A roar filled the cavern with the power of Volus’s fiery attack. Above Alex, the dragon he loved spread her wings over him, protecting him from the deadly inferno.
Tongues of fire licked at the edges of her wings, tearing them ragged. Puffs of white rained to the dirt, her scales disintegrating under the assault. An unholy shriek ripped from her body, and still, she held her ground.
“Damn it, Elaina, no!”
Alex tried to wrestle his way past her, but her tail flicked out and caught him across his chest. She slammed him to the ground, and the air burst from his lungs. The weight of her tail pinned him down and kept him from getting a deep breath to yell at her over the howl of the flames. Instead, he shoved against the appendage, freeing himself one centimeter at a time. It was taking too damn long.
Minute after agonizing minute, he was helpless as the woman he loved took the brunt of the flames meant for him. She was too brave for her own good. Each time Volus stopped to inhale, Alex hoped that would be the end of it, only to have another wall of fire blocked by her body.
Sweat dripped off his forehead from the desert-hot air in the cave. The fact that he was still wearing his ski jacket didn’t help.
He searched for anything he could use to lever her tail off his chest. A few stray coins that had rolled near her feet during her leap were melting, giving evidence of the intense heat Elaina directed away from him. The heat she endured for him.
Crash. One of the large plates on her belly shattered as it fell and hit the ground.
He’d come here to protect her, and instead, she was protecting him. Dying for him.
The sword she’d dropped glinted in the firelight a few feet behind him. He stretched, pushing off the ground with the heels of his boots. His damp fingertips slipped over the pommel at the end. Almost.
He twisted his body and stretched again. His fingertips dragged the pommel closer, and he wrapped his fingers around the grip. Got it.
He slid the blade alongside his torso and strained to lift the hilt. The extra space allowed him to draw a deep breath. Hot, oven-like air burned his lungs. The acrid smell of burning flesh made his stomach heave.
Crash, crash, crash. He didn’t take the time to check, but he guessed several more of her armored plates were smashing onto the rocky floor of the cave. The scent of singed hair curled around from the back of his neck in the increasingly deadly heat.
They were running out of time. With superhuman strength, he stiffened his wrists and forced the hilt up. One inch. Two inches. Three inches.
He sat up as far as he could and slipped the tip of the blade farther along his legs. At the same time, he scooted backward and pulled one leg and then the other toward him. Finally, her tail rested only on his lower legs, and he was able to bend his knees to get out the rest of the way.
He stood, tore off his sticky jacket, and spun toward the attack.
No...
Ninety percent of her scales were missing. Glittering purple liquid oozed from open wounds covering her body. Her wings were completely gone, and only stubs remained of the limbs that had held them up.
The scream ripped from him without conscious thought. “No!”
His hand clenched the grip of the sword. Every urge he’d restrained before rushed to the surface. He held the blade aloft and charged forward into the wall of heat. He would fix this or die trying.
Right as he reached Elaina’s side, the fire burst ended.
Volus’s head curled back. “The beast has picked up a weapon. As I knew he would.”
After the roar of the flames, the silence of the cave now sounded oppressive. A soft moan broke the quiet.
Elaina shrank into her humanoid form and collapsed to the ground beside him. If possible, she appeared more injured in this form. Instead of skin, open sores of charred purple burns covered every inch of her body, including where her hair should have been. Was there a level beyond third degree burns? Her ruby necklace and clothes were intact, but deep amethyst liquid immediately soaked through, staining the fabric.
No, no, no. “Oh God, Elaina. How can I help? Tell me what to do.”
Even as he asked, he knew she couldn’t answer him. Her lips and nose were damaged beyond function. Hell, for that matter, so were her eyelids.
He couldn’t tell if her heart still glowed, if she was still alive. But he had to believe she was. He had to believe.
Heated air ruffled his hair. Too late, he remembered he’d turned his back to Volus.
The impulse to attack and kill the monster who’d done this to her seared through him, but he channeled that energy by focusing on her. He straightened, hefted the sword, and pivoted toward Volus.
“Tell me how to help her.”
“Use that sword and kill her.” Volus’s voice sounded rough, as though the prolonged fire-breathing had damaged his throat.
Alex strode forward and jabbed the sword toward the dragon. “I am not the one trying to kill her. You are. Now tell me how to help your daughter.”
“I did. It is too late for her. Put her out of her misery.”
“She is stronger than you think. She will make it.” She had to.
“If you will not kill her, I will.”
Alex stepped in front of Elaina. “You will have to go through me first.”
“You are not doing her a favor.” Smoke huffed from Volus and ended in a cough. “I am trying to save her from the pain her mother endured.”
