Ignited By Flames: A Hot Paranormal Dragon Shifter Saga (Hidden Realms of Silver Lake Book 6)

by Vella Day

  “Yes, or would you rather I tell my cousin Omar how you had the opportunity to bring in that scoundrel Donovan and failed?” Sure, she was bluffing since she had no intentions of ever speaking to the unethical prince again, but they couldn’t know that.

  The men exchanged glances. “Who did you say you were?

  Greer had said too much to back down now. “Greer Caspian. My mother, Iona, is Queen Teresa’s sister.” She puffed out her chest for effect.

  “Found the sniveling weasel,” Blake telepathed, taking her focus off the two guards for a moment.

  “Do what you need to do. I’m trying to reason with two Royal Guards, but I don’t think I can hold them off for much longer. They want the werewolf, so please be fast.”

  “I will be.”

  The second guard stepped forward. “We’ll take our chances. We need to capture that werewolf. He’s dangerous.”

  “You’re telling me. He drugged and kidnapped me. Fortunately, my mate came and scared him off.”

  The second guard smiled. “Thank you for that information. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have a werewolf to retrieve.” They both shifted.

  Greer wasn’t going to let them fight Blake to get that horrible little Changeling. Chances were, the sneaky werewolf would find a way to escape. She shifted, cloaked herself again so that they couldn’t detect her whereabouts, and soared upward toward the two beasts.

  She didn’t want to kill them, just stall them a bit. Surprise was on her side when she rammed her head against the wing of the first dragon, causing him to tilt to the side. While effective, it would only take him a few seconds to recover.

  In the meantime, she flew after the second dragon and was able to align herself over him before running a claw down his wing. He shrieked and then dove toward the ground.

  As much as she could use help from Blake, he needed to capture the Changeling. No way did she want that werewolf to escape again. He’d done enough damage on Tarradon. Prince Omar might not care that this Earthling had killed several people, but she did.

  Greer must have been too focused on the Changeling’s plight and on the second dragon’s cries, because her cloaking flickered on and off. The next thing she knew, sharp claws dug into her back.

  Damn it. Needing to save energy, she uncloaked herself and then did a slight roll to dislodge his talons. She failed.

  “Are you all right?” came Blake’s voice into her head.

  “I’ll be fine. Kill the Changeling.” She worked to keep the pain from her voice.

  “I’m trying.”

  Greer didn’t feel any pain radiating off of Blake, so she had to assume he hadn’t been injured. She rocked right and then left, finally managing to get out of the dragon’s grasp. The first wing flap caused pain to streak up her back. That dragon’s claws must have hit a nerve.

  Her mind spun, trying to figure out the best way to defeat these two. As she leaned to the side to check them out, the second dragon she’d initially injured charged, shooting fire in her face. While her scales would repel the heat, the flames hindered her vision.

  As much as she’d like to disappear and fly off, at this point, she doubted these two would let her. They were probably thinking they’d be rewarded for killing a Caspian.

  Sucking up what energy she had left, Greer spewed out a stream of her own fire at her attacker. Unfortunately, he dodged her flames.

  The two dragons lined up next to each other and sped toward her. At the last minute, she dove under them before soaring above, a trick Thane had taught her. Twisting around, Greer snagged the wing of the first dragon. His squeals caused his partner to charge her. When his talons stabbed her neck, her vision blurred, and her energy poured out of her.

  For no reason, the dragon above her let go and flew off. She wanted to go after him, but her ability to fly had been compromised. Both dragons were getting away, heading toward the forest. Shit. Then a wave of familiarity assaulted her. When she spun around, her heart soared.

  Griffin was here! How in the world did he know where to find her? Right now, it didn’t matter. He was attacking one of the dragons. A second later, that animal went limp and dropped to the ground. The other dragon turned around and sped toward the castle. Coward. Not that she could blame him since Griffin was an imposing figure.

  She managed to land, and Griffin set down a moment later. Only after she shifted did she realize she should have stayed in her dragon form a little longer, but she needed to make sure Blake was okay.

