Chapter 27 Jackson
JACKSON
Dull, hollow thuds sounded as Christian and I slammed our fists against the bookshelf doorway. Even our enhanced strength could do nothing against the heavy steel.
“Get back,” I said, pushing Christian away. “I’m gonna shift. I’ll use my fire to weaken the steel, then you use your ice on it. The temperature change should make it brittle enough for us to break through. If we hurry—”
“Jackson,” Christian shouted, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me. “There’s no time.”
The panic and terror had blinded me. Now, with my best friend screaming at me, I came back to my senses a bit, and looked around.
The whole goddamn house was ablaze. All the dragon fire had caused multiple raging fires that had swelled to a storm of flame, ash, and heat.
Above us, the steady roar of the blaze made a sound like thunder, intense and foreboding.
Embers floated past like demonic fireflies, and the flickering light of the flames caused bizarre shadows to jump across the walls.
That was when I noticed the heat, blazing like an oven all around us.
“But…” I cast a longing look at the hidden doorway again. “Shyanne. We can’t leave her.”
Christian’s face twisted in misery, and he shook his head. “I know, but we don’t have time. We have to get to your sister’s egg. Now. Before the whole goddamn house falls down around us and crushes her. Where is she?”
He was right. There was no time. If we tried to save Shyanne, my sister would die.
Never in my life had there been a decision so gut-wrenching and soul-shattering.
Shyanne had kept saying to trust her, that she’d be fine, but how could she be?
How could I leave her with a monster like Joseph Anitoli?
God only knew what kind of awful shit he might do to her.
Clenching my eyes shut, I curled my fingers into fists and let my dragon rage out, unleashing a bellow of anger strong enough that I thought I might tear my vocal cords. When I was done, I gave Christian a sad nod.
“Okay. Let’s get the egg. She started hatching earlier. We need to hurry.”
Christian’s eyes went wide. “She’s hatching? Now?”
I nodded and started sprinting up the stairs. “Yes. Come on.”
The top floors were also on fire, flames devouring the carpet and the wood beneath, twisting and writhing along the floor like a mass of fiery snakes. We leaped aside as a portion of the ceiling above us gave way, sending a cascade of burning wood and debris down around us.
“Move!” I shouted, pulling my shirt up over my nose, the acrid smoke tearing at my lungs with each breath.
At the top of the landing, we turned left, Christian following me to the closet where I’d stashed the egg.
When I ripped the door open, I sighed in relief to see she was still there.
At the back of my mind, I’d worried that one of Anitoli’s goons had found her, but everyone in the house had been too worried about the two dragons that had invaded the grounds to worry about finding an egg.
I gasped as the egg rattled once more, this time more urgently than it had earlier. It was going to hatch at any second. We had to get out of here. I couldn’t risk a newborn in all this smoke. She’d suffocate.
“Help me,” I said. “We’ve got to be gentle, she’s going to be here any second.”
Christian knelt beside me, each of us slipping our arms beneath the egg, lifting with as much care and gentleness as we could manage with the chaos around us.
We stepped out of the closet and moved to the stairs.
The fire had spread all the way across the steps.
There wasn’t a square inch that didn’t rage with flames.
“Fuck it,” I shouted over the roar of the fire. “We’ve gotta go. Burns can heal.”
In our dragon forms, we were impervious to normal fire and could really only be hurt by the magical flames or ice of another shifter in battle.
In our human form, we could still be burnt, but pain was temporary, and our healing would help.
A life was at stake, and I didn’t care what happened to me at this point.
“I’m good if you’re good,” Christian said.
Moving as fast as we could without being careless, we walked down the steps, flames licking at our boots and the cuffs of our jeans, singeing the fabric.
I hissed as the skin of my ankles twinged with pain, the heat growing stronger as we went until I could sense blisters forming, sending signals to my brain to run, but I managed to override instinct and kept going as slow as I could.
On the last step, the upper portion of the stairs collapsed, sending a huge plume of burning embers and ash into the air, washing us in more heat. It was like we were inside a fucking oven.
“The door,” Christian said, followed by a volley of coughing and retching.
My own lungs felt like they were full of burning cotton. I nodded, tears streaming from my eyes, seeing what he meant. A huge portion of the damaged front entryway had collapsed. The small opening that led outside was awash in flames.