“She is not her mother, and I am not you. Do not pretend you know how this will end.”
“You think you love her, beast? What about when she needs more treasure? Will you help her kill to get it?”
“She is not like you. She has never killed for treasure.”
“Fool. Who do you think killed Nastav?”
Alex paused. Yes, Nastav was obviously dead, but she’d seemed sad about that fact.
He glared up at the dragon towering over him. “If she wanted to kill, do you not think she would have returned your attack? You cut her arm and burned her alive, and yet she never moved to stop you. Why do you think that is?”
Volus grunted and pulled back. Alex stayed on the offensive and marched closer to the monster. “She is not a killer. She claims her treasure in other ways, and yes, I will help her.”
“Your instincts will urge you to kill her first.”
His muscles hardened at the thought. “Never. You do not know what we have already been through. You do not know the first thing about me.”
“You like power. Your position in business proves that. What happens when you decide you want more, when the power you’d gain from killing her becomes too tempting?”
Alex glanced behind him. Elaina’s glittering blood pooled next to the puddle of melted coins. Her broken form twisted his chest into a million pieces, each wishing he could fix her, heal her, save her. He ached at his helplessness.
“I would give up everything I have for her.”
“You are not better than me.” Volus snarled. “I trusted my love, and her mother paid the price. Instincts are stronger than love. Trust is an illusion.”
“I am sorry for what happened to you, but you are wrong. Elaina and I can find happiness despite our instincts.”
A growl shredded the quiet of the cave, reverberating in the curving chambers. “A beast like you does not deserve happiness.”
Volus’s claws scratched the rocky ground, and he scrambled forward. Alex sprinted to the nearest treasure pile and grabbed a shield with his left hand.
“Come and get me.”
Alex skirted the hills, leading Volus away from Elaina. Rubble fell from above as Volus followed, his wings bashing into the outcroppings on the cavern’s ceiling. At the farthest clear area between the mountains of treasure, Alex stopped and confronted the dragon.
This wasn’t how he’d pictured the day playing out while he’d dozed on the redeye flight to Europe. This wasn’t what he’d expected to discover when he’d raced from Budapest to Northeastern Hungary during the afternoon. And this wasn’t how he’d intended to help Elaina when he’d made his decision to come. How the hell had he ended up fighting a full-grown dragon alone while she all-too-quickly bled to death?
He tried not to think about her injuries. She would live. She was a survivor. And he would make sure she had the best chance possible.
Volus galloped around the edge of the treasure, his tail sweeping goblets and vases across the floor. He wasn’t going to slow down for another chat.
“Shit.” This was it.
Alex climbed the tallest pile to compensate for the dragon’s height advantage. Volus snapped at him, his fangs barely missing Alex’s boots.
At the top of the mound, Alex whirled to challenge the monster. Hopefully, Volus’s throat damage was too bad to launch more fire. His horns and red scales and leathery wings added up to the demonic version of a dragon, nothing like Elaina’s angelic form.
Volus’s neck stretched in preparation for another biting attack. Alex swung out his left arm and bashed the monster’s head to the side with the shield. His shoulder burned with the impact. He ignored the pain and thrust with the sword into the open side of Volus’s mouth. The blade punctured the monster’s tongue.
Alex drew the sword back. Thick purple liquid smeared the metal.
He could hardly believe it, whispering his surprise, “I scored the first hit.”
Energy crackled through his limbs, zigzagging to every cell like a lightning bolt. The additional power he’d sensed when Volus first changed now transformed into hardened strength. Like cold-tempered steel, he could endure this challenge. He welcomed it.
The blade in his right hand glowed for a second. Then the shield in his left did the same. They were no longer simple weapons or mere objects. They were an extension of his arms, an extension of him. The sword and shield felt as natural in his grip as a pen or cell phone.
“I am not going to be such an easy kill anymore, am I?”
Volus had pulled back in surprise, whether from the injury or because he sensed the power surge, Alex wasn’t sure.
“All the more reason to kill you.” The words slurred with Volus’s damaged tongue. “I will not let you threaten my daughter.”
Christ. An insane devil-dragon who was also stubborn as all get out. “I am not a threat. I am not the one hurting her. You are.”
Instead of listening, Volus struck again with an open mouth. This time, Alex tilted his shield and clipped him. The sharp edge sheared off the nearest fang. How plain metal could cut through thick bone, he didn’t know, but he didn’t question it.
The long tooth clattered onto the treasure at Alex’s feet. A grin broke across his features as Volus roared. Two hits. Maybe he could do this. Maybe he could save Elaina.
