Destiny Kills

Chapter Ten

I’d barely made my decision to leave when the cell phone rang. My heart leapt somewhere to the vicinity of my throat, and for several seconds I thought about ignoring it. It was stupid to answer it, stupid to give him advance warning of my intentions. I knew all that.

And yet part of me ached to hear his voice. To hear the timbre of it resonate through my body one more time, warming me as much as his clever hands.

I blew out a breath, then dragged the phone out of my pocket.

“Hello?”

“Destiny? Where are you?”

My gaze went to the sea. I could hear it calling me, telling me not to be long. I closed my eyes, and lied. “I don’t exactly know.”

He paused. Somewhere close behind him, a woman ordered a coffee. Cups clinked. Voices murmured, a general hum that spoke of a smallish crowd. He had to be in a café somewhere. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means I don’t need to visit that house anymore.”

“Why not?” His voice was sharp, filled with the threat of anger.

“I had a nice chat with one of the men in the red car. Apparently, they no longer use key codes, but rather handprint scans.”

“He could have been lying—”

“He wasn’t.”

Again he paused. “And the man?”

“Still swimming deep, as far as I know.”

“Destiny—”

“No,” I cut in, ignoring the deepening anger in his voice. Ignoring the shiver that was part fear, part desire. “Sorry, Trae, but I’m not willing to let you pay the price that Egan did. They still have the means to find me, and enough is enough.”

“I won’t let—”

“I’m going to get my mother,” I cut in again. “I’m sorry, Trae. Sorry I can’t help you.”

“Damn it, Destiny, we had a deal—”

I hit the end button, cutting him off mid-sentence. For several seconds, I just stared at the phone, waiting for it to ring, for him to call back. When he didn’t, an odd mix of relief and disappointment ran through me.

Not wanting to examine that particular mix of emotions any more than necessary, I shoved the phone into the bag, then tied it up tight. Of course, the plastic wasn’t watertight, and the phone would more than likely be destroyed by the deeper ocean waters, but I’d rather that than leaving it here for him to find. I didn’t want to give him an easy reference point for my leaving.

It was time to go see my dad.

Before it really was too late.

I tied the plastic bag to my wrist and strode back into the sea. And tried not to think about how angry my dad was going to be when he saw me again. He might be crippled, and he might be dying, but I had no doubt his fury would be fearsome. I’d gone against his orders to go after my mom, and had disappeared for years. And yet I knew a lot of the anger would be aimed at himself as much as me. Aimed at the disease that was slowly killing him, and his inability to do anything to help either me or my mother.

Sadness rose like a tide, and suddenly I was blinking back tears. “What goes around comes around” had been a favorite saying of his when I was younger. Well, where the hell was the payback for the scientists who were destroying my family? When was fate going to step in and say enough is enough?

Or was that now my lot? To mete out the justice they had coming?

I bit my bottom lip and dove under the waves. The problem was, I didn’t actually want justice. I just wanted my mother free. Just wanted us to live as a family again.

Of course, the scientists knew we were out here in the oceans now, just like they knew the air dragons were here. No matter what I did, that knowledge would remain. Surely it would only be a matter of time before the news spread through the scientific ranks and the hunt for us all became even more intense.

But there wasn’t a lot I could do about that, and gnawing over it like a dog with a bone would get me nowhere fast.

One step at a time, I thought.

I shifted shape when I was deep enough, and began the long trek down the North American coast, heading for the tip of South America.

It was a tedious trip. I kept myself amused by skimming the waves and chasing the sea life that darted like quicksilver flashes in front of me, but the day rolled into the night and back into the day until the hours just seemed to blur together.

For the first time in my life, I wished I’d taken after Dad more than Mom. Right now, wings would have been bonus. At least I could have flown directly across the continent rather than having to swim around South America before heading back home. It was time wasted—time that could be better spent with my dad.

But the only way I could have flown was to ask Trae. And not only would that have selfishly put him into danger yet again, there was also the worry as to whether he could actually do it.

Air dragons could carry people. There were enough myths and tales about fiery beasts dragging off human sacrifices to have at least some basis in fact—but could they manage it for long periods? Somehow, I doubted it. Even birds of prey didn’t carry their kills for great distances.

I wondered what it would be like to soar through the clouds. How different would flying be to cutting through the cold, wild seas? Would there be more of a sense of freedom? I’d always imagined that cutting through sunshine and wind would be far more pleasant than skimming through the ever-cold waters of the deeper oceans, but Egan would never really talk about it much.

I closed my eyes and imagined him soaring through the blue skies, his scales gleaming with fire, gossamer wings outstretched as he soared high and long. He’d been beautiful, truly beautiful, in his dragon form.

