31. Chapter 31
Izzy stared at the greenery whizzing by as Simon drove their rental down the interstate away from the lake where they had safely disposed of the explosive vest. Her thoughts traveled in the same manner, fast and unrelenting.
She’d spent two days pushing any concern for the dragons out of her mind until she could breathe easier—even if the pinch between her shoulder blades didn’t abate.
She had to figure out how to stop Fotios.
“Izzy.” Simon’s voice sounded distant, though he occupied the seat next to her. “Hello? Are you even paying attention?”
She blinked. “You don’t have to keep repeating yourself, Simon. The link. Immortality. Return to Heaven. I got it.”
“No, you don’t.”
Heat bloomed beneath her skin. “I can’t think about that right now. I’m trying to formulate a plan to defeat Fotios without endangering the dragons.”
There had to be a solution. She couldn’t kill Fotios like the dragons, but not having enough power hadn’t stopped her before. She’d created the FPPs for that exact reason—to harness stronger spirit energy.
“What do you have so far?” Simon asked.
“I can trap dragon fire like I do Thea’s spirit energy into bullets.”
“FPPs?” Simon nodded. “That could work. Where will we get the supplies to make them?”
“I just need a pistol and a hardware store.”
“And the dragon fire?”
She swallowed. “I’d have to ask or trade for dragon cooperation without them insisting on further assistance.”
Simon was silent for a long moment. “Will that stop Fotios?”
She drew in a tight breath. A worrying thought in her brain made her question whether she could pull that trigger. Even if Fotios was a monster, he still held a piece of her heart.
Don’t let your emotions get the better of you. As much as she tried to, the more logical answer for her was to plan for that scenario. If she couldn’t stop him, she’d have to trap him somewhere he couldn’t escape. One underground location came to mind.
“If not, I’ll trap Fotios in the underground tunnels at my estate in England using a miracle.”
Simon’s grip on the steering wheel turned white. “And how will you draw him out?”
That was the question. She needed to find the chinks in his armor, like he did hers.
Deductions told her Fotios could have just killed her.
Aros had deviated from his plans when he tried to take Izzy’s power.
Fotios wanted her to join him. Because on some level he still needed her—cared for her in some obtuse Remnant to Fallen way.
And that was a weakness she could exploit.
The threat of taking herself out of the equation would have him up in arms.
“I’ll threaten to go Dormant and never wake up,” she said.
His lips turned down at the sides. “How can you guarantee that he’ll stay in the trap?”
“I’ll injure him enough, or he won’t leave if I’m trapped down there with him.”
“You’ll die.” His voice turned heated. Simon had only been through two reincarnations—too few to trust that she would come back. So she wasn’t surprised.
“It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Not before being subjected to some amount of torture. And what of Daxton? Do you expect him to wait years to see you again?”
She felt the flinch on her face before she could stop it. “There’s nothing between us anymore. The link is gone.”
The car swerved. “What?”
Izzy waited until Simon had the car in the correct lane.
“We both blocked the link, and it broke.”
“Bloody hell. He is—”
An amazing man? Someone who showed her how to enjoy humanity? Worth fighting for? No matter what Simon would have said, it didn’t change things, so she cut him off. “A distraction in my endless punishment.”
“Did you not hear what I said earlier? He’s the answer to your—”
“Enough.” Her tongue dried. “He’s nothing.”
Simon smirked with a huff. “You know I see through your mask, right? You’re running away from your feelings and trying to write them off as thinking logically. When you should be using those emotions to get the upper hand.”
She stared at him, not following.
“Do you remember during Prohibition when those notorious bootleggers were running our town and everyone was afraid to stop them, but I kept stealing from them?”
The memory came to mind as if it had happened yesterday. Simon had always looked dashing in his three-piece wool suit and derby hat.
“You stole a truckload of their alcohol, and when they caught you, I wanted to kill you myself.”
Simon smiled. “But you didn’t. You came in with a pistol, ready to take down anyone who got in your way.”
She fidgeted with her glasses. She’d had no other choice since she could neither pay them nor rely on the authorities.
The thought of hurting or killing humans sickened her, but not when it came to protecting Simon.
She only had to aim her gun at an incendiary device she’d stuck to their booze for them to hand Simon over.
“That’s the day I knew you cared about me,” Simon said.
“I thought, if stick-in-the-mud Izzy is willing to break the ‘no killing anyone for her Coheart’ rule of her contract, she must care. You’d always been so focused on your work and had these adverse reactions to anything touchy-feely that I could never tell with you.
