Freed by Fire (Dragonkeepers Book 5)

by Kimber White

I let go of Kian and staggered back a step. Now, I was sweating. I lunged at him again. He bit the air, snapping his jaw. I slapped him.

  “What are you?” I shouted.

  He didn’t answer. But his eyes told a different story. His was a primal force. It called to me. Lust coursed through my veins. Oh, God. The answer was right in front of me. I wanted him. My heat rose. My sex throbbed.

  I slapped him again.

  Kian let out a roar, but still he kept his beast in check.

  “Show me!” I demanded.

  Kian lowered his head. His eyes glowed.

  I was on his lap. He strained against the chains. They held. This was dangerous. Reckless. And yet, I couldn’t help myself. I grabbed his jaw. Every muscle in his body tensed.

  “What are you?” I whispered.

  He was hard as steel. I could feel his erection beneath his jeans. I straddled him. My body ached for his. This felt wrong and right all at once. There was violence in him. He was at war with himself, but so was I. My mother said I would know him when I saw him. At that moment, I did. God help us both.

  Kian’s need. Mine. It was as if two puzzle pieces clicked together through a force I didn’t understand. I craved him. He held a secret. I could feel it. And I knew it would unlock my own.

  He snapped his teeth again, in warning. I didn’t heed.

  “Tell me,” I said.

  I raised my hand. Kian didn’t flinch. I drew my nails down his chest, raking the skin. He was so hot. Fire ignited inside of me.

  “What are you?” I demanded once more. Still, he didn’t answer.

  I pressed my hand flat against the claw marks I’d opened on his chest. His blood felt like fire. His heartbeat quickened, matching my own. I wanted. I needed. Oh, God. I’d been so alone.

  Kian strained against the bindings and pressed his lips to mine. Heat. Light. Sin. I groaned against him, grinding my hips into him. I was liquid fire. I spread my legs as I straddled him, feeling his rigid cock against me.

  He turned my insides to lava. I couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. Power and need became one thing. He awakened the thing I tried so hard to hide.

  I gasped and pulled myself away from him. Kian panted and hung his head. He was bleeding and bruised. But, he kept his beast contained. I put the back of my hand to my mouth. My lips were swollen.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t know what…”

  Kian slowly lifted his head and met my eyes. He snarled.

  “Go,” he said. “Leave. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Hurt me?”

  This man was driving me insane. I hurt him. In all my years dealing with rogue shifters, not one had ever driven me to violence. Then, I thought of Bobby and Adam. They suffered. The shifter who tore them apart had taken their time. They’d both been tortured. Had I been wrong about Kian all along? Had I let this monster in?

  “Tell me the truth,” I said, my voice barely more than a whisper. “If you won’t tell me what you are, then tell me what you did. Kian...did you do this? Did you murder Bobby and Adam? Was it you?”

  Kian slowly lifted his head to meet my eyes. The marks I’d made on his chest were already starting to heal. A trickle of sweat dripped from his nose. His eyes turned to gold as he looked at me.

  “I don’t remember,” he finally said, his voice breaking. No matter what else he was, Kian was tortured too. “But...yes. I think maybe I did.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Kian

  When Calla left, the air went with her. I waited until I couldn’t hear her heartbeat anymore. Then, I let loose a blast of fire that filled the cave. It burned so hot I could have let it melt the limestone. I had half a mind to let it. I could end it right then and there. I could turn myself to ash.

  The taste of Calla on my lips kept me from doing it. I drew in a great breath of air and sucked the fire back. Now, a different kind of flame burned inside of me.

  Dragonsteel. Calla chained me in dragonsteel. What in the world was she doing with the stuff? How many other shifters had she chained up like this? Jealousy poured through me, hotter than the fire I’d just taken in. The chains had no more power to hold me than if they were made of construction paper. Only, I couldn’t let Calla know that. If she knew about dragonsteel, it wouldn’t take her long to figure out I was the one creature on earth strong enough to break it.

