Fire Song (City of Dragons) (32 page)

“Oh,” he said. “You’re cold.”

“Never mind,” I muttered, hugging myself tighter.

But then he was on the mattress with me, and he draped his suit jacket over my shoulders. His arm went around me, and the heat of him was nice.

“You should have said something,” he said in a rumbling voice.

I burrowed against his chest, feeling heat fill me. I wasn’t sure if it was the shackles around my wrists that were making me feel so damned cold or what. But this was very good, being close to him.

And then I felt self-conscious. Because this was sort of intimate, I supposed, and things had become somewhat complicated between him and me, and I wondered if I should pull back.

Not a chance. I was freezing my ass off.

“Better?” he murmured.

Oh my. That voice—that lilting soft voice, this close to my ear. I sucked in breath. “Yeah, I’m not so cold now.”

“Good,” he said.

It was silent. I tried to think of something to say, because I was becoming more and more aware of his body, the heat from his skin coming through his thin shirt, and his arms seemed strong, and this close to him, I could smell him, and it was a sort of mingling of sweat and soap and comfort, and I really kind of liked it, and—
“How did you not know the thing about body heat?” he said. “You’re supposed to be a magical creatures expert.”

“I don’t know. You’re the only vampire I’ve ever really been friends with,” I said.

“Ah. I guess most of your knowledge comes from the fact you have close friends who are magical. That, and the fact you’re a dragon.”

“Exactly.”

“Well, I’m glad I have body heat. You’re really freezing.”

“I think it’s these shackles,” I said. “They take my fire, and they make me feel cold all over.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I wish there was more I could do. Some friend I’m being right now.”

“This is good,” I whispered. “I need this.”

“Yeah?” His voice was husky. “Least I could do.”

I gazed into his eyes, and he gazed back.

His lips parted.

I looked away.

We were quiet again, and I felt both more comfortable and more confused. Because there seemed to be an edge of something decidedly more than friendly in all of this, but I wasn’t sure that I wanted to call attention to it. And besides, we’d been captured by a crazy serial murderer, so it wasn’t really the time to delve into it. And on top of that, the last person to be on the mattress was dead now, and—
“I’ve been thinking,” said Lachlan.

“Yeah?” I was glad for the interruption to my thoughts.

“He doesn’t know I’m a vampire,” he said. “I think he thinks I’m dead. I think whatever he did to me, he didn’t just knock me unconscious. He thought he killed me.”

“Then why are you in here with me?”

“To screw with your head. He thinks that he threw you in here with a dead body. Can you imagine how horrible that would be? What that would do to a person? Leaving her overnight with something dead?”

I felt bile rise in my throat.

His arms tightened around me. “You’re still shivering.”

“Maybe more because of what you just said.”

“It would have been awful for you.”

“He’s a monster,” I said. “He’s twisted.”

“No question,” he said. “And I think, when he comes back, we should pretend that I am dead. I’ll lie here motionless, and you act as if you’ve been sharing the space with a corpse all night, and that’s how I’ll jump him.”

“That’s a good plan,” I said.

“I hope so,” he said.

And I let my eyes close. I felt much warmer now, and I was exhausted. It had been such a horrible day. But being close here, sharing our heat, it was better now, and I thought, maybe, I might be able to just relax for a little bit.

*

I woke up tangled up in Lachlan’s arms. At first, everything was fuzzy. I didn’t know where I was, only that I was close to him, which seemed right somehow, and I nuzzled into the crook of his neck and shoulder.

He stirred next to me, his arm tightening around my waist, pulling me close against his body.

“Mmm,” I sighed, slinging my leg over his hip, pressing into him.

A noise.

There was someone walking up the hallway, and—

I sprang away from Lachlan. Damn it.

Everything came rushing back. We were locked up in this house, and Anthony Barnes was outside, and Lachlan was supposed to be playing dead.

I shook him.

He pushed me away sleepily.

I shook him harder.

And suddenly, he sat up straight, his eyes alert. His hair was a little mussed from sleeping, and he had the imprint of the mattress on his cheek. It made him look vaguely ridiculous, especially with the ultra serious expression on his face.

The door knob turned.

Lachlan sprang to his feet, throwing himself into a heap on the other side of the room.

Was that where he’d been when he woke up? I didn’t even remember, because he’d woken up before me. I guessed it didn’t matter. I could have moved his body, I supposed.

The door opened.

Anthony stepped inside. He had a tray with a sandwich and glass of water on it. “Good morning, Penny. How’d you sleep?” He eyed the heap that was Lachlan.

I adopted a wide-eyed expression of disgust and terror. “Take him away. Please, I can’t take looking at him.”

“You don’t like having company? But I thought he was your partner.” Anthony chuckled. “Don’t worry. You have some food here, and it will all be fine.”

“I’m not hungry,” I said.

“I generally wouldn’t insist,” said Anthony. “But as it turns out, my stash of dragon meat is getting low. So, you eat up, and it’s laced with a drug that will knock you out. I’ll take off your shackles and move you into the pool, so that you can shift, and I can tranq you again and get some meat. Then when you shift back, you’ll be all healed up, and I’ll have him out of your way.”

I cocked my head at him. “You were eating them.”

Anthony furrowed his brow. “Pardon?”

“The girls. We thought you were killing them for pleasure, but it really was because you were a drake. You were keeping them here so that you had meat that regenerated.”

“Well,” said Anthony, “that was the plan. I have to admit, I always end up going overboard, though. I like carving your skin up. It’s amazing how it heals both ways. Whatever form you’re in, when you shift, it comes back.”

That wasn’t actually true. If someone cut off my leg or something, I’d shift into a legless dragon, but I didn’t think now was the time to quibble with him.

