Emma (Dark Fire) (27 page)

The healer grunted his approval and went back to work.

Tyler finished telling his dad what had happened. They spoke quietly as the healer worked.

“I’ve done about as much as I can do. She should come around in a while, no doubt starved,” the healer announced.

Lily’s mom and Jenna took over, carrying Lily into the adjoining bathroom.

Lord Aaron cursed and turned to Tyler. His voice vibrated with rough emotion. “I understand why you didn’t come to me, but I wish you had of. A threat toward your mate was not a slight thing.”

“I agree,” Tyler said, curling his arm around Emma.

The powerful wér-dragon cocked his head, eyes firmly on Tyler’s neck. The big man chuckled. “Well, now that is what I call fast work, young lady.”

Tyler straightened, clasping Emma’s hand in his. “Dad, I present my mate, Emma Baker. Emma, this is my dad, Lord Aaron McQuinn the Black Wér-Dragon.”

“Not the best of circumstances, but welcome to our family,” Aaron said warmly. His hard, steel colored eyes softened, welcoming her more than his words.

^___________

Emma watched Tyler stalk by her. Like a captive tiger, he paced around the large area of his bedroom, waiting for a single chance to escape. She didn’t blame him; she was ready to scream at the inactivity.

Lily was going to be fine. At least, that’s what the healer insisted. The adults and Jenna had disappeared with Lily, leaving Emma alone with the boys.

Kyle had shown up, swearing and cursing, furious that he hadn’t realized the girl was a witch and not his long-time clan sister.

The testosterone inside the room had built to unmanageable proportions as all three guys ranted and raved. They wanted to make the witch and Andrew pay, but ripping the two of them to shreds was rather hard to do when both teens had disappeared.

Not removing the collar hadn’t been a choice, but the action had destroyed the best chance of capturing the witch responsible for Lily’s abduction. From what Tyler said, the two were probably halfway to Wormwood and the safety of the witch’s home turf.

She snorted in frustration, knowing catching Andrew and the witch was important, but in the bigger picture, the escaping teenagers ranked rock bottom.

 She stalked to the windows, searching the evening sky for any sign of movement because like it or not the U.S. government wouldn’t sit still while monsters roamed wild through the country.

She wished she had access to a TV or the internet, not knowing what was happening in the outside world was like running around blindfolded.

After the attack on Scrimp Shaw, Emma worried the military would focus on Capital City. If they did, the death toll would skyrocket, and the conflict would bloom into all-out war.

“Has anyone heard anything about the attack last night?” she asked, turning toward Tyler as he walked up behind her.

He curled an arm around her, stepping nearer until his body slid against hers. “I heard dad talking to Aunt Lydia. He said General Maxwell and the council are considering a counter strike.”

Air hissed through her lungs. Struggling to contain her fear, she looked up into his face. “If they attack one of the nearby towns, they’ll kill a lot of innocent people. The American public will scream for your heads.”

Kyle leaned against the back of a large sofa, crossing muscled arms. “We’d never attack civilians. Scuttlebutt says the enforcers infiltrated the military camp and captured the enemy general.”

“We did,” Zach said, joining the conversation. Strands of golden hair escaped the confines of a leather strap. He looked at Emma, smirking. “I was checking in with Uncle Max to see if there’s been any word on my cousin Ethan when they brought the mortal in. Lydia and Keith were there. The moment the mortal general saw Keith, he started cursing about traitors. Keith held it together okay until Thackwart called Lydia a traitor’s whore. Your uncle shifted, changing into one of the biggest dang wér-dragons I’ve ever seen, and white, pure solid white like a silvá.”

“Pale colored dragons never have a wér shape,” Kyle said with a negative shake of his head.

“Yeah, well, he was definitely a wér, and Dark Fire! He was fast! He got past two seasoned enforcers guarding Thackwart, before anyone could stop him. And then it was Lydia who had to pull him away from the sniveling, piece of crap, because no one else could get near him.”

Unable to help herself, Emma grinned. “How’d he react to having scales?”

Zach snorted. “When he finally calmed down, Keith flashed a sharp toothed grin at Lydia and asked if she was up to another run in the woods.”

“You don’t seem very surprised about him shifting into a wér,” Kyle said, raising an eyebrow in question. “Is that why you showed up only wearing Tyler’s shirt and sash?”

