Dragon Awakened (18 page)

 

 

P
urcell walked into Captain Fernandez's office, once again without knocking. He pasted on a pleasant expression, even though the dark-haired man scowled at the sight of him.

“Captain,” Purcell said in greeting, closing the door behind him and strolling behind his desk to look out the window.

Fernandez bristled at the invasion of his territory. “What do you want now?”

“Have you noticed that a lot of Crescents are feeling under the weather? You've no doubt seen that several of the secretaries' desks are vacant this morning. Due to the same
bug
that your wife no doubt has.”

The captain's desperation and fear was clear. “How did you—”

“Only it's not a bug. It's a disruption of the
Deus Vis
.” Purcell turned, seeing that the man's hostility was replaced by interest. And fear.

“Already? But we're just seeing the effects of the smaller flares. We aren't supposed to feel the big storm they've been hyping up on the news for another day or so. The Concilium advised the Guard and our medical staff that Crescents might feel more than the usual ruffle of the
Deus Vis
, but nothing severe.”

“That's what they're telling you. I am willing to share the truth under the confidentiality of the Guard's Silence Credo.”

“You're not Guard.”

“Details.” Purcell smiled. “Call in your secretary. I overheard her telling one of the other ladies that she was going home after lunch.”

While he did, Purcell pulled out a cloth from his pocket that held the small prototype.

Marie came in, her complexion pale, eyes dull. Hardly a flame flickered in her eyes. “Yes, sir,” she said, her voice lackluster, too.

Purcell flicked on the reactor and took her hand in his. “Dear, you look positively ill.”

“Oh, you shouldn't touch me. I'm…” She blinked. “Sick. Or was sick. That's weird. I feel better.” The color was returning to her face. “You're a healer?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Purcell said.

She squeezed his hand. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” She turned to Fernandez. “The open cases summary is almost done. I'll start working on the expense reports.” She spun and left, closing the door behind her.

“Your wife could feel better, too, just that fast,” Purcell said, reaching into Fernandez's mind and feeling his profound relief at that thought.

“What do I need to do?”

A sound. Her phone ringing. Ruby rose slowly to consciousness. Who would be calling? The clock indicated she'd only been asleep for a short time. Not long enough. The ringing stopped. She closed her eyes again. Whoever had called could wait. Probably Nevin, who was no doubt dying of curiosity.

Her Dragon clawed at her, like an insistent dog needing to go out. She groaned, rubbing her tattoo. “Don't tell me I have to let you out to pee.”

It nudged her. “Later,” she said, then grimaced at the word. Something small landed on the bed, like a drop of rain. Then another. She opened her eyes when one landed an inch from her nose. A red M&M.

She jerked to a sitting position and searched her room. The Elemental stood in the doorway holding a bag of M&M's. “Fergus, what are you doing?”

A cat jumped on the bed.

She sighed out loud. “Oh, just one of the kitties.”

Except the kitties were freaked out by her now. And the reason they were freaked out pushed hard against her, urging her to Catalyze.

So she did.

And the kitty turned into a demon.

“Holy hell.”

She was pretty sure it was a demon, though it looked like a man. Sort of. Its skin stretched unnaturally across its cheeks, and its eyes were solid black with a white retina. That he wore clothing, baggy jeans and a white T-shirt made it seem more surreal. And oddly, even creepier than the subhuman demons. Now she saw the shadow Cyn had mentioned. A harbinger then.

“No. This is supposed to be
over
,” she said.

It giggled. “Nope, not over, dearie. Play with me. My name is Selwig.”

Was Magda behind this? But Dragons couldn't summon demons.

Selwig reached toward her in some kind of weird gallant gesture, and she bit its hand. It hissed at her, or maybe it smiled and air leaked out between its rubbery lips. Either way it sent chills scurrying across her scales.

“Ooh, playing hard to get, are you?” it said, now definitely smiling.

“Very hard to get.” She shot out a stream of fire spikes.

It ducked out of the way, but the skin on its arm bubbled in the heat. “Thanks, dearie. I needed a tan.”

