To Match A Dragon’s Fire (Sulfur & Spice #1)

20

Kieran

Never Let a Woman Go Hungry

The clock was ticking.

I felt it in each breath and through the path of the sun as it tracked across the sky. A day was but a moment when you’d lived as long as I had, but the minutes were slipping through my fingers now faster than I could catch them.

Ember was my mate.

And we were running out of time.

A frantic sort of energy vibrated through my being as I headed to the caves. I couldn’t remember the last time my heart beat this fast or when I’d been so tense before.

This was chaos.

From a rational perspective, I knew I should calm down and think, but my beast was having none of that. We had a job to do. One more important than any other we’d ever been given.

I crawled over the rock ledge of the nearest cave entrance and landed on the earthen floor. The ground trembled under my boots. I shook my head at Her antics .

I’d always paid attention to how She spoke, but it’d been years since I’d heard anything other than these teasing tremors reminding us of Her power.

I ignored Her taunting as I adjusted the basket of baked goods on my arm, turning left down the tunnel, away from the sounds of weak human cries.

The biggest fears the town peasants—residents—had were of my dragon and the human government.

They didn’t even realize the real threat was beneath their feet. Each rumble of Earth’s shifting crust was a rushing tide of disaster. She’d continue to move faster and faster without the guardian to absorb Her energy.

The whole world was about to change.

And I was foolish for staying here.

Anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere would be unrecognizable in a few years. The Southern Hemisphere would follow shortly after. Nowhere was safe, but we could keep moving if we had to.

I wouldn’t let Her take Ember yet.

Not when she still had so much life and passion and love in her eyes.

It was my job to protect her.

With our dying breath, my dragon roared, invigorated with his new purpose.

It was a struggle to keep him away from the human male chained to the tunnel walls and head deeper into the earth instead. We’d gotten our answers from the sheriff already.

I wasn’t sure if I could trust myself to leave him alive for Ember’s gift if I had to speak with him alone again .

What she’d seen in that pitiful man was beyond my comprehension. I couldn’t even find it in me to be jealous of such a lowly creature.

The whiny sounds as I’d gently interrogated him still filled me with disgust. I should probably hurry in case he succumbed to his injuries though.

Worst case, I’d bring her his head.

The sounds of water dripping from stalactites and flames crackling in lanterns lit by dragon fire guided the way through the main tunnel.

It was colder here, warmed only by the flames that held Earth’s magic given to dragons to wield. The fire would burn until the dragons died or put it out.

I shivered, realizing that end was coming sooner rather than later. Having Ember tumble into my life showed me just how fast it could all slip away.

I quickened my pace, not wanting to waste any more time now that it felt so precious.

The scent of old scrolls, potted ink, and musty remains of bones was a soothing balm to the rapid pulse of my dragon’s rage. It slowed our heart, reminding us of calmer days of the past.

Bemouth looked up from his stone slab desk covered in yellowed parchment. He smiled in greeting as I entered the cavern. My old mentor was more beast than man.

Reptilian scales of silver covered liver-spotted patches of skin on his upper human body. His lower half was permanently dragon. Monstrously large thighs creaked as he moved about the room, dragging his molting silver tail, constantly peeling with weak new growth. His white human hair was fragile and wispy, pulled back with a leather strap .

Slitted dragon eyes regarded me under bottle-cap bifocals with a grandfatherly warmth. “Are those muffins I smell?”

“Agatha made the poppy seed ones.” I set the basket on the desk, unhooking the meat pouch from my belt to place beside it. “Is she awake?”

We both looked to the darkened cavern beyond the open enclosure Bemouth made his home, listening for sounds of the chains rattling.

Silence greeted us in return.

“She’s been sleeping more than usual.” He removed his bifocals and grabbed a muffin, eating it in one bite before leaning his large backside against the stone bench. “Speaking of women, word is that you’ve got a little lass up there waiting for you.”

I cringed under the suggestive tone in his ancient voice. “Are you and Fred gossiping again?”

“My cousin keeps me fed with stories.” Bemouth grabbed another muffin. “You just keep me fed.”

“Is there anything else you need?” I looked around the darkened cave.

It was quaint for a dragon, but maybe there could be more. I could hire out some semi-trucks. Move a few things around…

“What’s with that look in your eye?” Bemouth watched me closely.

Despite his age, he didn’t miss much. I’d studied under him as a hatchling and owed most of my intelligence to this beast. That made it hard to admit failure to him.

“I’m thinking about relocating.” There, I said it out loud.

Bemouth set down his muffin. “This thing with the human. It’s serious then. ”

“It’s not a thing,” I growled, feeling young and rash as the words left my mouth.

