From Jennifer Ashley, With Love

  Sabina wrinkled her nose, but her eyes widened, her amazement apparent.

  Adrian tapped Valerian’s neck to indicate they were ready, and Valerian, without preliminary, launched himself into the air. Amber bit back a scream as the ground dropped away, the world falling as Valerian angled out over the dark ocean.

  Adrian lay half over her, gloved hands holding hard to the nylon straps that kept them from falling to their deaths. Valerian heaved his wings upward until they almost touched at the top, then brought them down with a huge flap that propelled them at incredible speed. Each time he pumped they accelerated a little faster and a little farther, until they were speeding along like a small jet.

  Amber clung to the straps, glad of Adrian’s warmth and bulk holding her in place. Swirls of white sped by her, clouds that froze her breath. She hunkered into Valerian’s neck, finding the dragon’s scales surprisingly warm, almost silken as they moved with his body. Adrian seemed unaffected by the cold, his large body sheltering Amber from the worst of the wind.

  They flew on, the pale line of the coast quickly falling behind, the ocean below dark and cold. Amber was exhausted by the spell casting, coupled with lack of sleep. The only sleep she’d had in the last twenty-four hours was when she’d drowsed on Adrian’s bed after lovemaking.

  The remembrance of lassitude warmed her limbs and threatened to loosen her hold on the straps. She clutched at them, and Adrian’s hard body shifted to cover hers completely.

  “It’s all right,” he said into her ear. “I’ve got you.”

  She really had to stop obeying him. At least, her body had to stop doing what he said. She felt the faint fog in her mind, and her eyes drifted closed. Rocked by the sway of Valerian’s body under them, protected by Adrian, she slid into sleep.

  She jerked awake to find Valerian rapidly descending. Adrian still held her in place, his body keeping hers steady. She tried to ask what was happening, but the wind stole her words.

  Valerian folded his wings tightly as he plummeted straight down into a thick-canopied forest. At the last minute he shoved his body upright and landed with a thump on his haunches.

  They’d come down in deep pine woods, Amber’s tired mind saw, probably northern Washington, or maybe somewhere in British Columbia or Alaska. In any case, it was a place that hadn’t been lumbered to death or demolished by huge companies looking for minerals and oil.

  Adrian unhooked the straps and helped Amber climb to the ground. Amber expected Valerian to morph back to human form, but he simply curled into a big ball of dragon, nose pressed to tail, and closed his giant blue eyes.

  Amber’s legs shook alarmingly as she tried to stand, so she gave up and plopped to the ground. The earth was relatively dry under the thick stand of trees, a faint breeze in boughs high above them.

  “What’s he doing?” she asked.

  “Recouping his energy.” Adrian put his hands on his hips and studied the woods around them. Amber sensed him sending out tendrils of magic, searching for danger. “We still have a long way to go.”

  “Maybe we should reconsider the private jet thing,” she said. Adrian started to shake his head, and she held up her hand. “I know, too dangerous. But if I fall off Valerian’s back, it will be dangerous to me.”

  “I’ll never let you fall,” Adrian said.

  She believed him. His power was like a safety net, though she knew she should feel anything but safe. Here she was in the middle of deep woods, far from civilization, her only way out on the back of a dragon who’d decided to settle in for a nap. They had no food and no shelter. And yet she knew it was all right. Adrian would take care of her.

  “I don’t like being taken care of,” she said out loud.

  Adrian turned from his examination of the forest. “Why not?”

  “I don’t know. Putting your fate in the hands of someone who might abuse your trust and hurt you is a bad idea. Better to learn to take care of yourself. Fall in love for love, not security.”

  Adrian pinned her with his fathomless gaze. Amber wanted to squirm under it, knowing she babbled things that had nothing to do with him.

  After a time, Adrian asked, “You think I will hurt you?”

  Amber shook her head. “No, but I don’t know whether that’s because I believe in you or you’re messing with my mind.”

  One dark brow twitched. “You can feel that?”

  “Yes, but maybe that’s because I’m a hot-ass witch. Do vampires eat?”

