Freed by Fire (Dragonkeepers Book 5)

by Kimber White

  My feet hit the grass. The tree line was just ahead of me. I looked back. I was alone. I spread my arms, feeling my strength gather. Power surged through me. My breath lifted me.

  Just one more step. One more breath…

  Then, I slammed into a wall of light. It knocked me back. I landed hard on my ass.

  “The hell?”

  A flock of panicked birds took flight, pouring into the sky above the tree line. I looked behind me. I was still alone. Then, two points of green fire hovered in the dense part of the woods. I blinked, trying to clear my vision.

  Kian staggered out of the woods. His skin was dark, covered in ash or dirt. Blood dripped from his brow. He took one more step, saw me, then fell to his knees.

  “Shit,” I said. I ran to him. He put a hand up, recovering. He didn’t seem to want me to touch him.

  “You’re hurt,” I said. “You need help.”

  “No,” he said, his voice ragged. “Don’t.”

  He planted his hands in front of him, keeping himself from falling over. He looked up at me. Those green eyes flashed, just like they had in my dreams. I ignored his command and hooked a hand beneath Kian’s arm. His skin was practically molten. Coughing, he pulled himself to his feet.

  That’s when I saw his wounds. Three bloody gashes ripped through the flesh over his shoulder blades. The edges were charred. He’d been attacked. No regular animal could have done that. I could smell shifter blood all over him.

  “Shit,” I muttered. The fucking bear must have come back for him.

  Chapter Six

  Kian

  Calla’s touch set off a kaleidoscope of feelings in me. She stirred my fire but calmed it at the same time. My dragon raged, but somehow, Calla didn’t sense it. Once again, I felt myself spinning into space and it was Calla’s voice that brought me back. It was impossible. I was reaching for something that wasn’t there. It did no good to cling to it.

  “Kian!” Her shout cut through the din. I was on all fours, more beast than man. She pulled me to her. One hand on my shoulder and I wanted to lose myself in her. But, I was already lost.

  “Dammit, Kian! Look at me!”

  I did.

  Her hair brushed my face. My stomach rolled and I feared I’d throw up on her. Somehow, painfully, slowly, I got to my feet and found words.

  “Don’t touch me. Just leave me alone. Just...leave.”

  “Right,” she said, her smirk in place.

  “What the hell happened to you?”

  I opened my mouth to answer, then realized I didn’t have one. I remembered falling into a restless sleep back at the room she brought me to above the Blue Heron. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to picture how I got here. I wasn’t even sure where here was. Shadow Point, still. I could smell the lake and boat fuel to the right of me. And she was here. But, beyond that, there was nothing in my mind but a deep, black hole.

  “You’re hurt,” she said. Her touch was careful. She ran her fingers down my arm, examining me.

  “Your back,” she said, leaning around me. She sucked in a breath. I could feel the blood running between my shoulder blades.

  Flashes of memory came back. None of them good. I saw teeth and claws. I tasted blood and it wasn’t my own. Oh, God. Had I hurt someone? Or worse. I looked behind me. I’d come out of the dense woods. I sniffed the air but caught no trace of fire or smoke. Thank God for that. For now.

  “Kian, who did this to you?” Calla asked. I got to my feet. Her eyes filled with concern. She did a quick scan of the woods just like I had.

  “You should go,” I said. “There’s nothing you can do for me.”

  The instant I said it, I wanted to take it back. My need to be near her damn near knocked me back off my feet. I had the keen sense that if she wasn’t here, if her hand wasn’t still on my arm, I’d be in my dragon right then.

  “Come on,” she said. “It’s not safe for you out in the open like this. You need a doctor.”

  “No,” I said. “That’s the last thing I need. I heal fast.”

  Her brow went up. She knew I was something; there was just no way she could ever guess what. Dragons didn’t exist. Whatever she’d been told or seen for herself about shifters, I didn’t fit any definition she’d understand. It was better that way. Safer for her. At the same time, each moment I spent with her gave her a chance to start figuring things out.

