Charred Hope (#3, Heart of Fire) (19 page)

Panting, Chace slowed his movement. He had Skylar, but she wasn’t moving. With effort, he circled the spot where Gunner and Mason were waiting. Reaching the ground, he gently released Skylar and landed beside her.

Mason and Gunner raced to them. The black cat was still, and Chace nudged her, worried.

“Stop.” Gunner pushed his large muzzle away and bent over to place his ear to Skylar’s nose. “She’s not breathing.”

Chace paced. His head shot up when the scent of griffin reached him. Alert for any sign of Dillon, he was half-aware of Gunner and Mason discussing what to do with the unconscious lion.

One of the dragons landed a short distance away, followed by a few more.

Chace glanced at them, not at all convinced he had any standing among the creatures. The purple one he knew as Hala approached. She gave a small, formal bow, folding one leg beneath her.

Leery of the dragons that had no qualms about letting Freyja take Skylar, Chace hesitated, and then growled.

Griffins.
He didn’t know if the dragons were able to hear him. He’d never known them to exist, before meeting Skylar’s father, Gavin.

Hala bowed once more. Seconds later, all of them took flight, moving like a flock towards the direction from which he smelled the griffins.

A cough came from behind him, followed by a mewling cry.

He whirled to see the lioness batting at Gunner, who was straightening a leg that was clearly broken.

“You want it fixed, keep still!” Gunner snapped in return.

Skylar responded by trying to get to her feet.

“She’s a bit fucked up,” Mason said, frowning. “You both are.”

Chace shook his head and moved closer, nudging Skylar back to a sitting position. She growled and batted at him, too, but he pushed her onto her back with his muzzle, enjoying the tickle of her fur against his sensitive nose.

She grumbled but was still, understanding his message. She gripped his muzzle clumsily with massive paws and licked him.

He sneezed.

“That’s just weird,” Gunner said, watching.

Mason chuckled. 

“I gotta fix that leg, Skylar.”

Chace shook the paws free of his face and straightened, attention shifting to the direction where he sensed Dillon was. He moved away, determined to end this night with both their enemies neutralized.

He walked to the top of the small hill they’d taken cover behind earlier when searching for Skylar and paused, attention on the fire just beyond the caverns.

Farewell, Freyja,
he said silently to the dead dragon whose body was lighting up the night.

Mason – now in his great cat form – sat on his haunches beside him. Chace glanced at him, not trusting anyone associated with Dillon and Freyja but forced to admit that the lion had thus far come in pretty handy.

Dillon was out there somewhere. Chace doubted the griffin was going to face a team of nocturnal dragons at night, if Chace didn’t bring the fight to him.

Not going through another mess like The Field,
he thought to himself, recalling how badly their first attempt at confronting the griffin leader had ended up. No, tonight, Dillon was going down.

Chace lifted himself into the air, following the scent of griffins. The dragons ahead of him were doing the same, and dread sank into his stomach.

The griffins emerging from the cavern outnumbered the dragons by two to one. Pausing to think, Chace altered his direction, heading towards the cavern where he sensed Dillon, instead of pursuing the other griffins. The dragons could distract the others. Once he took care of their leader, the griffins would fall in line or be slaughtered in place.

No more lassos.
Now that he knew what the hibernation tools were made out of – the blood and hair of Protectors like Skylar - he made a mental note to tell Skylar they were going to use a different means of controlling those members of the shifter society that tried to rebel.

Fire exploded in the sky as the line of dragons met the griffins.

With some reluctance, Chace landed beside the hole leading into the cavern. Mason raced to meet him, and Chace tossed his head towards the dragons battling griffins. They’d need all the help they could get, and Mason was more than capable of taking out any winged creature that got too close to the ground.

The lion sprinted towards the battle while Chace dropped into the dark hole of the cavern, intent on pursuing Dillon. His wings caught him, and he lowered himself to the ground. The cavern was like an echo chamber; it was hard for him to determine the direction of the sounds he heard, but he was able to see Dillon.

The shifter was in human form, standing with a flashlight at one end of the cavern.

