Drakon:Awakening

ByErikSchubach

Copyright©2014byErikSchubach

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Thisisaworkoffiction.Anyresemblancetorealpersons,livingor

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ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica

FIRSTEDITION

ISBN978-0-9911072-3-0

PrologueIt was so exciting as I

crested the peaks of theRocky Mountains and sawtheoceanoflightsofDenver,spreadingoutbeforeme,andtwinkling to the horizon. Imayhavesqueakedalittle inmy excitement. Here I was,Myra O'Connell, going toDenver on my very firstresearchgrant.

Istillcouldn'tfathomthe

fact, that at twenty-six, I hadmy Doctorate inMythologicalStudiesnow!Itwasahellofathing,handingin my dissertation on theDublin Fire Stone and thenwaiting.Thewaitingwastheworst.FinallyIwasawardedmy doctorate, and I appliedfor a research grant to studyshards of the Fire Stone andother associated scrolls andwritings pertaining tomedievalmythicalcreatures.

Now if only I had afeckingplacetoliveuntilthegrantmoneycamethroughattheendofthemonth.MaandDawouldtellmetosuckitupanddowhatImust. Ipattedthe steering wheel ofdependable ol' Maggie, mywhite Toyota Prius, a giftfrommy parents on my firstday of college eight yearsago. “Looks like it's gonnabe you andme for a stretch,all close and intimate like.

UsBetty'sgottasticktogetheryaknow?”

Idescendedintothecityand pulled my thick glassesdown to the end ofmy noseand looked over them at theGPSonmysmartphone.Themuseum should be the thirdexit. It was past eight, andthey would be closed, but Iwanted to familiarize myselfwiththeareaaheadoftime.

Myunrulymassofcurlyred hair fell in front of my

eyes as I looked back beforegetting onto the off ramp. Iindignantly tried to blow itoff to the side but had toreach up and push it backover my shoulders. Whycouldn't I have straight hairlike my Da? 'Twould bemuch easier tomanage. Butnoooo, it has to be this fierymesslikeMa.

Idroveslowlypast...theDenver Museum of Natureand Science twas huge. I

noticed the reserved lot forstaff, that would be where Iwouldpark.Iglancedoveratthe parking permit sitting onthe top of the packet I hadreceived from the museumlastweek.

I smiled to myself,trying not to get excitedagain.ComeonMyra!Getahold of yourself you'resupposed to be professionalnow, not a feckingarcheologyfangirl.Isnorted

atthememoryoftheposterIhad in the dorms in school,IndianaJones.HewaswhatIenvisioned myself to be, anadventurersiftingthroughthepast and finding connectionsbetween myth and reality.Plusyaknow...yum!

Ipulledoverandlookedovermyglassesatmyphoneagain and pulled up thelocation of the nearestYWCA,atleastIcouldgetashower there in themornings

until the money camethrough.Ihadtoreallyrationwhat I had for the next fewdays. I navigated the roads,which were surprisingly stillquite busy as the rain startedfalling.

Well Denver is such ahuge city, so I guess thatmakessensealotbiggerthanthe tiny, in the pale, coastaltown of Wicklow, Ireland.We had moved to SeattlewhenIwasseven. Dawasa

tenured archeology professorat the University ofWashington. Mausedtoruna bakery in Wicklow, andthey fell foreachotherwhenhewasinIrelanddoingsomeresearch. We'll that's Ma'sstory anyway,Da just agreesto keep her fire brandedtemper at ease. I grinned atthat, besidesmyhair and therake of freckles over myentire body, I got Ma's hair-triggertemper.

I drove past the Y andnodded to myself as Icontinued on down the laneuntil I came upon a park. Ipulled into the lot to thefarthest corner from the roadand settled in as the rainstarted sheeting. I ate a fewsnacks from my travel bagand reclined the chair as Iremoved my heavy glassesthen set my alarm on myphone. I really hated beingnearsighted. Once my

research is done here I thinkI'll get that laser eye surgeryeveryone is always babblingabout.

I took a minute to lookover the packet the museumhadsentandtorunmyfingerover the picture of the FireStone shard in theircollection.Thiswasadreamcome true forme to actuallysee a piece of it. Literally,the stuff of legends. Theshard and some associated

scrolls were on loan fromDublin to the Denvermuseum.

Itwasunearthedinadignear Dublin eighteenmonthsago. A perfect orb of redcrystal.Somegobshiteatthedig had dropped it, and itshattered into hundreds ofpieces. Analysis of theshards dated them to around450 AD. The most curiousthing about them were thattheyglowedslightlyatnight,

though compositionalanalysisshowedthemtohaveno impurities whatsoever.Theywerepuresilicateglass,therewasnoexplanationastohowtheyglowedorwhytheyappear red when there wasnothing in them that wouldcause the effect. Nor werethere any explanation as tohow the glass was so purewhenitwasbeyondanythingthat the people in themiddleagescouldpossiblyproduce.

My research for mydissertation actually lead meto an obscure writing aboutSaint George, the dragonslayer, that mentioned theFire Stone that allowed himtotrickanddestroythelastofthedragons.Itwasdescribedas a red orb of fire. Mostscholars discounted thatwriting because it was notmentionedinanyoftheotherSaint George tales. But thediscovery of the Dublin Fire

Stone changed all of that.And suddenly, wee MyraO'Connell is the leading“expert” on the stone. Isnorted at that, like I knewanything more than the pooreejitthatbrokeit.ThereweresomeGaelicscrollsthatwereunearthed along with it, thatneeded restoration. Theymight shedmore lighton theartifact. Those scrolls werewhat had my knickers alldamp.

I grinned and lookedinto my rear view mirror. Iwasknackeredandweakasakitten. It was a very longdrive, there was no way I'dchance one of those flyingmetal death traps! Myemeraldeyesdidn'thavetheirnormal sparkle. They're mybest feature if I didn't say somyself. I sighed and pattedthe steering wheel again.“Well Mags, it's you 'n menow,yaknow.” I lockedthe

doorsandletmyselfdriftoff,wondering what mysterieswould be revealed on thescrolls.Itwassurelygoingtobeanexcitingnewchapterinmylife.

Chapter 1 – TheShardI woke suddenly to a

loudtappingonmywindow.I sat bolt upright, gatheringmywits. Thewindowswereall covered with condensate,and I could only see theshadow of a person outsidemy window. I wiped thewindowwithmyarmandsawapoliceofficertappingonthewindow with his nightstick.

The rain appeared to havestopped.

I hit the button andlowered my window andsquinted at the rising sun tohisback. Themannarrowedhis eyes unpleasantly andspoke gruffly, “You can'tsleep here. You'll have tomovealong.”

I nodded nervously, I'vealways been quite timidaround the police. “Sorryofficer, just rolled into town

last night and haven't had achance to get me-selfsituated.” I tried to give acharmingsmile.

He shook his headdismissively. “I don't care,youstillcan'tsleephere.”

I nodded and rolled thewindowupandpulledoutofthe lot and onto the road. Icouldn'thelpbutwonderwhyI couldnever charmmywayoutofthings.MeMaalwayshad a way of getting out of

tickets and such just bysmiling. But then again, shedid have that ginormousO'FlanaganchestfromGramsO'Flanagan's side. I lookeddown at my virtually non-existent girls inembarrassment. Flat as aboardthisoneis.Iguessthatwouldexplainitthen.

I looked at the time, itwas only a few minutesbefore I wanted to awakenanyway, so I headed to the

Y.Dahadinsistedonpayingformembership formeand Ihad, rightly I thought, toldhimofitsfoolishness.Nowitseems I owe him a weeapology.

I dug around in theluggage in the back seat andstuffed a change of clothesinto my day bag and mademywayin.Isignedinatthedesk and was surprised howmany people were alreadyusing the facilities. I made

my way to the jacks andrelieved myself. I shouldhave done this last night, Iwasattheburstingpoint.

Then I showered andprepped for the day. As Idried my unruly mop of redchaos and didmymakeup, Iglanced at the other womenoneithersideofmedoingthesame. It bothered me thattheywere sowelldeveloped,and I was the opposite ofdeveloped,whatevertheterm

may be. And they toweredovermy diminutive five foottwoframe.