  “Fine,” she said. “Then at least let me help you get back to your room. We can stand here and pretend I don’t know what’s going on, or you can just be honest with me. You’re a shifter. Or some kind of magic user. And you definitely had a run-in with something just as big as you. Was it that bear? Did he come looking for you?”

  The bear. Even the mention of him made my dragon rumble. I turned my head, trying to hide the fire she might see in my eyes if she looked too closely.

  “No,” I said. “And I don’t want to talk about it.”

  That was a lie. The stark truth was that I couldn’t remember a damn thing. But, of all the scents clinging to me that morning, the one I recognized for sure was death.

  “I need you to go,” I said. This time, I showed Calla my eyes. I had my fire under control, but she was shrewd enough to sense my conviction.

  She let out a sigh and crossed her arms in front of her. “Fine,” she said. “So you’re stubborn. And I’m probably an idiot for thinking you need my help. Except I know that you do.”

  “You don’t know anything about me,” I said.

  “Fair enough. But, I’ve seen people like you walk into trouble around here you can’t handle.”

  I swallowed hard. She’d never seen anything like me. I wanted to say it. It would do neither of us any good.

  Another sensation slammed through me. Another voice.

  Kian!

  It was my brother, Xander. He was close. But, not close enough. I went rigid, trying to close my mind.

  Kian, where the hell are you?

  “Hey, don’t wig out on me again!” Calla’s hand was on my chest. She had heat of her own and it seared me.

  “I have to go,” I said. “And so do you.”

  I knew the safe thing to do. I should have answered my brother’s call. I should have gone to him and told him what had been happening to me. The blackouts. The fire dreams. And today, the flashes of death. It could mean nothing good. I prayed I hadn’t hurt anyone.

  Calla dropped her hand. She seemed to see straight through my bullshit. But, she also seemed to sense that I wasn’t prepared to drop it. I wanted to tell her it was for her own good.

  “Do you have your key?” she asked.

  “My…” I was shirtless, but wearing my tattered jeans. I slid my hand in the back pocket and felt the outline of the room key she’d given me.

  “I do,” I said.

  “Good. Get your ass back inside. I’m going to stay out of your business. You’ve made your point. But you’re going to need to trust me when I tell you it’s not safe for you out in the open. Whatever you are, Kian, you’re stirring up the shifter population around here. I can feel it.”

  My eyes narrowed as I looked at her. “Why are you helping me?” I asked. “What makes you so sure I’m the good guy?”

  She considered the question, her eyes flashing. God, she was so beautiful. Maybe the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.

  “I don’t,” she finally said. “It’s just a feeling. But, I’ve been wrong before.”

  My pulse flared. Until that moment, I hadn’t realized how much I needed to hear someone tell me something like that. Was there still good in me? Or was I too far gone?

  “Go back to your room, Kian,” she said. I exhaled. Who was this woman? Was she insane? Or did she really see something in me I could no longer see in myself?

  Kian!

  This time, my brother’s voice nearly drove me to my knees. He was close. I looked up. Soon enough, I knew I’d see his dragon flying overhead. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to fully cloak myself if he broke through
the clouds above me.

  “Thank you,” I said to Calla, seeing for the first time that she was right. If I didn’t want to be found, it was time to get a roof over my head.

  Then, another sound reached me that struck new terror into me. It was a low rumbling, a threatening growl. It was coming from the woods. Instinct kicked in and I turned, putting my body between Calla’s and the gathering threat.

  “Do you hear something?” she asked. Calla seemed completely unafraid.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for either one of us to be out here right now. Come on. We’ll walk back together.”

  The growl reached me again, but louder.

  “You just head on back,” Calla said. “I’m going to finish my run.”

  She did hear what I heard. Calla was looking in the very same direction. A tiny vein pulsed in her neck and her pupils narrowed to pinpoints. I couldn’t read her mind, but I knew that look. This damned woman was planning on heading deeper into the woods all by herself. Over my dead body would I let that happen.