But that day you showed me. Of course, you wrote it off as needing to protect an asset, but you weren’t fooling me.
You’d survived many lifetimes without me.
And saving me gave you the will to focus your logic and further threaten them and kick them out of our town.
So don’t let his words deter you from knowing that emotions aren’t a hurdle.
They are the ladder to strength. And it’s the balance between logic and emotion that sets a person apart. ”
Izzy gazed at the gray mountains fading in the distance, unable to deny the truth in his words. “Even if that is true. My mind is made up. My focus must be on bringing down Fotios. I just need to find a bargaining chip for the dragon fire.”
Simon was silent as clouds drifted by. “I may have a solution to that.”
“Tell me.”
He met her gaze. “How many feathers do you have left?”
“Less than ten, why?”
“That’s enough to help a dragon fly again and trap Fotios, right?”
Serephina’s mangled form pierced through Izzy’s mind. “Yes, maybe, but—”
“No but. It’s the best chip you have, and helping her is a regret I won’t allow you to have on your conscience.”
Her heart skipped. Simon was right. Helping Serephina was her greatest bargaining chip. She refused to let her thoughts linger—not on the second part, and certainly not on the return to Pentros. Not on Silas. Not on Serephina. Not on Daxton. If he was even back.
Simon’s hidden agenda of getting her back with the dragons lay plainly in the cocked tilt of his mouth. He expected the dragons to get the better of her, but Izzy had long locked away her heart and set her mind. She was going after Fotios by herself.
“All right,” she said. “There’s just one problem. I don’t remember how to get to their territory. Their Illusion dragon made my memory foggy when we traveled there. All I remember is we drove off a cliff.”
“Cliff jumping? That’s not an easy fix.” He glanced around. “Okay, here. I’ll grab a map, and then we’ll find it.”
Five hours later, after collecting the supplies they needed, Izzy made another daring trip over the cliff edge.
The one that made the most sense given the routes from the airport.
Simon nearly blew out her eardrums with his screams as she drove over the edge since he wouldn’t.
Only after they exited the tunnel into Pentros did his voice stop.
“This…this is dragon territory?” he asked hoarsely.
Two blood-red dragons landed in front of the car.
Izzy slammed on the brakes and jerked in her seat.
They gazed up from low postures and snarled.
Sweat accumulated between her fingers and the steering wheel.
She waited through three intense breaths, but they didn’t shift back to human, only stared at them with hostility.
“We’re going to stay in the car, right?” Simon asked.
“Yeah.”
Down the gravel drive, dust plumed into the air, following an all-terrain vehicle. Someone was heading toward them. Her heart leaped, fearing it was Daxton.
The Jeep parked behind the dragons, and a tall figure jumped out. Where’s Daxton?
Frustration lined the tightness in Silas’s robust build. His presence was even more intimidating than the dragons. Not only did she break through his Illusion, but she was the reason his sister was injured.
“That’s Silas,” Izzy said. “The one I warned you about.”
“Get out of the car,” Silas said, planting his feet wide in front of her hood.
Izzy swallowed. “Just do as he says and remember…”
“He can wipe my memory. I’m not backing out now.” Simon opened his door.
Izzy followed suit and clutched the car door for support.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” He sliced his hand toward Simon. “And you’re bringing humans here now?”
“I propose a trade,” she said.
“You have a lot of nerve asking for anything from us.”
One dragon shifted with a flash into a woman with a crooked nose and walked toward Simon.
“Hand over any electronic devices,” Silas said to Simon before meeting Izzy’s gaze. “Both of you.”
She placed her phone in the dragon woman’s hand. “I can help Serephina.”
His square jaw ticked. “You should have done that instead of leaving her bleeding on the pavement.”
His anger tore at Izzy’s next words. She steeled herself. “Do you want your sister to fly again or not?”
“What do you want in return?”
“Dragon fire. I need to harness it into a bullet.”
He shook his head as if in disbelief. “Give Nia your keys and get in my Jeep.”
A bag of food hung from Izzy’s arm, and a thermos warmed her hand as she walked with Silas toward the infirmary at the end of the hallway.
Silas had allowed her to bring Serephina food from their mess hall—a peace offering Simon suggested.
As for her Coheart, Silas had locked him in the library with two full-time guards.
“I’m surprised you haven’t asked about Daxton,” Silas murmured.