Lying on a small hill a short distance away, Chace watched Skylar get in the SUV with two other slayers, grappling to control the urge to snatch her up and take her away from the mess before him. He wanted to put distance between them, but he also didn’t want her getting brainwashed again, before they both got some answers.
If nothing else, he finally had confirmation of what kind of shifter Mr. Nothing was. By the looks of it, Mr. Nothing had probably flown directly to southern Arizona after they spoke last, in order to destroy the compound.
I feel like shit. Chace knew the nocturnal shifter was hard to read, but he didn’t expect Mr. Nothing to do this. When he was calm enough, Chace let himself acknowledge that Skylar was right. The brainwashed slayers didn’t deserve to be treated the way they treated the shifters.
Last night weighed to heavily on his mind. He wasn’t able to think straight without an errant thought of how beautiful she looked when her skin glowed in the firelight or the way her body moved beneath his. Their combined scent had even managed to become engrained in his long hair while the memory of her whispering his name made him feel possessive of another person for the first time in his life.
Made him wish he hadn’t made a deal with Mr. Nothing, so he could see where this was going.
At least, that was the initial reason he set out after Skylar when he woke to find her gone. The moment he stepped outside, his sensitive nose picked up on the smells of burnt buildings, metal and flesh.
The SUV drove away, and Chace continued to watch. He received no small amount of satisfaction out of watching Caleb throw a tantrum and smash up the back window of another car. He didn’t pity the man, despite knowing how true Skylar’s words were.
The slayers were brainwashed fools, but they weren’t killers. The people within the compound were a different story entirely. Skylar’s shrink knew what they were doing to the rest of them, and wasn’t possible that this elaborate of an operation was operated by two people. No, the cadre of the rehab center knew what was going on.
This was why he felt no mercy towards the bodies lined up along the side of the road.
Chace rolled onto his back for a moment, comforted by the blue sky above that reminded him of Skylar’s eyes.
Dammit! Stop thinking of her!
He had much larger concerns. The slayers weren’t going to need to be brainwashed to come after shifters now, not after the deaths of their colleagues and the leveling of their operations center. Chace and the shifters were about to become openly hunted animals instead of those that were quietly tracked. How far could the spooked shifters be pushed before another snapped and went bat-shit crazy, like Mr. Nothing?
How much longer before Mr. Nothing turned him into a powerless human, since he had torched the compound he tasked Chace with finding?
I’ve got Skylar. The reminder disturbed him, more so because seeing what Mr. Nothing was willing to do did nothing to make him believe that Skylar was going to be safe with the ancient shifter.
But he could trade her, perhaps for more time, to ensure he was able to help the shifters. Or perhaps for a promise from Mr. Nothing not to hurt anyone else in the hopes that the slayers would gradually lose interest in the shifters.
“What aren’t you telling me, jackass?” he muttered, mind on Mr. Nothing. “I know you know who is behind this.”
Someone close to Skylar, Mr. Nothing had said.
Whenever their paths crossed, she was with the same two slayers, and Caleb claimed to have trained her.
Caleb was the natural choice. Seasoned, guarded, smart.
Chace pulled out his phone to text Mr. Nothing. He knew from experience that the texts were always received, even if Mr. Nothing never returned them. He sent beautiful women with appointment cards instead.
We need to talk. He texted.
Replacing the phone in his pocket, he eased away from the hill and strode back to the waiting cabin, which was a few thousand miles away from where he’d left it. Irked that Skylar was able to use his magic somehow, he reached the cabin and immediately willed it to move somewhere far from the compound, in case the slayers searched the surrounding area.
His next stop: the bar. He willed it to move, too, to the foothills of the remote mountaintop in Arizona where the cabin was. The shifters alone were able to know where it was, and he wasn’t about to put it on a mountaintop where he wasn’t able to go on his daily ride with the others.
Chace stripped quickly and bundled up his clothing as usual then strode out into the open area outside the cabin. He morphed quickly and dived off the mountain. Wind roared through his ears, into his nostrils and ruffled the fur lining his scales. He relished the sensation, his wings folded for better aerodynamics. Just before he was about to plunge headfirst into the ground, he released his wings and soared upwards, twisting and turning, diving and climbing.