  “I should ask what you are doing here, but whatever the reason, I’m glad you came. I need to see if Blake is okay first. He’s fighting the Changeling.”

  “You would know if he’d been injured.”

  “Are you okay?” came Blake’s voice into her head.

  “I am now. Griffin came and saved the day. We’re on our way to you.”

  “Good.”

  She turned to Griffin. “How did you happen to be here?”

  “I’ll tell you on the way.”

  As soon as they entered the forest, Greer jogged when she could, and walked when the pain increased too much. “Talk to me.”

  “Danita had a premonition. She saw you fighting the Royal Guards and that you looked to be in trouble.”

  “I didn’t know she was psychic.”

  “Neither did I, but I’m glad I believed her.”

  Greer smiled. “Me too. Please thank her.”

  “Trust me, I will.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  With the knowledge that Greer was okay, Blake lifted his pink quartz knife and swung it at the Changeling. If the last few minutes of battling with him was any indication, the man was a well-trained fighter. The werewolf had managed to avoid serious injury, but that was about to end. For his own sense of fair play, Blake had wanted to keep it a level fight. He could have shot fire at the naked man and burned him to a crisp, but that wasn’t Blake’s style.

  Apparently, when Blake nicked the man’s arms and legs a few times, the quartz had short-circuited the werewolf’s ability to shift. He’d cursed of course, but Blake wasn’t going to let him escape again. No, this Changeling wasn’t going to get away ever again.

  “Ready to give up?” Blake asked.

  “Fuck you.”

  A wave of powerful desire blasted him, taking his mind off the capture. Leaves rustled and sticks crunched. If it hadn’t been for the lust, he wouldn’t have even considered that Greer was near. The two sets of foot steps meant she was with Griffin. Good.

  The werewolf managed to extend his claws—something he hadn’t been able to do before, or so Blake thought—and swiped a path of destruction across Blake’s chest.

  “That’s it!” Blake shouted.

  He lunged and thrust the knife at the werewolf’s face. Richard Donovan twisted to get out of the way of the blade, but instead of avoiding the sharp strike to the head, it caused Blake’s knife to cut open the man’s throat. Donovan’s eyes widened. He clasped his neck and staggered backward.

  Blake’s goal had only been to injure the man in order to make it easier to carry him to the police station. From the way the blood was gushing out of the man’s artery, Blake would be calling the coroner instead to take away the body.

  Greer rushed up to Blake, and Griffin was right behind her. She threw herself into his arms, and he hugged her tight, only to let go a few seconds later when he felt wounds on her back. “You’re injured.”

  She leaned away from him. “My dragon will heal me, but you’re injured too.”

  “Just a scratch.” Blake looked over at Griffin. “Thanks for coming, but why are you here?”

  “Greer will fill you in.” He looked down at the dying man. “I don’t think he has much longer to live. I need to contact Anderson and have him come and deal with this man. You need to take Greer back so she can heal fully.”

  “I will.”

  “Now go. I’ll catch up to you guys later.”

  Blake stepped over to her brother and hugged h
im. “Thanks for helping Greer.”

  “She did most of the work. I was just the clean-up guy.”

  Not wanting to be anywhere near the Royal property, they walked down the pathway in the opposite direction as the castle, hoping to find an opening in the trees where they could take off.

  “Tell me what happened,” Blake said. “Clearly, you were injured.”

  “It’s not a big deal—mostly because Griffin showed up at the perfect time. I was trying to stall two dragons, since they wanted to go after the Changeling. I had the upper hand until I didn’t.”

  “I know what that’s like, but tell me exactly how Griffin knew you were in trouble?”

  She explained about Danita having a vision of her being attacked.

  “I haven’t met Danita yet. I take it she’s psychic?”

  “Apparently, this is a new thing for her. A while back, she was held captive by a dark lighter for weeks and subjected to a lot of darkness. I’ve been told it can change a person. Maybe it is only now manifesting itself.”

