“Men like you always think you have a plan.” She laid a hand on the tree wall. The branches and vines parted, re-creating a wider tunnel that led back to the clearing. She ducked through, Dax close on her heels. Jubal and Gary brought up the rear.
“Men like me?” Dax murmured as they exited the tunnel. “Just how many men like
me
have you met?” He was showing off his teeth in a way that made her want to cover her neck.
“Not the point. So, what’s the plan?” She looked back toward Jubal and Gary to include them in their conversation.
“We should find out what happened to Marty and Pedro first,” Jubal said. “Unless they were in the group …” His words died off, and everyone looked to Dax.
“They were not. Though I doubt you will find them alive. Mitro’s stench is very thick in this part of the jungle.”
“So how do we go about finding them?” Riley asked. “Even if you think they’re dead, we can’t be sure. And we can’t just leave them out here alone. Who knows what sort of traps Mitro has set.”
“I have to go to the village where these people came from.” He indicated the blackened battleground.
“The remaining villagers have fled,” Jubal said. “They melted into the rain forest, and Miguel said they wouldn’t go back to their village.”
Gary nodded. “We told him to take the others away from here, deeper into the forest as well, and to wait for us there. They think another more aggressive tribe attacked us.”
Riley tightened her fingers around Dax’s. “Why go there? Haven’t you sacrificed enough? You don’t have to see what else he’s done.”
Dax brought her hand to the warmth of his mouth. “Mitro had to have spent at least one night in that village to have corrupted so many. He would have left dangers behind, as well as his personal signature of evil. I have to clean that up. From there, I should be able to find in which directions he traveled. It’s possible you might be able to help me in that regard, Riley, although I’m not certain I want you to see any more death, but with Arabejila’s connection to him and your gifts, you might be able to pick up his trail. In that lies our best chance of discovering what happened to the two missing men. And finding them might help me anticipate Mitro’s next move.”
The thought of seeing more innocent dead people twisted her insides, but Riley took a breath and agreed. If he had to endure the aftermath of the vampire’s destructive path, she wanted to share it with him. She was just as responsible. “I’ll do whatever I can to help. But how can finding Marty and Pedro help lead you to Mitro?”
“It’s just a guess. The only thing that ever changed his course besides a hunter getting too close was information he could turn to his advantage. If he took your friends and didn’t kill them immediately, then he was likely using them for information.”
“What information could he possibly get from an archaeology student and a local guide?” Riley answered her own question. “The local area. Pedro would know all the roads, all the villages and cities. He’d be like a walking map of this part of Peru.”
Jubal continued the line of thought. “The kid would have buckets of information the vampire could use. Internet, English, how electricity works, biology, explosives. Hell, cameras, police, world trade. Marty’s college education would definitely be of interest.”
“We should get moving. The more time that goes by the fainter Mitro’s trail will be, and it is a very big world out there for him to hide in,” Dax said.
“Let me take a minute and see if I can …” Riley trailed off looking toward the blackened ruins of the battleground. “It will only take a moment.” She felt guilty for holding everyone up, especially since she knew they were on a limited time schedule, but the compulsion was growing strong in her. She couldn’t bear to leave that scarred piece of ground when she knew she could aid the healing process.
She didn’t wait for permission, her feet already taking her toward the blackened soil. She was vaguely aware of Dax pacing protectively alongside of her, but her mind was already tuning itself to the earth. Everything else faded into insignificance. She knelt beside the terrible blackened soil and sank her hands deep. Closing her eyes she sent out energy, the seeds of plants, trees and flowers moving through her mind. She could see them sprout, wind their way up through the dirt to burst toward the sky. The soil was rich with minerals, fuel for the plants to aid them in recovery.
She had no real idea of time passing until she found herself swaying a little and blinking at the sight of the circle of dense foliage growing in front of her. Dax put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. Behind him, Gary and Jubal were looking at the amazing growth of plants. There was no feeling of evil thanks to Dax, and the ground was more fertile and thick with an abundance of young trees, ferns and plants.
