Freed by Fire (Dragonkeepers Book 5)

by Kimber White

  “Calla...I don’t…”

  “How?” She threw herself at me. She pummeled my chest with her fists, knocking me backward. God, she was strong. How could she be this strong?

  She grabbed my hand and turned my wrist. “You were chained,” she said. “You were chained!”

  “I can explain,” I heard myself say. But, I couldn’t. I could never tell her what I was. I could never convince her that I hadn’t just murdered another one of her friends. I wasn’t sure I could convince myself. It was just...every cell in my body pricked with the sense of danger. We weren’t alone.

  “Calla,” I said. “I need to get you away from here.”

  “You lied to me!” she screamed. She came at me again. I put my hands up, but not fast enough. She raked her nails across my chest, drawing blood. I looked down. My skin burned with desire for her even now. Something was wrong. She shouldn’t have been able to wound me like that.

  “Tell me the truth!” she yelled. Then, her shouts died down to a heaving cry. “Tell me the truth. Did you kill them all?”

  I dropped my hands. Part of me wanted her to finish it. If she was strong enough to kill me, let it be now. Then, my eyes met hers. They flashed like emeralds. Like...no...she wasn’t…

  “I don’t know,” I said. “God help me. I don’t know.”

  “This doesn’t make any sense...You were in the cave? I left you there. Astor said…”

  She turned from me and tore at her hair. It was almost as if the madness inside me was affecting her now too.

  “How?” she whirled on me again. “That was dragonsteel. Kian...what did you do?”

  “I can’t tell you that,” I said. My words set off a powder keg in Calla. Her eyes flashed with impossible green fire. She came at me. This time, I was ready.

  I caught her hands before she could strike. I held her wrists between my fingers. She let out a growl that rippled down my spine. She was all heat and fury. I felt her desire too. It took my breath away. I reacted, crushing my lips to hers. My dragon rumbled.

  Calla tore herself from me. She took a step back, her eyes alight with both lust and fury. Then, she crouched low in a ready stance and came at me. I let her push me back. The blow took the wind from me. We stumbled together into the shadows of the alley.

  She had my back against the brick wall. God, she smelled so good. I could almost taste her arousal. I kissed her again. The dragon was taking over. Fire swelled in me. Calla kissed me back.

  Too much. Too fast. Oh, God. I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t protect her.

  Calla raised her hand. She raked her nails down my cheek. Pain mixed with pleasure. My blood became fire.

  I pushed back. I had to get her away from me. If I shifted here in this tight space, I could crush her. Calla caught my fist in her hand. She shot back with her own fire magic. I took it into me. It felt so good. God. It was a mistake. The dragon was coming.

  I reared my head back and let out a roar that made the waves crash against the pier. Calla’s hair flew up. She turned toward the water. Then, she took a halting step away from me. When she turned to face me, her eyes had changed. They had turned fire green, the pupils narrowing to slits.

  Just like…

  Oh, God…

  We were too close. I would bring the buildings down around our heads. Instinct took over. I grabbed Calla. She tried to fight back. It was too late for that. This time it was her roar that sent up a wall of water, capsizing at least a dozen boats.

  I was airborne. It happened in the blink of an eye. I took her to the rooftop. Magic swirled around us like a fiery cyclone. Calla was on one edge of the building. I was on the other. I tried to go to her. I tried to stop her. If she took another step toward me.

  Then, the world split open.

  I let out a blast of flame that circled us both. I couldn’t stop it. Couldn’t bring it back. My orange flame joined with a column of green fire. The fire was coming from Calla. Only, she wasn’t Calla anymore.

  My wings burst forth. My tail unfurled. I felt each scale as it ripped down my back. My dragon rose high in its full, fiery fury. I wasn’t alone.

  Calla rose right along with me. Her fire enveloped me and took my breath from me.

  She was magnificent. Her wings were green and gold, and they shimmered as her fire reflected off them. She circled me, matching my altitude.