  Oh, God. She tasted like heaven. Even now, I was still hard for her. She felt it. She wanted it. I could have taken her. Maybe she was the one. My fated mate. My brothers had all told me how it was for them. It was just a feeling that came over them the first time they saw their mates. They knew. For the first time in decades, they felt fully in control of their dragons.

  But for me, it was the opposite. The closer Calla got to me, the more my dragon raged. As much as I wanted to fuck her, I wanted to burn her too. She stirred more than the dragon inside of me. She stirred the devil.

  For once, I wished the dragonsteel was enough to hold me. Maybe then her friends would be safe. Bobby Kirkland was a sweet, skinny kid. I’d watched him at the bar. He always had a smile on his face. But, when he looked at Calla, my blood boiled. She was oblivious to his crush. I saw it plainly.

  I knocked my head against the cave wall. Is that what did it? Had I followed Bobby home from the bar? Had I lured him into the woods? Flashes came to me just like they had for Adam. I saw Bobby running for his life. He tripped on a tree root. A shadow fell over his face. In the end, I think he cried out for his mother.

  “Agghgh!” My screams echoed through the cave. I closed my eyes and tried to listen for my brothers. They were lost to me now. I hadn’t heard any of their calls for days. I’d finally succeeded in pushing them away. We made a pact. If any of us ever got that far, it meant there was no coming back. They would have orders to destroy me on sight. It was too late for that. Two innocent men were dead. Probably at my hand.

  I curled into myself. I let my fire die out. There was nothing left but cold blackness. I wished I had the courage to end my own life. Maybe Calla would do it for me. Her scent still lingered all around. She was so soft. So sweet. So pure.

  My eyes snapped open as I came back into myself a bit. Calla tried to get me to shift. Her blows had been strong enough to cause me pain. They shouldn’t have been. Was I growing weaker? Or was Calla really that strong? God, I wanted to give her what she desired. She did desire it. In my mind’s eye, I saw myself throwing her up against the cave wall. She would taste like honey as I bit into her. I would turn the chains on her, binding her spread eagle beneath me. She would writhe with desire, at my utter mercy. And I would take my sweet time giving her pleasure and pain all at once.

  I saw her eyes snap open and spark with lust. I ached for her. She haunted me. Her cries of pleasure echoed. Then, the fire came. Calla opened her mouth to scream. Her flesh turned bright orange and burned away. She turned to ash and slipped through my fingers.

  I screamed.

  Cold water pummeled my face. Bright light stabbed through me. I couldn’t focus.

  “Wake up!” Calla stood over me, an empty bucket in her hand.

  I shielded my eyes with my arm. She was like an angel, surrounded by a halo of light. Her eyes glimmered and she stood with a hand on her hip.

  “What the hell happened?” I asked.

  “It’s morning,” she said.

  I shook my head. It couldn’t be. She’d just left. Calla sat on a rock a few feet away from me. She thought she had enough distance to be safe. If her chains worked on me, she would have been right. I decided to keep up the charade for now.

  “Time for a talk,” she said. She tossed me a brown paper package. I opened it.

  “A meatball sub?” I asked even as my stomach growled.

  “Think of it as the carrot,” she said.

  I took a bite. “I suppose you have a stick?” I asked. Even as I said it, desire flared through me. God, I hoped she had a stick.

  “Last night you said you think you’re the o
ne who killed Bobby and Adam. Do you know that for sure?”

  I put the sandwich down. “I just confessed to two murders. Now it’s my job to convince you? Why the hell haven’t you called the police?”

  She cocked her head to the side. “Because I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t be able to hold you. And I don’t want anyone else getting hurt because of me.”

  “Because of you?”

  I looked at her more closely. Calla had dark circles under her eyes. Her skin was pale. If I had to guess, I’d think she’d been crying.

  “Why are you doing this?” I asked. “You’ve got me chained up down here. You think you’re strong enough to kill me if you want to. So, why don’t you? I told you I think I killed your friends.”