Ishruggedtomyselfandput me glasses on andexcitedlymademywaybackout to Maggie to get to themuseum.Iwasbesidemyselfwith giddiness. I was reallydoing this. This wasn'tcollegeanymore.'I'wasnowan expert in my field, doingbonafideresearch!AndIwasgoing to be paid for it! I'd

have done a jig if I hadn'tbeensittinginthecar.

Beforeitcouldregister,Iwas pulling into the reservedparkinglotat themuseum. Iplaced the parking pass onmy dashboard so it could beeasily seen through thewindshield then hopped outofMags,smoothingdownmygray skirt and puttingmy IDlanyardaroundmyneck.

I hugged my purse andelectronic tablet to my chest

and made my way to theemployee entrance. I heldmy ID badge toward thescannerand thedoorbuzzed,andIwalkedthrough. Therewas a security guard at themetaldetectorarch,helookedto be of pacific islanderorigin. His name tag readSefa, solidifying myobservation. I almost rolledmy eyes at myself for evenmaking the observation, Daalwaysplayedthatgamewith

me. The dangers of beingrelatedtoananthropologist.

I placed my purse andtablet in a plastic tray andsent it through the x-raymachine as Iwalked throughthe arch to theman. “Hello,Sefaisit?”

HesmiledandnoddedasIcontinuedas I retrievedmybelongings. “I'm Dr. MyraO'Connell.” I held up mybadge a little. Inside I wasthinking, “Oh me lord, I'm

Dr.O'Connellnow!” Then Icontinued, “Could you directme to the curator's office,please? This place is huge,andIhaven'tgotmebearingsyet.”

The musclebound mansmiled warmly, I think it ismy accent. Ma is alwayssaying how just a touch ofIrish brogue can get youanywherewithabloke in theStates. Hepointeddown thehall and replied, “If you go

downtotheelevatorsthereinthe hall and go up to thesecond floor, then turn right,itisattheendofthehall.”

I offered my hand as Itilted my head in thanks.“Thank you kind sir, and itwas a pleasure meeting youSefa, ya know. I'm sureyou'llseemoreofmearoundherethenextcoupleyears.”

Hissmiledoubledasweshook. “Itwas nicemeetingyoutoo,DoctorO'Connell.”

I called over myshoulder as I made my waydown the indicated corridor,“I'll be havin' none of thatnow. You can be callin' meMyra if you please.” in amockscoldingtone.

Hechuckled,andIheardhimsay,“Myrait is then.”Ifought to stop myself fromfanningmyfaceasIgotontothe elevator. Handsome guySefa was. OK Myra,straighten up, you're a

professional here. I put mygame face on as I exited theelevator and turned right andimmediately tripped over thecordfromavacuumajanitorwas pushing around andlandedrightonmebackside.

Oh, did I not mentionI'm quite possibly the mostclumsy woman that our lordsaw fit to place on thisplanet? Well it's true, nowshutyertrap!

To my extreme

embarrassmentthejanitoranda well dressed, fiftysomething man withdistinguished looking grayhair came to my rescue andhelpedmeupandhandedmemy things. As I thanked themen,Icaught thesuit'snamebadge. “Doctor HenryArnett” Crap! He was thecurator, so much for firstimpressions.

I saw him likewiseglancing at my name badge

hangingaroundmyneck.Hisface bloomed into a smile ashesaid,“DoctorO'Connell.”

I'm sure I was red as astrawberryastheblushonmycheeks burned its way downmy neck. I tried to regainsome composure andreturned,“There'llbenoneofthat now. Myra is fine,Doctor Arnett. Hell of athing being introduced likethis,yaknow.”

He chuckled politely.

“Ofcourse,Myra.Pleasecallme Henry, I always feelpompous having peopleaddressmeasDoctorArnett.”

I gave him a toothygrin.“Iknow,right?”ThenIstraightened up again andlooked up at him, he had tobe six feet at least. Beprofessional Myra! “I'mlooking forward to workingwith your team on theartifactsfromtheDublindig.How did you ever convince

them to allow you to handlethepieces?”

He winked. “Well weweren'tactuallygrantedmorethan cursory physical contactwith the pieces and anynondestructive testing, suchas x-ray and fluoroscopescans to try to read thescrolls.Wewilllosethemineighteen months back to theDublinArchives.Wewillbeworking with the team inDublin, who have the other

three scrolls andmost of theshards of the Fire Stone. Imust say, I was impressedwith your work on thealternate Saint Georgefolklorewritings.FascinatinghowyouwereabletotieittotheFire...ohsorry,thereIgoagain, letting my enthusiasmgetaheadofme.”

I chuckled. “Nothing tobesorryabout.Ifindme-selfquite excited at the prospectof this research. The

discovery of the Fire Stonewasquitefortuitousasitkeptmy dissertation from beinglaughed out of theuniversity.”

He looked around andleaned in slightly as if toshare a secret and said,“Wouldyouliketoseeit?”

IwasnoddinglikeIhadnot the full shilling andblurted out, “I'm delira andexcirato!”

He responded, “Good!

I'll bring you down to theteam, may as well get youstarted right away. They canassignyouaworkspacedownthere.”

Hemotionedbacktotheelevator, and I comicallymadeapointofsteppingwayover the vacuum cord muchtoHenry'samusementandthechuckling of the janitor. Hehit the call button, and wemade our way to thebasement once the elevator

arrived.Ifollowedhimoutintoa

simply gigantic staging areafor some exhibits. I saw aCeltic druid stone with acouple tablets that a coupleworkerswereprepping,andIgot sidetracked. Henrypaused and looked back as Ilooked over my glasses toexamining themonolith. Hecleared his throat, and Iglanced over at him andblushed as I hurried back to

his side, “Oh! Terriblysorry. That druid stone justlooked like the one from theLimerick collection, yaknow.”

He grinned at me.“Goodeye,itis.Itisonloanto us for the Fire Stoneexhibit.”

I whispered, “Thosetablets though, are from thewrongeraandtheyarefake.”

Henry raised aneyebrow. “Andwhy do you

say that?” Hehadacrookedlittle small smile on his facelike hewas up to someTomFoolery.

I squinted at him andsaid,“Well thedruidstoneiscovered in archaic Old IrishGaelic, and those tablets areinMiddleIrish. Howcanyebe havin' twelfth centurywriting side by side withfourth? Not to bementioning, what kind ofself-respecting twelfth

century druid would bewritingonstonetablets?”

Henry startedchuckling. “I see we'regetting what we are payingforwithyou,Myra.Yes,thetabletsarejustsetpieces...forambiance. The truecenterpieceisgoingtobetheFire Stone shard and theaccompanyingscrolls.”

Now I was reallyblushing. I could feel mycheeksburning, and I looked

away as I walked andpromptlyranintoalargemancarryingacrate.Hewasjustable to catch it before it hitthe ground. “Damn me twoleft feet! Are you alrightsir?”

The man just grinnedand snickered a little. “I'mfine. And so is the fourthousandyearoldvase.”

I blanched. “Oh melord.”

He winked at me and

continued on into whatlooked like a huge storageroom.IlookedoveratHenryas he said, “Oh, no. You'reoneof'them'.”

I squinted an eye. “Oneofwhat?”

He grinned. “One ofthose researchers we need towrap inbubblewrapbecauseyouaretoocaughtupinyourwork to notice the worldaroundthem.”

I nodded, pretending to

beindeepthought.“YaknowHenry, I think you may beontosomethingthere.”

The hair on my armsstarted prickling as weapproachedtheendofthehalland I felt an odd pressurebuildinginsideme,Iwroteitoffasexcitement.

Wesharedasmileashescanned his ID at the glassdoor to a restricted area, andhe motioned his head to thescannerandIscannedmyID

too. We entered a cleanroom.Hehandedmeawhitefrock, hairnet and booties.The pressure I felt buildingwas more intense here. Weboth donned our outer gear,scrubbedourhands,andwentthrough another glass doorintoapositivepressureroom.

There were two peoplealready in the room. A talllanky bloke and a woman abit on thewee side likeme.They looked up from the

scrolls they had carefullyrolledoutonthelighttableasweentered.Henrystartedtheintroductions. “Doctor MyraO'Connell, I'd like tointroduce you to the rest ofyour team. Doctors JamesReidandMeiKamia.”

