dragons breath 02 - dancing with flames (37 page)

Conrad was in charge of my truck while I was off rescuing the kids, and Danae had brought Norma’s car. Hopefully, that would be more than enough. It was hard to sit still when I knew the children were so close. Phoebe had set her mouth in a grim line that made me think she felt the same way—or maybe she was only itching to fight. I couldn’t be sure with her.

Movement in the sky caught my attention. Numerous red shapes were heading toward the airport, growing larger as they came closer. They weren’t flying very high or I might have seen them sooner—maybe five hundred feet above the ground.

I looked at Conrad. “Wait until fifteen minutes after we leave and then move the truck up to the YMCA. Park behind the building and stay hidden until you see Phoebe and I come out with the children. Got it?”

He crossed his arms. “You told me this three times already, but yeah, I got it.”

“Sorry,” I said, rubbing my face. “I just don’t want anything to go wrong.”

Conrad sighed. “I know. Just watch your own ass, too.”

“The battle is beginning.” Phoebe drew our attention back to the sky.

The red dragons had formed a line and a dozen or so green were flying up to attack. That couldn’t be close to all of the Shadowan, but then I spotted a stream of them exiting the hangars and flying up—a whole lot more. In the space of two minutes, the two clans were almost evenly matched with just a slight advantage on the Taugud side.

I frowned. “Isn’t that more dragons living there than we thought?”

“Shifitt,” Phoebe cursed. “Yes. I have never seen a den with so many of them living together. Usually, only a jakhal holds more than twenty or so.”

She and Aidan had explained to me that a jakhal was sort of like a clan capital. Who knew the beasts could be so organized? I continued pondering that, trying to keep myself distracted. With so many dragons a short distance away, my slayer instincts were beginning to rise. I was doing my best to keep them tamped down. For the past few days while waiting for this battle, I had been practicing getting near green dragons without attacking them. Conrad had helped with that, working to keep me in check. If I was going to get the children to safety, I could not afford to get distracted. I’d steadily built up a tolerance with each sighting, only killing one dragon when we first started the exercises. Oddly, I had been seeing more of the Shadowan than normal in the central part of Norman.

Then a thought occurred to me. “Do you think they’ve been ramping up their numbers in this area because they plan to attack your clan soon?”

Phoebe’s mouth set in a grim line. “We believe so. It is one of the reasons my father did not hesitate to call for this battle when we informed him of the den.”

“What did he think about you rescuing the children?” I asked.

She gave me a confident smile. “I told him it would help win over the humans if they could see we are not their enemy.”

“I’ll make sure they know your clan is the main reason their kids are safe,” I said.

Phoebe dipped her chin. “I would appreciate that.”

Glancing back toward the airport, which I had avoided doing to keep myself calm, I saw the battle was now in full swing. That’s what we had been waiting for. “It’s time to go.”

Danae pointed a finger at me. “Be careful. I don’t want to be healing more of your wounds after this. You’ve already tested my skills enough.”

“You’ve got to have someone to practice on, right?” I asked, giving her a teasing smile.

She just glared at me.

During our conversation, Phoebe kept quiet. Aidan had warned her one of my friends was a sorceress, and he’d told her to leave Danae alone. Shifters weren’t fans of the magic users, but the brother and sister were tolerating my friend out of respect for me.

Earl tossed me a black t-shirt. “You told me not to let you forget this.”

Oh, right. It was a little too warm outside to be wearing an extra layer, but I needed to at least try to hide my camrium outfit in case we got close enough to any other shifters for them to notice. I didn’t want to risk getting Phoebe and Aidan in trouble for helping a slayer.

“Thanks.” I pulled it over my head.

“You can thank me by coming back alive with those children,” Earl said in a gruff voice.

I gave a final nod to Conrad. “See you in about fifteen minutes.”

“You bet you will.” He made a shooing gesture. “Now, get out of here.”

Phoebe and I took off at a sprint down the street. Most of the green dragons would have left the hangars by this point, giving us the perfect opportunity to sneak into their den. We ran quickly enough it only took us about six minutes to reach the airport. Phoebe and I slowed down and headed along the row of hangars with the female shifter scenting the air.