  I reached for her. So strong was my instinct to protect her, I think I might have pulled her into my arms and taken flight if anything came barreling out of those woods at us.

  “Let’s go,” I said, and my tone invited no argument. Calla dug her heels in. She slipped her arm out of my grasp.

  “Don’t worry about me,” she said. “I can take care of myself. It’s you I’m worried about. You’re covered in scratches and bite marks. You don’t want to tell me what the hell happened, but it’s obvious. You went looking for shifter trouble, or it came looking for you. You’ve already crossed paths with one keyed up bear who’s probably got it out for you. Bears don’t travel in packs, but they have clans. I don’t think you understand the seriousness of what you’ve stirred up. I do. So, I really need you to hear what I’m saying. Kian, go back to the Blue Heron. Stay out of sight. I’ll come check on you in a little while.”

  “Why do you think you need to help me?” I asked. It was a challenge and a legitimate question.

  Calla tilted her head to the side, regarding me. “Honestly? I haven’t figured that out yet. For now, I intend to make sure trouble stays away from Shadow Point. Let’s just say I have a way with shifters. More than you seem to anyway. Don’t make me regret giving you the benefit of the doubt. Owen’s cool with you crashing upstairs. For now. Take help when it’s offered.”

  I took a breath, preparing to argue with her. But, the distant flap of my brother’s wings stopped me from saying another word. The logical thing to do was to say my goodbyes, pretend to do exactly what Calla asked me to, then meet my brother far away from Shadow Point. Logic refused to take root in my mind. It was my dragon who made the final decision for me. As Calla stood there, staring at me with her own brand of fire in her eyes, my pulse quickened and I felt the scales pop out along my back.

  Had I stood there with her for another second, I wasn’t sure if I could keep myself under control. Last night made one thing certain. I could no longer remember what happened when I shifted. Calla wasn’t safe around me in my dragon. No one was. Except there was no way in hell I was leaving her alone with something lurking in those woods.

  We were at an impasse. My dragon was clamoring to get out. My brother was getting closer. And Calla was just as stubborn as I was.

  Her phone rang, breaking the stalemate. Her brow furrowed as she held up a finger, asking me to wait. She took the call. I couldn’t make out the caller’s words, but Calla’s reaction was unmistakable. Her eyes widened with fear. The color drained from her face.

  “When?” she asked. “How?”

  She took a few steps away from me. Calla put a hand to her stomach as though she might be sick. Fear for her raced through my blood. It didn’t help me push back the dragon at all. I clenched my fists, trying to keep my talons hidden. As she listened to her call, Calla turned away from me and stared out at the woods. Whoever was out there moved farther away. They were running in the opposite direction.

  Calla put a hand to her forehead as she ended her call.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  She let out a choked sound. I felt the emotion behind it instantly. Fire swirled in my belly.

  “I have to go,” she said. “I can’t explain it right now. Come on, I’ll walk back to town with you. When we get there, will you please for the love of God just go back to the bar and stay there?”

  I wanted to argue. Calla was in obvious distress. I wanted to stay with her. My need to protect her drove out all reason. With each step we took, it got harder and harder to push the dragon down.

  As we passed the pier, my appearance drew a few hard looks from the fisherman heading back in with their morning catch. I swallowed a threatening growl. When we came to the alley behind the Blue Heron, Calla stopped and turned to me. Her color was still ashen.

  “Promise me you’ll stay put,” she said.

  “If you promise to tell me what’s going on.”

  She looked skyward and sighed. “That was Owen. Kian, I need you to tell me the truth. Did that bear give you those scratches?”

  I looked over my shoulder. I could already feel the wounds beginning to close. By the time I walked upstairs, I knew they’d be nothing more than red marks across my skin. Calla didn’t seem the least bit fazed by my changing appearance or the speed at which I healed.

  “Kian?” she said. “Tell me what happened to you.”

  I didn’t get the chance. Owen, the bar owner, came out the back door. His color was worse than Calla’s.