I grinned and blurtedout, “Doctor Kamia, I readyourpaperon the folkloreofthe indigenous Aboriginaltribes of the AustralianNorthern Territory. It was

inspired!”She grinned as I shook

her hand. DoctorReid,withhis long drawn down facesounded justasexcitedasheaddressed me. “It is apleasure finally meeting youDoctorO'Connell.Howdoesit feel to be vindicated onyourbrilliantdivergenttheoryof SaintGeorge and the FireStone?”

Iblushed.“Please,don'tbeembellishingmeworklike

that. I just presented someoverlookedwork.Andifyouplease doctors, call meMyra.” “James”, “Mei,”theyeachreplied.

Then Mei's eyes gothugewithamatchingexcitedsmile. She was alreadygorgeous with her Japanese-American features, that justmadeherstunning.“So?Doyou want to see it?” sheasked.

I nodded fervently. “Oh

lordy yes! I studiedeverything I could get myhands on since it wasunearthed eighteen monthsago. But actually getting taseeashardismedreamcometrue!”

Wewereknockedoutofour three way excitement byHenry clearing his throat.We all sheepishly turned tohim as he said, “Well, itseems I'm no longer neededhere.Myrawelcomeaboard.

Mei get her situated in heroffice after your show andtell. I'll let you three get toyourwork.”

I gave a tinyembarrassedwavegoodbyeatthe smiling man as he left,chuckling and shaking hishead. Then with comicaltiming, we all slowly lookedat each other again and oursmiles bloomed as Mei ledthewaytotheendofthelighttabletoaplainwoodenbox.

I could feel static inmyhair as she opened it, like itfeltondrydayswhenIdriedit too much. I covered mymouth with my hand as Ilooked into the little box.WhatIsawappearedtobeanimpossiblyclearsliverof redcrystal no bigger than myindexfinger.Itwasbeautiful,almost mesmerizing. Thepressure inside of me keptbuilding. I tentativelybrought my hand forward to

pickuptheshard,andlookedat my colleagues. Theynoddedinencouragement.

It sparkled so brightlyand seemed to shimmer as Ipicked it up. Then thatpressureinsidemeseemedtoexplode outward. “Jaysus!”The light table and the glassdoors all shattered as Iscreamedinpain.Powerwasarcingintomefromtheshardand from the light fixturesexploding all around the

restoration room. I wasthrown backwards into themuch thicker glass of theroom's observation window.I lost consciousness to thesound of shattering and themost unbelievable white hotpain.

Chapter 2 –WakingUpMyeyes flutteredopen.

Iwas in thehospital. “She'sawake!”IheardMeisay,andI looked over to see her andJames.Henrypokedhisheadin the door then seemed tosmileinrelief.

I grinned at the motleycrew and then said, “You'llhave to be excusing melanguagehere,butwhatinthe

feckinghellhappened?”Henry chuckled

nervously. “So how are youlikingyourfirstdaysofar?”I laughed, but it hurt, mywholebodyached. Iwenttositupbutdecidedagainstit.

Ilookedatthem.“Ow.”Before they could tell

mewhathadhappenedintherestorationroom,atall,whitehaired, elderly man whom Iassumedwasadoctorwalkedinto the room. Everyone

moved to the far wall whilehe started examining me.“Welcome back MissO'Connell.” His kind facewrinkled up a little with hisgenuinesmile.

He started taking myblood pressure as he asked,“Do you remember whathappened?”

I nodded. “I felt as if Iwas being electrocuted whenIgrabbedtheshard.IthoughtI was being burned alive.

When I hit the observationwindow,Isortalostme-self.”

I quickly brought myhands up and examinedthem.“Noburns?”

Heshookhishead.“No,other than a few minorbruises where you werethrownthroughthewindow,Ican't find a single thingwrongwithyou.”

I lookedathimstunned.WithallthatburningpainI'munscathed? “How long was

melittlenap?”He looked at the wall

clock. “About two hours.”He looked around toeveryone and said to nobodyinparticular.“I'dliketokeepheruntilnoonforobservationbutthensheisfreetogo.”

I looked at the hospitalgown I was in. “Meclothes?”

Mei cringed. “Theywere burned off your body.We'reaboutthesamesize,I'll

runtomyplaceandbringyouaset.”

I looked at Henry, helookedgenuinelyrelievedandwasmouthing,“bubblewrap”at me. I snorted and wentinto a giggle fit. TheymusthavethoughtIwasoutofmemind if Henry hadn't beenlaughingwithme.

Then everyone startedlaughing as Jamesdeadpanned. “Can we getsome lunch after this? I'm

hungry.”Mei rolled her eyes and

called out over her shoulderas she left, “You're alwayshungryJames!”

Henry turned to me.“I'm so sorry about theaccident Myra. Theinvestigators are saying itlooks like our powersomehowsurgedandfriedallthe disconnects andunfortunatelyyouwereinthewrong place as the power

surgedtoground.”James was shaking his

head. “It's the Fire Stonecurse.”

Henry rolled his eyes.“You'reaneducatedmanandyou believe that nonsense?”He turned back to me.“Luckily the scrolls wereundamaged and were movedto another clean room. Theshard...”

He paused and Jameschimed in, “It is the

damnedest thing. Probablyaresultofthatmuchelectricityhitting you, but it is clearnow. That unexplained redtint is just gone.” Then helooked sad, his long facegrew impossibly longer, heremindedmeofabulldog.

I was horrified thatbecause of my actions, theFire Stone shard wasdamaged. I couldn't imaginethe ramifications of it on themuseum. The Dublin team

wasgoing tobe irate,maybethat is the reason Jameslooked as if someone wasgoing to beat him. “What isit?”

Hescruncheduphisfaceinasourlook.“Dublinwantstheshardback.Theygaveustheol'whatfor,butsincetheshard itself was undamaged,just the unexplained coloringwas gone, they want tocompare its structure withsome red pieces. They

grudgingly offered anotherred shard to us letting usknowthattheywouldn'tevenhave done that if the scrollshad been damaged or if theydidn't have a few hundredpieces. They have the othershards that museums aroundthe world complained ofcausing static shocks to oneor two employees. Maybetheyarealltiedtogetherwithyouraccident.”

I looked at Henry.

“Sorry.”Hechuckled.“What for,

the incident wasn't yourfault. We are insured forfreak accidents anywaythough Dublin didn't evenseem to care about that, theywere more interested in theclear shard. You over-educatedlotareanoddsort.”

Isquintedaneye.“Waita minute, you are a doctortoo.”

He grinned. “Damn,

tried to slip that one pastyou.”

I shook my head at hisantics.“WellI'dlovetotakeaganderattheshardbeforeitiswhiskedaway.”

Heshookhisheadasthedoctor completed his chartand quietly slipped away.“You take therestof thedayoff. You just got blownthroughawindowwoman!”

Iwasshakingmyhead.Heheldhishandinsurrender

when James gave him nosupport. Henry murmured,“Fine whatever, all youresearchertypesarecrazy.”

Then he stepped up tomeandplacedahandonmyshoulder.“Ihavetogetbacktotheoffice.I'mgladyouareOK,butdon'toverdoit.”

I winked, “Whateveryousayboss.”

He shook his head inmirth again and nodded toJamesandleft.

James described thewhole incident as he saw itand how his terror doubledwhen he realized the scrollsmaybehurt too. Igiggled,Iwould have had the samereaction.

Then Mei showed upright before noon with someclothesthatwerealittlemorefrilly than I normally wear,but I wasn't about tocomplain. I just wanted outofthere.

AfterIemergedfromthebathroom,Ilookedaroundformypersonalbelongings.MeirealizedwhatIwasdoingandsaid,“Oh!Here.”Sheduginher huge shoulder bag andproduced my purse. Luckilyyouhadset thisdownbeforeyou made like the god ofthunder.

I looked in it. “Umm...myglasses?”

“Shattered with all theother glass in the room,”

Jamessaid.Well hellfire and

damnation! HowamIgoingtobeabletodrivenow?ButthenIrealizedIcouldseethenurses desk in the hall justfine.Wellisn'tthatjustaweebitunnerving?

