Page 21

Jacy

I rolled the big SUV onto a wide verge at the designated intersection and cut the lights. The night was clear and very cold. This far from any town and its bright lights, the stars gleamed down brilliantly, like diamonds in a black velvet bed. I closed the door quietly, looking around for Carter or his vehicle.

I saw nothing.

A rustling in the brush just beyond the SUV almost had me shifting, ready to incinerate whatever it was moving out there. Then I realized that whatever shuffled through the brush was far too small to be a threat. A skunk maybe.

I calmed my racing heart, cursing my jangled nerves. If I didn’t think I could handle Carter, then why the hell did I make the challenge? I certainly felt much safer as a dragon. Carter could easily find me through a sniper’s scope and take me out while I stood by the car dithering.

Headlights gleamed along the state highway.

I straightened, briefly wondering if a traveler headed this way to pull over and take a piss. There’s sure nothing out here.

A glowing silver Mercedes pulled to a stop behind my SUV. It’s headlights shut down, its purring motor quit.

My brother stepped from the driver’s seat, tall, handsome, smiling in greeting as though he never murdered anyone and had no such intentions toward me.

“Jacy,” he said, his voice expansive. “Good to see you.”

I stepped away from the car and put my hands on my hips. “You wanted to talk. So talk.”

He clasped his arms over his chest, shivering in his expensive coat. “Why way out here? We could have chatted at a nice restaurant where it’s warm.”

His answer took me aback. He wouldn’t shoot me in a restaurant, would he? Uh, Mafia dons were assassinated in their favorite dining halls. Why wouldn’t he follow their example?

“In case there’s trouble,” I replied.

Carter paced closer, his breath smoking in the icy air. “I guess I can see that. Look, I’m not sorry I killed Dad. All right? You know how we felt about one another. He’d have done the same to me if given the chance.”

“I couldn’t see him killing you. Or anyone.”

He snorted. “Jacy, you know damn well he’d killed several people, then climbed over their corpses to get where he was. Yeah, I’m the same as he was. I’m sorry you had to see it, that’s all.”

“You chased me halfway across the country, set your goons to kill me, just to say you’re sorry I saw you kill our father?” My hands trembled with rage. “I’m not stupid, Carter. You know I’m a threat.”

“Are you?” He stepped closer. I refused to back up and stared into his hooded gaze. “If you swear an oath right now to never tell the authorities about that night, I’ll never bother you again.”

I almost believed him. I wished fervently that I could. To let this all go without bloodshed, for us to simply walk away from one another seemed too tempting to believe in.

Except.

He murdered my father. We may not have loved one another much, but my dad was my dad.

His blood cried out for vengeance.

“Too late, brother mine,” I said. “I already told the local detectives you killed him.”

“That’s too bad, sis.” Carter turned and walked a few paces toward his car. “I hoped I wouldn’t have to do this. Now you made it impossible to walk away. You won’t testify against me.”

I shifted the instant he spun around, the gun in his fist.

His bullet pinged off my hide to whine into the cold dark.

Carter’s mouth dropped. He stared at me with his eyes bulging from his head. “What the ever loving fuck ?”

“I warned you to leave me alone,” I said, bending my long neck to stare into his face at eye level. “You didn’t listen. I asked you once, bro. I’ll ask it again. Are you ready to die?”

His mouth a grim slash, Carter tucked his gun away in his coat. “How’d you know?”

“Your goon – James? That’s his name? When he attacked Declan and me, my dragon took over. His ashes are mixed up with the slag that was once his truck.”

Carter shook his head slowly, chuckling. “You did warn me that day. I guess I should have listened to you.”

His casual confidence warned me. Be careful. He’s very likely a –

Carter shifted.

I instantly leaped skyward.

His white-hot flames passed under me, harmless. I certainly felt the heat, and knew that had they struck me full on, I’d be dead right now.

Climbing for the stars, I glanced under my wing, peering behind me. Sure enough, Carter followed me, cursing, calling me filthy names, his wings straining to catch up.

I laughed. “Is that the best you can do?”

“Bitch! I’ll tear you apart.”

In a move Avery taught me, I ducked low, as though chasing my own tail, twisted, and flew hard into Carter’s face, flaming. Caught by surprise, Carter quickly banked right and down. But not quite fast enough.

My fire caught his left flank.

He roared in agony.

Dancing across the sky, I folded my wings and dove. Carter, still bellowing, kicked out with his left hind leg as though that would ease the terrible pain I’d inflicted. He appeared to not pay much attention to where I was, above him, until I struck his back and shoulders. Raking deep furrows into his hide, I sought to claw my way to his innards.

Screaming, Carter shook me off, his tail whipping around to slam into my belly. The blow took my breath, but I beat my way upward, flying away from his larger and stronger dragon. Below me, he dripped garnet drops that fell far away to the ground.

“Bitch,” he roared, his flames lighting the night. “You’re so dead. I’ll fucking kill you.”

“Good luck with that.”

