Chapter 13
Jon
Don’t look down.
I strained to hold my position in the scaffolding above the stage. I could reach the massive domed cage from here, suspended thirty feet over the floor, but my nerves were set on edge from the daunting height. Every glance at the emptying stage below stirred a wave of nausea.
The band had departed for a ten-minute break, but I couldn’t make my move yet. Not until I got the signal from Lee.
On hands and knees, I shifted just a little closer to the cage, where the dragon was curled up, facing away.
Heat radiated off its coiled body, all muscle wrapped in armor-like scales.
A seed of awe mingled with my caution. What a surreal creature—something I’d never thought I’d see before I died, even in the mix of ghosts, vampires, and all manner of insidious beasts we crossed paths with so often.
I gripped the edge of the metal platform and leaned my head to the side, scanning the milling crowd below.
Lee was on the opposite side of the room, playing his part and giving a sycophantic laugh at something the women on either side of him were eager to share.
He fit in a little too well here, I thought, but even from a distance, I could spot the faintest tinge of tension to his charm, the hatred simmering beneath his smile.
And then it happened: he whispered something to the woman on his right, his body pressed to hers, a hand pulling at her waist. She recoiled, mouth agape.
The man beside her lunged at once, shoving Lee.
It seemed our mark was married. Lee moved like he was a bottle deep, motions clumsy as he retaliated.
He elbowed others off him, clearing room to deck the husband across the face.
The man stumbled back into the cocktail table, sending towers of glass flutes and champagne shattering in a deafening roar.
“Not your first time, is it?” I muttered, then refocused on the task ahead.
I steeled myself. I needed to be quick, brutal—and not shatter my fucking legs when dismounting.
I moved into the light, grabbing the padlock fixed to the dragon’s cage.
The resulting metallic clamor of my pick and tension rod manipulating the inner workings made the dragon stir.
A low, curious growl rippled the air like thunder as it lifted its head.
A pair of eyes like golden fire stared back at me.
Ay, cono.
Those eyes were ancient, terrifying, otherworldly. I tore my gaze away. The lock. Focus on the lock. The commotion below was already dying down, security arriving to remove Lee.
Click. The sound I’d been fighting for. I swung the padlock off and tossed it behind me, sending it skittering across the scaffolding. I flung open the door and immediately scrambled toward the ladder.
But the dragon didn’t dive to attack me. It didn’t do anything at all.
The fifteen-foot creature was growling low in its throat, facing the open door like it couldn’t trust the offered freedom.
“Come on,” I urged, waving a hand. “Come out, get out of here.”
The dragon folded its wings protectively over its body, eyes narrowing to slits.
Captivity might very well be the only thing it ever knew, but there was no time to dwell on what its captors had done to it. Lee had been seized by guards and was being dragged toward the door. He couldn’t sweet-talk his way out of this one.
I desperately scanned the platform. A barbed iron poker lay beside the cage, something I hadn’t noticed before.
No doubt it was used for behavioral corrections.
It reminded me of the Louisiana outpost, a memory that was further sullied by my recent tangle inside the Pit.
This was all too similar to the iron rod I’d been forced to defend myself with against my own girlfriend.
Girlfriend? Lover? Neither seemed exactly right for what Sylvia and I had, something that spanned to a cosmic, fated resonance.
With some effort, I forced away the image of Sylvia’s impish smile, her cheeks flushing as I whispered sweet things to her.
Not now, idiot.
I snatched up the poker, murmuring an apology to the beast before thrusting it twice into the dragon’s side.
Its jaws opened, emitting an ear-shattering screech that made the very air tremble. The cage swung violently as the dragon shot into motion, taloned feet scrabbling over the metal floor with more finesse than should have been possible for something so massive.
“Shit!” I leapt backward and rolled, narrowly dodging a pair of snapping jaws as long as my arm.
I dove for the ladder, taking two rungs at a time.
The entire scaffolding shook as the dragon squeezed free and launched into the air.
I jumped the last five feet, landing unceremoniously on the stage below.
The room exploded into chaos as the dragon feebly flexed its wings, gradually taking to the air.
