Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
THORNE
In my wildest fantasies, I never imagined that one day, I’d be the sap who followed a woman, holding her purchases while she shopped. Yet here I was, living the dream. Or nightmare, as it was.
Serafina drifted through the apothecary, face set in studious lines, head in the clouds. As she analyzed each herb’s qualities, comparing it to others, the rest of the world had disappeared.
I was unaccustomed to being so thoroughly ignored by the fairer sex. Especially after gifting one of them new clothing.
Much to my detriment.
With Serafina’s oversized rags gone, my eyes slid over her well-formed ass more times than I cared to acknowledge.
The lace-trimmed blouse and supple leather bustier revealed a tempting bit of cleavage.
Curse that tavern wench. When I’d asked her to find suitable garments, I hadn’t pictured this. Nor the chit’s reaction.
When I offered women gifts, they usually gushed with gratitude. Instead, Serafina gazed upon the new clothing with suspicion.
“Why did you do this for me?”
“I can’t give you a gift?” My jaw tightened.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Alaric gave you a gift.” Was mine not good enough? At least mine fulfilled a need.
“That was different,” she’d insisted. “Less…personal.”
Personal? Angry heat flickered beneath my ribs. Just because mine required me to know her preferences and provided her with something she required didn’t make it personal.
Or maybe it did. Dammit.
The source of my irritation wandered back to me, plunking a bundle of dried twigs bound with twine into my basket.
“Don’t you already have some of that?” I held up a similar bundle, sniffing it, then wrinkling my nose.
“I wonder if they have meadow bane?” She tapped her lip as if she hadn’t even heard me. And off she went again.
My nostrils twitched, the mingled scents of a hundred herbs searing my senses.
At the window, Serafina studied a tray of crystals, sunlight setting her red hair ablaze. My dragon stirred at the image, flames always a lure for my darker half.
Down boy.
When my brother forced me to bond with Serafina, I’d rejected my claim, insisting that Alaric take responsibility.
Even though it was my dragonflame she carried.
That denial had disrupted the natural order, and both of our dragons knew it.
No wonder we’d been snapping at each other’s throats ever since.
Instincts were hard to deny.
Last night, seeing my fire blossom inside of her was like nothing I’d ever experienced. At first, I was shaken, wanting to escape. Until her fear pulled me in, demanded that I protect and comfort. And I couldn’t resist.
In that moment, I wanted her to know the truth.
Her acceptance stunned me further. She hadn’t rejected me or my flame. Something had changed between us last night, and I’d been off balance ever since.
Across the shop, Serafina trailed her fingers beneath a wind chime, setting the reeds aflutter. Hollow bell-tones filled the room. Her smile cinched my ribs. Mortis’ attempt to reclaim her had my dragon on edge. The thought that she’d spent years under that wretch’s command made my stomach churn.
I’d marked him for death. Once Serafina was safely back at the mountain, I’d ensure Mortis never harmed her again.
I’d like to see Alaric do the same for her. Bastard couldn’t even appear in daylight for fear of attracting hunters.
Nor did he know anything of substance about the woman whose heart he intended to seduce.
The way her eyes lit up while perusing one of her passions.
How she faced any threat with more courage than any soldier.
Not the way she curled into me in her sleep, her soft body pressed against mine in a manner that made me ache. Made me yearn.
Gods, the sooner we completed this little errand, the better. Spending this much time with her was making me crazed.
Serafina flitted back to me, dumping yet another bundle of dried leaves into the basket. My nostrils burned, my throat itching. I sneezed into the crook of my arm.
“Thorne!”
“Yes?” I turned blurry eyes toward Serafina’s voice. Tears tracked down my cheeks.
“Thorne! You’re on fire!”
Frantic hands smacked my shirt sleeve. “Hey. Hey! Watch it.”
As my vision cleared, Serafina’s face came into focus, framed by a cloud of smoke. She grasped my cheeks, using her thumb to pull down my lower eyelid.
“What are you doing?”
“Your eyes are red. Something in here doesn’t agree with you. Better wait outside before you burn the place down.”
“I’m fine.” I wiggled my stinging nose.
“Oh, no, you don’t.” She pinched my nostrils shut and pointed at the door. “Go. Now.”