“I should probably get my pack—we will need supplies,” she said, with a small, shaky smile. She felt as if she was coming back from a long distance. She allowed Dax to help her to her feet. “What about them?” She pointed back toward the wall. “Are we leaving any weapons with them or anything? The professor didn’t look like he should be moved much.”
“I was thinking just the two of us. Gary and Jubal can stay and protect the others and your things. We won’t leave them for long.” He gestured toward the wide circle of plants. “That’s amazing. You’re amazing.”
And mine.
Her gaze jumped to his. She heard him so clearly, that firm, soft and warm and so sexy voice pouring into her mind so intimately. Her hand fluttered to her throat. “You’re not going to turn into a giant red dragon right now are you?”
“Do you want me to shift into a dragon?” His voice sounded different, causing her to think more closely on the conversation: something in what they were saying mattered to Dax but Riley wasn’t sure what.
“I was thinking we could hike if it’s not too far.”
“I was thinking something a little different.” Dax sent a picture of him lifting her off the ground and taking to the sky with her in his arms.
“No. No way. Don’t even think about—” She squealed as the man swept her off her feet and began to run.
“I can’t believe you’re carrying me again.”
He glanced down at her in genuine surprise. “I can turn into a dragon, stop an explosion with ‘magic,’ and do all manner of incredible feats, but you can’t believe I’m carrying you?”
“That was a figure of speech. Now put me down. I will not be carried through the jungle by Tarzan.”
“I do not know this Tarzan, but if he makes a habit of carrying off his woman, I think I would like him.” His laughter rumbled through her. “Wrap your arms around my neck and hold on tight.”
He launched into the sky, spearing up through a hole in the canopy. The moment they broke through the canopy, Dax caught her around the waist and turned her so she could see the ground below them and the direction they were flying. “Oh my …” From this height she could see the volcano clearly as it was billowing ash from one side. The rivers of magma spilling down its sides looked like ribbons of orange light in the dusk sky. The sight was humbling and beautiful on such an elemental level Riley found all she could do was watch in awed silence.
“I had hoped you would like this.”
“Dax, I don’t know how anyone could not like this. It’s beyond words.”
“The height doesn’t bother you?” There was a teasing note in his voice.
“If you let go, the height will bother me very much.” She realized her nails were digging into his arms wrapped around her waist. Slowly she loosened her muscles, trusting he wouldn’t let her go.
“I won’t let go.” Warmth spread down her spine and nestled deep inside.
The sky turned red and gold all around them, and little red and gold flakes swarmed about them. At first, she thought the glittering flakes were embers from the volcano, but they remained close despite the fact that Dax and Riley were racing across the sky.
“What are these red and gold sparks in the air around us?”
“The side effects of a choice I made. Mitro was getting out, and I wasn’t strong enough to stop him. I needed something more than I had to give …”
“You locked yourself in a mountain for untold years, but you blame yourself for his escape? Dax, it’s my fault he’s free. My mother and I didn’t get there in time. I wasn’t strong enough to keep him caged.”
“No, Riley. Stopping Mitro is my responsibility. It always has been.”
Silence speared between them. Riley wasn’t sure what to do. She wanted to comfort him but wasn’t sure how.
“What was the choice you made?” she asked instead. “When you were trapped in the volcano with Mitro, you said you made a choice … one that caused these red sparks that flicker around you at times, especially when you’re moving fast. What was it?”
“Mitro and I weren’t the only ones trapped in the mountain. A fire dragon had chosen that volcano as his final resting place long before we arrived. When Mitro was trying to escape, the dragon offered to merge his soul with mine in order to give me his strength and abilities.”
“You mean dragons are real?”
He laughed. “I tell you I chose to merge my soul with a dragon’s and you’re more interested in the fact that dragons are real?”
“No … well, yes. Really? They’re really real?”
“They were. I don’t know if any still live. The one I found had been there for millennia. His body had crystallized, becoming part of the mountain.”