  Calla. Glorious Calla. Her ferocious dragon let loose a column of green flame that heated my heart.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Calla

  Fire erupted from me. My power surged. Stretching my wings, I rocketed upward. Kian was there. He matched me blast for blast. We lit up the night sky with green and gold flame. I flew higher, faster, farther. Shadow Point became a dot below me as I raced west until I reached the coast.

  Kian’s dragon was at my right wing. I banked hard. He followed. I dove, careening toward the blue waters of the Pacific at top speed. My sonic boom echoed. I skimmed the waves with my talons, sending up a wall of water. Kian burst through it. He shot up in a blur of motion. Then, he spiraled down in a dizzying display of power and control. It thrilled me. Lured me.

  He was a dragon. An enormous, vibrant, violent, magnificent dragon. He was like me.

  Kian spun around me. He blasted an arc of fire high overhead. I let loose my own. His fire joined with mine. Kian let out a screech, a command. I marveled at his grace and strength as he turned in midair and began to glide back toward the coast.

  I’d never seen anything like it. I knew what it was to live in my beast. But I’d never seen myself as others might. He was fearsome, powerful, brutally beautiful. His call sent a chill through me. I took one more arcing pass at the water, then followed him.

  He went to a secluded valley deep in the Tiger Mountain Forest. Kian extended his wings. They were a kaleidoscope of colors as the light hit them. Blue, gold, silver, brown, red. He banked hard right and landed. I spiraled down, less able to control my landing. I kicked up dirt as I skidded to a halt behind him.

  Kian tucked his wings back and turned to me. He let out a noise, part purr, part growl. I stretched my neck toward him. Kian scented me. His green eyes glowed. Why hadn’t I seen it before? How could I have not sensed what he was?

  He was a dragon, just like me. Except that was impossible. It was a trick, maybe. He was some kind of mage and he mirrored my animal. It was a spell. It had to be a spell. Except, when I craned my neck and inhaled his scent, it churned my blood. I knew him. He was dragon through and through. The truth had been inside me all along.

  Kian took a step backward. His tail thumped the ground. He tilted his head to the side and exhaled. His heat came over me. His desire. He took another step back and shifted. His eyes still glowed, but he’d come back into himself. He reached for me, running his fingers down the scales of my back. His touch felt like liquid heat. I’d never let anyone get that close when I was in my dragon. Not even Astor.

  “Calla,” he whispered, his voice sending a soothing warmth through me.

  I growled, then closed my eyes. Drawing in a calming breath, I found myself again. My scales receded, my talons retracted. I stood before Kian, both of us human again.

  “My God,” he whispered. “Is it a trick? Have I finally lost my mind? You can’t be…”

  He seemed just as shocked to find out about me as I was him. And yet, somehow, I felt like I’d known it forever. From the moment he walked into the bar, I knew. It was just as my mother wrote all those centuries ago. When he came to me, I knew. I recognized Kian’s dragon heart as soon as I felt it beating close to mine.

  “How?” I asked. “Where did you come from?”

  Kian stood before me. He was beautiful. Every inch of him was sculpted marble. Perfection. And yet, he had that cruel beauty in his eyes. A window to his tortured soul.

  “I’ve been looking for you,” he said. His voice had a distant quality, as if he were talking more to himself than to me. I realized I was wrong. He hadn’t come fully back into hi
mself yet.

  “Kian,” I said, more forcefully. He blinked and took a step back as if he’d been gut-punched.

  “Kian,” I said, more softly. I reached for him, placing a light hand on his chest. He felt like fire, but he could never burn me. His fire stirred my own. Dangerous. Deadly. Powerful. Familiar.

  “The dragonsteel,” I said. Pieces of the puzzle slammed into place. “You were lying to me. You’ve always been able to leave that cave.”

  The impact of that truth made my blood turn cold. He’d been free the entire time. Owen. Bobby. Adam. I hadn’t had a chance to examine Owen close enough. But, Bobby and Adam’s bodies had been covered in burns.

  “I didn’t,” he said. “You’re right, dragonsteel can’t hold me. It can’t hold us. But, I didn’t leave the cave. Not until tonight.”

  My mind reeled. I had so many questions.

