pair of them, even if they didn’t like each other by the time they died.” She wriggled her eyebrows at him. “I inherited my sparking wit from them.”
Chest tight, gut still knotted, he leaned forward and brushed his lips over hers. “I love your sparking wit.”
She grew still. And then pulled back a little. Searched his eyes, her own flickering a luminous green. “Are we using the L word already? I mean, I’m okay with that, I think, if we are. I’m just checking before I—”
A crossbow bolt cut through the air between their faces, piercing the tiled kitchen wall behind them.
“Fuck!” a male voice snarled, as Kellan grabbed Reece and threw them both to the floor behind the island counter.
“Stay down,” he ordered, holding her gaze as he pressed his palm to her cheek. “I’ve got this.”
She rolled her eyes. “As if I’m letting you do this on your—”
He sprang to his feet, launched himself over the counter and landed on the other side, focus locked on the man reloading a large, ornate crossbow.
“Perkins? What the fuck?”
Ian Perkins snapped his stare—and now-loaded crossbow—on Kellan. “Where’s my son, you fucking fire-breathing freak?”
Fire-breathing freak.
Biting back a growl, Kellan took a step toward Perkins. “So, you’re also an Extraho Venator?” Shit, what should he do? He’d never faced an Extraho Venator he personally knew. If Perkins was here to kill him as a hunter, he’d want Kellan to shift into his dragon form. If he was here for other reasons, though… “Since when?”
Perkins didn’t flinch. The crossbow didn’t waver from his chest. “Since forever. Surprise, freak. I’ve been tracking you for months, waiting for you to change into your dragon form. Got keys to your house cut, put a tracker on your phone, even got the media job to stay closer to you. I had to grease a shitload of palms to get it, lay out a fucking fortune, and for what? Fucking nothing! And then the bitch came along, and I get the call it’s finally time for some action.”
Anger licked at Kellan from behind, and he forced himself to stay still. To keep his attention on Perkins. Was Reece still down behind the counter? Or was she standing?
Was she putting herself in Perkins’ line of sight? Letting the rage he felt radiating from her in danger?
Perkin’s glared at him, eyes narrowing. “Now where’s my son?”
“Honestly, Perkins,” he said. “I didn’t even know you had a—”
“Archie,” Perkins shouted. “Where’s Archie?”
Archie.
Kellan’s stomach dropped. His blood ran to ice, then to molten fury. His dragon roared.
Archie, their Uber driver, was Perkins’ son. The pair of them had been hunting Kellan together.
Had put Reece in danger. Together.
Drawing in a slow breath, he took another step forward. “Archie?”
Perkins kept his ground. His hands didn’t shake. He didn’t blink.
Shaking his head, Kellan shrugged. Hell, he hoped Reece was still hiding behind the counter. “I don’t know who Archie is.”
A sneer curled Perkins’ top lip. “He took you both to some kind of warehouse. He sent me the address. He said he was going to hold you both until you’d shifted. I told him not to make a move until I arrived, but when I got there…” Pain, grief, unhinged hate etched his face. “There was no sign of him. Or you. Or the bitch.”
Kellan narrowed his eyes. “Not up to his usual 5-star rating, ’eh?”
“Drop the fucking sarcasm, freak, and tell me what did you do to Archie or,” he aimed the crossbow to the left of Kellan, “the bitch gets it!”
“The bitch has a name,” Reece’s voice came from Kellan’s side. “Reece Collier. And this stitched-up hole in my shoulder is courtesy of your son.”
Kellan bit back a groan, even as his spirit called out to hers. Damn it, she’d put herself in danger after all.
Why was he both furious and insanely proud of that fact?
Perkins’ eyes dropped to the healing wound in Reece’s flesh, a sneer curling his lip. “Good. I hope it hurt like fucking hell.”
“Nope,” Reece shot back, with an indifferent shrug. “I wax my bikini line.”
Perkins’ face turned red. Disgust twisted his lips, and he swung the crossbow to aim straight at Kellan’s stomach. “If Reece doesn’t shut her bitch mouth, Dono, old boy, I’ll shoot you in the gut. The tip is coated with the saliva of a Mongolian death worm. It’ll instantly make your blood feel like burning acid in your veins. A quick but agonizing way to die.”
Reece sucked in a sharp breath. “I thought Extraho Venators only killed their target when it’s in dragon form?”
Perkins narrowed his eyes, and swung the bolt back up to Kellan’s chest. “This isn’t about a trophy anymore, bitch. It’s about finding my son and making both you fucking freaks suffer! Now where is he?”
Kellan lifted an eyebrow, his grin cold. Inside, his gut rolled. His dragon shrieked, craving release. “Do you really want to know what happened to your delightful offspring, Ian, my old mate?”
The tip of the bolt shook. A fraction of a fraction. “Where is he?”