Before either of us could overthink it, we pushed through, leaning forward, our foreheads touching, as we protected my sister with our bodies.
We made it through, only losing the hair on our forearms in the process.
The cool night air was like an icy balm on our lungs as we made our way from the house.
Once we were at a safe distance, we put the egg down, and turned to hack, cough, and gag, attempting to get the smoke and ash from our lungs.
I was on my knees, spit hanging from my mouth, eyes feeling like they were still on fire, and trying to get myself under control when I heard the first faint crack come from the egg.
All the pain vanished, replaced by excitement, worry, and happiness. Turning, I gazed down at the egg, watching with bated breath as it rattled again, and a small sliver of a crack appeared at the top.
“Christian!” I cried, my eyes glued to the egg. “It’s happening.”
“Oh, wow,” Christian said, collapsing to his knees beside me.
Chills ran up my arms and down my back as my baby sister battled her way into the world. All this time—months of nesting, then these last weeks of her being gone—and now, finally I was going to meet her.
The top of the egg splintered, and a large chunk of shell fell aside, revealing the quiet glow of orange light within.
“Here,” Christian said, handing me the shirt he’d yanked off his body. “You’ll need to wrap her in something.”
His voice shook with emotion and excitement.
Taking the shirt from him, I gently pushed on the shell, breaking another small piece away.
Deep inside, I could barely make out a small flexing and writhing form at the base, covered in a thin membrane and albumen.
She gave a hard, thrusting kick, and a tiny foot broke free of the membrane, and struck the side of the egg, breaking it nearly in two.
A sob broke free of my chest as I reached in, pulled away the membrane, and pulled my newborn baby sister free.
She was large for a newborn. Not surprising, since she’d been growing for months.
She was basically a year old by human standards.
Tiny fists clenched, eyes still closed, and little toothless mouth open and squealing as I brought her close, cradling her warmth against my chest. I quickly wrapped Christian’s shirt around her.
As I gazed down at her, tears slipped down my cheeks.
She was so small, delicate, and beautiful.
With my forefinger, I traced a gentle line across her forehead, amazed at how soft her skin was.
She was a miracle. My heart surged, emotion threatening to overwhelm me and send me into a crying fit, but I held it at bay.
At the back of my mind, my inner dragon roared with satisfaction and love for our sister. She was so innocent and beautiful, it made my heart ache. This child would be a symbol of hope for my people.
Pulling her close, I kissed the top of her head. “I love you already.”
A flash of what Joseph had said about hurting her washed across my mind, and I wished I had that bastard in my hands right then. I’d only thought I hated him before, but now? After he’d threatened this precious tiny life, and taken the woman I loved? How could I—
I froze, blinking in confusion. Love? Did I love Shyanne? Racking my brain, I thought back on all that had happened, and with slow realization, I understood that yes, I did love her. The thought brought a smile to my face.
Christian must have noticed my change in expression.
“What’s up?” he asked.
Shaking my head and gently rocking my sister, I said, “Just thought of something. That’s all.”
She snuggled in my arms, twisting and writhing. The months she’d spent growing in her egg had made her stronger than any human baby.
Her eyes finally opened. Squinting against the light of the fires behind us, she gazed at my face, and I nearly started crying again. God, she was the most beautiful thing in the world.
Before I realized what she was doing, her left hand shot up and grabbed the tip of my nose, tiny nails digging in hard.
“Ow!” I cried.
At the sound of my voice, she threw her small head back and cackled like mad. Christian burst out laughing.
After gently prying her fingers away, I rubbed my nose and glared at my friend.
“It’s not that funny,” I grumbled.
He wiped tears of laughter from his face and said, “So what are you going to name her?”
“I’m not naming her. I won’t take that privilege from my mother,” I said, then glanced down at my sister once more. “Though she does already seem like a little butthead,” I added with a chuckle. “We’ll call you that for now.”
“Butthead?” Christian said, gaping at me. “You’re nicknaming your baby sister Butthead?”
I glanced at him. “What? You prefer Beavis?”
Christian snorted a laugh and waved a hand at me. “All right, whatever. It’s your family.”