Firestorm Forever

  “It must have been terrifying for you,” Maeve said in her smooth Irish accent. “It’s just another sign of the gross indifference these creatures show to humans, the rightful residents of this planet…”

  Melissa stood behind Rafferty, her phone forgotten in her hand, and wanted to injure the journalist who’d apparently made it her mission to turn public opinion against the Pyr. She could hear the same broadcast coming through the phone, because Doug was watching it, too.

  The woman kept talking, but her pictures really did say it all.

  “I know exactly what you mean, Maeve. They couldn’t have cared less about us.”

  “Tell me exactly what happened, Peg,” Maeve purred. “You’re doing such a wonderful job.”

  Peg preened. “Arthur didn’t even want to go and see Ahu Te Pito Kura, but I thought we should see the largest statue, even if it hasn’t been restored, and while we were there, we could see the navel of the world, Te Pito o te Henua. We had to get up terribly early and the light was odd, with the blood moon, but the guide thought the photographs would be good…”

  The photographs, in fact, were creepy. They were displayed in succession on the screen, the woman reduced to a voice-over. The first shots were clearly taken from a truck and must have been taken as it was moving because some of them were blurred.

  Still there was no mistaking the dragons taking flight.

  They were Pyr. Their figures were silhouetted against the strangely lit sky and became clearer as the eclipse passed. Once the moon was shining white again, it was evident that the dragons in question were red and gold.

  In fact, they were just about indistinguishable from each other. It was hard to get a good count of them from the photographs, each of which showed one or two.

  Melissa and Rafferty exchanged a glance, and she worried about the import of his consternation. What did he know that she didn’t?

  “Dragons, Maeve!” the woman said. “Real live dragons! Who would have believed it? And not just one, but many of them, one after the other. They were red and gold, we could see that when the moonlight returned to normal, and they flew straight up.” She cleared her throat. “And then they just disappeared, as if they’d never been there at all. They were snatched up by that gold dragon.”

  “Do you think it was the one from Seattle?” Maeve asked. “The one who infected thousands of innocent people and launched a new plague?”

  Melissa caught her breath. There was a blurred shot of the gold dragon, and it sure looked like Jorge. He breathed fire back at a group of watching tourists, who fled from him. Several fell, not as steady on their feet as they had been in their younger days.

  Rafferty frowned.

  “That would make sense,” the woman said, her voice rising. “And these ones sure didn’t care what happened to us! Our driver nearly went into the ditch in his shock, and one of the people already there broke a leg trying to run away. Roger’s angina began to act up, especially once the dragons began to disappear.” She huffed. “But we went on to find out where they were coming from and we found this!”

  Her tone was triumphant as the next series of photographs were displayed.

  “A dragon nest!” Maeve breathed. “Why, Peg, I believe you’re the first to ever photograph one!”

  Melissa had seen pictures of the round stone referred to as the navel of the world on the north side of Easter Island and had always wished there hadn’t been four smaller stones added around it. It made the stone, which was supposed to have mystical powers and was magnetic, look like a table in the middle of a patio set.

  The mystical stone was centered in a round platform beside the ocean, with a low fitted stone wall around it. Nearby was one of the large funerary platforms known as ahu, though the statue that had once stood upon it was toppled.

  In the moonlight, the stone looked a bit like a huge egg.

  Albeit one that was cracked open, with four cracked stones around it.

  Eggs in a nest.

  “There must have been five broken eggs,” the eyewitness continued. “We tried to fit the shells back together to be sure, but they were heavy and hard to move. Arthur said we should leave them alone, but they were disintegrating right before our eyes!”

  It was true. Melissa could see the big egg shards crumbling as the group of older tourists examined them, and the dust itself seemed to disappear when it touched the earth. By the time the sun came up, the tourists were standing in that circular platform with dust gathering around their shoes.