Kellan drew in a steadying breath
. Months of putting up with the bastard’s condescending chumminess, of thinking of the NSWFR every time Perkins slapped his back or squeezed his shoulder in a smarmy massage, or spoke to him like he was little more than a beefcake paid to make the state’s fire brigade look good…
“Where do you think he is, Ian? Given he tried to kill my Fire Mate, and is now missing…” He left the rest of the sentence dangling, bleak joy snaking through him at the horror dawning on Perkins’ face.
The tip of the bolt shook again. The muscles in Perkins’ jaw bunched. A bitter smile twisted the man’s compressed lips. “In that case…”
He changed the crossbow’s aim. Slid it to the right in a heartbeat and squeezed the trigger.
Fuck!
Kellan spun toward Reece to shove her out of the way of the bolt.
Or would have, if she’d still been standing beside him.
In a blur of inhuman speed, she ran straight for Perkins, snatched the bolt out of the air as it passed her, and leaped into a fierce arc, striking her feet into Perkins’ chest.
Reece drove him to the floor…
Swung the bolt, point first, at his throat…
Just as he slammed the crossbow upward, smashing it into her jaw. Flinging her to the floor, limp.
“No!” Kellan charged forward, blood turning to murderous ice.
Perkins scrambled to his feet a split second before Kellan rammed his shoulder into his gut.
They hit the floor, Perkins wailing in pain as bones shattered with the force. The copper sting of blood flooded Kellan’s mouth, and suddenly the world turned red. Hot.
His dragon, surging for release.
No! He forced the shift down, burning up, even as he smashed his fist into Perkins’ jaw. His cheek. His nose.
The need to transform, to turn the bastard to ash in a single blast of fire, tore at him. His dragon screeched, incensed and furious and primal. And still he pounded into Perkins’ face with human fists.
If he shifted into a dragon right now, he’d destroy the kitchen, the living area, the entire side of the house. Would bring the whole structure down.
He couldn’t risk Reece’s life.
She’d survive the ensuing fire, but would she survive being crushed by a ceiling, a roof, half a fucking house?
“Stop!” Perkins blubbered, blood and spittle flecking his swollen lips. “Stop!”
Fisting Perkins’ shirtfront, Kellan drilled his stare into the flailing man’s face. “Why? So you can try to kill us again?”
“Ssson…” Perkins’ head wobbled side to side. “My son…”
“Hunted us just like you did!” Kellan snarled. “For no other reason than fucking bragging rights.”
Perkins’ eyes rolled, one swollen so much it was little but a blood-seeping slit. “It’s…it’s all he knew…he only did…what I told him to do…”
Icy hate cracked through Kellan’s anger. “Then I hope you feel proud of yourself, Ian. I hope the last thing you feel is guilt before I end your miserable Venator life.”
He swung his fist back. Steeled himself for the killing blow.
And snapped his stare behind him as a hand wrapped around his wrist.
Reece stood there, holding his punch, her gaze finding his. “Don’t,” she whispered.
“Listen to the bitch,” Perkins rasped, squirming beneath Kellan.
Kellan jerked his stare back to the hunter. Pain screamed through his knuckles as he balled his fist tighter. “Y’know, Ian, I’m done with you calling the woman I love a bitch.”
Perkins laughed, blood leaking from his mouth. “Love? Fucking monsters like you don’t know what love means.”
Fury lashed at him. Resolve turned his blood to molten rivers. “Yeah, definitely done.”
He coiled his shoulder and drew his arm back.
No. Reece’s worry rolled through him. No…you’re better than him…
“Kellan,” she whispered. “You’ve spent so much of your life saving human lives…”
He had. Even those who didn’t deserve to be save, like the arsonists idiotic enough to be trapped by the very fires they’d deliberately lit.
He’d saved them, because that’s who he was.
He saved people.
Chest tight, Kellan dropped Perkins’ shirtfront and straightened to his feet. “I’m sorry, Ian. I’m sorry about Archie.”
Perkins may be a hunter, but he was still human. A human whose son was forever lost to him, because of ignorance and arrogance and selfish desire.
If Kellan killed him now, would it achieve anything?
No.
Reece’s relief swam over him, warm and wonderful, and she took his hand in hers. “You are amazing, Kellan. And more human than any hunter could ever hope to be.”
Perkins staggered to his feet, stumbled sideways and collapsed to his knees, staring up at Kellan. “Why…what are you…” Baleful hate and confusion twisted his mouth. Tears and blood leaked from his swollen eyes. He jerked his gaze around the room, growing motionless as his gaze fell on his crossbow on the floor a few feet away.
Kellan let out a sigh, shaking his head. “Ian, mate… Don’t do it. Please?”
Perkins stared at the crossbow.
And lunged for it.
