“Why did I know I’d get dog duty?” Sophie asked, scowling at the raw steak hanging from her pinched fingers.
“All you have to do is wave that steak and toss it into the dog run,” Ric said, pulling the black ski mask over his face. “Then, when all the dogs are in the pen, close the gate. I know you can handle it. You’re a brave, capable woman.” He gave her shoulders a quick rub, which she assumed was meant to reassure her. It didn’t. But she wasn’t about to tell him that.
“No, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. I’m not brave. We’ve covered this subject already. I’m a chicken. Grade A. Can’t you see my feathers? The little red rubbery thing hanging from my chin?” She pinched at the skin under her chin. “What’s that thing called?”
“A wattle,” Barrett said, pulling an identical mask over his face. With both of them dressed in the same head-to-toe black, faces covered, hair concealed, it was almost impossible to tell them apart.
“A what’ll?” Sophie asked, dropping the steak into foil and wrapping it up. Her hands were slimy. Ick.
“No, wattle,” Barrett repeated, shaking his head. She glared at him when he started an eye roll.
“Don’t you dare.” She went to the bathroom, washed her hands, then secured her hair into a tight, low ponytail. That done, she returned to the room, tucked the meat under her black sweatshirt, and pulled on her ski cap. But unlike the guys, she left her face uncovered. “Don’t you think those getups are going to set off a few alarms when you go walking through the hotel lobby?” she asked. “It’s bad enough you’re wearing all black. But a ski cap in this weather is a bit lame.”
“We aren’t going through the lobby,” Ric said. He pointed at the window. “We want the hotel staff to think we’re still here, just in case something…unfortunate…happens, like a dragon dies tonight and it’s somehow traced to us. Claiming we were in our room all night by ourselves is not much of an alibi, but it’s better than nothing.”
She followed him to the window. The very hard asphalt parking lot below was a long, long way down. She felt sick. She felt dizzy. The world started spinning and she had to back away from the window. Way, way back. “You’ve got to be kidding. I’m not Spiderman. I can’t scale walls with my super-sticky spidey web. And I can’t jump. If I lived—which is a big if—my leg bones would be splinters. And that’s assuming I landed on my feet. Imagine what my head would look like if I landed on that instead. Ever seen that comedian who smashes watermelons on stage for kicks? What’s that guy’s name?”
“Gallagher,” Ric said.
“Huh? Who’s Gallagher?” Barrett asked.
“The guy who used to smash watermelons. You have your meat?” Ric asked, taking a step closer to her.
She saw a sparkle in his eye and wished she could see the rest of his face. It was, after all, a very adorable face. Especially when he was sporting a “fuck me now” look. She guessed that was the expression he was wearing at the moment.
Then the sparkle dimmed when he took a second step.
“Yesss.” She took a step backward. What was he up to? She wasn’t liking the gleam she saw in his eyes now. Cold determination.
“Good.” He lunged forward, caught her by the waist, and crushed her against him. That wasn’t so bad. In fact, it was mighty nice. She tipped her head, hoping for a kiss. Unfortunately, he didn’t remove his mask.
She motioned toward his face. “Um, this might be better if A, you took that thing off, and B, you sent your brother on a little walky-walky for a few minutes.” She glanced over her shoulder at Barrett and gave him an apologetic smile. “Give us maybe fifteen, twenty minutes? You don’t mind, do you?”
Barrett didn’t respond.
Then, taking her by complete surprise, Ric got all cavemanish, tossed her over his shoulder like a barbarian, and jumped up on the window ledge.
“What the? Oh, God! I’m going to die. Ric! Stop!” Her fingers closed around the cool aluminum window frame and she hung on for life as he pushed the sliding window open. Cool, damp night air brushed her face like invisible feathers. “Ric? What are you doing? Are you going to throw me?” While she was grilling Ric the caveman, Barrett pried each finger free. “Ric!” she shouted, too afraid to fight. They were, after all, on a narrow ledge five stories above the ground. She swatted at Barrett and tried to get a hold on the window frame again, but Ric shimmied out away from the window on the narrow ledge outside. “Ric!”
“Shhh! Trust me?” Ric asked.
“No! Not when you’re standing on a window ledge holding me like a sack of potatoes.”
“Trust me?” he repeated, setting her on her feet next to him. Instinctively, she wound her limbs around him like a grapevine around a wooden stake. He felt stable and strong, even standing on a five-inch ledge.
She hesitantly glanced down. The parking lot was a long way down. Surely he was just testing her, to see if she was really capable of trusting him. “Okay. I’ll trust you. A little. Later. Like when we’re back safe and sound inside. But—”
“Trust me,” he repeated, firmer, wrapping his arm around her waist and hauling her against his side.