Just like Trae.

And it hurt to think I might never see him or his dragon form again. Because even if he did come after me, he might not want anything more to do with me after the way I’d broken our deal.

The seas got a lot rougher as I rounded the tip of South America and began the long trek up toward the North Atlantic. It was still boring, though, and while I tried desperately not to think about Trae any more than I already had, my thoughts inevitably drifted back to him.

And part of me began to worry. Trae wasn’t the type to give up easily, and he wanted the ring as fiercely as I wanted to see my dad and free my mom. Just because I’d left him behind didn’t mean he’d actually stay there. And certainly the sheer length of this swim would give him more than enough time to catch up—even if he didn’t use his dragon form to fly from Oregon to Maine.

The one good thing was the fact that he didn’t know where I was going. I might have told him Maine, but Maine was a big place, and our home wasn’t near any major cities anyway. And Trae wouldn’t find us in the phone book—our number was unlisted.

Not that that would stop a determined man.

Of course, the main problem for me was the fact I had to come in at night—it was difficult enough to swim through the bays without being spotted, let alone get under the bridge at Lubec. That would take timing, and high tide. But night also gave Trae an advantage—he could fly high and keep watch. Air dragon sight was sharp—he’d see my shadow, even at night and under the water.

Still, there was little I could do about it, and no point in working myself up any more than I already was.

When I finally rounded the national park and swam into Johnson Bay, excitement began to pulse through my bloodstream. I was home—or close to it. Maybe it wasn’t the home where I was supposed to be raised, but it was the home of my heart regardless, and suddenly I was eager to see the old log house my dad had built on the South Bay shore in the years before the disease had really begun to take hold.

The tidal currents were moving fast, and I rode them past the bridge, thankful I’d come in close to high tide. The sea in this section could get low enough to walk through—although the mud could make that difficult.

I swam into the deeper waters of the bay, my excitement growing as I made my way through Cobscook Bay and into the waters that had been my home for many years.

It was then a large dark shadow swooped low over the water. Claws bigger than the length of my hands briefly skimmed the tops of the waves, the deadly tips gleaming inches from my nose before the shadow lifted and moved on.

I swore softly and rose to the surface, allowing my snout and eyes to break the water but leaving the rest of my body hidden. Not that any watchers were likely to notice me when there was a goddamn winged dragon skimming the waves.

And oh, he was so beautiful.

His sleek, powerful body looked silvery in the moonlight, but each movement had a ripple of deep gold shimmering across his scales. His wings were gossamer, glittering with every powerful stroke, reminding me of the gleaming beauty of a spider’s web after a sun shower.

One wing dipped, the fragile-looking tip momentarily digging into the sea and sending up a huge spray of water as he lazily turned around. His gaze met mine, the blue depths full of fury and warning. Then he was turning back around and heading for the shore.

I followed him. I had little other choice—that brief look had said that well enough.

He didn’t change until he had landed on the rocky shoreline. Luckily, it was hours after midnight, and the few houses that were within spotting distance were dark and silent. It was doubtful anyone had seen the dragon take on human shape.

I shifted the shape once the sea bottom began to rise, and strode somewhat reluctantly toward the beach. This was not going to be pleasant.

I stopped with my feet still in the sea. There were still several yards between us, but I could see him and hear him, and that was close enough. Not that I thought he’d hurt me, even if his anger was hot enough to burn.

His face might as well have been a brick, for all the emotion he was showing. But I could see the flick of it in his bright eyes. Feel the thunder of it rolling through the air.

“How did you find me?”

“I’ve been patrolling all night.” His rich voice was as clipped as mine. “Air dragons may be creatures of air and sun, but we have damn good night vision. A sea dragon is hard to miss, even at night and under the water.”

“Bit risky flying around like that, wasn’t it?”

He gave me a cold sort of smile. “If I fly high up, people just think I’m a large bird.”

Extremely large, I would think. And if those people happened to be near a pair of binoculars, well, there went any resemblance to a large bird. Still, an air dragon flew extremely fast. It was doubtful that even those who had a camera at hand would catch anything more than air swirls.

“What about the laptop and the equipment you had in the car?”

He gave me a dark sort of look. “I went back to my house and stored them there.”

“Look, Trae—”

“Not here,” he snapped, closing the distance between us, wrapping me in heat and anger. “The night is freezing, and you’re shivering. My car is just up on the road. Let’s get somewhere warm before we do this.”

He gripped my arm and propelled me forward several steps. Caught by surprise, I almost fell, and it was only his grip that kept me upright. Once I’d managed to catch my balance, I ripped my elbow out of his grasp and stopped.

