Page 61 of Tempt the Dragon
Fuck it!
She came out of the cloak and was just about to run to the right and hope she ran into a stone or some other identifying marker, when a bolt of lightning shot from the sky, sizzling into the ground about twenty feet in front of her. Despite being drenched in rain, the hay began to smoke inthat spot and the next time she blinked a woman was standing there. But this was no ordinary woman, she knew that, and Mel was only staring at the back of her. Short wavy hair, curvy body in a black gown that dragged a little behind her and long arms lifted into the air, sparks of electricity coming from her fingertips.
Who the hell is she?
With no time to really think on that, Mel hadanother idea. Instead of running across the space with no guidance, she knelt and began pushing the hay aside, clearing a path as she crawled along the muddy surface. In the distance she thought she heard loud hissing and footsteps, definitely lots of footsteps. Cursing, she kept moving, the beast inside assuring her she was on the right track. Her hands were muddy now. Her hair and clothes weredrenched, but she didn’t stop, she continued, searching, trying to ignore all that she now knew was happening around her. That’s when she felt it.
Moving her hands frantically, she pushed more hay aside, then scooped the clumps of dirt into her hand and tossed them over her shoulder. It was here, a copper plaque pressed into the ground. It had a name on it, something long and unpronounceableat the moment. She didn’t give a damn whose grave it was; her only concern was that she’d found one. Her heart leapt with joy as she reached around to yank the backpack off and unzip it. Grabbing the bottle of potion out, she hurriedly pulled the cork from the top and immediately began to pour about five inches above the plaque because she didn’t want anything to hinder the liquid getting intothe ground. The bottle was just about empty when the sting of claws digging into her neck had her screaming, seconds before she was lifted off the ground.
The next thing she felt was her body being slammed onto the ground a good distance from where she’d been kneeling.
“Dragon bitch!” At the sound of his voice she quickly rolled over onto her knees, lifting her head to stare into the goldeneyes of Duncan Sankano, the target she’d been after all along.
She immediately jumped to her feet, claws extended, sharp teeth extending. “Vampire scum,” she shot back. He had her by about six inches and at least fifty pounds but she wasn’t worried. The beast within was ready.
“You won’t get out of here alive.” It was a weak taunt, he could’ve come up with something better, but she wasn’twaiting around for him to do so.
Lunging first, she went for his neck, swiping her claws out, and landed with a speed that shocked him right off his feet. He fell back to the ground and she pounced, bringing her arms around, preparing to choke him. But if she killed him, she wouldn’t collect the fee. That split second’s hesitation cost her as another vampire grabbed her from behind, tossingher to the ground where she rolled in the mud. Turning over quickly on her back so she could at least see what was happening, she gaped when she saw the one who’d thrown her.
“Enes.” The name fell from her lips as she jumped to her feet.
At the same time another loud sound echoed throughout the area. It was followed by an uptick of the wind and a familiar scent that wafted to her nostrils,seeping into her where the strength from her beast could be felt pressing against every muscle of her human body. The Legion was here.
“Kill her!” Duncan shouted.
Enes looked over her shoulder to see him standing now but moving in the opposite direction. With her gaze focused on him now, Mel saw he was walking toward the woman in black, who was holding her arms up, those tendrils of electricitycoming from her fingers, growing longer, the sound crackling through the air.
Now was the time. She willed herself to shift. Did everything exactly as Aiken had taught her. Focus on the strength, let it seep into every pore of the human body. Relax her mind, give the beast complete control. And then shift.
But nothing happened. Instead there was a searing pain at the back of her neck,a heat that her beast readily absorbed but at a startling cost. It felt like something was dripping down her neck now and it wasn’t the warm rain, it was something much hotter, with a stinging effect that began to make her feel weak.
More vampires filled the space running into the area of the pentagram. Beyond them she saw other women, dressed in some sort of tribal outfits, their mouths movingin sync as they chanted. These were the witches and they were trying to break whatever power that woman in black was spewing. Mel tried to take a step. She wanted to at least run to them to help if she couldn’t shift, but Enes stepped in her path.