Ipushedthat topicasideand to my colleagues I said,“Totherestorationroom!”

James made a wagontrain gesture and added, “Byway of the front desk and

lunch!”I chuckled as Mei

bumpedhislegwithherhip.“Yes you babbling oaf, we'llgetyoufed.”

Wemadeourwaytothenurses station and signed thedischarge papers, Henry hadapparently supplied themwith my health insuranceinformation. Heh, first dayon the job and alreadythankful for the insurance itprovided.

I was still stiff, and alittle sore but was feelingbetterbytheminute.Meiledus to her car, and a minutelater we were on the roadheading to a cafe to feed thebottomless pit that is James'stomach. I grinned at thetwo. It was obvious to methat Mei had a thing forJames, but in typical malefashion,hewasoblivious.

Iwas looking around asMei drove, everything was

crystal clear evenway off inthe distance. I was severelynearsighted... did all thatelectricity affect my eyessomehow?

We pulled up to a littlecafenamedMolly'sandpiledout of Mei's VolkswagenBeetle. Before Iknewit,wewere happily seated andmunching on tuna saladsandwiches. James said theyare heaven. He didn'tmisrepresentthem.Mmmm.

A passing waitresstripped on a chair leg onetableover,andaplateoffoodslid off her tray as shestumbled. Before I eventhought about it, my handshotout andcaught theplatewithout spilling the food andwithmyotherhandIsteadiedher. Some other customersclapped.

Thewaitressgrinnedandsaid, “Thanks! You haveawesome reflexes!” She

quickly retrieved the platewith a towel covered hand.“But be careful that plate isscalding hot.” She scurriedofftohercustomer'stableasIstared at my hand. I hadn'teven felt the heat of theplate... were my nerves shotfrom the shock? And me?Goodreflexes?Itoldmyselfthat on my first day off Iwould visit a doctor to havemyself thoroughly checkedout.

Ishookmyselffromthatline of thought and lookedover at James. He and Meihad shocked and impressedlooksontheirfacesoverwhathad just occurred. “So whatwasthatprattleaboutacursethat youwere goin' on aboutinthehospital?”

Mei rolled her eyes.“NotthisagainJames.”

He looked hurt as heturnedtome.“What?It'sthetruth. You see Myra, there

have been other occurrencesof shards shocking people,like little static discharges.Nothing like yours though.And theirs lost a little bit ofthe red pigment in the shardwhen it occurred. Out ofthousandsofpeoplethathavehandled the shards, the sixpeople across the globe thatthis happened to,mysteriously disappearedwithinafewdaysofreportingit.”

Mei made a spookyghostsound,“Woooo-oooo.”

James seemed to pout.“Fine. Just sayin' ithappened. Watch your backMyra.”

We made idle chit chatgettingtoknoweachotheraswe finished our meal andheadedback to themuseum.They brought me to securityto get my melted badgereplaced then down into thealternaterestorationroom.

Asweweredonningoursmocks,Meiasked,“Areyousure you want to be back atworksosoon?”

TherewasnowayIwasgoing to pass up looking atthe scrolls! I grinned at her.“Me good Ma always says,lose an hour in the morningandyou'llbelookingforitallday.”

She laughed.“Youwerelucky today. That's all I'msaying.”

Iwinkedatherwithandtiltedmyheadwithaslygrin.“Ifyou’reenoughluckytobeIrish... You’re luckyenough!”

James was just silentlygrinningatusandshakinghisheadasweenteredtheroom.I smiled as I saw the scrollson the light table and frozewhen I saw the open boxbeside it with the shard. Itwas crystal clear now, not atraceoftheredtint.

Ipaused,andJamessawmy reticence and shook hishead again and grabbed thecrystal from the box andoffered it to me. I reachedout slowly and touched itquickly and recoiled myhand. When the lord saw fitnottostrikemedownagain,Ilet out the breath I washolding and accepted theshard.

We all laughednervously.Evenlikethis,the

sliver of crystal was sosmoothandcooltothetouch.I swear that the energy I feltsearing my soul before, hadcome from the shard. I wasstillinawe.ThiswasapieceoftheFireStone!

I placed it back in thebox and turned my attentionto the scrolls. Theywere inbad shape. Some chunksweremissing,andthewritinghad faded and was nonexistentinhugeswathsacross

themfromcenturiesofwear.Iputon someacid free latexgloves from a box on thetable and lightly touched thescrolls. They werephenomenal, I couldn'tbelieve I was actually doingthis, thiswas history right infront of me. Me good Maalways said, “Seeing isbelieving, but the feeling istheGod’sowntruth.”

My eyes snappedinstantlytoafadedrune,and

Istabbedmyfinger towarditin excitement. “The FireStone!” Mei was nodding,withagrinandIcontinuedtoscan. I pointed again atanother portion of the samescroll. “This could be SaintGeorge. But the symbologyistoofadedtobecertain.”

Jamessaid,“Thosewerethefirstthingstheresearchersin Dublin figured out too.That's where you come in.The only other scholar to

eventheorizetheexistenceofthe Fire Stone let aloneconnect itwithSaintGeorge,the Dragon Slayer. I swearthey sent this half of thescrollsheretoDenvertocoaxyou into sharing yourexpertise since you refuse togotoIreland.”

I blushed profusely atthe compliment and theexaggeration of myknowledge, then shrugged.“I'mscaredtodeathofflyin'.

MeDahadtohavethedoctorprescribe a sedative tome toget me to the States when Iwas younger. Heights botherme almost as much as thethoughtoffallin'fromtheskyinanoverratedtincan.”

Mei snorted. “Theirloss, our gain. You want tosee the fluoroscope and x-rays of the first scroll? Wewere able to detect some ofthe pigments and piecetogether some of the

writings. There are still bigholes, but we are gettingcloser.”

I nodded eagerly, andshe grabbed a remote andbrought up on the big screencovering one wall, itdisplayed scans of the x-raysand fluoroscope images andmerged them with an imageofthescrollitself.Sheuppedthecontrastandalmosta fullthird of the scroll wasreadable. I excitedly ran up

to thewall andexamined thearchaic Old Irish that wasinterspersed with the Gaelicrunesofthedruids.Iblurted,“Thesearedruidscrolls!”

I pointed to variouslocations. “Here, here andhere. They correspond withtheelements. Naturemagic.The druids were a wee bitobsessedwithit,ya'know.”

I turned back, and Meiwas smiling at James. “Youwereright!”Thensheturned

to me. “James had ahypothesis that thesemay bethe druid accounts of SaintGeorge.”

I was nodding. “Yes, Ibelieve he is right. It is soexciting to actually see thishistory!”

We spent the rest of theafternoon deciphering theportionswecould read. Oneobscure runekeptcomingupover and over. It looked sofamiliar, but none of the

lexicons we had in thedatabase matched. Then Isuddenly realized why itlooked familiar. “Wait!” Ityped furiously at thecomputer and pulled up myresearch material for mydissertation. I pulled up anold Latin account of SaintGeorge’s travels to the landof Eire. I squeaked inexcitementandstabbedatthescreen.

My colleagues leaned

in. There, staringus right inthe face, was the same runebeside the reference to theLatin word 'drakon'. IcoveredmymouthasIheardtheir simultaneous intake ofbreath behindme. I spun tothe translations on the wall.“Dragons!Thisisthedruid'saccount of Saint George andthe dragons!” They wereboth patting my back. Didwe just find a fist handaccount of him slaying the

dragon?I had to sit. We all sat

and laughed for a bit thenMeilookedatthetime,itwasalmost seven at night.“Ooops... we worked pastclosing again. My GodMyra. You just connected itall to your divergentmythology.”

Weallgrinnedandmadeour way out of the almostdeserted building. Thesecurity guards walked us to

the parking lot, and I smiledat the two doctors. “I'll seeyou two tomorrow! I cannatellyouhowexcitingthisdayhasbeen.”

Mei shook her head asshe got in her car. “Youmore so than most.Hopefully you don't havequiteasexcitingofamorningtomorrow.”

I chuckled, and we allgotintoourcarsandwentourseparateways. I wasn't sure

where I could go tonight tosleepsincetheparkwasout.Maybe I should haveaccepted me Da's offer ofputtingmeupinahoteluntilmy grant money came in.But Iwanted to prove tomyparentsIcouldmakemyownwayintheworldnow.