“Okay. Okay.” She let her head fall to the side, rest against his bulky upper arm. “You made your point. Now let’s go back inside—”
Ric jumped, taking her with him.
“Ric!” Sophie clung to him like a drowning woman to a life preserver. Midair, she gritted her teeth, tensed every muscle in her body, and clamped her eyelids shut, waiting for the impact of her body against rock-hard concrete.
It was taking a long time getting to the ground. She took those precious moments to pray for forgiveness for everything she’d ever done wrong in her life and then listed all the sins she hadn’t had the chance to commit yet.
Life was so unfair!
Their landing was tooth jarring, but surprisingly lacking in the pain department. It was as if Ric’s legs had been made of rubber, or the concrete had turned to a big foam mattress. They bounced slightly and then Ric set her on her feet.
Naturally, as always the case when she’d had a near-death experience, her knees were like butter. They gave way and she landed on her butt. She gaped up at the caveman and struggled to catch her breath. She swore her lungs had completely collapsed somewhere on their descent. She guessed between the third and second floors. “How?” was all she could say.
“I’ll explain later. We need to get going.”
Sophie double-checked to make sure she was really as okay as she thought she was—she’d heard shock did crazy things to a body, like make a person walk around with missing limbs and such.
No blood. No protruding bones. All parts checked out okay. Another miracle. Miracle?
Maybe there was hope they’d defeat the dragon tonight after all.
She stood and turned around, just in time to watch Barrett fall from the sky behind her and land lightly on his feet like a freaking ballet dancer. “Oh my God, I want to know how you guys do that!”
“It’s a vampire thing,” Barrett explained as he headed toward a black Suburban parked only a few feet away. He opened the rear passenger door for her, then slammed it shut after she climbed in.
Ric and Barrett took their seats in the front and off they went, to the dragon’s little bungalow on the quiet tree-lined street a mile or two down the road. For the second time in the last twenty minutes, Sophie was glad her stomach was empty.
Ric’s mind worked over every piece of information his brother had given him about the Guardians. As it looked now, he’d be lucky to get in and out of that house with his hide intact. His brother, a member of an elite Immortal police force, was his only hope of making it out alive.
But he had no choice. This was it, his chance of getting the spear and shield. A once-in-a-lifetime chance. If he failed, he had no doubt the relics would vanish. The Guardian would send them off to another Guardian through the underground system of couriers they used. Impossible to trace. He’d never get this close again.
During their earlier visit, he hadn’t been able to breach the dragon’s mental defenses, but he had been able to intercept bits and pieces of what the Guardian had mentally said to his mate: “That’s the Wissenschaft and his woman. They’re here for the items we talked about.”
That was enough for Ric. No doubt thanks to either Maggy or Julian, the Guardian not only knew who Ric and Sophie were, but also what they were after.
But most important, the Guardian knew where the spear and shield were. He had to. Despite the fact that wisdom would dictate the relics needed to be moved, Ric felt in his gut they were still in that house. Somewhere. The Guardian was not threatened, which meant he was prepared.
What sort of defenses would the dragon use to keep them from it? Kingsley was a red dragon. His element was fire, heat. Thus, Ric fully expected to be blasted with flame. Not a particularly pleasant way to spend the night, especially since as a vampire, fire was not something he could easily defend himself from.
Adrenaline was coursing through his body, making him tense, his senses focused and alert as they parked the car. Sophie looked scared and the need to ease her fears burned in his heart. Unfortunately, there were good reasons to be afraid and he didn’t want her going into this without knowing how grave the situation was. Fear wasn’t always a bad thing.
Her gaze sought his. “Ric?”
He pulled the ski mask up and gave her a serious look. “Sweetcheeks, this is it, our only chance. And I’ll be honest with you, we’re not prepared. This Guardian is a red dragon, a fire dragon. The most dangerous.”
“Why don’t we wait then? Call for more help?”
“There’s no one I can call. If I knew a mage, that would help….” He didn’t hold back the sigh sitting in his throat. “If we don’t do this tonight, the Guardian will move the relics.”
“You know he has them?”
“I have a good feeling. But if we don’t get them tonight, we won’t find them again. You know what that means for your friend?”
She dropped her gaze to her feet. “But you’re risking your life to save his. If you fail, you’ll be gone. Dao will die. I’ll…lose everything that matters.”
Guilt pricked at his heart. She didn’t know his true intentions yet. He hoped when she learned what they were, she’d understand.
“Then I won’t fail.” He pulled her into his arms, crushing her soft body against his. In his mind, he tried to prepare himself for the possibility that he might never hold her again. He listened to her quick, panting breaths, inhaled the bitter scent of her fear, and almost told Barrett to forget it.
