by Sadie Sears
He definitely seemed to have my best interests at heart, but that certainly didn’t mean I could throw all caution to the wind. I still needed to pay attention to my niggling doubt. Listen when the red flags started flapping. Single girl. Caution aplenty. Staying alive. The objects of the day.
Draven returned to the kitchen just as I was helping myself to milk from the fridge. “Milk?” I offered it to him first, but he shook his head.
“Black for me, please.”
I slid his coffee over the counter as he took a seat on a stool. His fingers brushed against mine as he accepted it, and a flutter of pleasure rushed over my skin. He met my gaze, heat kindling deep in his eyes, and I glanced down, concentrating on pouring milk into my coffee, watching the wisps of white liquid spiral out, blooming until they looked like gray puffs of smoke in my cup.
“So.”
His entire word was weighted with importance, and I leaned my elbows on the counter, using it for support.
“Tell me more about this guy who ‘transformed.’” He used air-quotes, and a flicker of irritation ignited inside me. I gave him my damn phone to charge so he could play it to his heart’s consent. Surely, he’d seen it for himself?
“It’s all in the video I shot.” I sounded snippy, and I didn’t care. “He did ‘transform.’” My air-quotes were bigger and more exaggerated than his, and I added a nod of my head afterward. So there.
“And he was after you.”
Good. At least he’d used a statement rather than a question. I nodded again. “Yes, and the guy who shot at me this morning was definitely at the party. But he wasn’t the one who transformed.”
“So, two guys?”
If I nodded anymore, my head would fall off, but that was a risk with answering questions that all needed to be yes. “Two different guys,” I confirmed.
“And the man who transformed killed people while you were watching? While others were watching?”
I didn’t even let my head wobble this time. “So many people.” The words came out in a broken whisper, and his jaw tightened as he covered my hand with his.
“I’ll keep you safe.” His voice was deeper, warmer. “The police…” He hesitated and closed his eyes for a moment. “They can’t help with this. There’s a…” He hesitated again then seemed to make a decision. “There’s a paranormal aspect here that they don’t usually encounter.”
I drew my hand away and folded my arms, shielding myself. “You expect me to believe that? A paranormal element?” But how else could I explain what I’d seen? Confusion bubbled in my gut. “Okay, Mr. Paranormal Investigator, how do you plan to help? Are you going to get your tarot cards out or hold a séance to divine the answers? Or are we just going to phone Mulder and Scully rather than Port Lair PD?” I tapped my foot as I waited for his answer.
He didn’t rise to my flicker of temper, though. “I promise I’m going to help you, and I promise I’ll be able to tell you more soon. I just need help from other sources.” He lifted one side of his mouth in a small grin. “My other sources that aren’t the police. I’m trying to get hold of them to help me answer some questions.” He took a sip of his coffee, and that was clearly all I was going to get for now.
But it would have to be enough, because while I wouldn’t rest until I had the answers I needed, neither was I about to leave the safety of his house again.
6
Draven
After three days, I couldn’t remember a time without Mae in my space. My entire home smelled of her, a light floral scent that lingered in every room, and I’d never tire of hearing her voice. My demon was growing impatient that we do something with her, but my dragon simply enjoyed the view.
“Hey.” She looked up from making more coffee as I entered the kitchen.
She was an early riser, and she enjoyed her caffeine.
“Hey.” I’d never heard my dragon purr before, but that was the only way I could describe the noise that rumbled through my chest.
The answering nudge that my demon gave me sent a spike of pain through my head, and I gasped.
“You okay?” Her eyes narrowed as concern flashed through them, and my dragon liked that.
My demon didn’t, though, and he sent another flash of pain spiraling through my head. “Sorry. I’ve got to… Pain meds.” I spoke between breaths as I turned away and staggered from the room.
What the fuck? My demon had never actually harmed me like this before.
My dragon harrumphed. Pain. The word echoed inside my head. This talking thing was new, but I kind of liked it.
Oh? You do? My demon interrupted my thoughts, and I liked his voice a whole lot less. He’d been getting chattier, too, making living in my head like camping out in Grand Central Station at rush hour.
I lurched to my desk in my office, my forehead damp even though the pain was receding.
Shit. I needed better information. I grabbed my cell phone and dialed Ash’s number as desperation burned heat right to the center of my chest. I’d waited too long already to reach out, and I couldn’t wait any longer.
He picked up on the third ring.
“What took you so long?” I couldn’t keep the irritation out of my voice.
“Man, you sound like shit. What’s up?” Ash sounded as peppy as ever, which was even more annoying than my crowded head.
I sighed, blasting all my frustration straight into the mic and hopefully into his ear.
“Jeez.” He sounded farther away, and I pictured him holding his cell away from his head. Served him right.
“Okay. I’m giving you the CliffsNotes version.” I pressed my fingertips to my temple as I spoke, but the pain was gone. My demon was quiet, probably listening to this conversation. “There’s a human in my house who went to a party at Saul’s where someone shifted and killed a lot of the guests. My human is still a target.” I was talking without thinking, and another pain seized me.