Ifoundanearbyalleybyan abandoned warehouse.This was as good a place asany.IlockedMaggie'sdoorsandreclinedtheseatandwas

out before my head hit theseat cushion. I dreamed ofdragons!

Chapter 3 –ReginaldBlaineThe next two weeks

were spent assembling ourtranslations of the visibleparts of the scrolls. Ourcounterparts in Dublin wereecstatic at our progress, andtheysentallthescansoftheirscrolls to try to help fill in.Henrywasoverthemoon,hekept telling people that theinvestment in my team was

wellworthit.I found it odd that I

didn't seem to have mytrademark clumsinessanymore. If anything, I wasgetting more graceful by theday.Myeyesightappearedtobegettingbetterandbetter.Iwonder if it had anything todo with the accident. But areturn visit to the doctorturned up nothing. Myfecking bras were feelingtighter, I was probably

gainingsomeweightfromallthe fast food my team hasbeen eating. I was a couplepoundsheavierthanIwasonmylastunplannedvisittothehospital, I'llhave tocutbackabit.

We had shipped theshardback to Ireland thedayafter the accident and thereplacement shardwas goingtobehereanydaynow.

On a Tuesday morning,Henry called down to the

restoration room and askedmetojoinhiminhisoffice.Igot out of my clean roomgear and made my way up.As I got closer to Henry'soffice I felt a pressure insidethatwasfamiliar,Ihadn'tfeltit since the day of theaccident. I hesitated at hisdoor, hearing him speakingwith another man, thenknocked. Henry called out,“ComeinDoctorO'Connell.”He was always so stiff and

formal whenever he wasspeakingwithme in front ofpeople from outside themuseum. I found it sort ofhumorous.

Istraightenedmyblouseandskirtthenwalkedintotheroom. I paused a secondwhen I saw the delectablespecimen of a man standingnext toHenry in front of hisdesk. Hewas about six footone, in his early thirtiesperhaps. It was easy to see,

by the way, he held himselfthat hewas in great physicalshape beneath that thousanddollar suit. His dark brownhairwasshowingafewsilverstrands on his sideburns thatmade him look verydistinguished.

His ruggedly handsomefeatureswerealittleobscuredby his neatly trimmed beardand mustache that had thesame tracesofgrey. Buthiseyes... ice blue and

penetrating, were... I caughtmyselfsmilingandstaring.Istraightened upmy posture abit and fought the smile offmy face and forced a moreprofessional demeanor uponmyself.

I turnedtoHenrywithaquestioning tilt to my head,and he smiled at me as hesaid, “Doctor MyraO'Connell, I'd like you tomeetMr.ReginaldBlaine.Aprivate antiquities collector

fromLondon.”Iofferedmyhandandhe

caught itbetweenbothofhisashiseyeslockedonmine.IknowIwasblushingasIfeltthewarmthofhishandsasheshookmyhand. I could feelthatpressureagain,especiallywhereweweretouchingeachother,as itwas tuggingatusat the point of contact. Hisvoice was strong andcommanding with its Britishaccent as he said, “Doctor

O'Connell.Itisapleasure.Ihave been following yourwork the past few months.On the alternate take on themythologyofSaintGeorge.”

I took a deep breath ashe released my hand. Ismiled. Someone followsmywork?Itriednottosoundasflustered as I felt whilelooking into his eyes andsaid. “I'll be havin' none ofthat 'doctor' tom foolery.Myra if you please. I didn't

think my work merited anyfollowin'Mr.Blaine.”

He smiled back. “Thenplease, callmeReggie.” Heseemed to be studying everyinch of me. Then he said.“Well I find your workespecially interesting, giventhat I am a descendant ofSaintGeorgehimself.Ihavecollected artifacts andwritings with everything thathas to do with him over theyears. My collection is

quite... extensive.” Then heidlypickedupapaperweightfrom Henry's desk andexaminedit.

Henry chimed in. “Mr.Blaine has asked if themuseum would keep himabreast on our research sinceitlookstobeleadingintohisfamilyhistory.AsIinformedhim, it is the least we coulddoandheinsistedonmeetingthe woman responsible forthe breakthrough findings

thesepastcoupleweeks.”Hefinished with a proud smile.Damn the man, now I'mblushingagain.

Without looking Reggiewent to sit the paperweightdownbutaccidentallyhit theedgeof thedesk,knocking itout of his hand. I squattedslightly, and my hand shotouttocatchitbeforeithittheground. Then I blushed andputitonthedeskandpushedmy unruly hair back out of

myface.Reggie was smiling.

“Nice reflexesMyra.” Thenhe showed pity on myblushing self and continued,“I don't suppose I could seethescrollsandtheshard?”

I shookmy head beforeHenry could speak. “I'msorry Reggie, but that justwould'na be possible. Wehave them only by the graceofourcounterpartsinIreland,and it is restricted access.

You'll be able to view thembehind glass with the publicin three weeks when theexhibit opens. Until then, Icankeepyouintheloopastoourfindingsasweprogress.”

He gave a charming,crookedhalfsmileandbowedhis head slightly.“Completelyunderstood.Youcan'tblameamanfortrying.”

I couldn't help butsmile. He produced a cardand wrote something on the

back and handed it to me.“This is my card, you canemail any findings to myaddress there. That's mymobile on the back in caseyouneedtocontactmewhileIamintheStates.”

I took the card, I don'thave the foggiestnotionwhyI felt embarrassed. Henrysavedmebysaying,“I'msureyouwant togetback toyourtranslatingDoctor.”

I nodded and turned

toward the door gratefully,turningbacktosay,“Itwasapleasure meeting youReggie.”

He smiled. “Not at all.The pleasure was mine. Ilookforward tohearingfromyou Myra.” It was almostseductivethewayhesaidmyname.Igaveatinywavelikea wee schoolgirl as I dashedoutoftheoffice.Ishookmyhead at myself. “Verysmooth there Myra.” Then

mademy way back down tothe scrolls and the secretstheyheldwithin.

WhenIgotbackintothecleanroom,Meikeptlookingatme.SoIfinallybroke,myIrishtempergettingthebetterofme.“What!?”

Mei just grinned.“Nothing.It'sjustthatyou'vehad that silly grin on yourface since you came backfromHenry'soffice.”

Shepaused,promptinga

response. I rolled my eyesandsighedinsurrenderasmytemperebbed.“Fine,youevilwoman. He wanted me tomeet a private collector.Reginal Blaine. He's aprivatecollectorandwantstobe kept abreast of ourfindings as it pertains to hisancestor,SaintGeorge.”

Mei tilted her headexpectantly.“Aaaaand?”

I shrugged at thefrustrating woman. “And

what?” She justgrinned likea tot with a cookie. Isurrendered. “Fine youtrollop!–Hewasgorgeous!”I lookedaround then showedher thebackofhiscard.“Hegave me his private mobilenumber.”

We exchanged hugesmiles, and James just shookhishead, rolledhiseyes,andwentbacktowork.Igrabbedhis armandgave it aplayfulsqueeze.“Fine.Nomoregirl

talk.”Iturnedtothescrolls.“Nowwherewerewe?”

Wespent the rest of theday on the scrolls. Thefractured and fragmentedpicture we were starting tobuild was not castingReggie's ancestor in a goodlight. From whet we couldtell, the Drakon werebenevolent, at least to theIrish folk. There wassomething about deceit andbetrayal by Saint George.

One word kept popping up,caragh,or'friend'butitdidn'tmake sense in the context ofthe writings. I stabbed at itagain in conjunction withGeorge's name. It was sofrustrating!

“Raaaaaagh!” I spoutedoutandslammedmypalmonthe counter top. Mei knewmy temper by now andwaitedformetocalmmyselfback down, but James wassuddenlybymyside.

He smiled and excitedlysaid, “Caragh! Why didn't Iseeitbefore?”

I looked at him mytemper going nowhere and Isnapped, “Yes Iknow! Butitisstilloutofcontext!”