With another sigh, Kellan grabbed the back of Perkins’ shirt. “Ian,” he said gently, gut clenching. “Stop.”
Perkins slumped back to his hands and knees, head hanging. “You killed my son. You don’t deserve to live. You killed my boy. You killed…”A choked sob tore from him and he fell silent.
Kellan stopped himself from pointing out Archie tried to kill them first. Just. What would it achieve?
Instead, he held the back of Perkins’ shirt and met Reece’s gaze. What else could he do?
“Seriously, Donovan,” a relaxed male voice uttered from the living area. “You should really lock your doors.”
Heart thudding up into his throat, Kellan twisted a look over his shoulder, and let out a shaky breath at the sight of Arriman Drake striding toward the kitchen.
“I mean, I know I said you don’t normally present any kind of challenge for me,” Arriman went on, a bemused smile on his lips as he ran his gaze over the scene, “but dare I ask?”
“Drake.” Smile wry, anger and guilt still warring within him, Kellan kicked Perkins’ crossbow toward the Cleaner. “Your timing is perfect.”
Picking up the crossbow, Arriman slung it over his shoulder and flashed Kellan a grin. “My timing is always perfect.” He turned his grin to Reece. “You’re Reece, right? Kel’s Fire Mate?”
Reece’s fingers tightened on Kellan’s and she drew closer to his side. “Yes.”
“How’s the shoulder?”
She shrugged. “It’ll be okay.”
“Excellent.” Arriman threw a nod toward Perkins, still slumped on his knees, head down. “Please tell me this is an Extraho Venator?”
Perkins grunted. “Fuck you, freak,” he mumbled at the floor.
“Yeah, but…well…” Kellan rubbed at the back of his neck. “It’s a little more complicated.”
Arriman lifted a dark blond eyebrow. “Complicated? Huh. Sounds fun. I tell you what, I’m going to take away our guy here—”
Kellan’s gut clenched again. “Umm…don’t kill him, okay?”
Another lift of a dark blond eyebrow.
A shaky laugh fell from Kellan, and he gave Reece a smile. “It’s…”
“Complicated.” Arriman shrugged. “Who am I to judge?” He dropped into a crouch in front of Perkins, waiting until Perkins lifted his head and met his gaze. “You’re not going to give me any trouble, are you?”
Perkins didn’t say a word, but his shoulders drooped more.
“I’ll take that as a no.” Slipping his free hand under Perkins’ arm, Arriman straightened to his feet, bringing the hunter up with him. “I’ll be back in a hour or so. Any chance you have some spare tiles in the garage?”
“Tiles?” Dragging his stare from Perki
ns, guilt still gnawing at his gut even as his dragon growled, Kellan frowned. “What do you want tiles for?”
Arriman slid a glance at the crossbow bolt jutting out from the wall. “I’ll fix that hole in the wall for you when I get back.”
Kellan blinked. “You’ll what?”
Arriman laughed. “All part of the Cleaner service, mate.” He pivoted on his heel and strode across the living area, heading for the front of the house, taking a subdued Perkins with him. “See you both in an hour or so.”
“Oi, Drake?” Kellan called after him.
The Cleaner paused at the entry foyer, smile relaxed. “Yeah?”
“Knock next time, okay?”
Arriman laughed. “Where’s the fun in—”
Perkins slammed his elbow into Arriman’s gut. “Fucking freak!” He snatched the crossbow out of Arriman’s grip, and smashed it into the side of his head.
“No,” Kellan roared, lunging forward.
Arriman lurched sideways. Blood spurt from a massive gash on his cheek, his eyes rolled white. And then flared blinding red.
Just as Perkins swung the crossbow at him again.
“Enough!” he snarled, deflecting the blow with a swipe of his arm. “Enough.” He grabbed Perkins by the throat, eyes blazing red fire, and smashed him into the floor.
The distinct sound of bone cracking, shattering, filled the room, and Perkins’ body turned limp.
Motionless.
Kellan stumbled to a halt, stare locked on the hunter.
A raw, shaky breath burst from Arriman and he released Perkins’ throat. “Shit.”
Chest tight, Kellan dragged his stare from Perkins up to the other dragon shifter.
The red fire in Arriman’s eyes faded. Torment and regret swam in his face. “Shit, Kel.” His Adam’s apple jerked up and down his throat. “I’m sorry. I…” He clawed a hand through his hair, shaking his head. “I didn’t…I…”
“It’s okay.” Kellan gave Arriman a slow smile. “Let’s be serious here; he was never going to stop hunting our kind, was he.”
Arriman flicked the lifeless Perkins a glance. “No. But still, you asked me not to kill him.”
Kellan let out a wry laugh. “You’ve probably saved my life. And my Fire Mate’s. I’d never be angry about that, or hold that against you. When it comes down to it, I’m a fan of both of us being alive.”
Enter the Dragon Page 10