Page 3 of Tempt the Dragon
Chapter One
Burgess
January
He wasn’t alone.
The temperature in the room had kicked up at least two hundred degrees and Aiken’s chest tightened, the beast within on high alert. There was no fear or distress, only a building anticipation that pressed against his human skin with unnatural force. Evil filled this space, its putrid stench lingering in every corner, clogging the airuntil another, less seasoned preternatural, might succumb to its command. Aiken wasn’t that one.
In his peripheral, Aiken glimpsed the vamp approaching, a tall one with gangly arms and lethal fangs bared. The metallic gold glow of the creature’s eyes zeroed in on him just before it snarled in a way that announced it was about to pounce. It ran at its full speed, which translated to in theblink of the human eye. Luckily for Aiken, he was seeing through his Drakon eyes and when he settled them on the spear another vamp had thrown at him just moments before, an effortless use of his telekinetic power sent it flying through the air. It landed in the chest of the oncoming vamp with a sickening thud. The vamp was stopped in its tracks, dropping to the floor in a pile of dusky gray ash.
Normally there would’ve been a feeling of triumph here. He wasn’t the cold-blooded killer of the Legion dragons—that was Mag. Aiken’s focus was normally on getting the job done in as quick and clean a way possible so he could return to more enjoyable tasks such as online shopping or playing pool. Tonight, however, his mood had shifted, yet the man tried valiantly to keep a firm grip on thegoal of this mission.
Floorboards squeaked as he moved, the electricity in the townhouse flickering on and off. He didn’t know if that was because the vamps hadn’t paid their electricity bill or if there was something even more sinister at play. He’d bet money on the latter.
Aiken’s shoulders tensed as an eerie tugging started in his gut. The beast was stirring in a slow and methodicalway, as if it were sensing something that the human had missed. The two worked well together, especially on assignments like this, where their stealth, wit and combined power were required. There’d only been one time the man plus beast duo had failed, but he wasn’t going back to that time. Not ever again. Except, wait, the tugging in his stomach grew stronger, urging him to move in the opposite direction.It had come upon him so quick and intense that for a few seconds he couldn’t move or think past the sensation. Unfortunately, now was neither the time, nor was this the place to stand still and contemplate what might just be a case of tonight’s dinner disagreeing with him.
Focusing and compartmentalizing were old friends but, in this moment, it took more effort than usual to bring them tothe forefront. He needed to move fast to get this job done. His beast’s protest came instantly, with scratching at his insides like nails on sandpaper. It wanted something different. What exactly, he didn’t know. Addressing the distraction with his beast wasn’t an option, as two more vamps were moving fast down a set of stairs, coming up quickly behind him. This time Aiken chose to go hand-to-hand,landing a punch to the first one’s jaw, following it with more hits to its gut before his beast begrudgingly joined the party by adding its force to the punch that sent the vamp flying into a wall. By that time, the next vamp was landing a blow to his lower back. He barely bristled at the contact but spun around, slapping his fingers against the vamp’s neck. With a tight hold on the creature’s throat,Aiken lifted it off its feet and walked it back to a different wall, which cracked upon the forceful contact.
“You can die tonight, or you can talk.” He adjusted his tone from the easygoing one he usually used. Fanged murderers weren’t inclined to be persuaded by his more charming side. “It’s your choice, asshole.”
Golden eyes stared back at him and incisors that looked pretty damn sharpwere bared and ready to sink into his skin at first opportunity, but fear clogged its lungs and kept it from telling Aiken what he wanted to know.
“Fuck you.” It was hard for that to come with the force it probably intended with Aiken’s hand crushing the vamp’s windpipe.
The wicked grin spread quick and felt just as natural as the enhanced strength flowing through his veins. “Wrong answer.”He squeezed harder until he heard the unmistakable crack of bone. Dropping his hand, he backed up seconds before the inevitable spray of ash filled the air.
Footsteps sounded above him. More vamps, of course, but Aiken was sure the Lord who’d been leading this meeting was long gone by now. That was the vampire they’d needed to capture and get answers from. He was the only one who could stopthe vicious killings now plaguing the city and the ominous fate looming over the realms. Aiken gritted his teeth when his gaze was drawn toward a window at the farthest end of the hallway in front of him, his ire at the missed opportunity reaching a boiling point. Vampire Lords were the only ones of their kind who could turn into bats and fly out the window. Of course, Drakon could fly too, buta hundred-foot-tall, two-hundred-eighty-ton dragon would demolish this townhouse and a good portion of the block in the financial district where it was located. His current boss had a rule about them shifting, causing damage and freaking out the humans when it wasn’t absolutely necessary. That meant he couldn’t shift, but he could threaten each vamp left in this place with sudden death if they didn’ttell him what he wanted to know.
Noting he hadn’t seen his partner since they’d entered the house, he contemplated what his next move would be. He and Ziva had decided to split up. She was covering the basement and first floors and he had the second and third floors. Their intel from investigating the vampires for the past weeks hadn’t been as fruitful as expected. No leads until earlier thisevening, when Ziva had come banging on the door to his suite demanding he meet her in the truck pronto. He’d done as she requested because stopping the vamps was a primary objective to the Legion, and because the rendezvous he’d planned for later tonight had canceled. This house was supposed to be packed tonight, with vamps meeting to discuss a big move they’d be taking in Burgess. Enes, the vampirewho was helping the Drakon for reasons that still weren’t clear to Aiken, had told Ziva about the meeting.