  “Where have you been?” The question ripped out of me. It was an accusation fueled by fury. “Are there others like you? Like us?”

  Kian’s eyes widened. “You don’t know? How did you...but you’re here. You’re alive.”

  I felt like my head might pop off my shoulders. I tore my fingers through my hair. This was crazy. Impossible. There weren’t supposed to be any more dragons in the world. He had to be using some dark magic. He’d tapped into my essence somehow.

  “You’re lying,” I said. “This isn’t real.”

  Kian’s face went hard. He took a step toward me. I was about to pull away. He grabbed my wrist and forced my hand open, flattening it against his chest. His heart beat strong and steady beneath my palm.

  I knew him. I knew him. As my blood raced through my veins, as my heart thundered in my ears, three words became a drumbeat in my soul.

  He was mine.

  “What are you doing?” Kian said. He stepped out of my touch. His face became lined with anguish. “Calla...do you have any idea how much danger you’ve been putting yourself in?”

  He whirled away, slapping both hands on top of his head as if now he felt like it would pop off. He turned back to me. “Shadow Point,” he said. He took two powerful strides forward and gripped my upper arms. The heat of his touch sent a wave of pleasure through me. He was short-circuiting my brain, my body.

  “Shadow Point is crawling with shifters,” he said. “Have you told anyone what you are?”

  “What? No!” I slipped out of his grasp.

  “They can’t know,” he said. “God. They can never know. How have you managed to stay alive by yourself all this time?”

  “I...uh...what?”

  “Are there others?” he asked. “Your family. Where is your family?”

  I swallowed hard. “It’s just me.”

  He shook his head. “My God. And you’ve been all by yourself? For how long? She was right. All these years...she was right.”

  Kian didn’t seem quite lucid. As he started to pace, his eyes flashed gold. His scales popped in and out as his emotions rose and fell.

  “Um...who are you talking about? Who’s she?”

  Kian stopped. “Calla. Calla Lazar.”

  “Right,” I said, forcing a smile.

  “She never mentioned you. I’ve never heard of a dragon with that name. What is your house?”

  “My house? Kian, you’ve seen it. I live in an apartment across from the Blue Heron.”

  He stood stone still. Kian puffed out his chest and his eyes grew hard and dark. “My full name is Kian Brandhart. I am the son of Magnus Brandhart.”

  He let out a breath as if the revelation took something out of him. He stared at me for a beat. It finally dawned on me he thought that should mean something to me. “Um...congratulations?” I said.

  He deflated. “You don’t know that name?”

  “No. I mean, it’s nice...but...um...no.”

  Kian’s eyes narrowed. “Calla,” he said. “How old are you?”

  “I’m twenty-four,” I said.

  “No...I mean how old are you really? Not just what you tell other people.”

  “Kian, I’m twenty-four. Sorry, I didn’t realize you were going to card me after you chased me over the ocean!”

  He staggered backward like I’d shot him. He started pacing and talking to himself again. “It can’t...she can’t...there isn’t…”

  I couldn’t take another second of it. I grabbed Kian on his next pass and made him face me. “Will you stop talking in riddles?”

  “Calla,” he said. “Do you mean to tell me you’ve never seen another dragon in your entire life?”

  “No,” I said. The deeper meaning of his question sent a shockwave through me even bigger than knowing what he was. “Do you mean to tell me you have?”

  “Christ,” he said. “You’re sure nobody but me knows what you are?”

  “There’s just Astor,” I said. “And he’s not a dragon. He’s a mage.”

  Again, that gut-shot expression. “And why are you so shocked by how old I am? Of all things, that’s what’s throwing you? Why? How old are you, Kian?”

  He went stiff. “Calla, I was born more than three hundred years ago.”

  My turn to feel gut-shot. I couldn’t breathe. Three hundred years. He’d been alive for three hundred years.

  “I...I didn’t know that. I didn’t know we could…”

  “Astor,” he said, his expression grim. “I’ve heard you mention him before. I heard Owen call him your grandfather.”

