Jaime Rush - Dragon Awakened

Her finger followed Brom’s scribbled words. Cyn dies. Ruby must Breathe his power. But enough to defeat???

The words clutched her throat. “No.” She looked at Cyn, whose face had gone pale. “No.”

“The Dragon Prince died in Mon’s story,” he said in a low, careful voice.

“But that’s because he hated you. He made it up.”

“His stories were based on Brom’s vision, Ruby. We can’t ignore what’s right in front of us.” He tapped the picture. “This is why you need me. You will need my power to succeed.”

She grabbed his arm, her fingers twisting the material of his sleeve. “Kade said visions were an approximation of what could happen.”

“Maybe so, but everything Brom saw has come true so far.”

“Cyn, you can’t die. Not now that I…” Loved him? Isn’t that what giving him her heart meant? “Not now,” she finished.

His mouth turned to a wry grin. “Would have been easier if you still hated me.” She could see his mind working as his embers became jagged sparks.

“Well, it’s too late for that now, Cyntag Valeron. What I’ve given you, you can’t give back.”

“Your forgiveness?”

“My heart.”

He reached out, his palm on her cheek. His mouth opened, but he seemed to struggle with the words. She suspected he changed them when he said, “Remember what I said about Breathing Dragon. Just in case,” he added, when she was going to protest. “You’ll see the Dragon’s essence hovering above the physical body. It’ll look like heat waves over sunbaked pavement. The stronger and older he or she is, the more power. I’m old and I’ve killed a lot of Dragons, so if you Breathe me, you’re going to get overloaded. This is where you really have to put logic over emotion.”

“Can’t I heal you? Like you healed me?”

He shook his head. “You’re not strong enough yet. If I’m killed or mortally injured, you have to Breathe me, Ruby. Because if Magda does it, you’ll never win. Promise me.”

She nodded, tears making her eyes tingle. She remembered feeling Garnet’s pain at being so alone and lost.

“Afterward, you should be able to tap into my Obsidian qualities. But if you let your emotions drive you, you’ll be killed. It’s as simple as that. And if we both die, so do a lot of other people.”

“But you’re not going to die.”

“I’ll do my best.” He rubbed his thumb against the side of her mouth. “Before you came into my life again, I didn’t care about living or dying. But now I have a lot to live for. So believe me when I say that I’ll fight like hell to stay alive, and to keep you safe.”

She kissed him fiercely, her hands gripping his face. “Don’t you dare die, Cyn. Don’t you dare.”

“No matter what happens, know that you brought me to life again.” He rubbed away tears she didn’t know she had shed.

She pressed her hand to his chest. “I want you to know something, too. You have a good heart, despite everything you’ve done. When I looked past my anger, I saw everything you really are. Not just a cold, badass Dragon warrior, but a man with integrity and a sense of right.”

He curled his fingers around her hand. “Would it make any difference to tell you not to have those feelings about me?”

“No. You don’t know the half of what I feel for you.”

His fingers pressed against her mouth. “Don’t tell me. It’ll mess with my head, make me fight under a red haze of emotion. Let’s find Purcell and finish this.”

Cyn called Fernandez. “Are you at home?” He didn’t apologize for calling at one in the morning.

Ruby leaned close to his shoulder, listening in.

Fernandez’s voice was low, hard to hear. “Yes. I’m with Celia. She’s sleeping.”

“I’m in your driveway now. Does she know what’s going on?”

What you did for her? Ruby wanted to shout.

“No, I haven’t told her anything. Not until I have to. I’ll meet you outside.”

Cyn disconnected, giving Ruby a nod. She leaned on the passenger door and watched between half-closed eyes.

Cyn got out as Fernandez approached the car. “I need to get Ruby to whatever this device Purcell has. Now. She’s been feeling the effects of the fracturing, but now she’s barely hanging on.” She could hear his fear of losing her in his voice. “Purcell said to get in touch with you.”

Fernandez glanced her way, though he could only see the top of her head for the most part. He pulled out his phone and started touching buttons.

Cyn rammed his fingers back through his hair. “I understand how you felt now, when Celia almost died a long time ago. And recently. I understand why you set me up to save her.”

“I’m glad, because it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.” He focused on his call. “Purcell? It’s Fernandez. The woman who was with Cyntag, she’s very ill… Yes, I’ll put him on.” He handed the phone to Cyn. “He wants to talk to you.”

Cyn took the phone, looking for all the world like a man distraught. “She started out feeling lethargic but went downhill fast. She…she can hardly breathe now. She hasn’t eaten in hours. I’ve been keeping her alive by using my healing power, but I’m so weak I don’t know how much longer I can do it. You promised if we backed off, you would save us…I’ll be right there.” He shoved the phone at Fernandez. “Thank you.”

“Where is he sending you? Is it where we’re all supposed to go?” Panic punctuated Fernandez’s voice. “He won’t tell me.”

Cyn didn’t answer, running to the car.

Ruby sat up as soon as they were out of view of the house. “What if it’s a trap?”

“The vision says you have a chance to defeat the monster. The only way we’re going to do that is to get to the reactor.”

She didn’t want to think about the other part.

“I think I was pretty convincing,” he said.

“Very. You broke my heart.”

“All I had to do was remember watching you walk away from me yesterday.” He let those words settle for a moment. “Purcell wants to meet at a gas station north of here. We’re to follow him. Remember, he can reach into your mind, so you have to think ‘sick.’”

“All I have to do is remember walking away from you. As much as I wanted you to hurt…damn it, I was hurting, too.”

He looked at her, his expression softening. “Ruby…”

“Don’t say anything.” She pressed her fingers to her temples. “It’ll mess with my head.”

Fifteen minutes later, he pulled up to the Chevron. It was closed, but the lights were on. Purcell waited by a Rolls-Royce, his arms loosely crossed in front of him. He approached the Thunderbird, and Cyn got out.

Purcell glanced into the passenger window where Ruby sprawled. “She seemed fine earlier.”

“She’s been complaining about stomach pains for the last day or so. I convinced her that you were telling us the truth. That we had to look out for ourselves. It was soon after that”—he pinched the bridge of his nose—“she got so fatigued she could barely move. I think it’s hitting her hard because she’s newly Awakened. Save her, and I’ll do everything I can to help you.”

She could hear the strain in his voice as he begged. Cyn was not a man who was used to begging.

Purcell said, “I will hold you to your word, as you hold me to mine. But I insist that once you are there, you remain until the fracturing passes.”

“Whatever you say.”

“Follow me.”

Cyn got back in, closing the door with both hands, like he was too weak to do it with one. “We’re on.”

They wound through the city, busy even at this time of night. Ruby remained slumped but watched the buildings go by. Finally he pulled into a nearly empty parking lot. A sign pronounced the place closed for renovation.