Chapter 21
Twenty-One
VAUGHN
Ihave no idea where the hidden tunnel is taking us, but I’m not as preoccupied as I should be because I’m way too focused on Sophie’s hands in mine. She reached for me this time, and maybe I shouldn’t read too much into it, but I think she likes my company.
I can’t deny that I had a blast playing air hockey with her, even though that’s probably going to be the reason for our demise.
I doubt Larsson will forgive us for destroying his collection of sparkly figurines, and there’s no one around to help.
Not that I think Lucca has a lot of influence with the dragon kingpin, and King Raphael isn’t available.
Sophie and I don’t need to run far until we reach a door. It’s solid metal with a simple handle.
“Do you think it’s locked?” I ask.
If it is, we’re screwed.
Sophie tries the knob, and surprisingly, the door opens outward to a narrow alley. “This must be the back of Ember Emporium.”
“Sweet.” I step out first and scan the area, just in case the Red Guard is nearby. “The coast is clear.”
“I could have checked it for myself,” she complains, surprising me.
I look at her. “This wasn’t me trying to be all macho. But the Red Guard is looking for you, and they don’t mess around.”
She crosses her arms. “I can handle myself.”
I squint. “It seems our truce is over, huh?”
Her pretty eyes catch the light as they open wider, pupils dilating slightly, and her luscious lips make a perfect O. Man, what I wouldn’t give for a taste.
“I… that’s not… you know what? I think we should go our separate ways.”
Disappointment floods through me. That’s not how I wanted our time together to end, but it was stupid of me to imagine anything different. She’s Jacques Tellier’s daughter, enemy numero uno after Tatiana.
“If that’s what you—”
An enraged roar comes from inside the building, loud enough to rattle my bones. Fuck. Larsson must have found his broken prizes.
Sophie jumps into me, grabbing my forearms as she stares at the door we just exited from. “That doesn’t sound good at all.”
“No. Maybe we should stick together for a while longer. Come on.”
We run side by side until we exit the alley onto a street parallel to Ember Emporium. If Larsson decides to come after us in his dragon form, we won’t get far, even if we run at top speed.
“We need a car,” Sophie says.
“My car is nowhere near here, and we have to cross in front of Ember Emporium to reach it.”
“What if we borrow one?” She eyes a sweet sports car parked a few feet from us.
“Grand theft auto isn’t on my bucket list.” I look over her head and see the solution to our problem. “Come on. I have an idea.”
Sophie follows me to the bicycle rental stand. “That’s your solution?”
I take my phone out to use the rental app. “Yes. We can move faster on a bicycle instead of running.” I unlock the first bike and offer it to her. “There you go.”
“I-I can’t.”
“What do you mean, you can’t?”
She glances down and whispers, “I don’t know how to ride a bike.”
“You’re joking.”
“I never learned, okay? They weren’t considered a proper mode of transportation for ladies the last time I was awake.”
“Oh, right. My bad. I keep forgetting you’ve been around for a lot longer than me.” I get on the bike Sophie refused and pat the rear cargo rack. “Hop on.”
“Uh… should I sit astride or…?”
“Best to do it sidesaddle. More comfortable.”
She keeps staring at the rack without moving.
“Anytime now. Unless you want to wait for Larsson to show up.”
Grimacing, she sits on the rack, but when I start to pedal, she lets out a little yelp and almost falls off the bike.
“Hold on to me. I’m planning to go fast, and I really don’t want to backtrack in case you fall.”
She wraps her arms around my waist, and I try to remain unaffected, but hell… it’s hard. It’s crazy how much I enjoy her hands on me.
“I’m ready,” she says, a little breathless.
I pump my legs, trying to get momentum as fast as I can. I’m honestly surprised we haven’t heard from Larsson yet. If dragons have a similar sense of smell as vampires do, he’d know exactly which direction we went. But I won’t complain about our good fortune.
I gain speed, and now it’s just a matter of weaving through traffic and getting out of downtown as fast as possible. I have no idea where we should go, but anywhere far from Ember Emporium is good.