It was one of the fewtimes I saw his long facealmost sparkling in an 'Ifigured it out' look. Isquinted at him, promisingdoom and destruction if hedidn't clarify. He smiled

broadly at my implied threatand said smugly, “Caragh...asinawoman'sname,nottheliteral'friend'definition.”

I looked at him as hewas being silly, he was ourlinguisticsexpertandtheonewho, near the beginning ofour research, had offered upthe 'friend' translation. Butthen I looked back at thepassageIwasworkingonandwhispered, “By all that'swarmandfuzzy! Dear lord.

Twasawomanallalong.A...dragon... woman? Caraghwasawoman...butthenthatmakes this.” I scrolledthrough my translations, myeyes growing wider as Ilooked at every instance of'her' name. Mei gasped asshe realized what I wasseeing. I looked at both ofthemexcitedly. “Thatmakesthis...alovestory.Astoryoflove and betrayal.” Thingswere clicking throughout the

translation with this newrevelation.Ilookedupatthesmiling linguist whom I'dnever describe as handsome,but I knew Mei saw him assuch.Isaid,“James,you'reagenius.”Meibumpedherhipinto his leg playfully incongratulations. Did he justblush? Those two wouldmakeafinematch.

I just said quietly tomyself as I reviewed mytexts, updating 'her' name

with a capital C. “Caragh...Caragh.” The nameresonated with me for somereason. I found myselfsmiling as we went back towork on the translations, myearlieroutburstfrombeforeadistantmemory.

At some point in thenight, Mei noticed it wasalmosteight,dearlordwedidit again. I quickly emailedthe researchers inDublinourstartling findings today and

also forwarded a copy toReggie. I felt bad that thiswas starting to look like hisancestor was the villain inthis piece, but we still onlyhad about twenty percent ofthe story, so it is best not tojumptoanyconclusions.

Wehadsecuritywalkusto our cars, and we said ourgoodbyes. As I drove to“my” alley, I thought abouthowgood itwasgoing to beto have an apartment. The

grant money should bedeposited in the next twodays.

The light patter on theroof told me the forecastedrain had started. I wasexcited about the day'sevents. Ipulledupmyworkon my tablet. I had to goback over so much now. Ilooked up, I needed coffee,there was a 7-11 just acrossthe street from the alleyentrance.WithCaragh,Saint

George, and Reggie on mymind,IhoppedoutofMaggieand hurried through the lightraintofetchmycoffee.

I paused for a momentwhen I thought I caught ashadow of movement out ofthe corner of my eye. Icontinuedonwhen I couldn'tseeanything. I'mjustalittlejumpy because I need mycoffee.

Chapter 4 –Mugging!On my way back to

Mags, bent over my extralarge cup of coffee and adanish to shield them fromthe rain, I thought I heardsomething behind me as Iwalkedintothealley,andthistime I know I sawmovement. I looked around,but didn't see anything, so Icontinued on my way, albeit

atalittlefasterpace.My heart was racing

when I heard a bottle clinkand roll in the alleyway. Ifelt like Iblinkedbut Inevershut my eyes and the worldwas suddenly bathed inpurple, and red light I couldsee clear as day in the darkalley. All of the soundsaround me were amplified,the stench of the alley wasoverwhelming. I could hearmy own breathing, my own

heart, the rain hitting therooftopsandthealleywayandsomeone else breathing. Ilookedinthedirectionitwascoming from and I saw himas well, hiding by adumpster. “Who's there?” Icalledout.

He knew he was madeand stepped out. He hadsomething in his hand as hestarted walking toward me.He was a large man dressedall in black with a heavy

blackhoodieandablackfacemaskfromsomesortofsportnodoubt. Even fromhere, Icouldsmellaspicyfragrancethatwassomehowfamiliartome.Idroppedmycoffeeanddanish and ran towardMaggie. Ican tellyou that Ihadneverbeensoterrifiedinmyentirelife.

I was moving twice asfast as I ever had and it felteffortless, but the man stillreachedmebeforeIcouldget

intoMaggie.Hegrabbedmyarm, and I don't know whatcame over me, I thought forsureIwasgoingtodie,butIspun on him and struck outwithmyhandtotrytoknockhimaway. Imusthavebeenhallucinating, it looked asthoughmyhandwasengulfedinflamesanditlookedlikeaclaw formed of those sameflames. I struck the man inthe chest with such greatforcethathewentflyingback

and tumbling along theground. The flames weregoneinaninstantmakingmewonderifIhadjustimaginedit with all the adrenalinepumpingthroughmyveins.

Hewas up in an instantand charging, I now saw itwasalargeknifeinoneofhishands. He attacked with aflurry of blows and slashingmotions. Now mind you, Ihaveneverbeen in a fight inmy entire life, even though I

got my Ma's temper. Butsomehow I was dodging anddeflecting almost everyblow.Theonesthatdidcomeslamming intome feltmutedsomehow.I'matinyslipofalass and this large blokewasbarelyhurtingme.

ItfeltalmostasifIweredancingasIspunanddodgedawayfromhisonslaught.Onsome sort of instinct, Idropped and kicked his legsout from under him. Then I

ran past him and down thealley, fumbling with my cellphone as I tried to get to the7-11.

I made it to the streetbefore I heard someonerapidly approachingme frombehind. I screamed, hopingto draw attention. I saw theclerkinthestorelookoutthewindow as the knife struckme in the side. I felt thepower of the blow as itknockedmetothegroundbut

not the tearing sensation ofthe blade I would haveexpected.Therewasacrack,andthesearingpainfrommyside that told me I had acrackedrib.Iwassobbinginfear as theman rolledme tomy back and he was raisingthe knife again with bothhands over his head for thekilling blow when the clerkranoutyelling,“Hey!Don'tdoit!Icalledthepolice!Lether go!” I could hear police

sirens in the distanceapproaching.

Myassailantpausedandlooked at the man, that wasallIneeded.Istruckoutwithall my fear and anger andknocked him to the ground,causinghimtoskidbackwardalmost ten feet, collidingsolidly with the curb with athud and a crack. He wasinstantly on his feet, holdinghis leftarmandhe randownthe street, disappearing

between twobuildingsas thepolicearrived.

The clerk was nowcrouched beside me. “Heylady, are you OK?” I wasjuststaringatmyside,wherethe knife had struck, notbelieving my eyes as Iwatched as what looked likegoldtippedredserpentscalesonmysidefadingbacktotheappearanceofnormalskin.Iwasinshock,thatmustbeit.I blinkedwithout closingmy

eyes again, and everythingdimmedasthenightreturnedalong with my normaleyesight.

I looked at the youngman, his concernwas etchedon his face and he keptglancingatmyside. Hehadseenittoo!Ishookmyheadand tried to sit up, but thepain in my side from thecracked rib made me gasp.“I'm fine. Thank you forcomingtomerescue.”

Hesmiledbackatmeasthe first police cruiserarrived. The officers wereinstantlyoutof theirvehicleswith their weapons drawn.Theyyelledattheyoungmanto move away from me andget downon the ground facedownandplacehishandsonhishead.

Iwaswavingbothhandsin a warding off motion.“No, it wasn't him. Hechased the mugger off ya

know!” They stillapprehendedhimandtoldmenot to get upwhen they sawme favoring my side wheremy blouse was torn. Theycalledforanambulance.Onefit Hispanic looking officerkneeledonthegroundbesideme holding his jacket aboveme to shield me from therain. He gave me areassuring smile, I'm sure Istilllookedterrified.“You'reokaynowmiss.”

I looked back at theotherofficerwhowastalkingto the clerk beside the doorsof the store, the poor lad'shandswerecuffedbehindhisback. I looked at the manabovemewithpleadingeyes.“By God's own truth, I betellin'yathatboyhelpedme.”

He looked at me andnodded. “I know miss. Wehave to follow protocol, justdoing our jobs.” And I sawtheotherofficeruncuffingthe

young man as two othercruisers arrived. My officerhadme give a description ofmyattacker.

I pointed to where theassailant went. “He ran thatway and between those twobuildings.” He nodded andtold thearrivingofficers,andtheyallfannedout,searchingtheareaasheaskedmeafewgeneralquestions.

