The Grand Ballroom at the Red Letter Hotel Paris was a demolition zone. Seawater rippled across the blasted-out floor as Adrian and Layla worked together, breathing energy back into Dusk to revive him. Hotel Owners gaped through the doors of the blasted-out ballroom, their eyes enormous upon the dead Siren in the middle of all the damage, not to mention a handful of deceased Guards. Layla was exhausted to her marrow from the battle, but Dusk was worse. Though he jerked up to sitting with a gasp, he immediately reeled, raising both hands to his head and wincing in pain.
Adrian gripped Dusk behind the neck, setting their foreheads together a moment. Adrian murmured something so soft that Layla couldn’t hear it, and with a grimace, Dusk nodded as if the very act of nodding speared him with ground glass. Layla could feel an echo of it in her own body; the terrible pain of a partial Dragon-shift that hadn’t been allowed to come to completion. But Adrian had shifted fully, and though he was just as exhausted as Layla and Dusk, he was in slightly better shape – his wounds from his battle with Bastien at least mostly healed by his change back to human form.
Setting his lips to Dusk’s forehead, Adrian murmured, “save some for yourself next time, you bastard,” before he rose, moving through the sodden debris back to Rikyava. Adrian repeated his breathing to get Rikyava conscious, then hauled her up into the hands of her Guards. Ordering her to her rooms on the fourth floor, Adrian instructed the Guards to find Rake André to heal her. Rikyava’s entire middle was a morass of bruises and puncture-wounds from where Bastien had bitten her, but she was tough, giving Layla a weak smile as she was helped past.
Staggering up, Dusk shook his head to clear it and Layla swept in, getting up under his arm. Together, they walked to Reginald’s massive crystal cocoon and Layla watched as Reginald’s beast heaved a sigh in its unconsciousness. As if it was as exhausted as the rest of them, it suddenly settled all that enormous weight down – and with a shivering ripple, its bones began to crunch and re-mold, sinews collapsing and muscles shrinking. In half a minute, it was only a man laying within the crystal sphere, naked with scales rippling away from his haughty, beautiful features. Like a burnished pearl, Reginald Durant shone within the crystal – unconscious and still bleeding from a plethora of wounds, though they seeped red now rather than gold-white.
Alarm raced through Layla, but then she felt him heave a breath. His heart pounded and Layla could feel it beat against her chest, as if she was inside the cocoon with him. Going to her knees, she reached out, stroking the crystal near his face, but he was out cold.
“Is he going to be alright?” Layla asked Dusk.
Still naked as a jaybird, a dire glint took Dusk’s summer-blue eyes as he set both hands to the enormous dome. “This is only the second time Reginald’s fully shifted. He might be out a few days. Sirens fall hard the first few times they change. It’s not like them to change back quickly.”
Layla watched Dusk shudder, his dark brows knit with strain as he began pouring a sonic resonance through the cocoon. Layla stepped behind him, steadying him to make sure he didn’t fall over, and he smiled back at her, though it was tired. With a deep breath, Dusk sent a series of pulses through the crystal, condensing the sphere down as it shed layers, until it was only six feet high and Reginald was curled into a fetal position inside it. Patches of crystal had formed over Reginald’s wounds – containing the bleeding.
“Will he heal?” Layla knelt by the cocoon, watching the man within breathe gently.
“Slowly. But yes. Changing back from his Dragon-form will heal him faster than a lot of other Lineages who take this much damage in a fight.” Dusk smoothed a hand over the crystal sphere, though his entire body was shaking with exhaustion.
“Did he know me, when he was his Dragon?” Layla asked, stroking the crystal near Reginald’s face again.
“It’s your scent a beast knows during its first few changes.” Dusk sighed, turning and leaning back against the cocoon and setting his head back upon it. “The Dragon doesn’t think like a person, not for a while. All Reginald probably knew were basic things likemate, danger, save.Just like when he saved you at the Aviary.”
“That’s why you screamed for me to get back.”
“He would have attacked had anyone threatened him.” Dusk nodded. “Any sudden move around a newly-shifted Dragon is a dangerous thing. Especially Sirens.”