  “You told me you think you killed my friends. But you don’t remember. Do you? That’s what’s been going on with you all along. You’ve been blacking out. That first night when you walked into the Blue Heron, you didn’t even know how you got there. You didn’t even know where here was. Did you? You had to read my shirt to even figure out you were in Washington State. Tell me I’m wrong.”

  Her eyes changed colors as she looked at me. From one angle, they were pale green. From another, they glinted gold.

  I may not have been able to tell her all my secrets, but I decided that for now, I would at least tell her the truth.

  “You’re not wrong.”

  “How long has this been happening?” she asked.

  “A while,” I answered. It’s all I could say to her that would make sense. The true answer was decades. I was a three hundred-year-old dragon shifter that should have been extinct. The worst thing wasn’t that she wouldn’t believe me. It’s that she would.

  “My turn,” I said. “If this is the game we’re going to play, I have some questions for you.”

  She opened her mouth, maybe to argue. Instead, she let out a little sigh and crossed her legs.

  “Fine,” she said. “I suppose I owe you that.”

  “Why do you think these killings are your fault? What’s wrong with you?”

  The question or the way I phrased it threw her. She blinked hard. “There’s nothing wrong with me.”

  “I’ve seen you,” I said. “I’ve watched you. No, I’ve watched the others around you. The other night? With those wolves? You had power over their Alpha. I felt it. But, you’re not a wolf. So, I have to think maybe they owe something to you. You’re a friend of the pack. What is it?”

  Her nose crinkled in disgust. “I’m not a wolf.”

  “Fine. But you have some kind of power over the shifters in Shadow Point. It’s palpable. I think it’s what made you stand out to me.”

  “I just...call me an empath,” she said. “I suppose that’s the closest thing to having a name for it. Shifters listen to me.”

  “You control them?” I asked.

  She bit her lip. “No. I just...I can’t explain it. I just know how to handle them. That’s all.”

  I let out a bitter laugh. “That’s all? Then you’re playing a fool’s game. Only wolves control wolves. You’re not one of them. It’s not the same at all. And if you’re naive enough to think that’s what it is...you’ll get hurt. It seems to me it’s just as likely you’ll drive them…”

  I stopped. The truth thundered through me. “Jesus,” I said. Calla’s tortured expression confirmed it. “It doesn’t last,” I said. “Whatever power you have...it turns. Is that it? You’re a high to them. At first it takes the edge off their wilder nature. Defuses pack tensions. Bear aggression. Whatever. But then…”

  “Yes!” she spat out her words. “Yes. It can go the other way. If I get too close. If I miscalculate...it brings out the worst in them.”

  “Shit,” I said. “And that’s what you think is going on. You think those murders are your fault.”

  She was crying. It gutted me. I wanted to go to her and pull her close. I could kiss her tears away. At the same time, that powerful desire built inside me. It wouldn’t be safe for Calla down here much longer. I couldn’t let her see.

  “Astor was right. I should have left Shadow Point a long time ago. It’s never gotten this bad before. I was always able to sense it before things got out of hand.”

  The way she was talking sent a chill through me. I realized I had it wrong. Her essence wasn’t some kind of high to other shifters. It was the other way around. Whatever she was, she craved the presence of shifters. But, it wasn’t enough. She was too damn strong. That same flare of jealousy went through me in a wave of heat. The idea of any other shifter so much as touching her…

  “Calla,” I said. Tears fell down her cheeks. “Calla, look at me.”

  She did. Her pain broke my heart. I saw her with new eyes. She laid herself bare in that moment. I understood her pain. Calla was so lonely. So broken.

  “It’s not your fault,” I said. I knew it in my bones. I would not let her take this pain into herself for a second longer. “If it was me, this isn’t your fault. You’ve been trying to help me ever since I came here. I don’t understand why.”

  She sniffled. “It’s crazy. My whole life has been crazy. I could tell you, but it won’t make any sense.”

  This got a genuine laugh out of me. “Calla, you’ve met me. I’m not likely to judge your sanity.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Well, it’s just...I don’t know. I told you, I have a sense about these things. About shifters, in particular. When you walked into the bar that night...I just knew.”