“Um, yeah,” Emma said, turning slightly red faced. “Not to change the subject, but we’ve got to figure out a way to talk with the government, and I don’t mean Thackwart. He really is a useless piece of crap.”

“If you haven’t noticed, we’re teenagers. I doubt if Earth is any different than Tuatha, but no one would listen to us,” Zach said, looking at her with disbelief.

“Negotiating the peace is up to the council and enforcers,” Kyle said firmly.

“Right, like they’re doing such an awesome job of it,” Emma said sarcastically, ignoring her touch of unease when the reclining wér-wolf growled at her.

“You’ve already got something planned,” Tyler said, watching her thoughtfully. “What are you thinking?”

He wasn’t asking to be polite. He really wanted to know what she thought. Her lips twitched into a full-fledged smile of pleasure.

“Can you fly us to my house?” she asked, knowing it wasn’t a simple question. Patrols filled the dusky skies, enforcing the ban on travel beyond Capital City’s borders.

Chapter - Challenge

Crossing the town on foot and dodging the enforcers that patrolled the area was challenging, but it didn’t take long before Emma, Tyler, Kyle, and Zach entered the forest, heading toward her house.

Hours later, they cautiously approached the small meadow surrounding her house. Through a break in the trees, the velvety black of midnight greeted Emma’s gaze. While the red-tinted faerie dust made blue skies appear purple, the energy-laced dust turned the full moon a bloody color.

She sucked in the warm breeze and grinned. She felt a bit winded, but unbelievably she had managed to maintain the swift pace Tyler set for them. Her body was changing at a phenomenal rate. So fast, it was nearly impossible to believe.

At the edge of the ten-acre yard, Kyle split-off from the group, staying in the trees as the rest of them headed toward the house.

Reaching the porch, outside the kitchen, she hesitated. If her plan backfired, she might cause a lot more trouble for the dragons. She snorted to herself. With or without her interference, the fighting could explode into a bloodbath. She had to try.

“Emma?” Tyler questioned.

“Sorry, last minute worries,” she said.

“It’s too late to back out now,” Zach grumbled. His voice whispered from the dark. “If we get caught, granddad will skin me alive.”

Ignoring golden boy’s sarcasm, she headed toward the old shelves lining the enclosed porch, searching for the spare key.

“You can go home anytime,” Tyler growled at him.

“And miss all the fun?” he asked, snorting under his breath. “Walking across the yard, I felt eyes on us. I’m going to catch up with Kyle, no point letting the wolf have all the fun.”

Tyler’s soft grunt was the only answer the gryphon received as he turned to leave.

She felt along the back of the shelf. Her fingers touched cold metal, and not a moment too soon. The phone started ringing. “Well, crap.”

“What’s that noise?”

“Phone,” she said hastily, giving the difficult lock her full attention.

The moment she pushed the door open, the answering machine beeped.

“Emma, pick-up the blasted phone or I’ll beat you, you little wretch!”

Relieved to hear her best friend’s worried voice, Emma chuckled and hit the speakerphone button.

Kayla didn’t give her time to speak. “Touch her, you growling jerk and I’ll rip your bloody head off!” Kayla’s husky voice darkened with a violent tone Emma had never heard before. The sound made every hair on her body stand-up, quivering on the edge of fear.

“Calm down both of you. Kayla, don’t threaten him. Tyler, stop growling. It’s just Kayla. I’ve told you that she’s my best friend,” Emma huffed, tugging his snarling face away from the small black box. “It’s called an answering machine with a phone and... Oh, never mind, I’ll explain later.”

“She – it – threatened you,” Tyler snarled, glaring at the box.

Kyla’s husky laughter floated through the room. “Oh my, is that the good looking hunky dragon you were telling me about?” she questioned, anger quickly forgotten. If one thing was constant about Kayla, it was her quicksilver approach toward life. Her swift changes of emotion could give a person whiplash.

Tyler raised his eyebrow and glanced around the room. Emma chuckled, “Yeah, I can’t wait until you meet him. Kayla, things are a bit crazy at the moment, so I’ve got to go.”

“That doesn’t sound good. Are you okay? We’re trying to get back home, but they’ve put up roadblocks everywhere,” Kayla said angrily. “The minute the council popped up on our back door step, dad turned around and headed home. Where’s Keith?”