  “I knew I couldn’t get a satellite connection, not from there, but I took all the pictures I could, before they disappeared from sight. I filled the memory card on my cell phone, and Arthur practically filled the one on the digital camera. I knew that we could send them once we were back on the mainland.”

  “I’m so glad you contacted me, Peg McKay, to share your experience,” Maeve said. “Even though it’s terrifying to see five more dragons appear in the world overnight, as hungry, violent, and rapacious as their fellows. How many more will infest the world?”

  Peg grimaced. “Do you think that gold one from Seattle was their parent?” she asked with obvious distaste and Rafferty inhaled sharply.

  “It’s clear that there are more dragon shifters breeding,” Maeve said. “All around us. Will they outnumber us all? Will they spread more disease and kill more people?” The image changed to Maeve, comfortable in a studio somewhere and as beautifully dressed as she always was. She looked into the camera, appearing utterly trustworthy and concerned. “We are under assault, my friends and neighbors, under attack by an alien species, who intend to make their world their own. They mean to exterminate us, and we can’t just stand by and watch. Please protect yourself and your families…”

  Rafferty turned off the sound with a savagery.

  “I need to interview this Peg McKay,” Melissa said into her cell phone. “I want to interview all of them, preferably before anyone else does.”

  “Maeve probably tried to convince her to sign an exclusive,” Doug said.

  “Then one of the others in her group. There’s more to this story than Maeve is telling and our audience deserves to know.”

  “Exactly,” Doug said. “This tour group has gone back to Santiago, which is where they submitted these images. Luck is with us: we’ve got a crew there doing a follow-up story on the last earthquake. I’ve asked them to try to talk to the McKays and convince them to give you an interview. Your series on the Pyr might help close the deal.”

  “I hope so,” Melissa said. “In the meantime, I’m on my way.”

  “Do whatever you need to,” her producer said, his code for sparing no expense. “We need you there as quickly as possible.”

  Melissa ended the connection to find Rafferty watching the sequence of images again, with the sound turned off. “Are they Pyr?” she asked and he shrugged.

  “They can’t be true Pyr, not hatching from eggs.” His disgust at the notion was clear.

  “Then what are they?”

  “I don’t know.” He sighed. “They look exactly like a dead Slayer named Boris Vassily.”

  “Back from the dead?”

  Rafferty shook his head. “Not by any means I know. This is new.”

  “Are they dragon shifters at all?”

  Melissa won a skeptical glance for that question, which she supposed she deserved. Rafferty arched a brow. “Don’t tell me that you believe in dragons who aren’t shape shifters? They’re a myth, Melissa.”

  “Then?”

  Rafferty frowned. “I fear they are Slayers, but this hatching isn’t right.” His voice dropped. “What has Jorge learned?”

  “Will you come with me?”

  “Not just yet.” Rafferty spoke slowly and she knew he was weighing his options and his responsibilities. “Whatever they are, they aren’t there anymore. I’ll take Isabelle to Chicago, so she can stay with Erik in case I do need to be with you. She’ll be safer there with the other children.” He nodded o
nce and caught her hand in his. “I think that’s the best choice for the moment.”

  “What else?” Melissa whispered.

  “What do you mean?”

  “There’s something else bothering you about this. Tell me.”

  Rafferty sighed. He replayed the video, freezing it where the dragons had suddenly disappeared. They hadn’t faded from view, Melissa realized belatedly. They had vanished.

  She caught her breath. “Spontaneously manifesting elsewhere,” she murmured and Rafferty nodded.

  “Which makes them not just Slayers, but Slayers who have drunk the Elixir and have no scent.” He sighed and spun in his chair before getting to his feet with purpose. “That explains why we knew nothing about them. Erik wouldn’t even have sensed them in advance. The question is how many of them are there in total.”

  “And where did they go?” Melissa asked.

  “Oh, I think I know where they went,” Rafferty said. He indicated the stairs. “I’ll find us flights. Go and pack.”