He couldn’t escape Skylar’s sweet scent, but he tried, flying until his blood settled. At last, he floated lazily down to the bar, circling it multiple times before finally dropping to all four feet a short distance away.
Gunner waited for him, arms crossed as he leaned against the front post where his bike was parked.
Chace transformed into his human form and tugged his clothing on as he walked towards his friend.
“Heard there’s some trouble,” Gunner said, watching him.
Chace grunted in response and finished pulling his shirt over his head before answering.
“Lots of trouble,” he said. “As in, if things were bad before, they’re about to get worse.” And if I don’t talk to Mr. Nothing, you all might lose the bar, too.
“We were right about Mr. Nothing,” Gunner observed. “What the hell made him fry the people tracking us?”
“I think he meant to finish them off and managed to piss ‘em all off instead.” Chace rubbed his mouth. “I need to find Mr. Nothing. We’ve gotta warn the shifters, too. I am so fucking frustrated right now!”
“All right. Calm down,” Gunner said. “You’re not one to flip out over nothing.”
Chace drew a breath. “You know how you said not to make the deal with Mr. Nothing?”
“Shit.”
“Yeah I didn’t realize what all I was giving up. The bar is connected to my magic. When it’s gone, there’s no refuge for the shifters.”
Gunner grew pale beneath his olive-hued skin.
“The slayers now have a real reason to come after us all, thanks to Mr. Nothing, and I gave up the only place we’re safe.”
Gunner spoke, but Chace was distracted by his thoughts. He wasn’t able to dismiss Skylar from his mind. He was about to lose his magic and his bar. Absently he touched his chest, above the heart. His heart was whole, according to Mr. Nothing, and he wasn’t able to determine why exactly that bothered him as much as the bar situation.
It means the shifter has found the other half of his heart. What the hell was he supposed to do about that?
“Yo.” Gunner waved his hand in front of his face.
“Yeah. Sorry.” Chace focused on his friend.
“Like I said a hundred times already, why don’t you go find Mr. Nothing, and I’ll warn the others. Sound like a plan?”
“He’s nocturnal. He won’t be out until tonight,” Chace replied. “This is my fault, Gunner. I’ll help you warn the others. It’s the only thing I can do.”
“I’ve got our handy phone tree in the bar. Let’s start making the calls.”
Chace nodded.
Gunner strode into the bar.
With another look around him, Chace followed.
Notifying the other shifters took a solid two hours. They began to trickle in by pairs for the emergency meeting Chace had called. When the last of them arrived just after sundown, he took a count and frowned.
“Four more gone,” he said to Gunner, mind going to the rehab center and the pain he’d gone through while there. “That place deserved to be destroyed.”
“I agree,” Gunner said. “I can’t believe they tracked down so many shifters over the years.”
“I know.” Chace’s stomach churned just thinking about it. “I have a feeling they’ve declared outright war this time. I don’t think they’re taking them to any rehab center, just killing them on sight.”
“What’s the plan?”
“If my magic is going to be gone soon, then I want to move the bar one last time to see if we can delay discovery until I figure out how to fix this,” Chace replied.
“You plan on trying to reason with Mr. Nothing a second time?” Gunner was amused. “Enough is enough. We’ll figure out something else. I’ve known him for a few hundred years and never once had the desire to trust him.”
“What else can I do?” Chace demanded. “This is my fault. It was … arrogant of me to think there weren’t more consequences for my actions. Just like it was stupid for me to walk into the rehab center without thinking twice about walking out. I’ve been alive a thousand years and feel like I haven’t learned anything.”
“You have,” Gunner reassured him. “Some lessons are harder. I got my own demons with learning lessons.” Darkness flickered across his face.
Chace didn’t ask. They’d been friends too long to doubt one another, even if neither had learned the entirety of the other’s past.
The movement of someone entering the bar caught both of their attentions, and they looked, hoping it was another shifter. Instead, a buxom brunette in a tight black dress was making her way to the bartender. Chace saw her pass a familiar appointment card to the bald man then leave hastily when she saw Max headed towards her.