“I don’t need to do anything else to you. The poison from his nails will kill you anyway.” The vampire’s golden eyes glowed as she stared at Melwith what appeared to be contempt—but no, maybe it was something else.
Mel didn’t have time to think of what because the sound of wings flapping came close, the air shifted from warm to a tortuous heat and before she knew it, a dragon, just a bit darker yellow than her own beast, touched down near them, tucking its wings back immediately.
Enes took a few steps back from the beast and thenstopped, reaching out a hand as if she wanted to touch it.
“You knew,” Ziva yelled the second she came out of the shift and walked, naked, until she stood directly in front of Enes. “You knew we were coming here, and you told them.”
“Z, you don’t understand.” Enes gasped the moment Ziva slapped her hand away.
“Make me understand, Enes. Make me understand how I fell for you all overagain. How I let you hold me in the hours just before dawn so you could fall asleep, how I gave myself to you, body and soul. You fed from me!” Ziva yelled. “And I swore to my clan that you were helping us!”
Mel wanted to intervene. She wanted to jump between the two women because she could feel this spiraling out of control, but she couldn’t. Her legs wouldn’t cooperate and when she lookeddown to see why, she watched them buckle and her body crumpled to the ground.
“I had to tell them. Temptra wasn’t going to let me—”
“Temptra!” Ziva shook her head. “She’s dead. We killed that bitch months ago back at the cemetery.”
“No,” Enes said. “You didn’t. She got away, remember. You saw all that red smoke in the sky, but you never saw her body, or any ash where her remains hadfallen to the ground.”
“The whole place was on fire after we scorched it,” Ziva snapped back.
Now Enes was nodding. “That’s right, and that’s exactly how she got away. And she never stopped trying to raise this army. She created Duncan to help her. Just like I told you, he was sent to Burgess to get help from Montoy to come here and do exactly what they’re doing now. I was trying to help.”
Mel lay on the ground, trying desperately to move or speak, but there was nothing. Rain continued to fall over her, but she’d ceased feeling it, or anything else for that matter. She was paralyzed.
“Were you trying to help when you listened to my call with Bleu, confirming our plans to come here? You had to have told them because last night you told me they were still searching for witches,still hoping to find one who could come up with a spell to get you onto this burial ground. You knew we had a way in, and you told them.” Ziva took another step closer to Enes. “You just stood here and let them hurt one of us. You lied and you used me.” Ziva’s voice cracked on those last words, raw and painfully real emotion etching each one.
“I loved you, Ziva. Remember that? Remember I toldyou I loved you and you still walked away from me. You gave me that ultimatum and then you left me standing on that corner at two in the morning all alone. You told me it was over, and you had no more time to deal with me, and you walked away. Ten minutes later those bastards came to rob me, and they tried to cut out my guts when I didn’t have enough money to give them. I lay in that hospitalfor hours, two steps away from death, before Warrick appeared.”
“You conniving bitch!” Ziva lunged at her.
Enes was ready for the attack, baring her teeth and bracing against Ziva’s taller body as it slammed into her.
The two fought and in the distance Mel could see the witches getting closer to Duncan and the woman in black, the one she presumed was Temptra. Glorious winged beastsflew above, some shooting fire from their mouths, others, flying closer to the ground, knocking vampires out with the edge of their wings. The fight to save the realms was in full swing and there was nothing she could do but lie there and blink. Fat tears poured down her face, mingling with the raindrops as she realized this was how it would end. These were the last things she would see before thepoison from Duncan’s nails in the back of her neck would kill her just as Enes had said.
Aiken was her next thought as she blinked and through blurred vision saw one of the huts appear in the distance. The potion had worked, thank the heavens. She tried to whisper Aiken’s name, tried to tell him as she had last night as they lay in bed together, that she loved him. She would always love him.