Bemouth gave me a knowing smile. “There it is. He said you were different lately. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a spark in you.”

“Different?” I took a deep breath, crossing my arms as I leaned back beside him and trying to maintain my calm.

It was this place. The human chained to the walls. My skin crawled with the need to leave. To kill. To do something to make this stop.

“That fire. The protective rage.” Bemouth chuckled. “It makes life spicy, doesn’t it?”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“You don’t?” He studied me.

Damn old dragon.

Perceptive as always.

“It shouldn’t be possible,” I grumbled, looking away. It physically pained me to bear ignorance in this. “How is it possible?”

“What exactly is it you’re asking?” He delighted in torture, making me spell everything out.

“The human woman, Ember, I believe she is my fated mate.” I stood firm in my conviction, straightening my shoulders as I spoke. “I know without a doubt she is.”

“All things are possible.” Bemouth smiled, showing his sharpened fangs. “Unheard of? Yes. But that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Just that it maybe hasn’t happened yet.”

“This changes things.” I dragged my hand over my head, looking about the room again. “I need to make things happen for her safety. For all of us. ”

The look I never wanted to see again crossed his face. It was the same expression he’d given me when I’d moved him here against his will, knowing it’d be his grave. “You’re going to have to leave us.”

I shook my head, unwilling to let go. “I’m not some two-bit royal hoarder who throws away a penny that doesn’t shine. We can figure something out.”

“It’s time, son.” Bemouth rested his meaty hand on my shoulder. “We can’t go any further than this. It’s been a good ride.”

“No,” I said firmly, feeling my dragon unfurl within me. “We’ll figure out a way.”

The chains in the darkened cavern rattled.

“We’re of no use to you anymore.” Bemouth sighed at the sounds of his mate waking. “She’s gone to the beast and I’m out of ideas for this prophecy business. Maybe if I were younger, I could find a loophole. But my brain isn’t what it used to be.”

“Don’t you fucking say that.” I handed him the pouch of meat as a vicious dragon roar filled the cavern.

The sound echoed, dying down, as Bemouth smiled fondly. “Maybe it’s time for the end. No new dragons born in two hundred years, the guardian’s power fading, the humans and their overpopulation… No offense to your lady friend.”

“None taken.” I gripped the edge of the stone desk as the cavern walls shook around us with an Earth tremor. Dahlia’s roar came louder this time, urgent and demanding.

Bemouth chuckled. “The one thing I know is that if a female says things are about to change, it’s best to get out of her way. ”

“That’s not all you know.” I shook my head, unwilling to believe that was his only advice. Bemouth was the wisest dragon I’d ever met. Age had softened him somehow.

“You’re right.” He grabbed the bag of meat. “I also know not to wait when my mate is hungry.”

I turned away, giving Bemouth privacy as he headed toward the back of the cavern with the bloody food.

Dahlia had slipped into sort of a dementia-like state where her primal nature took over to defend her aging body.

It sometimes happened with our species, especially for those who lived close to a millennium as Bemouth and Dahlia had.

But even if she was younger, it still seemed rude to watch such a private act. Bemouth refused to leave her side or let anyone else care for his mate.

I refused to let them die alone.

This was my flock. I’d sworn to protect them.

And we also have a mate.

I walked away from Bemouth, heading toward the tunnel wall where the human hiker had discovered the runes the federal paranormal agency brought to our attention.

The same runes that I’d seen and studied most of my life taunted me now. Such a simple message with a simple meaning, literally translated, that seemed clear enough—one that had governed the life of my ancestors for centuries.

I traced the edges with my finger.

First born of fire.

Strength forged of flame.

When a dragon’s heart dies .

All three runes within a broken circle symbolized the changing patterns of the moon in a path of renewal until the end of days.

The symbolic cycle had coincided with a new eldest hatchling dragon birth every four hundred years in our lineage for as long as we had documented history, passed down in stories before the written word came to be.

But it was the break in the circle that we’d discovered signified the end of the chain.

Why now? I pressed my hand against the cool cave wall, asking the same question I’d asked a million times before.

Malachy’s power had been fading since before he’d met the four-hundred-year mark, and try as we might, there was no one to pass the gauntlet to.

No births of new dragons. No one strong enough to fulfill our role. We were the last of the prophecy.

Our time had come and passed.

But Ember’s hadn’t.

Not yet.

“I won’t let you take her,” I swore, pushing away from the cave wall and the runes that had forsaken us.

The mountain above and ground below trembled again, but I ignored Her tantrum as I headed out of the depths of the earth and back to the sunlight, where a pretty human woman who deserved the world was waiting.