  “Thank God you’re here,” he said, his voice breaking. “Calla, they found him. They found Adam. God. They think he was attacked last night. Mauled. He’s...he’s dead.”

  Chapter Seven

  Calla

  Sheriff Alan Baines was a beta wolf shifter. A nomad, he’d wound up in Shadow Point for a lot of the same reasons I had. There was just something about it that called to him. Plus, after a career as a homicide detective in Chicago, he’d been looking for a gentler pace. Today, he didn’t get it.

  “I’m breaking about seventeen rules letting you in here,” he said. Baines was probably the most out of shape shifter I’d ever met. He was strong as hell, of course, but he was softer in the middle and had a receding hairline. Astor said it was because his parents were from Kentucky. For a generation, the wolf shifters there had suffered under a ruthless, tyrant Alpha. A lot of the refugees of Kentucky had genetic defects.

  “I appreciate that,” I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking. I wanted to see. I needed to see. And yet, I wanted to be anywhere else. We stood in the hallway in a tucked away corner of the hospital basement. This was the morgue.

  Baines tapped on the door and waited. A few seconds later, a doctor dressed in scrubs opened it. His grim expression fit his profession. He gave a nod to Baines and ushered us in.

  “You sure there isn’t somebody else who can do this?” Baines said to me.

  “Not if you want it done quick,” I said. “Adam didn’t have any family. He had us at the bar.”

  “Well, then Owen should be down here, not you.” I appreciated Baines’s consideration, slightly chauvinistic though it was. But, I had to see for myself. Owen wouldn’t be able to confirm whether a shifter did this to Adam. Baines could, but he didn’t personally know Adam Webster like I did.

  As it was, I barely managed to leave Kian behind. He seemed keyed in to my distress in a way that sent my heart skipping. But, he couldn’t hide his own trouble. The man was having difficulty standing upright by the time we got back to the Blue Heron. If he was part of this mystery, I needed to know that too.

  The doctor led us into a stark, empty examination room. The body was draped with a blue sheet. Baines and I walked to the head and waited.

  Slowly, the doctor peeled back the sheet. For as tough and experienced as he was, Baines started retching. He covered his mouth with the back of his hand and side-stepped. I got closer.

 
It was Adam, all right. His sightless eyes pointed at the ceiling. His skin, what was left of it anyway, was mottled and gray. Deep claw marks nearly cut him in two. I only hoped that whatever did this had done it quickly.

  “That’s him,” I said, cocking my head to the side. “Is it bear, do you think?” I asked Baines.

  Baines recovered enough to stand at my shoulder. He coughed a few more times. “Maybe. I don’t see any bite marks. If a pack did this, you’d see some. This poor bastard got ripped apart.”

  I made a gesture to the doctor. He slid the sheet further down. I peered in even closer. The wounds were devastating. Savage. But, I had the strangest feeling that I was missing something important about them.

  “Is that…” Baines said. “Was he burned?”

  Sure enough, some of the skin around Adam’s arms looked more charred than ripped.

  “We need to wait for the full autopsy,” the doctor said. “Initially, yes. I’d say those are burn marks. I can’t say whether they were made post-mortem yet, but that’s my guess.”

  “You think someone tried to burn the body?” I asked, straightening.

  “Trying to cover their tracks,” the doctor said. “Um...sorry...no pun intended.”

  Baines nodded. He gestured to the doctor. I stepped back as he draped the sheet back over poor Adam’s body. “Thanks, Jerry,” Baines said to the man. “We’ll leave you to it. If there’s any way to put a rush order on that post-mortem, I’d appreciate it.”

  Doctor Jerry gave him a thumbs-up. Baines put a light hand on my back and ushered me out of the room.

  “Well,” he said. “I don’t have a doubt in my mind some kind of shifter did that. Your cook make any enemies I need to know about?”

  I shrugged, not sure what to tell Baines. He was a good guy, but he was a wolf. I couldn’t trust that he could stay fully objective. It was simply in his nature to try and protect his own kind. That said, it meant a lot to me that the man trusted my counsel on this.