“He’s with Lydia. Honest, everything will be okay. Tyler’s here, he’ll protect me. Look, things are really crazy and I’ve got to run. Bye,” Emma said, quickly hitting the off button amid Kayla’s protests.

“Emma?” Tyler asked quizzically. “Is this technology like the bug you told me about?”

She grinned at him, pulling him toward the stairs and her bedroom. “Come on, I’ll explain while I get my laptop turned on. The thing I was talking into is a phone. You saw me use the handheld phone at lunch the other day. I can use a phone to call and talk to anyone, anywhere in the world. Anyway, I shouldn’t have hung up on her, but she would’ve gone nuts if she found out what I’m about to do.”

“She threatened you,” Tyler growled, following as she snatched up her laptop.

She turned and headed downstairs. At the bottom, she hesitated. The only place bright enough and big enough would be the deck outside the rec room. Like many homes built in northwestern Arkansas, the house was multi-level. Most of the bedrooms were on the top floor, the ground floor held the living room, kitchen, and den. The basement was not a true basement. Yes, the front half was underground, but the back half was not.

“That’s just Kayla. She’s always threatening to beat me. She usually threatens to beat me with whatever is within arm’s reach. It’s just her way of venting steam. She’d never hurt me.” Emma took the basement steps at a trot, entering the rec room. The concrete walled room ran the entire length of the house. A kitchenette sat to the left of the stairs, to the right was a group of chairs and sofas surrounding a large flat screen TV, and in the far left corner was a pool table. On the wall, opposite of the staircase, was a sliding glass door.

“She threatens to beat you and you laugh,” Tyler muttered and shook his head. “I thought my friends were the weird ones.”

Emma barely glanced at the room as she walked across the thick green carpet. Before stepping through the sliding door, she flipped the outside floodlights on.

The thirty-foot deck and surrounding lawn lit up, casting a glow that tried to reach the surrounding forest.

Beside her, Tyler jumped. Glaring at the brilliant lights, he growled softly.

“Sorry, I didn’t think about startling you,” Emma said, laying a hand on his tense arm, unconsciously rubbing the flickering flames of the mate mark.

He shook his head and chuckled. “I think you’re paying me back for the bubble bath.”

Standing on her tiptoes, she gave him a quick kiss. “Nope, but don’t worry, I will pay you back for that one.”

Turning, she hurried across the area and down the steps, sitting the laptop on the edge of the tall deck.

Waiting for it to boot-up, she rubbed her hands down her pants. She couldn’t believe what she was about to do. She hated being the center of attention and here she was about to ask the entire world to listen... well, maybe not the entire world, just enough people to stop the fighting.

“Chélah, I feel sharp darts of worry flickering through me. What aren’t you telling me?” he pressed. His frown grew dark, waiting for her to answer him.

“Maybe I should’ve talked to Uncle Keith. If I screw this up, it could make matters so much worse. I wanted to record you shifting from human to dragon. I thought if I could post it on YouTube people would see that you aren’t a monster.” She shook her head, frustrated at herself for not thinking things through. “What happens if the government sees the video and thinks that intelligent dragons are an even worse enemy? What if they drop an atomic bomb on us or something?”

He cupped her face. Leaning closer, he gently kissed her lips. “I have faith in you. Whatever you decide, I’ll stand beside you, but I think you have a good idea. From all you’ve told me, the mortal government will see us as a threat no matter what we do or say. If we can get the sympathy of the people behind us, we might stand a chance of forcing them to the negotiation table.”

When she didn’t respond, he tightened his hold on her and kissed her forehead. “Come on,” he briskly rubbed her back, “whether we see your plan through or head home, we need to get this ball rolling. All these lights will soon attract attention.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. Swallowing the nervous knot in her throat, she stiffened her resolve, forcing her thoughts to focus on what was most important. They had to let the world know that dragons were people too, information that was a dual edged knife. Truly, the video could hurt as much as it helped, but she couldn’t think of any other way.

She tilted the screen, hoping she aimed the camera correctly. “Okay, I’ve never actually used the web cam so getting a video of us posted on the web might take a couple of tries.” She sighed, glaring at the camera lens. “Kayla is really good with this stuff. She’d make it work on the first try.”