A minute later theambulance arrived. They

checkedmeon theground tomake sure there wasn'tanything seriously wrongbesides thebruisedevelopingonmy side and the apparentcracked rib. They allowedmetowalkonmyowntogetinto the ambulance. Myofficer looked at me with acharmingsmile. “We'llhavean officer meet you at thehospital to take yourstatement. Wehave the areacovered, he won't get away,

don'tworryaboutthatMiss.”Ismiledbacknervously.

I was shaky, coming downfrom the adrenaline high.“Myra.”

“Myra.”Herepeatedandnodded as they shut theambulancedoors.

Nowthateverythinghadslowed down I started takingragged breaths as the tearsstarted coming. When wearrived at the hospital theywalked me slowly over to a

couplemedical typeswaitingwithawheelchair. Theyhadme sit as the medics relayedmyconditiontothemasIwaswheeled to an examinationroom.

A nurse asked if therewere anyone they could callforme.Iwasn'tsure,MaandDawerehalfacountryaway.I shrugged and gave herHenry'scontactinformation.

By the time the doctorwasdoneexaminingme,and

they x-rayed my ribs,wrapped my chest andcleared me to go after thepolicespokewithme.Henry,Mei, and James were therewith worried looks on theirfaces. Henry asked half inhumor, half in concern,“You're not planning onmakingtripstothehospitalahabit while you are with usareyouMyra?”

Mei pushed him asidegiving him a reproving look

and turned to me, grabbingmy hand. “Are you okMyra?”

I chuckled a little at herconcern, we had all becomegood friends in the shortweeksIhavebeeninDenver.“I'm fine Mei. Scared andmad,butfine.”

James had a longer facethannormal,hiseyescreasedwithconcernaswell. “Whattheheckhappened?”

I opened my mouth to

speak as the curtain waspushed aside. A nondescriptuniformed officer wasstanding there and a tallwoman who had a badgehanging from her belt. NowI've spent my fair share oftime hoppin' to both sides ofthe fence so I could reallyappreciate her looks, andwow.

She had long chestnuthairthatwaspulledbackintoatight,professionalponytail.

Sheworeaprofessionalblackpantsuitwithamidnightblueblouse that did absolutelynothing to hide her femininecurves. Sheworeblack flatsthat looked more practicalthandecorative.Hersmooth,strong movements, told of ahiddenlethality.

But it was her face,specifically her silver eyesthat had my pulse racing.They were strong andintelligent and darting

everywhere, takingeverything in at once andassessing it. Theycomplimented herdeceptively femininefeatures. Shemaywell havebeen one of those statues ofRoman goddesses that Iadmiredatthemuseum.

I was amused withmyself. I just got muggedand I find myself girlcrushing at the hospital.What would Ma be saying

aboutnow.Her clear and

commanding alto voice rangout saying, “I'm sorryeveryone, but could I pleaseaskyoutowaitoutside?Youtoo officer. I have a fewquestions for MissO'Connell.”Itreallywasn'taquestion,itwasanorder.

I found it equal partscompelling and annoying. Ipushed down the one andwent with 'annoying' as my

friendslefttheroomwiththeuniformedofficer,leavingmealone with officer pushy. Ifound myself forcefullysaying, my Irish temperflaring, “That'll be DoctorO'Connell to you.” I hatebeing called DoctorO'Connell. Why in thebejesusdidItellherthat?

Her eyes could havefrozenmoltenlavaasshesaidin an even tone, “Fine.Doctor O'Connell, I have

some questions for you.”Nice,ourmutual frostputanend to my girl crush rightthere.Igrinned,daringhertotry to push me around, butshewasallbusiness.

She looked around thenclosedtheexamroomdoor.Ifelt theway she stood in theroom was strategic, as Iwatched her sharp eyes takeinthedoorthenthewindow.Maybe I was reading moreintoit,butasshefacedme,it

seemedshewaskeepingbothinherperipheralvision.

Thensheaskedacouplegeneral questions which Iexpected.Firstmyfullnameand I told her Myra MarieO'Connell.SheaskedifIwasok. I explained what thedoctors had said that I had acracked rib and a coupleminorbruises.Butthenitallderailed...

She looked directly atme and asked, “After the

incident in the museum withthe crystal, have you noticedanything out of theordinary?”

Huh? What does thathave to do with mymugging? Yes, I've noticedplentyoutoftheordinary,butnothing I was going to tellher. “No. What does thishave to do with memugging?”

Sheignoredthequestionthen pressed on with her

questioning. “No changes incoordination or reflexes?Have your senses becomemoreacute?”

My blood ran cold.Whatdidsheknowaboutit?I shookmy head and repliedcarefully, “No. I don't seewhat my accident hasanything to do with whathappenedtonight.”

Without warning, sheforcefully threw her small,metal encased notepad that

shewaswritinginatme.Myhand shot out and caught itmid flight as I blinked andeverythingwas bathed in thepurple red sheen. All thecolors around me werebrighter, and everything wasmuchmoresharper.

I looked at the notepadinmyhand. Shite. Shehadme. She snatched thenotepad from me. “Cut thebullshit,I'mheretohelp.”

IsquintedatherasIfelt

that weird blink and myeyesight returned to normal.“You aren't really a cop areyou?”

Shechuckledalittle. “Iam, just not the kind youthink.” She unclipped herbadge from her belt andpassed it to me. “SpecialAgentQuinnTrask,FBI.Onspecial assignment in a jointInterpoltaskforce.”

I just stared at her thenher badge. “Jaysus. What

doestheFBIwantwithme?”She deadpanned. “To

keep you alive.” The tonewas ominous, then shecontinued, “What happenedtonightwasn't amugging, hewastryingtokillyou.Itisamiracle you survived, thismanisdangerous.”

Ilookedatherinshock.“Who is he and why wouldhepossiblywant tokillme?I'm just a mythology andfolkloreresearcheryaknow.”

She shook her head.“Wedon'tknow.Allthatweknow is that all across theglobe, eight people haveexperienced shocks fromshards of what is called theFire Stone. They wereexperiencing odd physicaleffects from the incident.Days after each incident, sixof them were found dead.Their hearts cut out of theirchests by some sort ofexceedinglysharpblade.”

Igasped.“The...curse?Ithoughtthosemenwerejustmissing.”

She shook her head.“You're an educated woman,you don't believe in curses,doyou?No,Interpolhidthedeaths because they didn'twant the internationalcommunity panicking over amerciless international serialkiller.”

Iunderstoodthat,butmyeyes flared in anger. “The

least you could have donewas to warn any researchersofthethreat!”

Sheshrugged.“Andtellthem what exactly? Excuseus, but if you experience ashock from a shard of thatcrystal you are examining,please inform us so we canprotect you from a crazedserialkiller?Howwouldyouhavereactedtothat?”

Itwasmyturntoshrug.“Aye.Iunderstandthat.But

I still don't like it. It's as ifyouaredanglingusforbait...wait, you said eight, so thereare two poor saps out therethat this madman is comin'fer?”

Her confidence seemedtowaver for a second then itwasback like a shield. “Wehad thought only seven. Weweren't sure about yourincidentwith a shard since itwas so massive andinvestigators said it was a

powersystemsurge.Plusallthe other victims were men.Sowehavedevotedallofourresources on followingDoctorMillerinNewYork.”

I squinted. “Does heknow?”

She shook her headsheepishly.“No.”

I snapped. “I knew it.You're just using him asbait!” I slapped the side ofmybedinangertopunctuatemypoint.

Shenodded. “Isupposewe were, but we have hadeyesonhimatall timesuntilwe were informed of yourattack. I landed in Denvertonight so I could visit withyouatthemuseumtomorrow,to see if your research couldshed some light on what ismotivating the killer since itappearstiedtotheFireStoneyouarestudying.”

Then before I could sayanything she asked, “So

Doctor O'Connell, just howdid you survive an attackfromamanthathaskilledsixmen and four highly trainedInterpolagents?”

I openedmymouth, butshe held up a finger. “Andplease, no bullshit, nothingyou say would shock me atthis point. Step me throughtheattack.”

I closed my eyes for asecond and tried to keepcalm. Should I really share

what I thinkhappened?EvenI don't know if it reallyhappened. Would Iwind updissected on somegovernment autopsy table assome other researcher'sproject?Itrustedthiswomanforsomereason,eventhoughI still wasn't sure if I likedher.