“Sometimes, though, I cut too deep,” he said. “I don’t mean to, not really. It’s fun to cut, though.” He shrugged. “Don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll get it right with you. We’ll be here together indefinitely. You shift. I eat. A perfect symbiotic relationship.”

“In a symbiotic relationship, I’d get something out of the deal,” I said, my nostrils flaring.

“Oh, you’re a bit feisty,” he said, setting down the tray in front of me. “Maybe that’s better. I don’t know. I always picked the younger dragon girls because they weren’t mated, and no one watched them so closely. But you’ve left your mate, and that means you’re mature and sure of yourself and—”

Lachlan leaped to his feet and jumped on Anthony’s back, fangs out, jaws gaping.

Anthony let out a high-pitched shriek of surprise.

Lachlan sunk his teeth into Anthony’s neck.

Anthony screamed, reaching back to claw at Lachlan.

I moved forward, going through Anthony’s pockets, looking for the key.

Anthony’s fist shot out, an uppercut to my chin.

My head snapped back, pain lancing through me. I stumbled backward.

Anthony bent over, reaching back for Lachlan, and rolled the vampire off him, so that Lachlan landed on his back between us, gasping.

Lachlan reached up with one hand, and I could see that he was concentrating to let magic flow through him.

Anthony’s body shot up and slammed into the ceiling. He grunted.

Lachlan got to his feet.

Anthony laughed. “You idiots. I’ve been eating dragon flesh. I have it my freezer.” Drakes were wicked strong after they consumed dragon flesh, but only for a few hours afterward. But during that time, they were more powerful than any other magical creature, even dragons themselves. Anthony’s hands glowed orange, and a bolt of magic sizzled down through the air to collide with Lachlan.

Lachlan made a strange gurgling noise. His whole body went rigid and his eyes bulged.

And then he went still and fell to the floor, motionless.

I went to him, grabbing his arm. Lachlan didn’t respond. I felt for a pulse and didn’t find one. Did vampires have pulses?

“What did you do to him?” I said to Anthony.

He lowered himself to the ground gracefully. “Eat your sandwich, Penny. It will be so much easier if you just eat your sandwich.”

“I’m not eating that sandwich. I’m not letting you drug me. And I’m not going to shift for you either.”

“Oh, well, then I suppose I’ll have to cut you,” he said. “I’ll cut you, and you’ll shift to heal. I hope I don’t go overboard with you. It’s such a bother hunting down a new dragon. I’d be much happier to just keep you. So, I sure wish you’d cooperate.”

I looked at Lachlan’s motionless form. He had to be okay, didn’t he? He was a vampire, and vampires healed. He wasn’t burned. He still had his head. He was fine. He’d need time to recover, though.

And with these shackles on, I didn’t stand a chance.

Anthony said he’d take them off of me to allow me to shift. Once I was in dragon form, I’d be better able to fight him. It was my only chance at this point.

Glaring at him, I picked up the stupid sandwich and shoved it in my mouth.

I awoke lying next to the pool. I wasn’t wearing my shackles. I wasn’t wearing anything.

I flung an arm over my breasts, pressed my legs together.

“Oh, that’s lovely,” Anthony murmured, his voice thick. “More of that, please. It’s quite nice when you try to hide, even though you can’t.” He was leering at me, aiming a dart gun at my head. Unlike the last time I’d been in here, the room was brightly lit. There were fluorescent lights overhead. I could see that the doors and walls and ceiling were all reinforced with steel. I would be strong in dragon form, but not strong enough to burst through that. And it wasn’t as if it was flammable material either. Damn it.

I felt like vomiting. How dare he do this to me? How dare he strip everything away from me, including my dignity? I hated him in that moment. I hadn’t had… emotions toward him before, not exactly, but now all I felt towards him was blinding hatred. I was going to kill him.

I tried to reach out with my magic, but it was gone.

It had been sucked completely out of me by those damned shackles. If I wanted magic, I’d have to recharge by shifting.

“Go on,” he said. “Climb into the water and shift.” He gestured to the pool with the tip of his dart gun.

The minute I shifted, he was going to shoot me with a tranquilizer dart. I wouldn’t stand a chance.

I wasn’t sure what to do. But I wanted the water to cover me. It wouldn’t hide me, but I would feel covered, and that was something anyway.

So, I slipped into the water.

But I didn’t shift. I treaded water and stared him down.

“You’re not shifting,” he said.

I decided to start swimming.

He was standing next to the ladder.

I swam to the opposite side of the pool.

“What are you doing?” he said, looking annoyed.

I didn’t respond. I didn’t need to talk to him. I needed to figure a way out of this. I treaded water down here. Maybe shifting wasn’t the best idea after all, not if he was going to shoot me the minute I shifted. Maybe I should stay in human form. Try to get away. Get help.

He started to walk around the pool. “Now, now, Penny, if you don’t shift, then I’m going to have to get out the knife and cut you. And I thought we agreed that you didn’t want it that way.”

“First you’ll have to catch me,” I said, and I pushed off from the side of the pool and rocketed through the water, heading straight for the ladder.

He started to run after me.

I reached the ladder just as he was rounding the corner of the pool. I hauled myself out of the water.

He was just behind me.

Naked and dripping, I ran out of the room.

“Penny!” he roared.

I really wished that asshole would stop using my first name. I darted up the hallway, and I ducked into the kitchen. I made a beeline for the door that I’d entered through.

The door knob wouldn’t turn in my hands. Locked.

I turned.

Anthony rushed through the kitchen door. He swept a wicked-looking butcher knife off of the counter and dove for me.