“The last thing I need”—I stabbed him in the chest with a finger and tried to ignore the warmth that flared up toward my arm with each tiny touch—“is some fool acting like a damned he-man. You can’t just haul me around as you please. Be civil, or that ring is going to remain sea-bound for eternity.”

He crossed his arms, his eyes flat and dangerous. “That’s not a threat you should be making, sweetheart. Trust me on that.”

I growled low down in my throat and pushed past him. “Why couldn’t you have just accepted the situation and left me alone?”

He followed, a presence I could feel through every pore, in every fiber. In some ways, he felt like sunshine through rain—an inner warmth surrounded by threatening darkness.

“Because we had a deal.” His voice was even, not hinting at the fury vibrating the air. “And you’re going to live up to your side of it.”

I swung around and faced him. “All you need the ring for is to get some information out of your bastard of a father. I’m trying to get to mine before he dies. What makes you think I really give a damn about any stupid deal you might have made right now?”

“What makes you think that the information I need is any less urgent than you getting to your dad?”

“Because if it was, you would have told me.”

“Not when the fucking ring was already out of my reach and couldn’t be immediately retrieved.” He eyed me for a minute, the heat of his fury washing over me again despite the tight control he obviously had over his emotions. “Agreeing to the deal gave me the ring in a couple of days. And that was okay, because it helped me, and it helped you, as Egan had wished.”

I studied him for a moment, then said, “So what sort of information does your father hold that is so important?”

He sighed, and thrust a hand through his hair. “My sister has gone missing, and my mom feels sure that she’s in some sort of trouble.”

“Is this a kin intuition thing?”

“She’s human, remember, so the kin intuition doesn’t apply. She just occasionally gets these feelings about things, and they mostly come true.”

“Then why the hell didn’t you tell me all this in the first place?” My voice was sharper than I’d intended, but damn it, he deserved it. If his sister was in trouble, he should have told me. “Why do such a botched job of stealing it?”

“Because we’re conditioned not talk about the clique or clique business. Besides, I had no idea what had happened to my brother, who you were, and whether I could trust you. Running with the ring just seemed easier at the time.”

“You could have just explained the situation, Trae.”

His gaze searched mine. “Would you have believed me? Especially considering you had no idea until our meeting that Egan even had siblings?”

“Honestly? I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe not when we’d first met, because I didn’t know you any better than you knew me. But later, yeah, I would have. Either way, stealing it wasn’t the answer.”

“So I discovered.”

This, I thought sourly, was a complete and utter shambles. And why? Because neither of us had trusted the other enough to just come out and explain things. But at least this was one mess that was easily fixed.

I swung around on my heel and marched back to the sea. I couldn’t change the delay I’d caused—a delay that might very well endanger his sister—but I could do this. I could summon the ring from the sea and give it back to him.

“Destiny, the car is—”

“I don’t care about the car. I’m getting the ring.”

“It’s nearly dawn—” he said.

“Which is the best time for this sort of magic.” I swung around and faced him. “I have enough blood on my hands already, Trae. I don’t want your sister’s on them as well. When I get the ring, I want you to go. Get the information you need, and go find your sister.”

“But—”

“Promise me,” I cut in sharply, “that you’ll take the ring and go.”

He hesitated, then said, “Okay. I promise.”

“Good. You might want to get some blankets from the car, though. This could be a bit of a wait.”

I turned back around and walked to the water. The waves hissed over my feet, welcoming me back, wanting me to go deeper, wanting me to play. I ignored them, wading out until the water was thigh deep. Once there, I stopped and waited for the dawn.

It stirred gradually through the darkness. Slivers of pink and gold began to breach the night, dousing the stars and lending a glory to the predawn darkness. The energy in the air gradually increased, becoming more and more frantic, reaching toward its crescendo as the slivers became a river that flooded the sky. As the beat of energy came to a peak, and the air came alive with the hum and power of a new day, I raised my left hand and held it palm up to the skies.

“To the Gods of the sea, I call on thee.”

The ritual words rode across the silence, holding the energy, shaping it, becoming a thing of beauty and command. The waters around me began to stir and swirl, and the rush of waves were momentarily lost against that gathering whirl. Droplets of water shot into the sky, sparkling like diamonds in the gathering brightness.

“To my brothers of deep, dark waters, and my sisters of the quick shallows, I call on thee.”

More energy touched the air, a deep, bass thrum that spoke of vast, cold places. It flooded through me, filling me, completing me, in a way no human touch ever would.

The droplets came together, becoming a water spout that glittered and spun and danced upon the rich, dark waters.

“Return the ring you’ve kept safe and unfound. Return it to me now from the dark and secret places.”

Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the energy stirred, then leapt away. The turbulence stilled and the waves returned. I turned around and waded back up to the shoreline.

Trae was waiting, and there were blankets at his feet. “Now what?” he said, his fingers briefly touching my cheek, washing warmth across my skin.

“Now we wait.” I grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around me cocoon-like, then sat down. “What did you mean before, when you said you were conditioned not to talk about the clique?”

“Just that.” He picked up a blanket and wrapped it loosely around his shoulders, then sat down beside me. Even though we weren’t touching, his warmth flowed around me, heating the chill from my skin far swifter than the rising brightness of the day. “We are conditioned from the cradle not to talk about the clique. Every single day of our childhood we were told that those who talk about family business to outsiders will die. You hear it so often it becomes a part of your very nature.”

Disbelief surged, and I looked at him. “Surely they wouldn’t actually—”

“Not they. Him. The bastard we call king. And I’ve seen it done, many times. Our clique is a law unto itself in this matter—and no one, absolutely no one, dares to defy that law.” He looked at me, eyes glimmering in the growing light. “I have told you more about the clique than I have ever told anyone. But the training is still there, and it is very hard to break. Especially when it involves those that I love.”

“So you think your sister is in danger rather than just trouble?”

“I don’t know. But would you take the risk?”

“No.” I leaned a little closer to him, so that our shoulders touched. “Was she living at home with your mom before she disappeared?”

He snorted softly. “Most of us half breeds get out as quick as we can. We’re protected from the worst excesses of the clique until we reach sixteen, but after that it’s open season.”

I frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

“Let’s just say that young male air dragons tend to like testing their strength and their sexual prowess, and a lot of them aren’t particular about gender.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Air dragons are bisexual?”

“Mostly, no, but in our clique there aren’t a lot of breeding females. Hence the abundance of draman like myself. Those who can’t find human release often turn to each other.”

“But if there’s twelve other cliques, why don’t they just go elsewhere? Surely the female shortage doesn’t run through all the cliques?”

“I suspect it doesn’t, but air dragons are notoriously protective over what they class as ‘their own.’ It’s that whole not-sharing-the-loot mentality that was apparently prevalent in the early days.”

“So did any of these young dragons ever try their wily ways on you?”

Amusement glimmered briefly in his eyes. “Only one. I handed him back his balls on a platter and was never bothered after that.”

“Not surprising.”

“No. Mercy was pretty self-sufficient, as well, but she was attacked several times. Most of the time, I was there to stop it before it went too far, but once I was forced out—” He hesitated and shrugged. “She pretty much left when she hit sixteen. She came to San Francisco and lived with me while she finished school and studied journalism, then got an apartment with several friends.”

“If your mom’s so worried about her, why wouldn’t she go talk to the police?”

“Because talking to the police would be involving outsiders. And that would jeopardize my mother.”

“But she’s human, not dragon.”

“Yes, but she’s been employed by the clique since she was eighteen, and considers them her family. If she calls the cops, she’d lose that family—either by losing her life, or being thrown out of the clique.”

“Just how big is your clique?”

He hesitated. “There would be over a hundred and fifty, if you just counted dragons.”

“That many dragons cannot go unnoticed forever. Not in this day and age.”

“Ah, but they rarely take dragon form these days. Even the young are taught to fly in the early hours of dawn, when few humans are about.” He shrugged. “The cliques have thousands of years of practice melding into civilization while remaining apart. They might capture the odd individual, but they will never find more than that.”

I wasn’t so sure. Especially given the scientists now had dragons working for them.

“Your sister didn’t leave a contact number or a message with any of her friends?”

“She did leave a message with a friend saying she had a tip about a story, and was going to investigate it. That was weeks ago.”

“Why can’t you report her disappearance? I mean, you don’t give a damn about clique politics, and you have no position within the clique to lose.”

“But again, my mom has, and if I did report it, she would be punished for it.” He shrugged, seemingly accepting of the situation despite the surge of anger I could feel in him. “Besides, we don’t know where she actually went. Hard to track someone—or prove they’re missing—if they’ve already told you they’ll be out of contact for a while.”

“So how does your dad know her whereabouts?”

“Apparently the Arizona clique sent word about her.”

“Meaning she’s probably in Arizona. Have you searched the area?”

He glanced at me. “Of course. But Arizona isn’t exactly a small state.”

“And the Arizona clique won’t help?”

He snorted. “Help the unwanted bastard son of a California clique? Not likely.”

I raised an eyebrow. “So despite the fact the cliques work together for self-protection from humans, they don’t exactly get along?”