Her brows drew together. “I can hardly smell the children here. Their scent is faint.”

“What does that mean?” I had heightened senses but nothing like a dragon. At the moment, all I could pick up was the acrid stench of burning grass where part of the battle took place on the ground.

“They are not in that building anymore.” Phoebe nodded at the one where we’d seen the children last.

I froze. “You mean they moved the kids?”

“Yes.”

Damn it all to hell. “Think you can find them?”

“We will see.” She picked up the pace to a slow jog, moving down the line of hangars. We passed several before she came to a sudden halt and waved me closer to her. “I believe they are in the structure up ahead, but I smell two other dragons there as well.”

Since she spoke in a low tone, I followed her example and whispered, “Matrika?”

“I do not know her scent, but we will find out soon enough.”

We crept alongside the building, heading toward the hangar where Phoebe had indicated the children would be. The sounds of battle about five hundred feet away made it difficult to listen for any other noises, but I thought I heard a huff and snort. Dragons made all sorts of strange noises when they were just standing around. I had noticed that when I was practicing getting near them without killing them.

Phoebe held up a hand, and we stopped just before going around the corner, then she lifted her index finger. I took a wild stab in the dark and figured she meant only one dragon sat outside. She handed me my blade, which she had kept in shiggara in case we ran into any shifters first. Then we leaped into view.

A giant green dragon sat before the closed hangar doors. It spotted us right away and charged toward us. Phoebe and I separated, silently agreeing to take the dragon from opposite sides.

The beast let out a snarl and went for the female shifter first, lashing out at her. She dodged the strike and slashed at the creature’s face with her sword. While Phoebe kept the dragon distracted, I leaped onto its back and straddled it. The beast bucked once, but it had to keep moving on its feet to dodge the shifter’s quick and painful strikes.

I brought my sword down, aiming for the vulnerable spot on the beast’s back. The weapon pushed through the scales and into the body. Partway through, the dragon growled and tried bucking me off again, but I squeezed with my thighs and held my position. The sword sunk deep. With a hard jerk, I brought it back and sliced into the heart. The dragon shuddered once and slumped beneath me, wheezing out its last breath.

“Good work.” Phoebe nodded.

“You too.”

We jogged over to the hangar, and she frowned at the large doors. “You understand these human constructions better than I do. How do we get inside?”

I thought about asking if she could burn her way through, but we had no way of knowing where Matrika or the children were located. It was too big of a risk to use that trick yet.

“There’s got to be a smaller entrance somewhere.” I ran my gaze around, not seeing one. “Let’s try the other side.”

As we rushed to find the door, my heart pounded in my chest. Killing the dragon had helped ease some of the tension I’d been feeling since I stopped fighting them as much these last few days. Aidan had said with each kill my battle lust would grow. I hadn’t understood what he meant at the time, still being new to the slayer business, but I was beginning to get it now.

We located a regular-sized door at the far end of the building. It was locked, so we kicked it until we busted the frame enough to pull it away. Then we paused, gazing into the darkness beyond. It was still bright enough outside we needed a moment for our eyes to adjust. I drew in deep breaths, smelling the fear of the children and the rage of the dragon inside. That told me all I needed to know. To hell with waiting for full night vision, I went racing inside.

Phoebe followed on my heels. “Bailey, to your left!”

I turned in that direction and almost came face-to-face with Matrika. It had seemed dark when I’d first entered, but now I spotted a hole in the roof that shed some light on this side of the building. If not for the setting sun, it might have been brighter.

The dragon stood in front of the children, who made soft sounds of distress behind her. She snorted, huffed, and puffed as her red eyes narrowed on us. Like a mother protecting her brood, she didn’t back down.

I breathed through my instant rage at seeing her and forced myself to calm down. One wrong move on my part and the children could get hurt. It would be easier if I could draw Matrika away from them.

Lifting my sword in a threatening manner, I met her gaze. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but I will get those children back to their parents.”

She growled in answer.

“Phoebe,” I said, taking a quick glance at her where she stood next to me. “Think you can talk to her the dragon way?”