“Shift, dragon,” Dillon ordered. “Unless you’re going to snap me up right here?”

Chace growled, tempted to turn the man before him into fried chicken, the way Skylar used to accuse him of doing. If nothing else, he knew he’d win hands down no matter whether the fight was fair or not. If Dillon wanted to give his last words, Chace would humor him.

Then snap him in two.

He transformed out of his dragon form. Dillon stayed in place.

In human form, he lost the sense of how large the caverns were. Fire blazed overhead through the opening as dragons and griffins fought.

“I thought I’d offer you a deal,” Dillon started.

Chace raised an eyebrow but managed to keep quiet.

“You took care of Freyja. I think that leaves room for us to negotiate.”

“Go on,” Chace said slowly. He folded his arms across his chest, not understanding how Dillon thought he had any kind of leverage to negotiate right now. He still tasted blood in his mouth and spit to clear it. As a dragon, he didn’t mind eating raw meat. As a human, it was a little less appealing.

“Griffins and dragons can live in peace.”

“Yeah, I believe that,” Chace agreed. “There’s one true leader of the community.”

“You?” Dillon scoffed.

“Sky.”

The griffin shifter rolled his eyes. “I didn’t expect you to be pussy-whipped so quickly, though I guess I almost understand. She is good in the sack.”

Chace’s jaw clenched. He’d baited Dillon this way before and wasn’t about to be drawn in.

“I know what’s good for the community,” he said instead. “She’s good for it. She’s got the right instincts, instincts creatures like you and me don’t have. She’s capable of compassion. And mercy.”

Dillon shifted, hearing the veiled threat. “But you believe we can live in peace.”

With you gone.
“I do. Which is why I’ll give you a choice, Dillon. Hibernation or death.”

Dillon’s sneer faded.

Chace waited, hoping the griffin didn’t choose hibernation, not after all the damage he’d done. If the griffins had a sliver of hope that their leader could be brought back, they’d be more difficult to deal with.

“How about a challenge? You and me. To the death,” Dillon suggested.

Chace assessed his body. He was exhausted from the wear and tear of his rough day, but he guessed Dillon wasn’t in much better shape, after fighting his way through the dragons earlier.

“Sure,” he decided. “Let’s finish this.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Piece of cake,
Chace thought to himself and knelt, preparing to shift.

Chapter Fourteen

Skylar bunny kicked Gunner away from her hurt leg once more, not wanting to lie still when a battle raged on. Her head pounded from oxygen depletion while her body ached. Her ribs felt bruised after Freyja’s rough treatment and her broken leg was completely numb.

“Would you stop?” he growled, pushing her back. “You’re not going anywhere, especially since you don’t even have the energy to shift back!”

She sighed and rested her large lioness head on the ground, irritated but aware he was right. She’d tried twice to shift with no luck. Her body was just too beat up.

Dear god – please tell me I’m not stuck as a lion forever!
Lying still for a moment, she stared into the direction Chace had gone, towards the flames and screeches of griffins in battle a short distance away.

It didn’t take a genius to know he was going after Dillon. She wasn’t able to ask about what happened to Freyja, though a peek at her Protector instincts told her the deceitful dragon was dead.

“He took out Freyja,” Gunner said, as if reading her mind. “No idea what that bitch was doing. Took you almost into space before Chace threw her out of the sky.”

Skylar twisted to stare at the stars overhead, unable to imagine a dragon flying in space. It made her want to laugh.

She snorted and flicked her tail. Gunner muttered and pushed the tail aside. He was handling her leg with the gentleness of a blind doctor who had no feeling in his hands.

Pain shot through her. She growled at him in warning.

“You’re fine,” he replied. “I have to set this. It’ll hurt. I’ll keep talking. Focus on my voice.”

Skylar squeezed her eyes closed and braced herself for the pain.

“He killed Freyja in midair. Grabbed her by the throat.”

Agony shot through her.

Skylar roared.

Gunner continued talking, unaffected. “Then he bit off her leg to get to you and saved you. Freyja fell, though I’m pretty sure she was dead before she hit the ground.”