Volus swiped at him. Alex leaned back, his shield held up for protection. The dragon’s claw snagged the shield, and an intense wrenching pain burned Alex’s shoulder.
Shit! Alex kept his grip on the shield, but his arm hung useless, his shoulder out of joint. He breathed in quick, shuddering grunts and swayed from the pain.
Focus. Focus.
A menacing laugh rumbled from Volus. “My first hit.”
Playtime was over.
The shield hung limp from Alex’s arm. All the abuse he suffered as a child had given him plenty of experience with the “gentle manipulation” method of fixing his shoulder. But he didn’t have time for that, and no doctors or physical therapists were around anyway.
Instead, he needed to knock his dislocated shoulder back into the socket. The only thing solid enough nearby was Volus’s body.
Alex skated down the pile and slammed his shoulder against Volus’s leg. He held in his grunt this time.
His shoulder still hung worthless. Not quite back into place yet.
The spiked tail whipped around, and Alex ducked underneath only to stumble on a rocky projection. The uneven ground made it difficult to keep his footing while dodging, but it was better than the sliding pile of treasure.
Alex sprinted around the tail and aimed for the inner side of Volus’s far leg. Under the monster’s belly, he’d be safe from the swishing appendage.
Again, he held in his cry from the collision. His shoulder popped into place.
“You can’t hide there.” Volus struck out with his forelegs.
Alex spun away from the dragon’s claws. The monster swatted at him in a flurry of limbs. Alex dodged, ducked, and twisted away from the lethal talons.
Volus stood on his hind legs, ready to crush him under his forelegs. That’s when Alex saw it. The glow of the dragon’s heart from between two of the armor plates low on his belly.
This was no longer a dance to distract Volus while trying to keep Elaina and himself alive. If Volus didn’t back off, this last attempt at negotiation would end with a fight to the death.
And Alex knew how to win.
“You can stop this. Let Elaina and me go.” He left out the please to avoid seeming too weak, but his tone carried his wish to escape this without anyone’s death.
Volus smashed down onto his forelegs, missing Alex by an inch. “Never.”
Alex skittered out of the way, leaving Volus’s heavy feet to stomp around him. “How can I prove to you that I will not hurt her?”
“You cannot. I cannot even trust myself not to hurt her. I could never trust you.”
The words rumbled through the cave, crushing every hope of avoiding further bloodshed. The monster wouldn’t trust Alex, and he’d kill his daughter to “protect” her from imagined suffering—what option was left? Self-preservation? Maybe he’d change his mind after a cut near his vulnerable heart.
Alex whirled into action, leaping over the swinging tail and weaving between the four limbs. But there were too many dangers to watch at once. One of Volus’s wings caught him and slammed him against the cave wall.
The blow crushed the air out of Alex’s lungs, and he swayed, struggling to regain his stance. Volus scrabbled over the ground to reach him.
Alex rushed toward the running dragon and dropped to his knees on a large golden platter. Skating under the monster’s belly, he thrust up with the sword.
A miss on the heart, but he nicked the underside of the armor plate. Volus’s screech rent the air. “No!”
The dragon turned around, and his tail swept Alex off his feet and sent him flying into a treasure pile. Priceless bowls and plates clunked to the ground with his fall.
Alex ran up the mound. He needed a second to plan, to think. Now Volus would be ready for him. Treasure slid under his feet with his climb. This wasn’t the most stable place to stage an offensive.
He reached the top and panted for breath. “Now do you yield? Will you let us go?”
Volus approached his position warily. He kept his hind legs and lower belly down on the rock, away from Alex’s blade. The dragon stretched his upper body and neck low over the gold and gems, the angle of the pile granting protection.
“If I cannot kill you, I will kill her.” Purple liquid splattered the air with the hiss of Drakish consonants on his tongue.
The twisted mind of this demon was beyond Alex’s understanding. He’d rather kill his daughter than let her take a chance with Alex? Elaina hadn’t exaggerated her father’s insanity. How could he care about his daughter and yet think killing her was protecting her? How could he love his daughter enough to want to protect her and yet believe that death was safer than love?
Alex’s own need to protect Elaina joined with the urge to destroy this creature. Every violent impulse he’d had over the past several months now felt natural. His body had been maturing in power, readying for this confrontation. Instead of fighting the bloodthirsty compulsion, he embraced it.
He was dominant for a reason—and it had nothing to do with his father. His knightly instincts were more a part of him than his history. He was born to protect humans from the threat of dangerous dragons. And this unstable, unpredictable creature was as dangerous as they came.
Alex’s temperament made perfect sense now, and he’d use it to the best of his ability. He trusted himself. He trusted his instincts. He’d never again restrain his impulses.