When I begin to hope we might actually escape unscathed, I hear the sound of a few motorcycles behind us. “Shit. Don’t tell me we have a motorcycle gang on our tail.”
“We do. Dragon shifters?”
“Probably.”
“They’re gaining on us.”
“Fuck. Hold on.” I pedal faster, but with little confidence that I can lose them.
Sophie pulls one arm away from my waist and begins to chant. I sense the surge of magic a second later, but that’s about it. The dragon shifters are still behind us, and too damn close from the noise of their engines.
“What did you do?”
“I created a concealment spell. It won’t last long, though.”
A car I’m about to speed past turns into my lane, almost hitting me. I swerve to avoid a collision, only to hit the curb and fly off the bike into a shopping window. Hell. There goes the concealment spell.
Something sharp punctures my side, burning like hell. I lean on my elbows and see a huge piece of glass sticking out from my abdomen. Blood is oozing freely from the cut.
“Vaughn!” Sophie jumps over the debris, looking frantic. “You’re hurt.”
“Way to state the obvious. Are you all right?”
“Yes. Can you move?” She tries to get me onto my feet before waiting for my answer.
“Aargh! Watch it.”
“I’m sorry, but we need to go. Our accident blew our cover.”
“Let me pull this piece of glass out first.”
“Wait!” Sophie yells, but too late. I’ve already yanked the shard.
Now I see why she asked me to wait. I’m bleeding more profusely now. “Ugh, that doesn’t look good.”
“There you are, bloodsuckers,” a mean-looking biker says from the opening in the shop window.
We’re so screwed.
Sophie pivots on the spot, facing the dragon shifter, while I stay prone on the ground. “Don’t come any closer.”
“Or what, sugar? What can a little thing like you do against us?”
She raises her hand, palm facing forward, and recites another spell. A blue light sphere forms in front of her hand. It’s like electricity trapped in a ball. She throws the blue energy sphere forward, and it hits the dragon shifter square on his chest, sending him flying back.
“Whoa. I didn’t know you could do that.”
“Me neither.” She kneels next to me. “But I’m out of juice now. We have to go.”
I get up with her help, and then she throws my arm around her shoulder, taking some of my weight. If I wasn’t already feeling woozy, I might enjoy this moment more.
Even with the added burden that’s me, Sophie is able to walk fast. Luckily, there’s a door in the back of the store, and the dragon shifters haven’t stormed the back alley yet. I really can’t see how we’ll get out of this mess alive when a figure clad in black appears in the alley out of thin air.
Sophie stops suddenly, her body getting tense in the blink of an eye. “Don’t come any closer and you won’t get hurt.”
The man cocks his head. “It seems to me you’re in no condition to hurt anyone.”
“Who are you?” I ask, already seeing double.
“Who I am isn’t important. Let’s just say, you have friends in high places.” He raises his arm, holding a green crystal in his hand that glows bright. Before I can say or do anything, Sophie and I are yanked backward, and it feels like we’re falling into a dark void.
The horrible sensation only lasts a few seconds before we fall onto mossy ground.
I smell turned earth and pine, which is an improvement from the ripe stench of the alley.
The stranger is gone, and I don’t sense anyone else in the vicinity.
Sophie and I are alone in the middle of a forest, but where exactly is the big question.
“Bloody hell. Who was that man?” Sophie asks as she sits up.
“No clue.” I try to do the same, but the world around me starts to spin, and I end up on my back again.
“Shit. You don’t look well. We need to stop the bleeding.”
“I’ll be okay. I just need to close my eyes for a second. I’m so tired.”
Her face hovers above mine. Her beautiful lavender eyes are round with worry. I raise my hand to touch her cheek, but even that costs me a lot. “You’re so beautiful.”
“Vaughn. You can’t go to sleep. I think you’re going into early hibernation.”
My eyes are almost half shut. Maybe she’s right. I lack the energy even to talk.
“Hell,” she says right before she presses her bloodied wrist against my lips.
My battery is almost at zero, but the moment I taste Sophie’s sweet blood, I’m wide awake.