  “Whatever caused her to know you were in trouble, I’m glad she contacted Griffin.”

  “You and me both.”

  “If I ever meet her, I’ll be sure to thank her for sending Griffin to your rescue. I felt your pain when you were injured, and I wanted to go to you, but that would mean losing our psycho killer.”

  Greer clasped his hand and squeezed. “You were right to finish off that evil Changeling. I’m sorry you couldn’t take him in. I know you didn’t want to kill him outright.”

  “I didn’t, but I can’t say I’m sorry he’s gone.” Light from the sun shot through a break in the trees. “Hey. We can take off from here. Are you good to fly?”

  She smiled. “Now that I’m with you, my dragon has done wonders.”

  Greer shifted and shot straight up to the bright sky above, and Blake followed suit. He worried about some of the wounds he saw on her back, but after a few minutes of flying, he bet her dragon would be able to heal her.

  A short while later, they both landed on the rooftop of the bank and shifted. He rushed over to her. “How are you feeling and be honest?”

  “Tired but fine. Are you sure that Changeling is dead?”

  “You saw him. I cut his throat. He might have been alive when we left, but he won’t last long.” Blake pulled the knife out of his pocket. Traces of red were still on the tip.

  Greer rubbed his arm. “I know you did everything you could not to kill him.”

  “Probably not everything. When I thought about what grief his being here had caused you and so many others, he deserved to die.”

  She held out her hand. “Let’s forget about that for now. How about taking a shower with me? I could certainly use one.”

  Blake wove his fingers through hers. “It would be my pleasure.”

  Greer stood next to Blake on top of the bank building, suitcases in hand. “Ready?”

  He inhaled and then blew out a breath. “Ready.”

  They’d already given one of the special knives to Anderson in the event another Changeling ever made it through the portal. Now they were on their way back to Silver Lake, Tennessee to tell Kaleena that all was safe and to present the second pink quartz knife to Detective Murdoch.

  This time they wanted to stay a few days, or maybe even longer, in order to enjoy the countryside and each other. Finn had told them that if they wanted to hike, he could tell them about a few paths, but if they were interested in antique shopping or looking at handmade crafts, he could direct them there too.

  All Greer really wanted was to be with Blake when the world wasn’t trying to harm them. After discussing at length where they wanted to go, they decided they would rent an RV and explore the US.

  Greer handed Blake her dragon scale. “Go ahead. Picture Finn’s parents’ house, and then make the wide circles.”

  “I’ll do my best.” He made his circles big, going clockwise and then counterclockwise. When the portal appeared, Blake almost jumped. “I did it again! I’m getting good at this.”

  Seeing him happy was the best present he could give her. “You are, now hold my hand.”

  They picked up their suitcases and stepped through the portal, which promptly disappeared the moment they crossed it. They probably shouldn’t have landed where anyone could have seen them, but because it was dark, she hoped no one would notice them appear out of nowhere.

  They hoofed it up to the front door of Finn’s parents’ home and knocked.

  Mrs. Murdoch answered. “You’re back! How wonderful. Come in, come in.” She turned halfway around. “Finn. Kaleena. Guess who’s here?”

  When she spotted Kaleena coming out of the kitchen, Greer’s heart soared.

  Kaleena opened her arms. “You’re back so soon!”

  Greer couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, and we have a story to tell you both.”

  For the next half hour, they detailed how they’d battled against the Royal Guards, and then eventually scared them off, thanks to Griffin’s help.

  “This Changeling was given orders by our cousin to frame me for murder?” Kaleena asked.

  “Apparently.”

  “What a fucktard,” Kaleena whispered. “I don’t know why I’m surprised though. After all, his own brother had me kidnapped.”

  Blake wrapped an arm around Greer’s waist. “Nice family you have there—and I’m talking about the Royals, of course.”

  “Tell me about it.” It stuck in her craw every time her uncle and cousins acted so selfishly.

