Jaime Rush - Dragon Awakened

“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…”