  He blinked, dark eyes curious. “Old Ones do. The lesser vampires don’t bother.”

  “So my vampire Julio was an Old One.”

  “I suspected so,” Adrian said. “When you told me he was able to glamour a powerful earth witch like you.”

  “You’re saying that to make me feel better. I should feel like an idiot because I didn’t know he was a vampire. I probably saw all the signs, but chose to ignore them.”

  Adrian shook his head. “You were young, and he was strong. Having a witch as a blood slave would have made him powerful indeed.”

  “What do I make you?”

  Adrian studied her for a long time with his unreadable eyes. Then he cupped his hand around her chin, leaned to her, and gave her a long, searing kiss. “Alive,” he said.

  Amber gave him a stunned look as the rest of her savored the kiss. Adrian turned away, staring off into the woods again.

  Amber glanced at the sleeping dragon whose breathing was surprisingly quiet. “How long is he likely to be?”

  “Not long,” Adrian answered. He looked at Amber again, folding his arms over his chest. “While we’re waiting, perhaps you will tell me precisely where we are going.” His eyes were sharp.

  Amber raked her hand through her hair, condensation dripping from her fingers. “The problem is I don’t know. I can’t draw you a map. I only have a sense of direction—it’s as though a compass was magicked into me when I translated the writing. I point to Tain. Perhaps Tain wanted that and was reaching out the only way he could.”

  Adrian said nothing, but his grim look heightened. Amber guessed what he must be thinking: Why didn’t he reach out to me?

  “Maybe he couldn’t,” she said to his unspoken question. “If he was spirited away by whoever it was, if this demon is trying to keep his whereabouts secret, then Tain couldn’t call to you. When he wrote those words, they were for Susan to find when she was riding between.”

  Adrian’s voice was low and hard. “So if the demon is keeping Tain hidden away, why was Susan able to see him? Why could she suddenly see him and copy this writing when I’ve found nothing of him for centuries? And Sabina’s question was a good one—why didn’t the demon attempt to attack us when you did the spell, or when we decided to leave to follow it?”

  Amber considered this, or pretended to, because the sour taste in her mouth indicated the answer. “Because it’s a trap. The demon wants to trap us.”

  “Not us,” he corrected her. “Me.”

  “Yes, but . . .” Panic welled up inside Amber along with ideas she didn’t want to have. “I was the one who could do the translation spell. I’m the only one who can follow the trail.”

  “I know. That’s why he led me to you in the first place.”

  Amber swallowed the burning in her throat. “Wait a minute. You’re saying that the demon killed my sister—that he let her find out about Tain and then murdered her—for the sole purpose of getting you into his trap?” Tears she hadn’t let herself shed began to leak from her eyes. “You are suggesting Susan died because she was bait?”

  Adrian said nothing, because there was nothing to say.

  If Adrian was right, then the demon had used Susan to entice Adrian out of Los Angeles to come rushing to Seattle to find out what Susan knew. The demon had crushed out Susan’s life to make Adrian investigate what she’d been doing. Susan had meant nothing to the demon—she’d simply been the means to an end.

  Silent tears wet Amber’s face. “He could have used anyone. He could hav
e left her alone and chosen someone else. Why did he have to pick her?”

  “No, not anyone,” Adrian answered, his deep voice gentling. “He wanted Susan in particular, and you. He needed both of you.”

  Amber got to her feet. “What are you talking about? We weren’t leaders of powerful covens, we were young women with some competence in magic. Others have more. Some of the witches in the Coven of Light are ten times as powerful as I am.”

  Adrian held her gaze. “You told me Susan was creative, that she liked to reach beyond her ability, to dare. And you were able to take anything Susan discovered and turn it into powerful practical magic. You would do anything, including help an Immortal who should terrify you, to avenge your sister.”

  “I don’t believe it. How could the demon know that? Why would he want us—there are plenty of witches out there who care about each other—sisters, friends, lovers . . .”

  “I believe he hired a vampire, an Old One, ten years ago, to seduce you and discover what you were made of.”