“So bossy,” I grumbled in a nasally tone, passing her the basket. “Don’t be long. I’ll be right outside,” I said to nobody, as she had already resumed her shopping.
With a disgruntled sigh, I stormed out of the shop and filled my lungs with fresh air. Both my itchy nose and watering eyes began to clear. I leaned against one of the light posts that held the solar crystals. The angle gave me a fair view of her puttering about through the window.
Who knew you could make a living out of selling a bunch of weeds and twigs?
“Hey, handsome.” The sultry voice tugged me from my thoughts. A woman sauntered closer, hips swaying with deliberate allure. Her gown dipped low, baring a generous swell of cleavage, while kohl-rimmed eyes traveled down my body in open appreciation.
Now this was more like it. I could use a distraction. “Hello, yourself.”
“Don’t suppose you could help a lady out?”
I’d little doubt she was no lady but a professional. Still, I played along. “I always have time for a damsel in distress.”
“Such a gentleman.” She gathered bleached curls on top of her head, turning with a coy smile. “You see, my necklace is tangled in my hair, and it’s pulling something fierce.”
“You don’t like your hair pulled?” I reached for the clasp on her necklace, finding several fine strands tangled with the chain.
She hitched a shoulder. “Not without a bit of coin.”
“I see.” My assumption was correct. How long would Serafina linger in the store? I wasn’t above paying to work the frustration out of my system.
“You’re not from around here, are you?”
“I’m only visiting.” Gently, I untangled her clasp before righting the chain along the back of her neck.
At the touch of my fingers, she shivered theatrically. “Staying long?” She batted lashes over eyes that, to my disappointment, were dull brown instead of sparkling green.
“Long enough.”
“Long enough to show a girl a good time?”
“Perhaps.” Perhaps I’d tie Serafina to the chair in our room. Keep her out of trouble while I exercise the image of the infuriating woman from my mind. And yet…even at the thought, my body stirred not for the harlot, but the image of Serafina bound. For her. Always her.
While trailing a fingertip along my shoulder, the woman prowled a slow circle around me. “Mmm, yum.” She patted my ass with a purr. “If I’d known how handsome you were, I’d have done this job for free.”
My dragon stirred, spines bristling beneath my skin. I narrowed my eyes. “What did you say?”
The harlot blanched, her rouged cheeks stark in her face. “Nothing, sugar. How about you and—”
“Serafina.”
Alarm blazed along our golden thread.
I lurched back, only to have the woman’s crimson nails sink into my biceps. “You can’t!”
“Release me,” I snarled.
Tears welled in her eyes. “He has one of my friends. Said if I failed to distract you, he’d carve out her heart. He was like a demon, his eyes black as pitch, possessed. The things he said… He was mad. There’s no telling what he might do to her.”
I gripped her shoulders in return, smoke rolling from my nostrils, flames straining for release. “And what do you think I will do to you?”
With a shrill screech, the woman released me.
I tore into the apothecary. “Sera! Where is she?” I roared at the clerk behind the counter. Blood trickled down his temple, and he held a cloth to the wound.
“A man. Slipped through the back door. Struck me. Took your lady.” He gestured to the back of the shop.
Rage ignited. I shot toward the door, blasting out the back and into an alley. Outside, nothing stirred. Not a soul around. Which way? If I chose wrong, he’d vanish with her.
I dropped the block between us. My chest burned hot, and I dialed into the sensation, delving deeper. Deeper. “Come on. Where are you?” The bond surged. Got you.
Right at the crossroads.
A scream rang out. Serafina.
My dragon slammed into my skull, claws raking my mind. Spiced apples. Her scent lanced through the night. I raced into a darker stretch of alley, hitting a dead end.
“No!” She was close. Right in front of me. Yet only a wall stood there.
Not for long.
I braced, drew deep, flames coiling in my chest. Fire erupted from my throat, a blazing torrent that struck the wall with thunderous force. Stone cracked, glowed, then split apart, crumbling inward under the inferno. Smoke and dust boiled around me.
Through the breach, I spotted her. For a heartbeat, I froze. Vines covered in red flowers thrust from the floor, twisting about Mortis’ legs. Serafina writhed in his grip, a dagger gleaming at her throat.