Tingling fingertips reminded him that something else besides the current altercation with the vamps was at play here and Aiken looked down to see his claws extended a few inches from his nailbed. With a flick of his hands he pulled them back, frowning at his beast’s insistence that therewas something more here, something he was apparently missing while busying himself with the mission. It didn’t matter that he’d tried to ignore every sensation that had felt off tonight, the beast could be as belligerent and insubordinate as Aiken when provoked and the immediate scratch and stretch that made Aiken feel as if his insides were being shredded had him cursing. Despite movement hecould hear coming from the floor above, Aiken let the beast lead, moving in the opposite direction of the stairs that would take him up to the third floor. Instead he walked back the way he’d just come, his boots crunching over the ash of the vamp he’d just killed. The sickly sulfuric stench their remnants left behind circled in the air. Energy gathered between his shoulder blades and he continueddown the long hallway of the hundred-year-old townhouse. The walls were covered with thick velvet-like paper in a shade that resembled the color of blood. Cherry oak wainscoting lined the lower half of the walls, and his booted steps echoed over natural hardwood floors.
The beast stopped pushing the moment he stepped up to a window at the farthest end of the hall. Aiken was entertaining thisfor a moment or two, nothing more. His beast could kiss his ass after that. It was somewhere around one or one thirty in the morning and he should be upstairs killing whatever vamps were up there to make their point clear. If none of them were going to talk, then they were all going to die. There was no room for negotiation.
The beast was rising now, filling every crevice of the human bodywith its thoughts and emotions. It was the latter that concerned Aiken the most. His beast didn’t have emotions, or at least it hadn’t in a very long time. It had been almost eighty years since he’d felt the fire that seemed to melt his human bones, settling in a pool of churning heat that bubbled throughout his body. The human struggled to keep his thoughts separate from the beast’s because to alignwith it, this time, wasn’t something Aiken thought he wanted. It wasn’t something he thought he could do, not again.
Then something moved. A ripple in the wallpaper caught his attention but he didn’t turn to stare at it openly. Instead he slid his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, clenching his fingers into tight fists. Sucking in air, letting his nostrils flare so that every scentin this place filled his lungs, he let the breath out in measured puffs, his eyes blinking slowly.
It couldn’t be.
He knew that scent. Nobody smelled that way. Not in all the places he’d been, on any of the realms. This scent belonged to one person. It encompassed and draped, covered and ensconced. He took another breath, just to be sure. The beast didn’t need a second take and was alreadyedging the human body in the direction it wanted to go.
There was movement to his right, the wallpaper again. Silver flecks were embedded in the floral imprint on the crimson velvet. It glistened with the next wave in the otherwise flat surface. Aiken let his head drop, watching the portion of the lower panel pucker until a long cylinder bump inched in the opposite direction from where hestood.
Instinct alone had him reaching out to the wall. There was a gasp and then a curse before she lashed out, swinging first and deciding where her punches would land last. One contacted with his jaw, another landed on his shoulder before he let his hands slide up her torso to grab her wrists, still wrapped in camouflage. Until it melted away, like water disappearing from a glass. Startingat the top of her head, the wine color of the wallpaper drained away until shoulder-length auburn hair styled in springy curls was visible. Her face was turned away from him as the form she’d taken totally dissipated and only the woman was standing in front of him. The chameleon.
“Mel.” Her name tumbled from his lips with a mix of shock and relief seconds before she yanked her wrists fromhis grasp, his beast bristling at the lost connection. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Minding my business.” Her tone was the same—irritated, snappish, layered with a pain she’d never admit. He knew he couldn’t forget it, had never even tried.
“Are you on a job?” She’d already pushed past him and was running down the hall, her long legs covering the distance, plump ass swaying inthe tight-fitting jeans she wore. He swallowed and went after her. Something he hadn’t bothered to do eighty years ago.
This had to be a job and she was undoubtedly still part of the Collectors, the group of bounty hunters hired to retrieve preternatural beings for a price. That’s the only reason she would be here. Pride would never have allowed her to come in search of him.
Aiken caughtup with her just as she hit the top of the stairs and a group of seven vamps came at them. Locking gazes momentarily the years they hadn’t worked as partners seemed to slip away as they mentally set a plan of attack before going in separate directions. Aiken punched one, turned and hit another. He kicked back at one, grabbed another by the collar and tossed it down the stairs. A quick glimpse downthe hall and he could see Mel handling herself with the same vicious efficiency. One blow she landed sent a vamp flying straight through a window. Another one was right behind her and for a split second Aiken thought about running to help her, but he didn’t. Memory served him correctly and he grinned when she ducked down, pulled a knife from the side of her boot and turned in just enough timeto sink it into the vamp’s stomach.
Without turning his body completely Aiken swung an arm around, grabbing the vamp that had been running toward him by its neck, and slammed it to the floor. Applying just enough force so its glowing eyes began to bulge he asked, “You wanna tell me what tonight’s meeting was about?”