“Whoa… Wait. Your human?” Ash’s voice was filled with incredulity.
Mate. The word rumbled through my chest as my dragon stamped its authority over the demon.
“It’s complicated,” I blurted before my demon could respond.
It seemed he now favored pain as a method of communication, and I wasn’t in the mood for submission.
“What can I do?”
That was one of the reasons I liked Ash. He didn’t need to hear the whole story before he was on my side and helping out.
“I need information about what happened at the party. There’s still a target on her back—a demon tried to shoot her in the woods outside my house.”
“A what? What the hell have you gotten involved in, man?” Concern threaded through Ash’s words despite their harshness.
“Some shit. I don’t know.” I shook my head.
My demon laughed.
“I just need you to find out what went on at that party. Think you can?”
I could almost see him shrug as he replied. “I can give it a shot. What do you have for me to go on?”
He had a good point. I slid my desk drawer open. “I have a recording that Mae took on her cell phone.”
“Great. What’s on it?”
I paused, Mae’s phone in my hand, charged and ready to go. “You know what, Ash? I’ll call you back. I have some footage to watch.” I hung up with a firm click.
Before I asked my friend for anything specific, I probably should at least watch the footage and see for myself what we were up against.
I held her phone in my hand for a moment, enjoying the brief connection it gave me with Mae. If she was like anyone else in the world, her entire life was on this thing.
I typed in her passcode and hit her home screen, trying to ignore the multitude of apps and games that would give me greater insight into her life before I pulled up her photos.
The images of the party were the last ones in her camera roll, and she’d focused on two girls dancing, but there were none of her.
I scrolled through the dancin
g photos to the video and took a breath before I pressed play.
“What?” At my murmur, my demon seemed to shift, leaning forward to see.
I switched on the audio and the sound of people screaming filled my office. The footage was jerky, but a familiar figure filled the screen, and I pressed pause.
Dammit all to hell. Saul was standing in the middle of his living room, half shifted into his ugly red dragon. Of all the people to risk a public shift, Saul was the last one I would have named.
Maybe if I’d recognized the scent of the demon I followed around the woods as belonging to Saul, I would’ve connected the dots, but this was a huge sucker punch to the gut.
Something didn’t make sense, though. On the video, it definitely looked as though Saul had set his sights on Mae. He was looking almost directly at the camera as he walked toward her.
Adding that behavior to the demon in the woods, Mae was definitely the target. I rubbed my hand over my face, the stubble I hadn’t shaved off yet rasping loudly in the room. And things got worse. I’d also been hired to complete the job, which meant someone more powerful than Saul had ordered it to keep their hands clean.
I bumped my fist against my desk and bowed my head. There was a lot of manipulation going on behind the scenes of this assignment.
“Just like Dad.” I didn’t intend to speak out loud, and it had been a long time since I’d thought of my father but being manipulated by anyone always reminded me of him.
I glanced at the photo of Mom I kept on the desk. Dad had absolutely ruined her. In the end, she’d taken her own life, but I was under no illusions about that—it was entirely Dad’s fault.
My dragon sighed softly, and my mind filled with images of Mae. As much as I leeched comfort from the thoughts of her, panic also filled me. Would I be like my father? The fear had always lurked in the back of my mind, but I hadn’t needed to confront it until now.
So many questions whirled around my head. Would I make my mate as unhappy as Dad made Mom? Would I reject and belittle my children, making them feel as inferior as he made me feel?
Not to mention… Shit, would Mae even accept me as her mate? Would she know the way I did? Would she even feel the same? I needed her, and that need would only grow with time as our bond strengthened, but she might not need me.
I returned my attention to the paused video. Saul stood there in one of his most terrifying forms. A fully shifted dragon was a sight to behold, but most people knew what a dragon looked like. Even for humans, they existed in myths and fairytales, although those depictions weren’t wholly accurate.
But this… Saul didn’t resemble his dragon, not really. And neither did he look human. His skin had toughened but oozed slime from the cracks in it, and he had claws and really sharp teeth. For any human witness, he was a monster from their nightmares, plain and simple.
Mae had seen a truly terrifying paranormal creature, and one wreaking the most sickening atrocities.
Only…
Regret filled me. Saul was one of my kind.
We were the same.
I had those exact capabilities.
My demon smiled at my thoughts.
Saul and I were the same, there was no denying that. My demon encouraged it, facilitated it. And more than that, if I didn’t live my life according to the whims and wishes of my demon—which generally meant acting on behalf of Saul or anyone else who needed something found and was willing to pay—I stood to lose my soul piece by tiny piece.
Each act of good I carried out, each behavior driven for love of another, broke part of me.
I stood and walked the few steps to my large picture window, looking out over the ocean on one of its more turbulent days. The sky was a grim shade of gray, and clouds hung low over a desolate wide expanse of murky sea.
