Jaime Rush - Dragon Awakened

“Where are we?” she asked.

“The Devil’s Ray nightclub, one of the private clubs for Crescents only.”

He parked near the entrance, going around to the passenger side and helping her out. She let her body go limp.

“In here,” Purcell said, leading the way to the back entrance of the three-story building. “I’ve commandeered one of the clubs to gather the Chosen. You’re the first to arrive.”

Cyn pretended to stagger, though when Purcell put his arm out to help, he stepped back. “I’ve got her.”

“Can you still become Dragon?”

Cyn sounded weary. “I doubt it.”

He stepped into the cavernous space, and the door closed behind them. More ominous, she heard the locks click. She felt an immediate difference in the energy, similar to how Chena felt. The reactor was definitely here. She met Cyn’s eyes, and he gave her a subtle nod.

Some lights were on, though they didn’t illuminate the space well. She heard two men talking somewhere nearby. Stacks of cots lined the outer wall. So that part was true, anyway. Two bars flanked the large space, and in the back, an open space she guessed was a dance floor. This would be the place where the Chosen would hunker down while all the other Crescents died.

Bastards.

Purcell gestured, and a man rushed over and set out a cot.

Cyn laid her down, whispering, “You’re going to be all right, baby.”

Another man came over and both remained a few feet away from Purcell. No doubt security.

Purcell held out his hand. “I will require your cell phones. No one can have access to the outside once they’re here. It’s for your own safety. When friends or acquaintances call, panicked about how people are dying, some will weaken and give our location. We can’t allow any more than are planned for.”

Cyn slowly pulled his phone out. He wouldn’t be able to call in Grayson.

“Hers, too.”

She wasn’t sure how he knew she had one, but Cyn dutifully dug into her pocket and retrieved it, handing both over.

“Stay with her,” Purcell said. “I’ll be right back.”

Cyn knelt next to her, but he watched the man retreat. She couldn’t see from her vantage point. They agreed that as soon as they were inside, they were completely in their roles. The two guards had remained, preventing even a subtle exchange.

Purcell returned and paused by the two men. “Where is Magda?”

Ruby’s eyes widened at the name. Of course Magda would be here. She was Purcell’s daughter-in-law.

One of the men said, “She went to gather some provisions.”

Purcell stepped into view, taking a call on his cell phone. “Yes?…It’s getting to be too much?…All right, you know where we are. I’ll see you soon. We’re ready.” He disconnected, turning to the two men. “People will start arriving soon.”

Cyn stood. “Ruby needs healing now.”

“The Deus Vis in the building should bring her around.”

“She’s fading fast. If she dies…” He let the threat hang in the air. They had a small window of opportunity, with only a few men here and Magda out.

After a tense moment, Purcell turned and walked away. “Bring her.”

Cyn picked her up again and followed Purcell down a short hallway where the offices were. Purcell opened the door to the second room, allowing Cyn to carry her in.

In a wooden cabinet lined with black velvet sat a reactor roughly two feet long and six inches wide. Energy pulsed all around it, as thick in the air as her pulse was in her blood. Purcell took her hand and pressed it against the smooth surface. Its energy charged through her so intensely that she gasped.

He pulled it back. “Now, go back to the main area.”

Ruby slid to her feet, not having to pretend to adjust to the power rocketing through her. She and Cyn exchanged a nod and Catalyzed.

Purcell used his magick to throw Cyn against the wall, shouting, “Carew! Balston, get in here!” Purcell turned to her, his eyes as wild as the aurora borealis. He held out his hand, and she ducked as a fireball shot over her.

She didn’t see the second one that followed right behind the first. It hit her squarely in the stomach with a fiery heat and hurled her to the floor. Cyn blew out a dark cloud that surrounded Purcell, though he was using magick to dispel it.

Ruby grabbed the reactor and raced to the door as the two guards rushed in. She barreled into one, knocking him to the side. Cyn fought the other man, fangs against orbs.

Like a football player, she tucked the reactor against her chest with her chin and ran. That was the part of the plan she didn’t like, leaving Cyn behind.

Because of Brom’s vision.

So she would take it away, hide it, and come back to fight with him. Except the back door opened and Magda stepped inside, turned away as she argued with someone behind her. “You have no right to be here yet.”

The man was saying, “I need to know where—”

She suddenly spun around to face Ruby. “I thought I sensed a Dragon.” Her gaze narrowed in on the reactor. “Oh, no you don’t.” She Catalyzed, and the man behind her ran inside. It was Fernandez, who, unlike Magda, wasn’t surprised to see Ruby. Because he’d no doubt followed them here.

Magda pointed at the reactor in Ruby’s grip. “She’s trying to steal the device that will save us! Help me stop her.”

Oh, hell. Of course he would. Fernandez Catalyzed, too, a black-and-blue Dragon like Cyn. Ruby couldn’t fight and hold the reactor at the same time. It slipped from her grasp. Fernandez went for it as Magda charged at her. Ruby tried to dodge, but like an oncoming car in a game of chicken, Magda changed angles and rammed her.

Ruby shattered the hostess stand when she landed on it. Before she could get to her feet, Magda pounded on her. Fangs glistened as they came at her. Ruby deflected, feeling them scratch across her scales with the ear-shattering screech of nails on a chalkboard. Ruby braced against the floor and shoved Magda off of her. She rolled, coming up on her feet, ready to attack again.

Where was Cyn? She could hear thumps down the hall.

Focus. Fearing for Cyn’s safety would not help her.

Magda advanced on Ruby, whipping her tail equipped with that fatal stinger. “You killed my husband.”

Ruby sent a stream of spikes at her, trying to sever the deadly tail. “You killed my parents,” Ruby said, her voice a snarl. “My uncle. And now I’m going to kill you.”

Magda laughed. “You’re a babe. Without your big, bad Obsidian Dragon, you’re helpless.” She pointed the black tip of her tail at Ruby, sending a shower of small flares at her. Three hit her, penetrating her scales and sending what felt like electrical shocks pulsing through her. The muscles in her right leg seized, cramping like the worst charley horse ever.

“The. Hell. I. Am.” Ruby stretched her leg, trying to regain control of it. Magda lunged forward, and Ruby surrounded her with a firestorm the same way she’d done with the demon.

Magda screamed and shook off the flames. Before the last of them were out, Ruby sent fiery spikes at her face. Even temporarily blinded, Magda shot more of those damned darts, hitting Ruby’s shoulders. Pain radiated down her arms and paralyzed her hands.

Purcell burst out of the hallway. “Where’s the reactor?” he screamed.

Magda blindly pointed at the doorway as she kept her focus on Ruby. “That Guard Captain grabbed it when she dropped it.”

“Who, Fernandez? He was here?”

Was, but not anymore. He was gone. And so was the reactor.

Magda screeched, “He must have taken it!”

Purcell raised his hand and began to create an orb. A green one, like the kind that killed Mon. Cyn dove out, knocking Purcell to the ground. The orb disappeared. God, Cyn was bleeding, the red of it streaking down his chest. A huge bubble orb surrounded Purcell as Cyn lunged forward to attack. Cyn bounced back from it, then inhaled and encompassed it in black smoke. Like a living thing, it squeezed the bubble.