And then he reminded himself of his reason for finding the spear and shield.
There were few things that were worth risking life and limb for. There were few things that were worth risking the life of his dearest brother for, and of Sophie, a human who had no idea the true power of the relics she sought. A lovely, kind, intelligent, sexy, delightful human he adored.
But the chance to find a cure for millions of tormented souls was worth all that, and more. Surely Sophie would understand when the time came—if the time came—to explain it to her.
He brushed his mouth over hers in a soul-deep kiss that left him wanting more, so much more. Then he pulled his mask back into place and turned to Barrett, took the fire extinguisher in one fist, the bag of battle supplies in the other—if the assorted bathroom and kitchen products (the most useful weapons they could assemble on such short notice) qualified as battle supplies.
“Ready?” Barrett whispered, his hands full as well.
“Yeah.” Ric watched Sophie pull her ski mask over her face. “Let’s go.”
They walked down the quiet street. Outside of the flickering fireflies and the occasional stray cat, there wasn’t any movement around them, no sign of life. They reached the house quickly. Ric and Barrett took their positions at the front and side doors. Sophie tiptoed around to the back, the raw meat in her hand.
Ric looked at his watch, waited for the precise moment they’d agreed on, then drew back to batter the door.
On a whim, he tried it first. Unlocked?
Not a good sign.
He opened it just enough to slip inside, then closed it behind his back. His eyes swept the house’s dark interior. He stood in a small entryway, a three-by-three-foot area that led to the living room. There was no sign of movement. He looked up and down. No sign of a trap.
He hesitantly took a single step into the living room and flinched.
Nothing flared, barked, or blew up. Was the Guardian hoping he’d come closer? Where were the dogs? No traps? No defenses?
Barrett’s voice sounded in his earpiece. “Found something in the basement.”
“Any sign of the dogs?” he said into the microphone clipped to his chest.
“Nope. Not down here.”
“Sophie?” Ric said.
“I’m here.” Her voice was shaky. “No dogs back here. Nothing.”
“This isn’t right. It’s got to be a trap,” Ric said, creeping through the living room, alert for signs of trouble. “No Guardian would leave his lair unprotected.”
“I’ve seen it once or twice,” Barrett said. “Some of them get so cocky, thinking their reputation is enough to keep people away. Where are you? Get down here.”
“Fine, fine. Coming.” Ric passed through a small dining room into the kitchen. The basement stairs were at the rear. He took them very slowly. “Where are you?” he asked Barrett.
“Way in the back. Follow the furnace ducts.”
“Okay.” When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he said, “Sophie, you still with me?”
“Yes. What’s going on in there?” she asked. “I’m scared.”
“Nothing. We’re okay. It’s dead quiet.” Ric glanced up, caught sight of the furnace ductwork, and started following it to the left.
“Ric?” Sophie’s soft voice was like a soothing caress.
“Yes?”
“Please be careful.”
“I will be. Promise.”
“I don’t want to live without you,” she said. “I…love you.”
Her words tore his insides to shreds. She didn’t know what she’d done by saying those words just then. She’d taken the third step by confessing her love for him in the presence of his brother, a fellow clan member.
“I love you too. And I promise I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you won’t have to live another minute without me, if that’s what you really want. But you need to be sure about this. You know what I am. As a man and as an Immortal. Are you sure you want me?”
“Yes. I’m sure.”
He wanted to sweep her into his arms and crush her to him. Then again, he wanted to step back and knock some sense into her too. He’d started the process of the Joining in an effort to protect her from the Ancient One. Now, thanks to her willingness to take both the second and third steps, he faced the endless agony of wanting to complete it. His soul cried out for her. His spirit, mind. It would be like an eternal hunger that couldn’t be sated, a fire that couldn’t be doused. A thirst that could never be quenched.
Completing the Joining was not an option. He would never again Join with another human. He was a scientist who’d spent the last several centuries searching for a cure to his people’s disease. Why would he choose to pass it on to another human being? A human being he loved?
He passed through a storage room, full of unmarked cardboard boxes stacked on metal shelves. “Barrett?”
“Getting bored waiting for you. What’s the holdup?”
“I’m almost there.” He paused at the door in the back of the storeroom. “I see a door.”
“Yeah. Come on. I’m back here. Let’s hurry up and get this over with.”
“Okay.” He turned the knob, pushed. The room was enveloped in pitch blackness so thick even his sensitive eyes couldn’t find Barrett. “Where are you? It’s too damn dark in here—”
A set of hands clamped around both his arms.
Sophie’s scream shot into his ear through his earpiece.
A roar of rage rumbled up from his chest and bellowed from his mouth. “Barrett!”