  The air left her lungs. “Julio.”

  “Julio must have been desperate in order to help a demon. Old vampires don’t have to feed as often, but when they do, their need is nearly insatiable. The demon might have promised Julio unlimited victims if he’d do him the favor of finding out what made you tick.”

  Tears slid over Amber’s lips, the salt taste sharp on her tongue. “That was ten years ago. You think he planned that far in advance?”

  “What is ten years to an Old One? They live millennia as you live weeks. I’m willing to bet he investigated quite a few witches in the Coven of Light before he hit upon the right combination. He found Susan then saw you and knew I’d want to protect you and keep you with me. Quite a matchmaker, is our demon. I well believe he took that long and was that thorough to set up this trap.”

  Amber wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand. “Then why are we walking into it?”

  Again Adrian looked off between the trees, and she sensed him closing to her as he sometimes did. “I want to see what the son of a bitch has in mind. If he knows where Tain is, I’ll make him take me there.”

  “And if he succeeds in trapping you, he’ll have two Immortals in his power.”

  “Tain is not as strong as I am. He never was. I’ll turn this trap around and release my brother.”

  Amber clenched her fists, anger and fear twisting in her gut. “But the demon is damn strong. You’ve fought him several times—the last time I found you in your basement with your body slashed up.”

  “I wasn’t trying to kill him, then,” Adrian said absently. “I was trying to get information out of him. If he’s waiting for us, with or without Tain—then, I will kill him.”

  His eyes glittered with grim determination, but he wouldn’t look at her. Adrian wanted this battle, Amber saw that in the hard line of his mouth. He’d fight until he could fight no more, and it chilled her to think what the demon might do to Adrian if he fell under his power.

  Amber was tired of losing people she cared about to this demon. There had to be a better way than simply springing the demon’s trap, though Amber had to admit she had no idea what that might be right now.

  Adrian would try to protect Amber from the demon, probably recruiting Valerian to help him, but Amber had a few ideas about that. She’d taken the measure of the dragon’s aura when he assisted her in the spell and thought she could turn Valerian’s loyalty to her. Or at least coerce him into being on her side. Blackmail him if she had to.

  As if he knew she was thinking about him, Valerian came out of his sleep at that moment, scales making a slithering sound as he uncoiled himself. The animal noises in the forest immediately ceased, small creatures aware of the huge predator in their midst. “Ready to go?” Valerian rumbled.

  Adrian and Amber shared a look. Adrian turned away and said nothing as he helped Amber strap herself to Valerian before they took off into the freezing atmosphere.

  * * *

  Valerian could fly only as far as a small fishing town in northern Alaska. After that, his dragon blood would freeze, he said, but Amber still had not pinpointed Tain’s location.

  “Farther north, that’s all I know,” Amber said.

  They found a small motel on the main road near the town’s one stop sign. The woman at the front desk with two squalling children in the room behind her eyed them in suspicion, because they were clearly not locals or the usual sport fishermen who ventured this far.

  Adrian paid for the one room the motel had available, the rest of the rooms being occupied or in need of remodeling. A petite maid came around later with a pile of towels and tried to peer past Amber when she answered the door, clearly curious as to what the three of them were up to in there. The maid seemed disappointed only to see Adrian using the phone and Valerian sprawled in a chair idly flicking through television channels.

  “They really need to upgrade their cable,” Valerian said when the maid had gone.

  His human face was drawn and haggard, the toll of the thousands of miles he’d flown. When they’d first come in, Amber had placed a big order of Chinese food from the restaurant that seemed to be the mainstay of the town. Now Adrian was on the phone trying to rent or buy cold weather equipment.

  Valerian yawned, stretching his beefy legs. “I could sleep for a week.”

  “You might have the chance.” Adrian hung up the phone. “Amber and I might have a long way to go, depending on where she leads us. I just set us up with some motorbikes for land and skis to get us across ice.”

  “Sorry,” Valerian mumbled.

  “You’ve done enough,” Amber said reassuringly. “Eat, rest, and catch up on your soaps.”

