Dancing with Fire (The Dragon Tributes #10)

Chapter 1

Grim

Fuck my life.

I sigh as I pull up to a house that’s seen better days. The grass is overgrown; weeds choke what might have once been a decent lawn. The paint is peeling off the siding in long strips. It’s the kind of place that screams “I’ve given up,” and I’ll be damned if I don’t relate.

I yawn.

I’m bored to death.

Bored. Tired and itching for…something, although I’m not too sure what that something might be.

I cut the engine and sit there for a moment.

My dragon stirs for half a second before going silent.

I don’t feel him much anymore. He’s pulled so deep inside me that shifting is becoming harder and harder.

It’s almost a good thing, since I’m only allowed to shift once a week.

One of these days, I won’t be able to shift at all.

He’ll disappear, and then I’ll be fucked for good.

I grab the file from the passenger seat and haul myself out of the vehicle and to the front door. The bell doesn’t work, so I knock.

When no one comes to the door, I knock again; this time, the wood creaks under the weight of my fist. Maybe my day will get better, and I’ll be able to break the door down.

There is no such luck, because it finally swings open to reveal an elderly shifter male with kind eyes and a lined face.

“Can I help you, son?” he asks, his voice warm and friendly.

“Are you Falkor?” I ask.

“I am indeed!” He smiles. “What can I do for you?”

I pull out the notice letter and clear my throat.

“I’m here on behalf of the Vaccination Center.

You’re overdue for your annual Hemorrhagic Fever vaccination.

” I unfold the letter and hold it out to him.

“This notice states that you have less than twelve hours to report for your vaccination or you’ll face jail time. ”

The smile drops from his face. “What? No, that can’t be right.” He shakes his head. “I’m sure I just had my vaccination. It was just the other day.” He rubs his chin.

“Your last shot was a year ago, to the day,” I tell him.

He shakes his head. “I’m getting so old. I swear, time flies by. It felt like just yesterday.” This time, he scratches his head.

“Didn’t you receive the notifications in the mail? The ones telling you that you were due, and then the follow-up ones saying you were overdue?”

Falkor’s face crumples. “Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear.” He wrings his hands. “I have a whole pile of unopened mail I’ve been meaning to get to. I didn’t realize. I’m so sorry, truly I am.”

At least he’s not arguing with me. “The office would have tried calling you. Multiple times, but you never answered.”

“I don’t answer unless I recognize the number,” he admits sheepishly. “Too many scam calls these days.”

That’s true. I fold the letter and tuck it back into the file. “Look, if you come with me right now, I’ll take you in to get vaccinated. You’ll avoid jail time. You might still get a fine, but I’ll petition to keep it low.”

His face lights up. “You’d do that for me? Oh, thank you, son. Thank you so much.” He starts to go back into his house. “Let me just grab my coat. Would you like to come in? I could make you some—”

“I’m fine here.” I wave a hand. “I’ll wait.” I want to tell him that he doesn’t need a coat – it’s sweltering – but I refrain. If the old male wants his coat, I’ll wait a few minutes for him to get it.

“I’ll be right back.” He disappears into the house, leaving the door ajar.

I lean against the porch railing and pull out my phone, scrolling through my recent messages. The new Academy Leader has been on my ass lately. He wants me to sign up for mind-bonding again this year.

Fuck that.

I’m shocked that Drake hasn’t approached me as well. He got me this dead-end job. Not that I’m ungrateful. I’m shocked he hasn’t tried to get me to sign up like others have; that’s all. Then again, he is no longer the Academy Leader, so I guess it’s no longer his main focus.

My phone rings, interrupting my thoughts. I glance at the screen. It’s the office.

“Grim,” I rasp.

“We’ve got a runner,” Sally from the office tells me. “He’s big and aggressive. He’s also overdue as of this morning. You need to go after him right away.”

My dragon perks up for half a second. I perk up a whole damned lot. Finally, some action.

“Send me the details.”

“Already done.”

The call ends, and within seconds, my phone buzzes with incoming information. A picture loads on my screen of a big male shifter with long, blond hair and gray eyes. Mean-looking bastard. I also get the coordinates of his last known location.

Falkor returns with a coat slung over his arm.

“Something’s come up,” I tell him, already moving toward my SUV. “Something important that can’t wait. I’ll be back to collect you a little later. You sit tight.”

His face falls, but he nods. “I’ll be waiting. I promise I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good.” I’m already jogging to my vehicle.

I head out, gravel spraying, and point the SUV toward the city. The information sent to me tells me everything I need to know about my target.

His name is Kaine. He’s thirty-two. He’s received multiple warnings for being late for his vaccination in the past. The male is known to be hostile and uncooperative. When last seen earlier today, he was wearing a dark blue tank top and gray shorts.

The drive takes all of ten minutes, and I spend most of it weaving through traffic. My dragon has gone from barely there to riding me hard, wanting out, wanting to hunt. I keep him leashed.

It’s how it has been since she fucked us up.

He’s either absent or angry as all hell.

It’s getting harder and harder to reach him, but when he wants out, it’s getting more difficult to contain him.

I have to, because an illegal shift would see me thrown in jail. I’d lose my job. It would fuck things up for me.

When I reach the asshole’s last known location, namely a busy street corner near the market district, I park and jump out. The city is alive with activity, shifters and humans alike moving through their day.

I stop a female shifter who’s browsing a fruit stand.

“Excuse me.” I show her the picture. “Have you seen this male? He’s big, with blond hair, wearing a dark blue tank top.”

She squints at the phone, then shakes her head. “Sorry, no.”

I move on. A shopkeeper barely glances at the picture before waving me off. A street vendor gives it more attention but comes up empty. A kid selling newspapers hasn’t seen him either.