“Go find Mr. Nothing. I know you won’t sit still until you do,” Gunner said, nudging him forward with his elbow. “I’ll handle things here and see if we can’t prep people for the worst.”
“Thanks.” Chace slapped his arm and strode out, too edgy to protest, even if he knew he should. He crossed to the bartender, who held out the card as he approached.
Chace took it.
Fifteen minutes. Your cabin.
Expecting the short timeframe, Chace waved towards Gunner and strode out of the bar.
He had transformed into his dragon shape by his fifth step out of the door to the bar and flung himself into the sky. His grueling pace rendered him almost breathless by the time he’d climbed to the oxygen-thin elevation where his cabin was. He circled the mountain to confirm Mr. Nothing was waiting for him in the area near his cabin.
Chace began transforming before he was on the ground and dropped the last few feet. He yanked on his pants then approached Mr. Nothing, pausing to catch his breath.
“It’s too late, if this is a desperate attempt to not become human. It takes effect at dawn,” Mr. Nothing told him.
“I don’t want to change the terms of our initial deal,” Chace said. His body was too wired from emotion for him to feel the chill of the night air. “It struck me that the girl wasn’t part of our original deal. I wanted to amend our agreement.”
Mr. Nothing folded his arms across his chest, suddenly tense.
“I’ll bring her to you,” Chace added reluctantly. “But I want you to protect the shifters the way I have the past few hundred years, by giving them a refuge. If my magic can do it, yours can, too.”
Mr. Nothing was quiet.
“I’ll turn her over before dawn. You pissed off the slayers by destroying their center, and they’re killing faster now. The shifters have nothing but the bar as a refuge.”
“You should’ve known that before you made your decision. Your selfishness put everyone else at risk.”
“I also found the center where they were being killed,” Chace retorted, hating how right Mr. Nothing was.
“My generation of dragons is much different than yours.”
“I’m trying to make things right. Do you agree to my terms or do I just hide Skylar in a deep hole where you can’t find her?”
“You learned nothing from acting brashly.” Mr. Nothing muttered a curse. “I should say no.”
“But I have a feeling you won’t.”
It was Mr. Nothing’s turn to appear frustrated. Chace waited.
Part of him hoped Mr. Nothing refused. At least then, Skylar would be safe. But a small voice told him that he had to turn her over, at least temporarily, to save the others. At dawn, his entire world changed one last time after a thousand years under the curse.
It wasn’t right to escape and leave more skeletons behind him than necessary. It didn’t seem right to sacrifice her, either, but he tried hard not to think of what he felt when he was with her, how smooth and soft her skin was, her faint womanly scent mixed with the peaches of her shampoo ...
“I agree,” Mr. Nothing replied with the same reluctance.
Chace’s heart felt like it dropped to his feet. It made sense to trade one life for a hundred.
But it felt wrong, too.
“Okay,” he whispered. “I’ll bring her to you by dawn. Where do you want to meet?”
“Maine coast, where we met before. I’ll be waiting.”
Mr. Nothing started away.
“Wait,” Chace called. “You won’t hurt her, will you?” The question sounded stupid out loud. What did he expect would happen to her?
“Not your concern at this point.” Mr. Nothing kept walking. He spread his arms and leapt off the edge of the cliff.
Chace cursed loudly. Moments later, the massive blue dragon soared overhead.
He watched it go, distraught by what he’d done.
Chace walked to the edge of the mountain and sat with his legs hanging over the ledge, pensive
He had a victory, the only good thing to come out of the choice he’d made a couple of weeks ago. He had a promise from Mr. Nothing, the oldest dragon and most powerful that he knew, to take care of the shifters.
The victory was as cold as the wind whipping up the cliff face. He didn’t fully understand what was between him and Skylar or even if it was sustainable beyond physical attraction. Being with her left him calm and centered. She felt so different from anyone else he’d ever dated or slept with.
Did it matter? He’d sold her out, good cause or not. Was this the ultimate price of all his bad decisions? He lost the part of him that made him feel whole?