Secrets of the Dragon’s Heart (Mysteries of Dragon’s Island #6)

Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

***CAMERON***

C ameron couldn’t believe he’d let Max talk him into keeping an eye on Kennedy. The woman was bad news all the way around, and he just wanted to be done with her before he made a huge mistake. But here he was, setting off on an all-day hike, just the two of them. It would be a test of his control, one he wished he didn’t have to endure, but Max didn’t want her on her own until they knew who she really was.

He'd been telling himself that there was probably a perfectly good explanation and had even suggested that they just talk to her, but Max had shut him down. Now he was playing reluctant spy, a job he was sure that he was going to screw up since Kennedy kept him so off balance that half the time he didn’t even know his own name. If she really was up to no good, he probably wasn’t the best person to be watching her. He’d tried to tell Max that, but he wouldn’t listen.

Spotting her waiting for him, he ignored the way his heart sped up, the thrills that swept through him, and the little surge of power when his dragon began to pay attention. “ I was beginning to think that you weren’t going to show up,” Kennedy said, throwing a backpack at him. “This one is yours.”

“What’s this?” he asked, holding up the surprisingly heavy backpack. “Are there rocks in this thing or something?”

“It’s your day pack,” she said, looking at him like he was an idiot. “I knew you wouldn’t come prepared, so I put that together for you. It’s just a few essentials: emergency supplies, extra water, and food.”

“Do we really need all this?” he asked, letting the backpack drop to the ground. “We’re just going for the day, and the island isn’t that long. We can’t really get lost.”

“I guess you were never a boy scout,” Kennedy said, shaking her head. “Always be prepared, surely you’ve heard that before. A lot can happen out there, and I’d rather go in prepared for the worst than find myself in trouble because I was unprepared. But if it’s too heavy for you, I’m sure we can leave something behind.”

“That’s not necessary,” he said, picking up the pack and swinging it onto his back. “It seems excessive to me, but you’re in charge. I’m just along to make sure you don’t get into any trouble.”

He winced at his choice of words, but Kennedy just rolled her eyes at him. “I think it might be the other way around, but think what you want if it makes you feel better,” she said. I hope you can keep up. We’ve got ten miles to cover, and we can’t take it slow.”

“Ten miles,” he said. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope, you should have looked at the map,” she said, a superior smile on her face. “It’s not too late to change your mind.”

“Let’s go, we’re wasting time,” he said. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be just fine.”

Kennedy turned without another word, with a look of determination in her eyes, and started down the path at a normal pace, but she began to push them over the next ten minutes. At first, he had a hard time keeping up with her; it felt like the pack weighed a hundred pounds, and he was sure that if he stopped and took the time to look, he’d discover that it was full of rocks. When they finally stopped to rest, Kennedy was breathing as hard as he was, her hand shaking as she raised a water bottle to her lips, and it hit him that she was as tired as he was.

She’s doing this on purpose because she wants me to give up. She’s trying to get rid of me, he thought, his mind spinning. Max was right, she was up to something, but he couldn’t figure out what it could be. There was nothing at the end of the trail but a cliff with a view of the ocean. A dozen crazy ideas popped into his mind, but he discarded them all. He was no closer to a solution than he’d been a few minutes before, but one thing he did know was that he wasn’t going anywhere. He was going to stick with Kennedy and find out the truth.

When she got to her feet, her cheeks still pink, making her eyes look even bluer, he did his best to ignore the punch of desire that hit him square in the stomach. “You look tired,” she said. “Are you sure you don’t want to turn back? I can go on from here by myself.”

“Nope, I’m good. In fact, I think I’m just getting warmed up,” he said, grinning at her as he slowly let some of his power bubble to the surface. “Do you want me to lead?”

“You don’t know where you’re going,” she said, unable to hide her frustration. “So I’ll lead. You’d probably just get us lost.”