  “Hey, maybe that maid will want to keep me company.” He laughed, sounding a little hollow but stronger. “Better idea would have been to bring the werewolf along.” He grinned, leaving them little doubt what he would have brought Sabina along for.

  “She bites,” Amber warned.

  “That’s what I’m hoping.” Valerian’s laugh was infectious. Then he yawned again, oblivious to the tension between Adrian and Amber. “Where’s the food?”

  Not long after that dinner arrived, followed by the motorcycles and equipment. In spite of it being late April, a light snow fell, but the delivery men wore windbreakers that Amber would have donned in much warmer Seattle. The sky was still light, the northern clime anticipating the coming midnight sun.

  Valerian consumed most of the meal. Amber found herself not very hungry despite their long journey, and Adrian didn’t eat at all. She picked through her beef and broccoli while Valerian inhaled at least four orders of kung pao chicken and ate what was to have been Adrian’s mu shu shrimp. After that, the dragon-man stretched himself out on one of the beds, flung his arm over his eyes and fell sleep.

  Adrian studied a map he’d ordered along with the bikes. The roadmap showed lots of white space with tiny, mostly unimproved roads. Adrian unfolded a contour map which Amber couldn’t make out, though she saw their town at the edge of a lot of nothing.

  “Does the rental place have GPS?” Amber asked over his shoulder. “I’d hate to get lost out in all that ice.”

  “I got one,” Adrian said, his black gaze on the map. “But we won’t get lost.”

  “I wish I could point to a specific place,” Amber said, “but all I can say is that way.” She made a vague gesture against the blankness of the map.

  “Then we’ll go that way,” Adrian said. He turned to her, taking her in with his eyes.

  She leaned down and kissed his lips, feeling heat stir and wishing there’d been two rooms available. Adrian returned the kiss, his tongue sweeping into her mouth like a bite of spice.

  “Sleep now,” he commanded, and Amber’s limbs grew heavy. “I’ll wake you when we need to go.”

  Amber tried to fight his suggestion, but her eyes were sandy and she yawned. In her clothes, she crawled under the rough sheets and thin blanket of the second bed, watching Adrian’s broad
back as he leaned over the map. As she drifted to sleep, she saw him raise his head and speak to the air. She thought a thin mist formed in front of him, but the more she strained to see, the more tired she became.

  He turned and put his hand, palm out, toward her. “Go to sleep, Amber.”

  This time the compulsion was too difficult to resist, and Amber tumbled into sleep. When she woke, both men were gone.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Adrian watched Amber emerge from the seedy motel, her black hair tossed by the strong, straight wind. Her parka and boots did little to hide her long-legged beauty, and her measured stride showed her determination to see this through.

  He hoped to Isis Amber hadn’t been lying when she’d said she couldn’t point out precisely where Tain was and so had to come with him. The demon was doing what demons did—hurting the innocent to get at someone he wanted to best. The demon had planned well to use Amber, a witch who had a good chance of snaring an Immortal’s heart.

  First Adrian wanted to discover why the demon wanted him and Tain both. Was he starting a collection of Immortals? For what purpose? Adrian mused on his brothers, Darius, Kalen, and Hunter, and wondered whether the demon was busily trapping them as well. He’d love to call them, check in . . . if he knew where the hell they were.

  Tain was not as strong as Adrian, but the two of them together had easily bested demons, even Old Ones. All five Immortals working together should be able to turn an ancient demon to dust simply by sneering at him.

  But the demon had survived this long, meaning he was one of the strong ones that had resisted the Immortals and the goddesses all those years ago. Or at the very least, successfully hidden from them.

  In ancient times, demons had trembled before the might of the Immortals. Adrian had been cocky and enjoyed slaughtering them in various ways, liking that they begged for mercy. As your own victims begged you? I’ll give you the same mercy you gave them.

  It had felt good to be a demon slayer, felt good to let Ferrin as a sword taste demon blood. Hunter had shared Adrian’s fanatical need to slow the number of demons and vampires, never letting a demon get away, even if he had to follow it to the ends of the earth.