“Then allow me to oblige.” She Breathed out again, obliterating the demon in a fireburst. When the flames cleared, its entire body was charcoal.

Selwig surveyed itself. “I bet you're a terrible cook.” It disintegrated into a pile of ash that re-formed into a creature that just plain looked demonic. “Maybe you'll like me better this way.”

“Dark green skin, bald head, and those mesmerizing eyes. How can I resist?” She Breathed flames again, but he danced out of the stream.

“Think I'll go rare this time.” God, it was having fun, giggling, moving its hips back and forth as it taunted her. A moving target.

She narrowed her eyes and sent another blast, singeing its arm. It blew on the smoking skin in quick bursts. Before she could nail it again, Fergus jumped on its back. “No!” she shouted, as its small but razor-sharp talons sank into the demon's shoulder. Selwig reached back with a growl, but Fergus jumped off in the nick of time. Before she could send another Breath, the demon flew at her, clamping onto her neck and sinking its teeth into her.

She tried to wrench it off, but it grew spikes that lanced her hands. Blood dripped from her palms and fingers when she jerked them back. She had to get this thing off her. Its fangs pierced through her scales and into her muscle, close to the kill spot Cyn had described. Pain shot from the puncture right up to her head. She thrashed, smashing it against the wall again and again until the leech fell onto her dresser. It leaped to the chair. She banged her fist down on it, cracking the chair but missing the demon that had jumped away.

“What, no more giggling?” she asked. Her reflection in the mirror showed a trickle of blood down her neck.

“No, now you're just pissing me off.”

Fergus darted forward and took a nip before the demon could spin around to face it. While they sparred, she crept up behind Selwig and lunged. It morphed into a dragon, nearly as big as her.

What the hell?

Well, of course, if it could look like a cat, it could look like her. Exactly like her, other than the white eyes. It rushed forward and rammed right into her, sending her tripping over the broken chair and onto the floor. It lunged down toward her, and she snapped at its snout with her fangs, drawing blood. Selwig jumped up and landed on top of her before she could move in the crowded space. It now had the weight of a dragon, nearly cracking her ribs. She threw it off, sending it crashing into the dresser. Pain rocketed through her body as she tried to get up.

Hunter/Prey. She needed to get the demon off guard. Fergus waylaid Selwig, then paid the price by being tossed across the room. Ruby remained on the floor and tried to look terrified.

Selwig came close, eyeing her throat. “Well, dearie, this has been fun, but it's time for me to end this dance.” The demon flexed its fingers, readying its sharp claws to finish her off.

“No,” she pleaded. “Please.”

The moment it leaned close, she clamped her mouth around its neck. Her fangs sank through skin, muscle, then crushed bones. Black blood squirted. Selwig screamed in agony. Its body sagged and then it evaporated in a puff of dust. She jerked upright and searched the floor. Nothing remained to re-form into anything else.

Fergus jumped up and down and made happy sounds. Before she could even sigh in relief, magick prickled through her. She whipped around to the doorway of her ruined room, feeling the spikes on her back rise.

Cyn stood there, feet spread, body rigid, as though ready to Catalyze. But he was very human. He slowly clapped his hands together. “Very nice. My student has learned well.”

She remained Dragon, adrenaline coursing through her, hoping to use it to intimidate him into going away. Of course, he didn't. She thrust her head at him, snarling, nudging him hard enough that he had to take a step back to keep his balance.

He didn't look the least bit intimidated. In fact, he reached out and stroked her cheek, as though she were a horse. Damn it, her Dragon purred, leaning into his touch.

Ruby Catalyzed to human and changed into the first shirt and pants she could find in the debris. “How did you know I wasn't really injured?”

“I could sense your energy. You looked afraid, but you felt pissed off.”

“It's disturbing that you can feel me like that.” She narrowed her eyes. “I thought this was over!”

His tight, stretchy shirt molded to his chest as he lifted his hand to the room. “It's not, as you can see.”

“But why? How? We killed Darren, and Magda can't summon demons.”

