“That’s right. I don’t fight many Amethyst Dragons.” He probably knew a lot about the different Dragon types, which was unfair because Deuces weren’t as cut-and-dried.
But this Carnelian wasn’t cut-and-dried either.
He could barely turn his head. “Weren’t you taught to always look behind your target when shooting?”
“Of course! I heard something in your body break.” Her voice had risen higher at the memory of that sound. “How was I supposed to know you’d be leaping up in the friggin’ air?”
“I think I cracked a rib or three, but that kind of thing isn’t going to stop me. This”—he tried to move his arm but only his fingers twitched—”will.” He gritted his teeth and sent sparks over his body. She watched in fascination as they shattered her magick and dispelled the glow. His hands moved first, then his arms.
She held out her hand to help him up. “I’ve never seen a Dragon do what she could do.”
He grasped her hand but stood up under his own power. “And she knew about the magick taser.”
Violet gathered up the tatters of her clothes. “She knew me. She said my name, that it was too late to be a peacemaker. And yes, that’s me. But I don’t know who she is.”
The sound of a weak whistle drew their attention to Paul, still lying on the ground. He was calling for help; that long call was universal. Footsteps pounded in the near distance, along with angry shouts.
Violet ran to his side, ready to Catalyze and Breathe healing energy into him. She felt his energy die before she could even try. “We’d better get out of here. If they find us?—”
Kade pointed. “Look, she left tracks from Stramaglia land.”
“Another setup. We have to get rid of them.”
He sent a wave of magick across the dirt. “It’s easier to cover something like this than, say, a dead body.” He pulled off his shirt and handed it to her. “You obviously didn’t have time to strip first.”
“Sometimes Catalyzing is more important. I brought my bag of clothes. I’ll need to grab it on the way back to the car.” She pulled on his shirt, surprised by the way it felt comforting somehow. The same way his hand felt as he led her back along the property line. Though part of her wanted to pull away, because she didn’t need him to guide her, the other part liked the feel of his hand wrapped tightly around hers.
And that was not a good thing.
11
Ferro was sound asleep when he heard a commotion. The front door slammed shut, echoing in the foyer. Loud footsteps plodded across the marble floor. Dragon footsteps. It was probably Onyx. He took no chances, Catalyzing and stalking down the wide hallways he’d designed so he could manage them in Dragon form.
“Ferro!” She limped toward him, wincing.
Like the time she’d come to him so many years ago, injured and in need of him. She was the first being who had touched his heart. The only one. Funny, in his whole long life he’d always suspected others of getting close to him because they wanted something from him. Onyx had wanted something, too—his protection. For some reason he had accommodated her, and they’d grown very close these past years. He wasn’t sure if he loved her. Wasn’t sure what love was. But the thought of her dying struck fear in his soul.
He held her upright. “What happened?”
He saw at least part of the problem, a line seared across the top of her head, as though a blowtorch had been used in an attempt to cut her in half. He eased her gently to the floor. “A Dragon didn’t do this.” It was too sharply defined for a Dragon’s breath. “Let me Breathe into you.”
Dragons could heal faster and better when in their beast form, but Onyx needed some help. He sent his healing Breath into her, as he’d done that day she’d come to him. It bothered him on another level, her getting hurt like this. She had amassed so much power. Too much, but she would be handing much of it off soon.
Her shallow panting breaths calmed. He was dying of curiosity, yet he waited patiently for her to heal.
After a while, she struggled to sit up. “I had Paul Slade right where I wanted him,” she said in a weak voice. “I think I killed him but I didn’t get to Breathe him. Violet Castanega ambushed me.” She spewed the name as though she were spitting out poison. “And one of your Vegas. A Deuce.”
Violet. He knew she’d be trouble. She shouldn’t even be alive. If Kade had only—the rest of what she’d said hit him. “A Vega? Are you sure?”
“I saw the V on his arm. And he was skilled, tried to taser me.”
His chest felt heavy. “They were fighting…together?”
“Yes, definitely. I couldn’t believe it. Not only that she was there, but also that she seemed to know I would be there. They were ready for me.”
He thought back to when the chit had been in his office, looking at the map. Had she deduced what the pins meant? She’d figured out there was something going on beyond restless Fringers. And Kade, he’d been questioning the order to kill her right from the beginning. Putting Ferro off, making excuses. Still, he hoped. “Describe him.”
“Six-two, very fit, dark blond hair. Square chin with a cleft in it.”