I’m about to move to the next block when an elderly male shifter sitting on a bench outside a coffee shop waves me over.

“You looking for someone?” he calls out. “I heard you talking to that lady.”

I approach him, hope sparking despite myself.

“Yeah. Have you seen this guy?” I show him Kaine’s picture.

The old shifter nods. “Yep. He’s a big blond fellow.

Mean-looking and a serious troublemaker.

Yeah, he was here maybe ten minutes ago.

” He points down the street. “Stopped right over there at that newspaper stand. Got real aggressive with the owner about something. Grabbed one of the papers, crumpled it up, and threw it on the ground. Then stormed off that way.” He gestures toward the older part of the market district.

“Thanks,” I tell him, already moving.

Sure enough, there’s a crumpled newspaper lying in the gutter beside the stand.

I crouch down and pick it up. I uncrumple the newspaper.

On the front page is a large advert put out by the Mainland Health Department reminding shifters not to be late for their annual appointment.

It highlights the dangers of an outbreak of Hemorrhagic Fever.

I’m pretty sure it was Kaine, alright. I lift the paper to my nose and lock onto the scent.

Got you!

I stand, putting the ruined newspaper in a trash can; my dragon is vibrating with excitement. Now I have what I need. The scent is still fresh.

I head in the direction the old shifter indicated, my senses zeroed in on that specific scent signature. The crowds thin out as I move toward the older part of the market. The buildings here are worn, paint peeling, the kind of area where people don’t ask questions.

The scent trail leads me down a side street, then into a narrow alley between two buildings. It’s getting stronger. He’s close.

I head down the alley, and there he is. It was almost too damned easy. Kaine is exactly as he looks in his picture, only bigger. Tank top stretched across his chest, shorts showing legs like tree trunks. He’s leaning against a wall, talking on his phone, and he hasn’t noticed me yet.

I step into the alley. “Are you Kaine?”

His head snaps up. For a second, he just stares at me. “Who wants to know?”

He zones in on the badge on my shirt pocket. Then recognition hits, and his eyes narrow. “Fuck.”

“You’re overdue for your vaccination. You need to come with me.”

“Like hell I do.” He pockets his phone and straightens to his full height. He’s big, but I’m bigger. “I don’t need that shit pumped into my body.”

“That shit keeps you from dying of Hemorrhagic Fever,” I tell him. “It keeps everyone on this island from dying. So yeah, you need it.”

“I’m not going.” He takes a step toward me, shoulders squared. “And you can’t make me.”

Wrong thing to say.

He bolts.

My dragon roars with satisfaction as I take off after him. Kaine is fast for his size, but I’m faster. He barrels out of the alley and into the street, scattering pedestrians. I’m right behind him, my longer legs eating up the distance between us.

He takes a sharp turn into another alley. It dead-ends at a brick wall. By the time he realizes his error and spins around, I’m already there, blocking his exit.

“Last chance,” I tell him. “You should come quietly.”

“Fuck you.”

He charges.

I meet him head-on. His fist comes at my face, and I block it, countering with a jab to his ribs. He grunts but doesn’t slow down, grabbing for my shoulders, trying to use his weight to take me down. I twist out of his grip and drive my elbow into his kidney.

He staggers but recovers quickly, spinning to face me again.

“I don’t need the vaccination!” he roars. “It’s all a lie! The Council is controlling us!”

Great. A conspiracy theorist. Those are always fun.

“The only thing the Council is trying to control,” I growl, ducking under his next punch, “is a Hemorrhagic Fever outbreak. You remember the last one? We lost half the population.”

“That was over fifty years ago and all propaganda!” He comes at me again, this time with a kick aimed at my chest.

I catch his leg and yank, sending him off balance. He hits the ground hard, but he’s up again in seconds. Tough bastard. My dragon approves.

We trade blows. He gets in a good hit to my jaw that snaps my head back and makes my ears ring. I taste blood. Good. I needed this.

I return the favor with a combination that leaves him gasping. He crunches over the middle. He’s slowing down now, his movements getting sluggish.

“Just…stop…already…” I punctuate each word with another hit. “And get…your damned…vaccination.”

He tries one more desperate swing. I dodge it easily and drive my fist into the pressure point at the base of his skull. His eyes roll back, and he drops like a felled tree.

Silence fills the alley, broken only by my heavy breathing and the distant sounds of the city. My knuckles are bleeding, my jaw throbs, and I feel more alive than I have in days.

I pull out the silver-infused zip ties I always carry and secure Kaine’s wrists behind his back. Then I hoist him over my shoulder. He’s heavy as hell, but I’ve carried heavier.

The walk back to my SUV draws some stares, but nobody interferes. They know better. They see the look on my face and the unconscious shifter over my shoulder, and they keep moving.

I dump Kaine into the back of my vehicle and secure him with the built-in restraints. Then I inject him with enough sedative to take down a bull elephant. He’ll wake up in about an hour with a hell of a headache and his vaccination card all up to date.

Job done.

I climb into the driver’s seat and start the engine. I’m tempted to smile, but I don’t.

Fuck that!

My phone buzzes with an incoming message. It’s from Drake. He wants to meet with me.

I shake my head and snort.

Here we go. He’s going to try to talk me into attempting a mind-bond again with the new Tributes. They’re set to arrive in about a month.

It brings back some memories best left dead and buried like my soul.

I’m still paying the price for my last broken bond.

I’d rather take out both my eyes with a hot poker every morning than put myself through that again.

I send a message to Sally, telling her that I’m on my way in with Kaine, so they can be ready for us when we get there. Then I turn the key, firing up my SUV.

Let me take this asshole in, and then I’ll go and collect Falkor.

It’ll be back to the boring shit for me.

I’m perfectly fine with that.