  Melissa didn’t move. “Where did they go? What do you know?”

  “Two ruby and brass Slayers attacked Erik’s lair after the eclipse, and three targeted Drake and his mate, just after his firestorm was satisfied.”

  “The eclipse sparked his firestorm,” Melissa guessed and Rafferty nodded. Then she had a feeling why he hadn’t told her about this. “What happened to her? What did they do with Drake’s mate?” When he hesitated, she heard her voice rise. “Rafferty! You have to tell me!”

  By way of answer, he started another video, one she hadn’t seen. It showed a dragonfight, with Jorge and the red and gold Slayers. “Is that Drake?” she asked, then gasped as the dark dragon was wounded and the woman snatched up by Jorge.

  Before he disappeared.

  Melissa swallowed hard. “Is there more?” she asked, fearing the answer.

  Rafferty came and stood before her, the weight of his hands landing on her shoulders. “She is gone, without a trace.” He held her gaze. “I would prefer that you come to Chicago with us.”

  Melissa shook her head, even before he had finished speaking. “I have to do this. I have to cover this story. She’s already blaming the Pyr for this Roger’s angina attack and that other person’s broken ankle. You guys need to turn public opinion in your favor, and I can help.”

  Rafferty smiled just a little. “I knew you would say that.”

  She smiled back at him then gave his fingers a squeeze. “I like that you want to protect me, but it’s better if you protect Isabelle.” Their adopted daughter had to be defended.

  “There are no good choices.” Rafferty nodded once then. “See if you can convince them to return to the island for the interview.”

  “It will be better for the video if they do.”

  “It will be better for many things.” Rafferty’s tone was ominous and expression was resolute. “I will meet you there.”

  It was clear that he didn’t expect anything good to happen. Melissa shivered, knowing she’d be glad to have her Pyr at her side. She would have liked to have been selfish and not parted with him at all, but Melissa was the only one who could secure that interview, and time was of the essence.

  She had to choose between her own defense and that of Isabelle, and it was no choice. Isabelle was still young, and Melissa had fought dragons on her own before she’d met Rafferty.

  She’d beat cancer, after all.

  These dragons weren’t metaphorical, but she’d do it again anyway.

  It was the only way to ensure that Isabelle had the future she deserved: a future with Pyr, not Slayers. A future with dragon shifters defending the human race.

  Preferably a future without people like Maeve O’Neill.

  Chapter Ten

  Jac read Sigmund Guthrie’s book three times from cover to cover. It was written in a convoluted style that wasn’t as accessible as would have been ideal. In fact, she had a definite sense that there were secrets hidden between the lines, like it might have been in code. She wasn’t nearly as good at solving riddles as her brilliant sister, but she was determined to figure out this one alone.

  If nothing else, this book might be the key to making her dream happen. She’d always tended to others and put her own dreams aside in favor of theirs. It was time for that to change, and Jac had been determined to start by avenging Nathaniel. That was her goal and no one else’s.

  That meant hunting dragons—well, dragon shifters—and returning the favor of doing them injury. She’d moved to Seattle to be at the source, the place closest to ground zero. She’d tried to find out more about that gold dragon, even to find some hint of his presence, but without any luck.

  Until she’d received this book, she’d feared she would fail.

  Knowing more about her prey made the difference.

  When she was done reading the book for the third time, Jac made a list. As far as she could determine, these dragon shifters had a few weaknesses.

  First, they could lose a scale because they loved someone. That would leave a bit of their skin unprotected, and that—obviously—was the place to strike to give the greatest wound. Jac wasn’t at all sure she’d have the time to search for missing scales if confronting a fire-breathing dragon intent upon defending himself—or destroying her—but it was good to know. She also wasn’t convinced that she’d be able to reach the vulnerable point—that would depend upon its location and their relative positions in the fight—but still, even discovering they had vulnerabilities was good.