Fire sparked behind rows of needle-like teeth, another roar rattling the room.
“You did it,” Lee panted, pushing through the panicked guests toward me. He tensed as the dragon unfurled to its full length, wind rushing over us as it circled the stage.
“Don’t worry,” I shouted, nodding to the iron leash taut around its neck, forcing its flight to a halt. “It’s still chained.”
The guards urged others from the room, raising their guns. Shots rang out, all but deflected off the dragon’s thick hide. No blood, but the attack was enough to frighten it. It snarled, wings flapping furiously—and then, with a snap, the chain severed.
“Fuck,” I breathed.
Completely freed, the dragon glided down to land on the floor with an impact that rattled through my feet. It prowled toward the guards, seeming to register the threat they presented.
I ran through my options, scanning the room. I needed the weapons on those men—and likely one of their hands for the biometrics scan at the loading bay door. Waiting for the dragon to eviscerate them was one route, but it could wield enough damage to make them unusable to me.
In the now-ruined lounge, a whimper echoed.
A guest cowered behind one of the pedestals displaying a rare object, quaking violently in fear.
To my horror, the dragon turned its head, sniffing the air while the guards reloaded their weapons.
The woman clapped a hand over her mouth, pressed against the wall.
I couldn’t let this woman become collateral damage. Waiting was no longer an option.
Other items were cased against the wall to our right—a shortsword allegedly blessed by the Lady of the Lake.
The piece was ancient and frankly too beautiful for battle, but there were no other options at my disposal.
I hastened toward the weapon, removing my tux jacket and balling it over my fist. With two swift blows, I punched through the glass and cleared away the shards, reaching in to seize the handle.
The sword was heavy as a shotgun and denser than my usual silver blades—lightweight and made for close-quarters melee.
I gave the weapon a few testing rolls with my wrist before moving my legs, shooting Lee a glance over my shoulder.
He was already in motion, sprinting to position himself behind the more heavyset guard who was still reloading his pistol.
Lee had a few inches on him and leveraged it to swiftly clamp a headlock on him from behind while his attention was pulled elsewhere.
I was careful to dodge the errant spray of bullets as I approached the dragon.
It was close enough that its hot breath steamed the glass of the pedestal the woman was cowering behind.
She screamed, pleas and prayers all bleeding together.
The smell of smoke and fresh blood choked my breath as I came within swinging distance of the dragon.
Instinct took over, and I swung the sword in a wide arc.
The well-preserved steel sliced into the leathery membrane of its half-folded wing like paper.
I heaved my weight down, creating a jagged line in the scaly flesh.
Its screech of pain echoed, head tipped towards the heavens. From around the scaled beast, I caught the cowering woman’s wide eyes.
“Go!” I roared. “Run!”
It took an agonizing moment for her to break free from shock, but she finally bolted, nearly tripping over her floor-length dress in her haste.
The dragon shook out its wings, eyeing the tantalizing moving target.
But I lunged again and swung wide, catching one of its forelegs.
It staggered, twisting to snap its jaws toward me.
Before it could fully set its fury upon me, another round of gunfire exploded through the room. Two more guards had entered, and I nearly laughed in triumph when I recognized them from the security door. When we slipped back towards the hall, our path would be clear.
But first–slay the dragon.
The scaled beast opened its jaws wide, embers glowing deep within its throat. I scrambled clear as the dragon released a jet of flame from its maw, aimed in the direction of the bullets.
Fresh screams filled the room as one of the guards fully caught fire. In the chaos, the dragon launched itself at another assailant. I narrowly moved out of the way in time to avoid getting my legs swept out from underneath me by its swinging tail.
The bullets did little other than piss it off. Catching one of the guards by the shoulder, the beast gave a hard enough shake to snap the man’s neck before turning its attention to the final guard.
The guy didn’t stand a chance, though he squeezed the trigger valiantly over and over.
A splurt of blood erupted from the dragon’s face as a bullet finally pierced one of its eyes.
With a screech that rattled the walls, the dragon snapped forward and caught one of the guard’s arms in its jaws.
Claws launched out, pinning the struggling man against the wall.
Howls of agony and ripping flesh rang through the room.