“Come with me,” Mortis crooned, “and he will reward us both. He’s even promised to make me a leader of his new army.”
“Let go of me, you bastard,” Serafina thrashed. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“I won’t lose you again. You have no idea how important you are to him.”
“Mortis!” I roared, leaping through the rubble.
“Thorne!” Serafina cried out, her desperate gaze stoking the fire beneath my sternum.
“Let her go.” Smoke rolled from my nostrils, my beast prowling below my skin. “Serafina doesn’t belong to the high ruler.”
“She belongs to me,” snarled a voice from deep within my psyche.
“You simpleton,” Mortis hissed. “You think this is still about some lowly Puritan lord?”
The ground quaked. The vines shuddered, holding the soil together as if the earth itself wanted to swallow them. Mortis’ soulless eyes shifted to devilish black. Shadows darkened his already pale complexion. The effect made him appear more corpse-like than alive. Claws sprouted from his fingertips.
Flark. I was not seeing this. Not again.
Images from my past threatened to drag me under, clouding my mind. Bodies in the hallways. Friends turned monsters. Smoke, ashes, and blood. Dead, they were all dead, and it was my fault. All my fault.
Serafina’s scream jolted my dragon, dragging me back to the present. Mortis. I needed to do something fast. My flame would shield her, even as it burned him to ash. The center of my chest heated.
Before I could let loose, Serafina’s flesh began to glow. What the hell?
“Dammit, you’re hurting me. Let. Me. Go!” Her voice thundered, light blazing from her body—brighter, hotter, until it eclipsed my own fire.
I shielded my burning eyes. Mortis’ screams pierced my ears. The crisp burn of electrified air filled my senses.
“Sera!” I roared.
The explosion rocked the room. White light detonated, swallowing sound.
I hit the ground hard, head ringing, lungs scorched.
The brilliant light faded, and I blinked, tears streaming down my cheeks. I peered through the haze.
Serafina stood in the center of the warehouse.
Alone.
Tangled vines, glossy and vibrant, rested beneath her feet. Their red blooms glowed as if drinking in her power. Unharmed, Sera stared at her hands, face pale with shock.
“You bitch,” Mortis snarled.
Thrown into the wall, he swiped black blood from his nose. Oily streaks trickled from his eyes and ears. He staggered upright. Serafina’s demise was a dark glint in his murderous gaze.
“You’ll pay for that,” he growled, raising the knife he still held.
I launched off the ground, seized his arm, and twisted. Bones snapped in my grip. Mortis howled.
“Only one paying is you.” I ripped the blade free and drove it into his gut. Once. Twice. A third time.
Nose to nose, I snarled, “That’s for Serafina, you cowardly prick.”
Black spittle dripped from his chin. “You’ll have to do better than that, forgotten prince.
” Icy fingers clamped my wrist, plunging the dagger deeper while he grinned.
“I know exactly who you are. You and that brother of yours. Once again, you’re too late.
He’s coming for her. Not even the goddess herself can save her. ”
“You lie,” I grated. “What you claim is impossible.”
Maniacal laughter burst from his lips. “See you in hell, Dragon.”
“Thorne,” Serafina shouted. “The ground, it’s moving. Get out of there.”
The earth trembled beneath my feet, and I dove out of the way. Under Mortis, the dirt shifted. It pulled him under, swallowing him like a hungry beast eager for a meal.
I crawled to Serafina, then glanced back. Silence reigned. Mortis, along with the vines, had vanished. Once more, the soil appeared smooth, as though nothing had happened.
The metallic scent of blood roused my dragon. Sera held her forearm in a tight grip, blood leaking between her fingers.
“You’re hurt. Tell me he didn’t bite you.” If Mortis was becoming what I expected, not even my dragonflame could save her from his venom.
“During our struggle, he cut my arm with the dagger.”
Relief shuddered through me. “We had better find a healer to…” I trailed off, distracted by the green shoots that popped up from the soil. They grew several inches, forming tight crimson buds before blooming. Right where Serafina’s blood dripped.
“Red sacris. Holy flower of Hathor. How are you doing this? What was that light?” I asked.
“I–I don’t know,” she whispered.
“Come on.” I helped her to her feet. “Let’s get your arm taken care of, then we’ll figure out the rest.”
For once, she didn’t argue.