  Secondly, they hid their clothes when they shifted shape and evidently could only change back to human form if in possession of those clothes. Jac would have preferred that they could have been stopped from changing into dragon form, but she supposed beggars couldn’t be choosers. Finding the clothes and taking them—or better, destroying them—could compromise a dragon shifter’s ability to shift.

  Thirdly, they mated once in their long lives, always with a human woman. The woman would be a point of weakness, Jac had to believe, because humans were easier to kill than dragons. She didn’t think it right to avenge herself upon dragon shifters by injuring the women they loved, though.

  She wanted to injure dragons.

  But what kind of a woman would a dragon love? Maybe she’d be a human as rapacious, greedy and destructive as a dragon shifter. Maybe she’d deserve to die, just as much as her lover.

  Especially if the woman loved the dragon in return.

  Jac considered her list and wished it was longer. She flipped through the book again.

  The truly strange thing about the book was that it seemed to be written for other dragons. Its instructions about the protocol for a dragonfight, for example, insisted that one should lock talons first “in the customary fighting pose,” but slip out of the other dragon’s grip early, or thrash the other dragon with one’s tail before he was ready for an assault. Jac didn’t have those options at her disposal.

  She considered the title of the book for the umpteenth time. The Compleat Guide for Slayers. Was it true that there were two kinds of dragons: good dragons and bad dragons? That’s what Melissa Smith said.

  Were they all dragon shifters?

  Did dragons slay each other?

  Jac didn’t know how she would find out.

  If nothing else, she had more to add to her notebook of details about dragons. She’d already spent days on her computer, trolling through all of the video footage of the Pyr on YouTube. From each short film, she’d slurped one good image of each dragon and printed it out. Her compilation of known dragons included the date and location of their appearances. She tried to augment it with weaknesses and information from this old volume on hunting dragons.

  There was the opal and gold dragon that appeared in Melissa Smith’s documentary. There was the huge moonstone and silver dragon that had shifted shape in a crowd in Washington, D. C. There was a trio of them filmed fighting near a roundabout in England, an opal and gold dragon and a moonstone and silver one pitted
against a jade and gold one.

  Jac bit her lip as she watched that one again. Clearly, there could be a dispute between dragons. It was possible that the opal and gold one was the same dragon as the one in the documentary, and that the moonstone and silver one was the same dragon as shifted shape in D.C. Jac couldn’t see any differences, so she concluded that they were the same dragons in different places.

  Shortly after that, three dragons had closed the Thames Barrier in London. One was ebony and pewter, while the second was tourmaline and gold, his scales shading from green to purple and back again. The third had scales in vivid hues of orange and yellow, edged with gold, and was so vivid that the sight of him was like looking into the sun. Jac watched the video several times, listening to the commentator’s remarks that the closure would save the city from flooding and keep thousands of people from dying.

  Jac tapped her pencil. She was back to good dragons and bad dragons, but still skeptical. The three closing the Thames Barrier had kept the city of London from flooding. That might mean they were good—or it might mean that they had another agenda, one that had nothing to do with the survival of humans.

  She wasn’t yet convinced that any of the dragon shifters deserved to live, but she put a divider into her notebook and put these three dragons on the other side of it.

  Of course, there was the video of the incident that had changed her own life. She could barely watch the topaz and gold dragon as he shook blood over the crowd, because her gaze was snared by Nathaniel and his excitement. God, she missed him. And she hated feeling responsible that he was gone. Her heart clenched that she’d taken him there, instead of to the Space Needle yet again, and Jac fought her tears as she pasted that dragon’s image into her book.

  The topaz one was obviously evil.

  Jac dug deeper and found an interview with an eyewitness about the Thames Barrier. He’d observed a fight between two dragons over the controls. One was jade and gold, the other opal and gold. That had to be two of the ones who had fought by the roundabout, shortly before that. So, if the jade one had been evil, was the opal one good as Melissa insisted? Was the moonstone one good, too?