Mae deserved a full explanation, but there wasn’t a good place to start. Once she knew I was like Saul, she could be too afraid of me to listen any further. I might not get the opportunity to explain the sacrifices I was prepared to make for her once she learned the first part—that I was also a demon-dragon, capable of transforming into the same murderous beast she’d witnessed destroying life with complete impunity and lack of remorse. Possibly even with relish—it was Saul, after all.
Even if she listened through that, once I got to the part about losing my soul, she’d think I was crazy. The human world seemed very black and white in comparison. It didn’t seem possible that doing good could bring harm.
But the new pain my demon caused as punishment for mere thought was testament to that.
If I told her everything, there was a good chance she’d reject me, and that wasn’t a chance I was prepared to take. I tightened my grip on her phone as my thoughts grew darker. I couldn’t risk anything that would lead to Mae leaving. I was the only one who could protect her, and I needed to do that despite any objections she might raise.
No, it was safer not to explain everything.
Anger seized me at how much Saul had fucked everything up, and I squeezed the phone in my hand until the screen shattered and splinters of the glass dug into my skin.
My demon hummed with pleasure at the spikes of pain, and my dragon moved restlessly, the sensation flickering unease across my skin.
“What have you just done?”
I turned sharply at Mae’s voice. Her palpable outrage buzzed through the room.
She didn’t even wait for my reply. “You’ve destroyed my evidence.” Her volume increased with every word and she almost vibrated with righteous anger.
Immediately, my body went into panic mode.
My demon wanted her compliant for ease of taking her to Saul, but my dragon wanted her love.
Kill her. Apparently, compliance wasn’t the only way to achieve my demon’s wishes.
Mate. My dragon was almost mournful, scared we might lose her over my actions, and I braced myself against the ache at my temples as I stepped toward Mae.
“I’ve watched the video.” I held my arms out toward her, but she kept her posture small and tight.
Her jaw clenched and released, the sole indication she was even listening to me.
“The man in that video is very dangerous. He wants you dead, and if you go to the police, he’ll know exactly where you are. He has members of the police in his pocket, on his payroll. You’ll only be safe if you stay here with me, hidden. I can protect you.” I kept my tone matter-of-fact as I spoke, and she began to relax.
My demon and dragon relaxed too. For my dragon, the initial emergency was over, for my demon… Well, who the fuck knew, but he had plans while Mae was with us, that was for sure.
I tried to ignore them both. I’d never felt so crowded and divided. It was hard to think for myself with so many of their emotions battling inside me.
As Mae relaxed, I sensed a win—she’d agree to stay. But she still wore a frown, so staying was a definite loss as far as she was concerned.
My demon sensed her mood, too, and his disapproval pressed against the inside of my skull. Lose her, he advised, cliffs.
Too many of his thoughts clamored at my mind, Mae would be nothing but trouble. I just needed to dispose of her and move on to my next assignment. I wouldn’t be in pain then, either.
The reminder was accompanied with a wrenching pain through my gut, and I sucked in a sharp breath.
Before I could even recover, my body heated as my dragon began to assert itself against my demon, battling to take control in a way he hadn’t done for years. Mae was important, killing her wasn’t an option.
The ache inside me became the loosening of my joints and the ripple of scales beginning to appear across my skin. I bent my head and moved past Mae into the hallway as I battled both my demon and dragon.
My dragon wanted out, and it hurt not to shift and let it free, and my demon wanted me to take on the form he preferred and finish Mae there and then.
My core temperature rose higher and higher, and my dragon fought for freedom as I locked every muscle
against it, my body tense and throbbing with the unfamiliar pain.
I shifted so rarely now, and certainly never fought the dragon to keep him inside.
Unaware of the battle raging inside me, Mae spoke to my back. I couldn’t even look at her.
“Please, let me go,” she whispered. “Other people were at that party. He hurt them. He destroyed them.” Her voice broke on a soft sob. “There needs to be justice. I promise, I’ll keep myself safe. I just want the help of the police to find out what happened to all those people.”
I sighed, about to try to explain everything to her again, but before I could, my phone shrilled loudly in my pocket. I slid it into my hand and glanced at the screen, more glad than I should have been at the interruption.
“Hey, Ash.” My voice came out strained and thick as I fought to keep my fangs contained while my dragon continued his struggle.
“I know you said you’d get back to me, but I did some digging anyway.” Ash launched straight into what he wanted to say without taking the time for a greeting. “And I’ve got some information for you about that party.”
“Okay. Sounds good.” I couldn’t go to see him now, though. Not like this.
“Oh, and Chloe wants to talk to you.” He said the words like an afterthought, but Chloe had wanted to talk to me the night I met Saul, too, so obviously whatever she wanted to say was still an issue.
“Okay.” I repeated what I’d just said. “I’ll get in touch with her soon. And I’ll get back to you on that intel. I…” I hesitated. I was useless right now. “I just have something to take care of.”
As I tapped the screen to end the call, my dragon began to fight harder, drowning out my demon, and that silence was bliss.
“That was my contact with some information. I’ll meet up with him soon, see if he can help us.” I forced the gruff words over my shoulder, barely turning toward her.