“So you’re telling me that right now your soul is mixed with a dragon’s, and as a side effect from time to time these sparkling red and gold flecks appear.” She shook her head and laughed in disbelief. She couldn’t help it. What else did he have in his life? “So if I ask why you’re so sexy, are you going to tell me your mother was a goddess from Mount Olympus? That she ensnared your father, after a shooting star fell to the ground on a starless night?”
Dax laughed again. “My mother was a sweet woman whom my father loved very much. Although, it’s true my mother did claim to ensnare my father, and he did claim he saw stars the first time he set eyes on her.” Then his tone changed, losing its flirtatious note. “We’re here.”
They glided back to earth and landed softly in a small clearing about a half mile from the smoking remains of a village. Dax set her down on her feet, but kept her hand in his.
“Riley before we continue, there is something I’d like to give you.” Reaching into his pocket Dax brought out a folded black and red silk cloth in the shape of a dragon. “You open it by pulling the wings out to the sides.”
“I don’t want to ruin it.”
“I can make another one.”
Carefully, Riley pulled the wings back, and the cloth dragon unraveled in a way only Dax’s magic could make it do. In the center of the cloth lay a gold and silver bracelet.
“This is for me, but why?”
“Let’s just say for now it’s tradition. I wanted to say I am very sorry for the loss of your mother, and again I hoped you might honor me by finding a home for her last gift in here.” He gestured to the empty setting in the intricate design and then slipped the bracelet on to her wrist.
Riley wasn’t shocked when it fit perfectly. It was a work of art, and she tracked the different trails of silver, each holding several smaller diamonds meeting at the central space.
Reverently, Riley pulled out the silver dragon with agate eyes holding an obsidian stone. Her mother’s death was an enigma. The magic and power she now had wrapped through all her memories and experiences. Something had touched her when she was there, something that had soothed the grief and allowed her to move forward. But holding the piece of jewelry handed down in her family from mother to daughter was a reminder of her mother, and no matter what that something was it couldn’t fill the gap that was left behind.
She thought about everything her mother had stood for, the way she was raised, her sense of humor, how she always was there to pick her up when she had fallen down. Annabel was classy and strong; if this dragon was her last gift it deserved a better place than inside her dirty pocket.
Riley’s mind was puzzling out what it meant to wear her mother’s stone out where others could see it. “How did you know about the dragon, and my mother?”
“You touch it from time to time when you walk, although you don’t seem to notice. As for knowing about your mother, how could I not know?”
Opening her hand she presented the dragon to him. “Would you mind?”
Dax covered the bracelet and her wrist with both hands, having palmed the dragon. She felt the heat but couldn’t tell if it was his touch or what he was doing as tingles ran up her arm and into her fingertips. His hands came away, and it was perfect. The shadows of grief were still inside, but as she looked from his face down to her mother’s gift on her wrist, Riley felt a little more at rest. Without thinking Riley wrapped her arms around Dax, this time feeling completely at ease; she pulled hard, bringing his head closer to hers, initiating the contact this time.
His kiss took her away, sensations pouring into her body. He was so warm, his skin almost hot, his body hard against hers while his mouth moved over hers in long, heady kisses.
Riley pulled back a little, and Dax let her, but she could feel the struggle in him. It caused a wicked sense of danger and control she found a little intoxicating. The fact that he was having a difficult time with control was reassuring. Riley released his neck, slowly bringing her hand over his chest. She could feel his heart beating. Looking up she saw that his eyes were dancing as he held still, and Riley felt even more powerful. Playing with fire, she curled her nails into him.
The growl that rumbled out ran over Riley, causing her to jump back. Dax’s whole demeanor was one of victory and entirely too male, she thought. “You beast.” Shocked laughter infused her voice at the man that had growled at her.
“If you wish me to be,
sivamet
. It would be my pleasure.”
Riley felt he wanted to pounce on her right then, and by God there was a part of her asking him to. Dax spoke in her mind.
We will have lots of time for pouncing, I promise you.
“I’m going to leave that one alone for right now. Thank you for the bracelet.” She was trying to find a way to break some of the sexual tension, but she didn’t think there was a knife big enough. “What does
sivamet
mean?”