He’d kill this devil-dragon and save Elaina.
The monster struck out, mouth gaping. Alex leaped away from Volus’s fangs—and landed right in the path of his claws. He couldn’t dodge in time. Long, sharp talons ripped through Alex’s jeans, slicing into his hip. Shit!
Alex stumbled to his feet before Volus could repeat the attack. White-hot pain shot down from his hip. His right leg didn’t want to move on command. He forced it to obey anyway.
The next swipe of Volus’s claw missed, but stooping made Alex’s legs buckle under him. Too quickly, Volus moved in. His fangs opened right above Alex’s head. His outstretched shield stopped the jaws from closing.
Volus opened his mouth wider and tipped the shield horizontal with his tongue. Fangs crushed Alex’s bicep.
With nothing more than a grunt, Alex twisted his wrist and tilted the shield inside Volus’s mouth, cutting into the tender flesh. Then a yank brought his arm and his shield out. Sharp teeth shredded his muscles on the way.
Alex dropped the shield, unable to do anything with that limb anyway. Random tendons and bone connected the limb to his shoulder, but barely. Black dots formed over his vision, and fiery agony sliced through him, burning the nerves of the left half of his body.
Blood freely flowed down his forearm, coating the treasure. The precarious stability of the treasure pile grew worse with the slippery liquid.
Another hit would be the end of him.
He staggered to his feet, but couldn’t keep his balance. Any second now, he was going to slide down the hill on his ass.
Down on his ass. That was what he’d do.
Volus gnashed his teeth, as though perturbed by the injury Alex had inflicted to the inside of his mouth. Sparkling deep purple blood dripped from both sides of his jaw, adding to the slick surface below.
Alex limped along the top of the pile and lined himself up with Volus’s length. The dragon’s neck curved away in preparation for the deathblow.
Alex pressed his heels into the treasure and let gravity take over, sending him sliding down the hill on his back. Volus’s armor plates were only two feet above him. Forelegs passed by. And then the limbs holding the wings taut whizzed above him.
Just before he reached Volus’s back legs, Alex jammed his good leg up against the dragon’s belly. The abrupt stop jolted his muscles and drove his knee against his chest. A glow shimmered behind the armor directly over him.
He angled the tip of his blade and aimed for the small gap between the armor plates. Volus started to roll away from his defenseless position. The extra space only made it easier to line up the weapon.
Alex thrust the sword into the gap. The blade sank easily into the vulnerable flesh. Light flashed, the blow puncturing Volus’s heart.
Alex rolled onto his stomach in the opposite direction from the monster. Hard edges of treasure poked into his shredded right leg. He pulled his knees under him in a failed attempt to stand and defend himself.
There was no point.
Volus lay beside him, humanoid again. He gripped Alex’s wrist. “Please.”
What now? Alex searched for his sword, or any weapon, and came up empty. Volus repeated his plea. The multiple hits to his mouth mangled his pronunciation, but Alex got the gist.
“Please, what?”
“Promise me. Do not hurt my daughter.”
A solid lump landed in Alex’s gut. He’d just fought and fatally injured Elaina’s father. No matter how insane Volus’s method of protecting her was, Alex understood the emotions behind the actions. The urge to destroy this creature turned sour in his throat.
“Yes, of course. I promise.”
“Tell her.” Volus sucked in a breath. “Tell her I love her.”
Before Alex could reply to the confession, the blue glow in Volus’s eyes faded, and his hand fell from Alex’s wrist. Then an orange radiance grew in his torso. Flames burst from Volus’s ribcage and engulfed his body. Just as quickly, the fire snuffed itself out, and only a blackened form remained.
Alex tumbled back on his ass, his limbs shocked by the do-it-yourself funeral pyre. Echoing the dragon’s fiery death, energy surged through Alex again, and power thrust into every cell, singeing away everything he was and leaving a new form in the embers.
Electrified, his body went rigid, and his skull slammed down on the rock. Dizziness swooped and twirled in his chaotic brain like a swarm of drunk fireflies. His consciousness scattered, no longer under his control. If this was supposed to be the universe’s way of congratulating him for a job well done, it didn’t feel like much of a grand prize.
Just as he wondered if that would be his last coherent thought, the energy focused, infusing him with indescribable strength. His ragged wounds ceased bleeding, and new skin formed, healing until only a dull ache remained. Violent impulses coursed through him, and he sprang to his feet.
He found his sword on the other side of Volus’s corpse. The blade was part of his body, and his hand itched to hold it.
The steel once again in his grasp, the drunk fireflies transferred their mood to him. He was a knight. He was powerful. He was invincible.
Holy fuck, killing dragons was one hell of a rush.