His fire reaching for me, he climbed fast, his tremendous wingspan beating the cold air into submission. His eyes glowed with rage and pain, his deadly talons that could gut me as easily as a hunter guts a deer extended. If those razor-sharp claws sank into my hide, I’d never escape the death he planned for me.

Lighter, faster, I banked left and down, forcing him to chase me. Carter did, his wings folded, my death glowing in his eyes.

Just as his talons scratched my hide, I folded my wings. In a tight barrel roll, I ducked out and away from him, unharmed.

Bellowing his rage, Carter fell nearly a thousand feet before his wings slowed his descent and he soared upward again. He bared his long teeth in a grim smile.

“Nice flying, sis.”

“Thanks.”

“You know,” he went on, still grinning, “once I kill you, I’ll kill him . And the kid. Just because you pissed me off. I didn’t plan to harm them. I will now, though. You shouldn’t have told the cops anything. You shouldn’t have challenged me, girl.”

His threat to Avery and Declan sent such a fiery wave of rage sweeping through me I couldn’t breathe. “Die, asshole,” I snarled, flaming.

Folding my wings, I dropped fast. Carter, flying upward, saw me coming. His grin didn’t waver. His talons arched outward to grab my throat, his jaws agape and spewing fire, I knew that this was it.

We’d kill each other.

A dragon slammed into Carter’s right flank.

Carter, thrown into a wild tangle of wings and limbs, fell toward the very rocky earth below.

In my drop, I sped past them both in shock.

I spread my wings to slow my rapid descent, astounded, looking up at the third dragon. “Avery?”

He ignored me. His sandy-gold hide gleaming under the stars, his jaws wide, Avery dove in Carter’s wake.

Far below, Carter untangled himself before he hit the ground, and beat his wings. Both flew low over the stony terrain, ducking around trees and boulders, up a hill before diving down the other side. I, too, chased after them, determined to kill my brother before Avery did.

Carter’s knowledge that death pursued him may be what kept him alive.

On what I guessed was pure adrenaline, he outpaced Avery and me both, and he soon vanished into the dark mountains.

Breathing hard, I slowed my pace as Avery swung toward me.

“Avery,” I snapped, outraged that he chased my prize away.

“What the fuck were you thinking ?” he roared, flaming. “You took him on alone ? You idiot .”

His anger only fueled my own. “I could have killed him,” I bellowed. “He threatened to kill you, Declan. What was I going to do? Let him? You shouldn’t have interfered, dumbass. I had him until you chased him away.”

“How’d you know he’d come alone?” Avery demanded, circling above me, glaring down. “What if he had two dragons with him? What if you couldn’t take him? You’d be dead now and Declan loses his mom. Again .”

“Don’t you bring Declan into this!”

“He’s your responsibility as much as he’s mine,” Avery screamed.

“Then why’d you leave him alone?”

Avery’s jaw clamped shut. Not speaking, he banked toward the highway and where the SUV, and the Mercedes, were parked. Furling his wings, he dropped lightly to the road beside them and shifted into his human self.

I, too, landed, but refused to shift right away. Avery glared at me, then jerked his head for me to get into the SUV. “Let’s go home.”

“How’d you know where to find me?” I demanded.

Avery curled his upper lip. “The car has a GPS unit installed,” he growled. “I set its coordinates into my phone in case it got stolen. Now get your ass in it.”

I shifted, but not before I raked my talons across the shining silver side of the Mercedes. Only then did I revert to my human shape and stalk to the SUV’s passenger side.

“Feel better?” Avery snapped, starting the engine.

“Yes, I do, thanks for asking.”

***

Max greeted us as though we’d been gone for weeks, not hours, his tail wagging so hard I thought it might break. Declan slept beside his cats, not waking even if they blinked sleepily in the light from the hallway as we checked on him. While I inwardly fumed at Avery leaving him alone, I also realized only his love for me would force him to risk everything.

Even Declan.

“Want a glass of wine?”

I sat on the couch, thinking of Carter and of how I nearly killed him. Or died with him. “What? Oh. Yeah. Thanks.”

Avery handed me a glass, then sat beside me with a sigh. “You scared the shit outta me.”

“I’m sorry. I thought I’d be back before you knew I was gone.”

“You thought you could take him?”

“Yeah.”

Avery took a deep gulp from his glass. “I have to say, you nearly did.”

“I burned him.”

“Yeah, I saw that.” Avery drank again. “When I hit him. He’ll think twice before challenging you again.”

We drank in silence, in near darkness, for a time. The house failed to creak, didn’t utter a sound, nor did I hear the clock ticking away the seconds. Instead, I heard once again my brother’s dire threats within my mind. I realized I’d wounded not just his skin, but his pride. His ego alone would send him hurtling in my wake yet again. His ego, and the dire threat I posed.

Next time, I might not see him coming.

“I have to kill him,” I said softly. “None of us are safe now.”

“There’s always Mexico.”

“It’s too late for that.”

Avery shifted so he faced me directly. “You’re not alone, Jacy. You don’t have to fight alone. You’ve got me.”

Smiling sadly, I caressed his bristled cheek. “I know. But if you’re protecting me, who’s protecting our Declan?”