  “He isn’t really my grandfather. He’s been sort of a foster father to me. Astor’s the only family I have. He’s how I’m even alive at all.”

  “A fire mage,” Kian muttering. “Good Christ. You were raised by a fire mage. Do you even realize what might have happened to you?”

  “Listen,” I said. I felt a fit of defensive anger out of proportion to the circumstances. My emotions were all over the place. “I’ve been doing pretty well up until now. Until you showed up. Now all of a sudden, people around me keep dying.”

  Kian was on me. There was a desperation in his eyes. His dragon was starting to take control. He was heat and light and the pull toward him took my breath away. I craved him. Then, all of a sudden it was my dragon out of control.

  His hands were on me. His eyes searched my face. I wanted to touch him. Needed to. I slid my hands up his chest. Kian flinched but stayed stock still. The other day, I lost control. My dragon took over and I’d struck him. Even then, I think deep down I knew what he was. I tried to force his beast to the surface. Now, standing in both of our truths, I knew what his dragon needed. It was the same as mine.

  I kissed him.

  Light at first. My tongue explored. Soft lips. Hot breath. Kian’s dragon eyes flamed. Sweat broke out on his brow. His hands came up. He pulled me to him. My body curved to his. God. He was so hot. So strong. My whole life, I’d had to hold back. I could never get this close to a man. The one time I tried, I’d nearly killed the poor guy. But Kian. Instinct fueled me and I knew he could handle my fire.

  The kiss became more urgent. My blood turned molten. I was so hot. So aroused. I wanted to see how far we could go. I wanted to taste his fire and pour mine into him.

  Something happened. For an instant, it was as if Kian’s beast pulled me with him. I saw things through his eyes. It was only for a second. But, I saw Adam beg for his life. I saw Kian looking down at him.

  Gasping, I pulled away. I put a hand to my mouth.

  “Was it you?” I asked. “God. Tell me the truth. You’re losing control. I know this. I’ve seen it in other shifters.”

  His answer came as a low rumble. “And you know I’m nothing like other shifters.”

  “Did you kill those men?” I asked. “You said before you weren’t sure.”

  He dropped his head. “And I’m not.”

  I let out a sigh. No matter what else Kian was, I had to know if he was a killer.

  “Okay,” I said. “Then it’s time we do something to find out. Something real. No more lying. I need you to come with me. There�
��s only one person who might be able to help us figure this out.”

  I held out my hand.

  “No,” he whispered. “I won’t.”

  “Yes, you will,” I said.

  Kian let out a sigh. I took a step back and shifted. My dragon rose high. My wings kicked up dust. Kian looked up at me and growled. But, I knew I had him.

  As I rose over the tree line and took an arcing turn south, Kian’s dragon took flight and fell into formation beside me.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kian

  Calla and I ran through the back alley behind her apartment. She stopped at the fire escape, her dark hair flying behind her. Her cheeks were flushed. I could feel her pulse beating like butterfly wings inside my own head. She was scared, exhilarated. Her lips were still swollen from our kiss. I could barely think straight. Desire flooded my senses when I looked at her. Desire and disbelief.

  She was a dragon. All these years. All those wild goose chases and secret missions Avelina had sent my brothers and me on. We had done it to humor her at first. And because Avelina Brandhart isn’t someone used to hearing the word no. In all that time, I never truly believed we would ever find another living dragon. But, here Calla was. I had more questions than answers. I knew she did too. Only, one answer was beginning to form at the edges of my mind. I felt the warning signs of my own dragon pushing to take hold.

  “Wait,” I said. I reached for Calla, taking her arm. We stood at the bottom of the fire escape. She was about to start climbing. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

  Her breath came short. Her heat intensified. More than anything, I wanted to take her to the rooftop. We’d be safe there if my dragon came out. The storm still raged. The rain still fell. Calla turned to me. Her t-shirt was practically see-through. My dragon rumbled.

  “You have to trust me,” she said. “Astor will know what to do.”

  “Astor isn’t a dragon,” I said. “The fact that he even knows about us raises all kinds of problems, Calla. You don’t know. You haven’t lived long enough to…”