Dusk’s eyelashes fluttered then, and Layla stepped in quickly before he could faint again. Gripping him close, she set her lips to his. He startled with a quick inhalation, his eyes fluttering open – but soon closed. Layla kissed him gently, pouring her fire-warm breath down his throat. Moulding close to his nakedness, Layla poured life and heat into him through her lips, deep into his tired body. He shuddered; his arms came up around her, holding her close, pressing their bodies tighter. Like a drowning man Dusk clung to her, drinking her kiss. But by the time Layla pulled away, feeling lightheaded, he was finally breathing easy and no longer shaking.
“God, that’s better than heroin,” he sighed.
“You’ve tried heroin?” Layla smiled, pulling back.
“Victorian era. It was all the rage.” Dusk heaved a hard breath, then pushed away from the crystal cocoon. His gaze fixed on something and Layla turned, seeing Adrian. Naked also and not seeming to care, Adrian sloshed through the ankle-deep water, stepping lithely around broken iron and piles of shimmering crystal, towards them.
“We need to get Reginald out of here.” Adrian spoke softly as he arrived, his aquamarine gaze dark.
“And you.” Dusk spoke back. They shared a knowing look, and Adrian set his jaw.
“Fuck.” Running his hands through his short black hair, it was one of the only times Layla had seen Adrian fret. Intense worry was in his gaze as he glanced to Layla, then to the crowd seeping back into the ruined hall, despite the Guards trying to hold them off. But no Guard was going to forestall an Owner of the Hotel, and all eyes were fixed upon their trio as other Guardsmen and women moved through the room, checking the fallen and getting those still alive up on hovering stretchers to be taken to the Hotel infirmary.
Dusk flicked his fingers at two enormously tall Red Giant Guardsmen, their skin entirely red like a sunburn, though it wasn’t. Both over eight feet in height and ridiculously muscle-bound like bouncers, they trundled over and Dusk spoke with them as he leaned heavily on Layla. “Jacques. Benny. Get the Head Courtier to his rooms. Stay on the door – I don’t want anyone going in or out until I get there. Are we clear?”
Both Guardsmen nodded, their faces a mask of professionalism. Heaving Reginald’s prison into their massive hands, they trundled their burden through the Owners, parting them. Dusk sagged between Adrian and Layla, still on the brink of fainting, and Layla called for help. Another Red Giant came over, seeing the problem and scooping Dusk up in his brawny arms.
Adrian took Layla’s hand; his arm was shaking, and she couldn’t imagine how much energy he’d expended bringing Rikyava and Dusk back to consciousness – not to mention the fight. Helping Adrian across the ruined floor, Layla subtly breathed her energy into him as they walked. Adrian went with his head high through the crowd of Owners, giving them his most severe glare. Some of them shrank back. Some held their ground. As they passed the Vampire Quindici DaPonti, he shook his head, giving Adrian a knowing glance. Adrian didn’t spend any time acknowledging it, though he and Layla both knew what it meant.
Adrian was so shit-canned from his position as Head of the Paris Hotel.
Moving into the hall, Layla found everything wet with seawater. The marble floors were slippery and she had to grab the arm of the Giant Guardsman to stay upright. He was kind, waiting until they were around a corner before he scooped Layla up into his other arm and hefted Adrian onto his back with a small smile.
“Where to, Hotel Head?” The Giant murmured softly.
“Fourth floor, Reginald’s rooms,” Adrian spoke back. “And when you get us there, please find the Madame, Raffino.”
“She’s already in conference with some of the Owners,” the Giant murmured back as he mounted the stairs, climbing as if his three burdens weighed nothing. “Some of the more powerful ones. I saw them go as soon as the fight ended.”
“Dammit.” Adrian cursed for the second time in nearly as many minutes, sounding tired. Layla glanced over the Giant’s shoulder to see Adrian clinging to the Giant’s back with his eyes closed. “She’s already in conference with the Crimson Circle members that were here. Wait at her door, then. Get her as soon as you’re able, bring her straight to us. Quietly as you can.”