“You could say that.” Amusement ran through his voice, and a tremor that was all desire tripped across my skin.

“Meaning your father might not actually know anything. He could be lying in an effort to get the ring back.”

“He could, and I certainly don’t trust him one iota, but I do believe he knows something.” His sudden smile was cold. Hard. “His strength is waning rapidly and he’s desperate for the ring. I think, in this case, he’ll tell me what he knows.”

I studied him for a moment, then asked, “So why did the conditioning break now? Why not before?”

He smiled and reached under the blanket to gently clasp my hand. His skin was slightly rough against mine, but so warm. I opened my hand, letting his fingers slide between mine, feeling an odd rightness in the gesture.

“Because the conditioning only works with strangers. You have become far more than that to me now.”

“And you to me.” It sounded so lame, and there was so much more I wished I could say, but suddenly my stupid tongue was all tied in knots and the words I really wanted to say got stuck in my throat.

But maybe that was for the best. With everything I still had to do, what was the point of pouring my heart out?

I watched the sea for a while, looking for any sign that the magic was returning, then said, “What if she’s met a nice man and is having the time of her life?”

His sudden grin had a wry twist to it. “Are there any nice men still out here in the world?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t met any lately.”

He glanced at me, eyebrows raised and a devilish twinkle in his eyes. “I could play nice, if you want.”

“I know the sort of nice you’re talking about,” I replied dryly. “But if you want that ring, we’d better behave. The sea doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

“Later, then.”

“Much later.” When this was all over, and everyone was safe.

Silence fell again, and day grew around us, bringing houses and the bay to life. I dragged my knees close to my chest, watching the water, watching the dance of sunlight across the waves. Feeling the growing sense of power rumbling underneath them.

Eventually I tossed off the blanket and walked back into the water. The sense of power grew stronger, swirling around my legs. Farther out in the bay, a long plume of water became visible, its silver droplets twinkling and gleaming like rainbows as something rushed toward me.

I held out my hand, palm up, as the plume of water drew ever closer. Then there was a flash of silver, the warm kiss of water across my palm, and the ring was returned.

“Thank you.”

The quick dance of sparkling droplets said the words had been accepted and acknowledged by the deeper energy of the sea, then they, too, were gone.

I glanced at the ring sitting in the middle of my palm. The dragon’s jeweled eyes still gleamed like blood dripping from a wound, and the ring itself remained heavy and cold against my skin. Reluctantly, I closed my fingers around it, then turned and headed back to the beach.

“Here,” I said, holding out my hand. “I hope it helps you find your sister.”

He opened his palm and I dropped the thing into it. The red eyes seemed to gleam ominously before he closed his fingers around it and shoved it in his pocket. As if he, too, felt the coldness in the thing.

His gaze met mine, the rich depths gleaming brightly in the sunlight, as if lit from behind. “Thanks.”

I shrugged, trying for casual, knowing there was no other choice. “If you’re no longer going to use the car, can I take it? I can’t swim in the bay at this hour in either form—there are too many boats and people about.”

He took the keys from his other pocket and dropped them into my hand. “It’s the red Ford with the white top. You can’t miss it.”

I clenched my fingers around the keys, pressing them into my palm, using the pain of it to help stop the tears that were threatening to spill.

“This is not the end for us, Destiny,” he said softly.

My gaze rose to his, and something in my soul sighed at the determination I saw in those bright depths. “Good, because I don’t want this to be an end for us. But I also don’t want to be responsible for your death. Egan was enough. Go find your sister, do what you have to do, and maybe we can meet up at your big old house a month or so down the track.”

“Egan made his choices, Destiny. You’re not responsible for what happened because of them.”

“Egan died because he chose to escape with me, and no amount of prettying it will change that fact.” I half turned away, then added, “Good-bye, Trae. Good luck with your sister.”

“Damn it,” he said, then stepped forward, grabbing my arm and pulling me backward, into his arms. His mouth claimed mine, and it was all heat and intensity and raw emotion. It was a kiss that said everything that remained unsaid between us, a kiss that held so many promises that my heart ached and my stomach churned.

Because I couldn’t afford to hang on to those promises, I really couldn’t. There was just too much uncertainty in my present.

He broke the kiss as suddenly as he started it. He stared at me for several seconds, his breathing harsh and blue eyes stormy, then simply said, “A month, then. Make sure you’re there.”

“I will be.” I turned and walked away. But as I began to climb the steps to the parking lot, I looked back. I thought I saw a muscle tick along his jawline. Thought I saw his fingers twitch, and then clench. But he didn’t say anything, didn’t move, and I didn’t stop.

When I finally reached the parking lot, I gave in to the urge to look around again.

Trae was gone.