Blackness crept up on her as he continued to work with the broken leg. Skylar lay limply, close to passing out. She listened to Gunner’s voice. The images in her mind created by his words were disturbing. As much as she knew Freyja was a lost cause, she didn’t like the idea of any creature suffering. Even those that deserved it. 

Then again, if she killed my mom …
Dillon’s claims continued to replay in her mind. That her mother might’ve been alive less than twelve hours before … that Skylar had almost found her or at least, was close … that she’d ultimately failed. Her family had sacrificed itself for her.
Maybe I don’t pity Freyja. I just wish I knew the truth.

She dozed involuntarily, aware of her surroundings yet unable to wake up fully.

“Would you tell your tail to knock it off?” Gunner’s annoyed voice drew her from the darkness and her thoughts.

Skylar lifted her head to see her tail smacking him repeatedly in the face. She ordered the wild appendage to stop, and it dropped, its tip still flicking. There were few things as fascinating as a tail.

The panther shifter finished a makeshift split and taped up her leg to keep it in place.

Skylar sat up, unable to quell the urge to be where the action was, to make sure Chace was alive and well. She sensed him with Dillon, and the idea the two might be fighting made her anxious to help. After all she’d been through, she wasn’t about to lose her Chace, her only remaining family member.

Gunner slapped her rump and stood. “Not quite good as new. When you’re ready to shift, we’ll have to re-tape it.”

She climbed to her feet wearily, wanting nothing better than to call the cabin and take a nap. Their night, however, was just beginning. The bandaged leg was too stiff for her to move at more than a light trot, but the pain had lessened.

Skylar walked around the rise where they’d taken refuge from the battle and took in the sight before her.

Dragon and griffins battled in the skies. The massive form of Mason was leaping and batting at any griffin that came within a few feet of him. At least one dark form of a griffin was near him, evidence of how dangerous the earthbound cat was. As she watched, at least one creature from each side fell and slammed into the ground. She flinched, her heart hurting for the creatures she was charged with protecting. They were so beautiful and lethal – yet mortal.
This
was what she was supposed to prevent.

Guilty, restless, agitated, she started forward as quickly as her leg would let her. Hearing the soft steps of a feline pursuing, she looked over her shoulder to see Gunner in his tan panther form, loping after her. He swatted at her and slowed, growling.

She understood he was doing what he thought was best, but it made her feel worse, knowing another life was in potential danger.

They trotted together towards the gaping hole in the ground that led to the caverns below.

As entrancing as the battle between creatures in the sky was, it was the one on the ground that soon drew her attention. There was no overlooking the forms of Chace and Dillon, who were each one and a half times larger than the next largest dragon or griffin shifter.

The two were in all out war, the massive creatures bounding effortlessly between the earth and sky. They maneuvered around the battling griffins and dragons as if the others were standing still, landed lightly atop hills only to bounce into the sky again, soar towards the stars then plummet to the earth and land lightly.

Their acrobatics were more incredible than anything she’d seen, and she couldn’t help thinking that she had a lot to learn about being a shifter.

Both beasts were bleeding, though it didn’t seem to slow them. Dillon appeared to be trying to wear the bigger dragon pursuing him down with the sky sprints and gravity defying maneuvers.

Chace not only kept up with apparent ease, but he also managed to slash Dillon more often than the griffin was able to wound him.

Skylar winced as Chace’s talons shredded one of Dillon’s wings. As much as the griffin deserved all the pain in the world, she just couldn’t bring herself to feel triumph seeing him being beaten to death slowly. She had no doubt Chace would win. The dragon shifter had been reborn, and the intensity and viciousness of his strikes showed her what his intention was this night.

No longer able to take refuge in the sky, Dillon turned on Chace, his dangerous tail poised to strike.

I hate that thing,
she thought, recalling how much damage the
whip-like tail was capable of inflicting. Skylar trotted towards them, Gunner beside her. The ground trembled as Dillon flung Chace to the ground. The dragon hopped to his feet and shredded Dillon’s other wing, eliciting a scream of pain and fury from the griffin.