“We assumed that Darren was the mastermind. But something didn't feel right. I went to Fernandez, my former boss, and asked for Mr. Smith's description. Not Darren. So it appears that we're stuck with each other for a while longer.”

“But I handled the demon all by myself.”

“You did indeed. It was gratifying to watch.” The embers in his eyes flickered. “Deeply satisfying, in fact.” He blinked, dousing the embers. “Unfortunately, when this one doesn't report back, Smith may send more. You're not equipped to handle more than one yet. We do this together, just as Brom's prophecy says.”

With an impatient huff, she stepped over the broken pieces of her chair and pictures on the way to the living room. The demon had been through her things, moving pillows and even the coffee table. She found Brom's book in a different place than where she'd left it and opened it to the latest entry. “There's a new picture. Oh, great, a big monster with three heads. So that part of Mon's story wasn't his literary license.”

Cyn leaned over her shoulder. “And both of us fighting it.”

His heat called to her Dragon, drawing her to lean back against him.
Stop it! Bad Dragon.

She felt it snort, a really odd sensation.

Want.

The worst part was she wasn't sure if that last sentiment was hers or her Dragon's. She snapped the book shut and shoved it into her bag. “What kind of monster is that? Another tulpa?”

He was right behind her, his feet light on the stairs as they went down. “Nothing I've ever seen. I suppose a Deuce could make a tulpa that looked like that though.”

They approached the fence, and Ruby grabbed the lock, which was still intact. “How did you get in? And how did you know a demon was here?”

“I climbed over.” He showed her the scrapes on his hands from the barbed wire coils at the top of the fence. “As soon as I discovered that Mr. Smith is still out there, I knew he'd be targeting you again.”

She relocked the gate once they'd passed through. “Just because I'm going with you doesn't mean I've forgiven you.”

“Understood.”

She slung her bag in the trunk he opened for her.

“More bad news,” he said as they pulled onto the road. “The
Deus Vis
is still fracturing. Whatever is causing it wasn't in that lab. It's beginning to hit Crescents hard. How are you feeling?”

God, it really wasn't over at all. Panic squeezed her throat. “I'm tired and achy.”

“Like the flu?”

“Like I've got demons and tulpas trying to kill me.”
And a Dragon tearing up my heart.
“I figured it was everything I've been through lately.” She remembered the images Brom had flashed into their minds. “People are still going to die.”

“Yes.”

“Kids. Grandmothers. Us. What about the Elementals?”

“They don't require
Deus Vis
to survive.”

She felt some relief, but it was small consolation. “What do we do? How do we stop it?”

His cell phone rang. “Fernandez,” he said to her and answered it. She couldn't hear what the man was saying. “No,” Cyn said, glancing at her. “Okay, I'll be right there.” He disconnected. “He says he knows what's going on.”

“Could he be in on it?”

“I considered that when I went to see him this morning, but I doubt it. I've told him very little, for his protection and ours. As in any large agency, there's the possibility of corruption at the upper levels.”

He took an on-ramp and merged with the flow of traffic on the interstate. “I'm meeting Fernandez at my house.”

A short while later, he took an exit leading to southeast Coral Gables. “Hungry?”

“Famished.”

He pulled into the parking lot of a small café. “This is one of my favorite places. Spanish food.”

She got out, and the scent of garlic and tomatoes wafting through the air unleashed a growl from her stomach.

“Mr. Valeron, good to see you,” the host said when they walked inside, giving her a nod, too. “Welcome.” He had olive skin and dark hair like Cyn, and his eyes flickered in the Dragon way.

The place was quaint. Murals depicted cozy scenes with what she guessed were Spanish homes and balconies.

Cyn ordered for them, which would have been annoying except she didn't know what some of the dishes on the menu were. An array of plates were delivered soon after, including one filled with baby octopi. Ugh. The array was colorful though. She ate the things she recognized, olives and cheese, chorizo sausage, and slices of beef.

“Ruby, remember how I'm an arrogant ass and want you to obey me?”

The olive she was chewing went down like a rock. “Yeah…”