  “Knew what?”

  She shrugged and smacked her hands on her thighs. “I knew you needed my help. And I could feel your light. You’re sick though. I could sense that too. Tortured. And...I know you’re running out of time.”

  She came to me. I should have stopped her. Whatever this was, I couldn’t have her. It was far too late. I’d done too much damage. Until I knew for sure if I was the killer she was looking for, I had no right to even be near her. Yet, here she was telling me she thought she could still sense the good in me. I wanted to believe her so badly.

  Calla touched my face. “I can’t be wrong about you,” she said. “I just can’t.”

  I closed my fingers around her wrist. God. She felt so good. I wanted to taste her. I wanted to do all the things I dreamed of.

  “So,” she said, pulling her hand away. “Here’s what we’re going to do. Until I know for sure whether you’re a danger, I’m going to keep you locked up down here where you can’t hurt anyone else.”

  I wanted it to be that easy. I loved her for thinking she could save me. “Calla…”

  “No arguments,” she said. “I told you. I have a sixth sense about these things. I’ve never been wrong. You may not believe it, but I do. And if I’m wrong, these chains are my insurance policy.”

  She picked up the chains and tested their strength. My heart broke, but I gave her a smile. I wanted so much to see in myself what she did. For the first time in my life, I wished I was just a regular shifter. All I could do was hope Calla’s instincts were right. Or, I could let my brothers find me and keep their promise to kill me on sight.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Calla

  In the week after Bobby’s murder, Shadow Point turned into a ghost town. Owen tried to keep the bar open, but everything I feared came true. Word got out and people started to assume the Blue Heron was where the killer scouted his victims.

  “It’ll get better,” I said to Owen. He’d told all the waitresses to stay home. We were down to a skeleton crew of just the two of us. He did the cooking, I served the drinks and the food. We’d be lucky if five people showed up. For a Saturday night it was hardly worth unlocking the doors.

  “If I shut down for good,” he said, “I can’t come back from that.”

  “I know,” I said. I stood on the other side of the bar. I put a gentle hand over Owen’s. I didn’t want to add to his misery, but at this rate, I’d have to start looking for another job. It was as if the universe were conspiring against me. Astor migh
t get his wish after all. Economics might force the move to San Diego anyway.

  Except, I felt that same pull each time I thought of leaving. It was getting harder to figure out whether it was Shadow Point keeping me rooted...or Kian. I went to him once a day, just after dusk to bring him food. He was better; I felt it in my bones. His eyes lit up when he saw me and he said he hadn’t had any more blackouts. There was just one stark truth that clawed at my heart. There had also been no new killings since I chained Kian in dragonsteel.

  It didn’t have to mean anything. With the whole town running scared, maybe the killer had moved on.

  The door opened and Owen’s face perked up for a second, then fell when he realized who it was. Sheriff Baines walked in with his usual somber expression. My heart twisted.

  “Don’t say it,” Owen said, his voice choked. “Please don’t tell me there’s been someone else.”

  Baines put up a hand to placate him. “No. Relax, son. I didn’t come here with bad news. I just wanted to talk to Calla for a few minutes, if that’s all right.”

  Owen sighed with relief and quickly excused himself. I felt a little bad for Baines for an instant. Owen’s reaction was one Baines had gotten used to over the last few weeks. It was like he’d become the town jinx. When Baines walked in, most people assumed the worst.

  “You holding up all right?” Baines asked me.

  I lifted my empty apron. “I’ll be living off mac and cheese and ramen this month, but yeah. I’m getting by.”

  Baines nodded. “I was expecting to see more of you. Point of fact, you reneged on your promise.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  I pulled a draft mug from behind the bar and offered to fill it from the tap. Baines shook his head. “I’m on duty tonight. Fill it with club soda and I’ll be grateful.”

  I did as he asked and slid the mug over. Baines took a long sip. He had dark circles beneath his eyes. I didn’t figure it was easy being him. He’d walked away from pack life when he was a young wolf. There was a story there, but not one he wanted to tell.