  Finn moved closer to Kaleena as if he wanted to protect her, even though the Changeling was dead. “I guess it’s safe to return now.” He faced his mate. “What do you think? Want to go home?”

  She sighed. “As much as I love being here, we both have obligations back on Tarradon.”

  “I know.” He turned to Greer and Blake. “What are you guys going to do? Head back to Tarradon too?”

  Blake slipped the quartz knife from his backpack. “I want to give this to your Detective Murdoch. It may come in handy against the other Changelings.”

  Finn grinned. “That’s awesome. Then what?”

  Greer looked up at Blake. “From the first moment we met, one of us—either alone or together—has been attacked, drugged, kidnapped, or put in jail, fighting for our lives, or chasing after evil beings.”

  “That includes Mange, and that was even before this Changeling from Earth arrived,” Blake added.

  “So we’re going to take a little vacation because we deserve one,” Greer said.

  Finn grinned. “You most certainly do. Where are you planning to go?”

  “As beautiful as Silver Lake is, we thought we’d rent an RV here and head west. How long we’ll be gone or where we’ll end up isn’t important right now. This will be a time to build the beautiful connection Blake and I already have started as mates.”

  Kaleena hugged her again. “I am so happy for you.”

  “Me too.”

  “I can hook you up with someone who rents RV’s,” Finn said. “He owes our family a few favors. He’ll overlook your lack of a driver’s license but don’t get pulled over. No telling what the cops would do.”

  Greer smiled. “I hadn’t even thought about that, but I’m sure Blake will be extra careful. As for the RV, we want to be able to leave it somewhere between here and California. We’ll then find a secluded spot and portal home.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll give Stan a call.”

  “That would be awesome. Would you mind if we stay one more night at your place?” Greer asked.

  “No problem. You’re welcome to use my spare phone too. Just give it back when you return to Edendale.”

  “That’s perfect.”

  “Do you need me to drive you to my place?”

  Greer nodded. “That would be great.”

  “Let me call my friend about the RV, and then I’ll take you over.”

  “It’s almost past ten at night.”

  He waved
a hand. “Stan won’t mind.” Less than five minutes later, Finn returned from some back room. “It’s all set. I’ll take you there now to do the rental agreement. I’ll use my credit card and you guys can pay me back in Denlars.”

  “That’s so nice of you. Are you sure we can get the RV now?”

  “Yup. As I said Stan owes my family a lot of favors.”

  Greer hugged him. “You are the best.”

  “Keep reminding Kaleena of that.”

  Finn was being silly. “Trust me, she knows,” Greer said.

  After another round of farewells, Finn drove them to town where they picked out an RV. To their delight, this vehicle came from Arizona. Not that they planned to necessarily go that far, but it was nice to know they could rent in one place and drop it off at another.

  Once all of the papers were signed, Blake pocketed the keys from the manager. “We can drive it back to your house, Finn. You go back and make sure Kaleena is fine.” Blake held out his hand. “We can’t thank you enough.”

  “Are you kidding? You rid the realm of one bad Changeling. That’s thanks enough.”

  He had a point. Greer hugged Finn once more. “See you on the other side.”

  As soon as Finn took off, she and Blake climbed into the RV. While it wasn’t super big, it had everything they would need for a great journey. While not being able to fly was a bummer, this way at least they could experience Earth like everyone else.

  Back at Finn’s house, the moment they stepped inside, Greer finally felt free and secure, just before waves of lust assaulted her. For so long, both of them had been on guard against that Changeling and the dark entities. Now they were anonymous and safe.

  Greer peeled off her jacket and kicked off her shoes. “How about getting comfortable?”

  Blake stalked toward her. “I plan to get real comfortable. Greer Caspian, you turn me on something fierce.”

  He drew her close and kissed her, causing every hormone in her body to flare with desperation. Every fiber of her being needed him. Now. She pressed her chest against his and walked him backward until his back hit the front door. Greer broke the kiss. “I want you naked.”

  Blake smiled. “Someone’s in a hurry.”