When she turned and stomped up the trail, he couldn’t hide the little smile that slowly spread across his face, and he didn’t bother to fight the wave of desire that swept through him. He was getting used to it. This time, he had no problem keeping up with Kennedy, and he even had to force himself to slow down a few times, but he refused to feel guilty about using his power to give him the advantage. They reached the final ascent to the cliff a couple of hours later, and Kennedy stopped, her breath coming in short gasps, sweat glistening on her face, but she gave him a big smile like she was having the time of her life.

“We’ll stop here and rest for a while, have some lunch,” she said, her words coming in stops and starts as she tried to catch her breath. “The last part of the hike is the hardest. We’ll want to be fresh and rested before we try it.”

“You’re the boss,” he said, slipping off his backpack. “That was really fun. I didn’t think I’d like it, but I was wrong. The jungle is beautiful, and it felt good to push myself. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”

Kennedy stared at him for a second, her chest still rising and falling a little too rapidly, then forced a smile. “I’m glad that you’re having fun,” she snapped, then wrestled out of her backpack. “I hope you like sandwiches because that’s what we’ve got for lunch.”

***Kennedy***

Kennedy plopped down onto the ground next to her backpack, wanting to curse out loud. She couldn’t catch her breath, her legs ached, her back throbbing, and it was clear that her plan had backfired once again. Cameron was strolling around the little clearing, not the least bit tired after hiking five miles, and she began to wonder if he really spent as much time in the lab as he claimed.

She took her time unpacking her lunch, trying to buy some time so she could recover before she started questioning him. “I’m still a little out of breath. You must be in really good shape. You’re not even tired,” she said. “How do you do it? I thought you spent all your time in the lab.”

“I make time for exercise,” he said, sitting down next to her. “For my health and all that.”

They ate in silence for a few minutes, then she looked over at him. “Tell me more about what you do in the lab,” she said. “I know you said you work with DNA for medical research, but I’m not really sure what that means.”

“Like I said, it’s complicated,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “And a little boring, if you want to know the truth.”

“You should let me decide that,” she said. “I did go to college, you know. I may not be as smart as you are, but I get along.”

Cameron laughed. “Fair enough,” he said. “I can’t give you any specifics because most of what we do is confidential, but an example would be a drug company that wants to find out what gene causes a certain disease. They bring us the samples, we run the tests, and send them the results. It’s not that glamorous, just a lot of exacting work. You wouldn’t believe the paperwork we have to do.”

“I can just imagine,” she said. “But you seem to enjoy it, or you wouldn’t work so much.”

He looked over at her. “I’ve been working on a special project for the last few years. It’s kind of personal, so I have to put in extra hours, but I’m close to a breakthrough, and it will all be over soon,” he said, then shook his head. “That’s enough about me and my boring life. I just realized that I don’t know that much about you.”

Kennedy hesitated long enough that she could tell he was beginning to get suspicious. “There’s really not that much to tell,” she finally said. “I have a boring job I go to every day, a little house that I love, and this is the most fun I’ve had in a long time. ”

It was an acceptable answer, especially if someone didn’t want to share anything personal without lying. “What kind of job?” he asked, refusing to let her off the hook. “You didn’t really say.”

“It’s kind of embarrassing,” she said, getting to her feet. “We should get going. We’ve still got a way to go, and it’s getting late.”

Clearly disappointed that Kennedy wasn’t going to answer him, he stepped over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. She didn’t want to have to lie to him, and she tried not to look up at him; although she wasn’t sure she could avoid it. Bracing herself for a direct question she couldn’t answer, calling herself a fool for thinking that she could control the situation, she waited for what she knew was coming.

“Kenndey, I think we should talk,” he said. “I know that…”

Before he could finish, there was a loud crack in the jungle a few feet away, and they both turned to look, but there was nothing to see but the wall of green foliage encircling them. A second later, the birds in the tree around suddenly all took flight, squawking and calling as they filled the sky with a rainbow of colors. The silence that followed was almost deafening. She felt Cameron tense up beside her, then he lifted his head and smelled the air.