Aidan’s sister worked her jaw. “I can try.”

I knew when she started speaking telepathically because the dragon turned her gaze to the female shifter. There was no telling what Phoebe said, but Matrika’s response was a fierce snarl. Well, at least it was worth a shot.

“You know I almost killed you once. I will finish you this time if you don’t get out of my way,” I warned.

A young girl crept around the dragon, little ringlets of blond hair shining in the soft light. “Are you here to take me back to my mommy?”

I recognized her. “Yes, Lacy. Your mommy misses you very much, and she’s worried about you. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. Just hungry. She—” the girl pointed at Matrika, “gives us awful things to eat like burned meat and stuff.”

Just like Aidan could light a candle if he set his mind to it, he’d said dragons could cook their food if they liked it that way. It was just easier for them to blow destructive flames, rather than slightly cooler ones.

“You see, Matrika. They aren’t happy here. You have to let them go home to their human parents who know how to take care of them.” I wanted to resolve this peacefully for the children’s sake. They had been through enough without me killing a dragon in front of their eyes. While they appeared scared, that fear didn’t seem to be directed at Matrika. Rather, at the situation in general. There was a loud battle raging outside, and the sounds of it filtered into the hangar.

Phoebe glanced at me. “Matrika says the kids are hers now, and we can’t have them.”

Dammit. I gave Aidan’s sister an inquiring brow, and she nodded. We had no choice but to battle this out with the children here or not. While we waited with Earl and the others down the street, we’d run through a few strategies of attack, so we were prepared for almost anything.

I turned my gaze to the little girl, who still stood just beyond the dragon. “Lacy, I need you and the other kids to back away as far as you can, alright?”

“Are you going to kill her?” this came from a little boy who came within view.

“Just turn around and don’t watch.” God, how I hated being in this position. I had no way of knowing what Matrika had said or done since she’d taken the children. For all I knew, they had Stockholm syndrome. The two I’d seen so far appeared mostly clean with no obvious signs of injury. She might have given them crappy food, but she hadn’t hurt them.

Some of the children sniffled. Matrika glanced back at them and they quieted, moving farther away. I was surprised. She was actually getting them to cooperate and do what I asked. Then she turned her gaze back to me and growled, leaping forward.

Phoebe and I broke apart. This time, I took the dragon head on, slashing at Matrika and dodging her attempts to bite at my legs. As the dragon kept forcing me backward, Phoebe worked her way around toward the children. Matrika swatted her tail at the shifter, but Aidan’s sister leaped up in time to miss the strike. I sliced the green dragon’s nose, and she returned her attention to me. We took turns slashing at each other. Her talons gouged my upper left arm in almost the same spot as she’d injured before, but then I returned the favor with a strike to one of her eyes, cutting right through it.

Meanwhile, Phoebe was blowing flames into the side of the building, making a hole for the children to escape. It took longer in her human form because she couldn’t billow the fire out as big as when she was a dragon. I was grateful for her resourcefulness. Aidan’s sister understood how much I didn’t want the little ones to see this fight, which I had made clear beforehand.

I cut Matrika’s paw when she lashed out at me again. She let out a strangled cry that sounded almost like a dog when it got hurt. I kicked her in the head next, doing all I could to delay the kill. The kids were watching, and several of them cried, calling her name. Damn the dragon for getting them attached to her.

Phoebe finished burning the hole, and she began guiding the children through it, careful to only touch them where their clothes covered their skin. As I angled Matrika to the side a little farther away, I caught a quick view of the rest of the kids. There were six more, making seven of them altogether. Lacy had been the only new addition.

Matrika and I continued battling it out, neither of us going for the killing blow. It was beginning to bother me that she wasn’t trying that hard to kill me. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought her heart wasn’t into it.

The last child made it through the hole. Phoebe took a final glance back at me, and I silently willed her to follow the kids. Maybe she read the message in my eyes because she did as I wanted. Matrika caught my diverted attention and looked back. She let out a frustrated snarl when she saw the children were gone. Before I could go for the kill, she lifted into the air, escaping through the hole in the roof.