“That’s impossible,” he said, looking around them.

“Cameron, what’s wrong?” Kennedy asked. “It was just a limb breaking or something. There’s nothing out there.”

Another sharp crack made Kennedy jump and she turned to face the jungle, her face full of uncertainty. “Who’s out there?” she called. “Come out now.”

There were a few seconds of silence, then a low rumbling growl came from behind a large fern only a couple of yards away from them. Cameron shoved her behind him and started backing up. “I don’t like the sound of that,” he said. “I think we should get out of here and fast.”

“What was that?” she asked, letting him push her back over to the trail. “Cameron, that sounded like a growl.”

“It was,” he said, trying to get her to move faster. “I promise I’ll explain later, but we need to get out of here right now.”

They had only gone a few more steps when there was another growl, and a tiger strolled out of the bushes, its eyes locked on the two of them. Shocked, she could only stare for a second. “That’s a tiger,” she finally said. “What is a tiger doing here?”

“I don’t know, but he’s not very happy to see us,” he said, giving her another shove. “Just keep moving, but don’t run. He’ll just chase you.”

“Cameron, this can’t be real,” she said, stumbling a little. “There can’t be a tiger on the island.”

Before he could answer, the tiger growled at them, showing a set of razor-sharp teeth, then closed the distance between them in only a few strides. Trying not to scream, Kennedy clung to Cameron’s arm, taking deep breaths to keep the panic at bay, her brain still rejecting what her eyes were telling her.

“What are we going to do?” she asked, then let out a little cry when the tiger took another step toward them. “He’s going to attack us, Cameron.”

Cameron pushed her back a couple more steps. “I’m going to distract him while you go for help,” he said. “Step away slowly and then run as fast as you can. Don’t stop no matter what you hear.”

“I can’t leave you,” she said, shaking her head. “That thing will kill you.”

“No, it won’t. I promise, I know what I’m doing,” Cameron said, a strange look in his eyes. “I need you to trust me, I’ll be fine, but I need to know that you’re safe. Can you just do this for me, please?”

She started to argue, started to tell him that she would be devastated if something happened to him, but the tiger growled again. “Please, Kennedy, just go,” he said. “I care about you. I may not be able to have you, but dammit, I won’t be able to live with myself if something happens to you.”

Mouth hanging open she could only stare at him for a second, thrills rushing through her, a strange warmth filling her. “This discussion isn’t over,” she said. “You better come back to me alive, or I’m going to kill you.”

He leaned down and kissed her, then gave her a little shove before turning to face the tiger again. His body tensed for a fight she knew he couldn’t win. She only made it a few yards down the trail before she heard the tiger growling and turned to look back at Cameron, but he was already out of sight. Taking a few more steps, she told herself that he would be fine, that she was only doing what he asked, but visions of the tiger tearing him apart while she slunk away filled her mind.

She turned and started back toward the clearing, the growling getting louder. She came to a sliding stop when she saw Cameron facing the tiger, a scream trying to break free from her chest. Sure that the tiger was about to pounce, she looked around for a weapon, but before she could find one, the clearing began to fill with electricity, the air began to shimmer, and a second later, Cameron was gone.

Standing in his place was a huge dragon, its wings slowly unfurling from a feather-covered body, a hiss coming out of its mouth as it advanced on the tiger. The air came whooshing out of her lungs, her legs turned to rubber and she plopped down on the ground just as the tiger let out a roar of fear, then turned and fled back into the jungle. When the tiger was gone, the dragon slowly turned to face her. Their eyes met, and she let out a little gasp, the brown eyes looking back at her so familiar that she couldn’t breathe for a second.

She finally managed to fill her lungs, then got slowly to her feet, her heart breaking when she saw the look on the dragon’s face. “Cameron, is that you inside there? She asked, taking a couple of steps toward him, but he backed away from her. “I’m not scared, just…well, I’m not sure…maybe the other you could come back so that we can talk about this.”