Then I opened my eyesand began. “Well I washeading back tome car afterpickingupsomecoffeeanda

danish.”She nodded as she took

notes. I found it odd shewrote on paper instead of acomputer or tablet. “Andwherewereyouparked?”sheprompted.“Theassetsonthescene say they haven't locateyourcar.”

I blushed as I replied,“Maggie is parked at the farendofthealley.”

She started reaching forher phone. “Who's Maggie,

we can get a unit over thererightawaytogether.”

I held up my hand tostop her, blushing again.“Maggieismecar.”

She slipped the phoneback into her pocket andasked, “What the hell wereyoudoingparkingdowninanalley? That'salmostbeggingto get mugged!” Was thatactualconcerninhereyes?

Ididn'tmakeeyecontactwith her. “Well that alley is

sortamehomeuntilthegrantmoney comes trough in thenext couple days.” Iwantedto crawl into a hole, I wasembarrassed. I hadn't eventoldmyco-workers.

A firmhandonmyarmmademe look at her. Therewas that trace of compassionin her eyes again. Maybeshe's human after all. Shereassuredme.“Don'tsweat itDoctor, we've all hadunavoidable situations in our

lives. Go on... you wereheadingbacktoyourcar...”

Inodded.“Right.Iwasheadin'back toMaggieandIcaught some motion out ofthecornerofmeeye.WhenIlooked I couldn't seeanyone,but I heard a bottle getknocked over. That put thefear intome and I called outto see if someonewas there.Then I heard him breathingand saw him behind adumpster.”

She looked up. “Howfarawaywashe? Was therealightinthealley?”

I shook my head andsmiledsheepishly. “No. Nolight. He was maybe fortyfeet from me. Didna Imention... something oddhappened. I was a wee bitterrified,andsuddenlyIcouldsee as if it was broaddaylight. I could see, hear,smell farbetter than I shouldhave. I wrote it off to

adrenaline. It was likedaylight to me, I could hearhis breathing and see himtrying to keep out of sight.There was this odd familiarsmellofspices.”

She actually smiled alittleatthat.“No,youforgottomentionthatpart.”

I smiledback, gaining alittleconfidence.“Wellthereyou have it, its done saidnow.” I grinned at the lookshe was giving me then

continued, “Well he steppedout. He was a big bloke,maybe six foot one or two.Hewas in pretty good shapejudgin'bythemusclesIcouldsee through his tight pants.He was dressed all in blackwith one of themmotorcyclemasks,yaknow...likethedirtbikers use. So I didna get alookathisface.”

Shenodded. “What didyoudothen?”

I had to hold back a

snort, was she daft? “WhatdoyouthinkIdid?IdroppedmycoffeeandranferMaggiefermedearlife.”

She had an almost cutegrinatthatasshesnortedandcontinued writing. Shelooked back up at me tocontinue. I closed my eyes,the next part would prove toher I was off my nut. “I tellyou, hand to the lord, I wasrunningfasterthanIhadevermoved inmy life somehow.

But even at that, he caughtme by me arm. I was soterrified,Ijustwantedhimtoletgo,soIspunandstruckathim. It must have been anadrenaline inducedhallucination,but I swearmehand was on fire as I struckthe man! He went flyin'backward like a fecking ragdoll, tumblin' across theground. I could smellburningflesh, italmostmademegagonthespot.”

Her eyes went a littlewider than before, and shesaid,“Fire? Theotherswereeitherwaterorrockaccordingthe the surviving Interpolagents.”

Somethingclickedinmyhead. Iblurted,“Fire,water,earth. Elementals! Elementals are mentioned intheFireStonescrolls!”

She stared at her notesforasecondthenlookedbackupatmeand tiltedherhead,

promptingme to continue. Itold her of the fight thatensued and how I felt sograceful and instinctivelyknew how to fend the manoff. HowIhadescaped,andtried to call 911 as I ran outof thealley. Ofhimstrikingme with the knife. Imotionedtothecleansliceonmyblouse.

Istoppedforamoment.“I swear, he hit me with theblade, but he didn't cut me.

There were...” I stopped.She put a hand on my armandloweredhereyestomeetmine, nodding slightly toencourage me. “I swear onme Ma and Da, I had redscales on me side where Ishoulda had skin, like theyprotectedmesomehow.”

Iabsently ranmy fingeralong my bruised skinthrough the cut inmy top. Iglanceddown,thebruisewasa sickly brownish yellow

now,asifithadbeenhealinga couple days. I lookedcloser then hid it when sheleaned in to see what I waslookingat.

Itookaquickbreathandfinished. “He was on top ofmereadytodrivethatfeckingantique knife through mychest when that clerk cameout and got his attention.That was my chance, Ipunchedthemaninthechestandhewentflyingoffmeand

skidding across the ground.The sirens were approachingfast,andtheguyranoff. Hemust have drugged mesomehow, right? I was justimaginingthings.”

She didn't say a word,she just steppedcloser tomeand brought her hand towardmyside. She tiltedherheadasking permission. I closedmyeyes, andherwarmhandwas gently cupping my sideshe was looking through the

tear at the bruise. “This isalmost healed.” She saidmore to herself than to me.She traced a finger gentlyalong the bruise thenwithdrewherhand.

Shite, my girl crush isback!Shetookmyhandandlooked carefully at myfingers. Then suddenlystraightened up not lettinggo. She grabbed a littleplastic bag from her backpocket with her other hand.

Then with her pen tip sheflickedsomethingfromundermy fingernail into the bag.“Looks like you got a pieceof him Doctor O'Connell.”Shesaidhappily.

I rolled my eyes. “Ohhell, Myra if you please. Iwas just a wee bit perturbedwith you fer sending awaymyfriends.”

She nodded. “Myrathen.”

I nodded back and

asked, “And what should Icallyou?”

“Special Agent Trask.”Thebettywasserious.

I nodded. “Quinn it isthen.”Shevisiblycringed.Itook some smug satisfactioninthat.

Her look suddenly gotcoldandserious. “Wellnowthatweknowheisout there,andthathe isafteryou,we'llneed to take you intoprotectivecustody.”

This just raisedmy ire.“You'll be doing nothing ofthesort!I'llbedoingmejobat the museum!” She wasabout to argue but I cut heroff, “You say it is all tiedintotheFireStonesomehow.Iamtheleadingexpertonthestone. So my teamtranslating the scrolls is thebest chance we have ofuncovering why this maniacis targeting people who arestudying it. You need me

Quinn.Don'tyougodenyingitnow!”

She nodded inresignationwithcrookedgrinas she said, “That's sometemperyouhaveMyra.”

I tilted my head with asmile.“Whythankyou.”

Shesnorted.“Itwasn'tacompliment.”

I corrected her, “Yetthat'showIchoosetotakeit.Now,ifyouplease.Canyousendinmefriendsonyerway

outQuinn?”She squinted her eyes.

“Fine.Butyouarestuckwithme for the duration. Whenyou aren't at the museum,you'llbeatasafehousewithme.”

I rolled my eyes at herand said, “What a joy thatwill be. Are we done fornow?”

She nodded and openedthe door and called my co-workers in but stood in the

'prime' spot, watchingeverything with hawk-likeattention. I noticed herquietly speaking intohercellphone as I was beingdischarged...again.

Henry asked, “Youaren't coming in tomorrow,areyou?Youneedtorest.”

Iquicklydismissedhim.“There'll benoneof that talknow. I'll be there bright andearly. Most likely withSpecial Agent Trask here

unlessIcanditch'er.”Henry just shook his

head as he left. “Damnfrustratingresearchers.”

James gave me a smileand left, Mei hugged metightly then rushed afterJames, “Hey egghead, waitup,you'remyride!”

And just like that I wasleft in the room alone withmy apparent babysitter. Sheshookherhead. “YoushouldreallylistentoDoctorArnett.

You'vejustbeenthrough...”I cut her off. “Not you

too Quinn. So now what?Youdragmeawayincuffsorwhateveryou tinbadgesdo?IneedtogetMaggiefirst,allmeclothesareinher.”

She looked a littleamused. Don't go smilingnow woman, I'm trying tokeepmymadon for you! “Ialready called it in, and shewill be waiting at the safehouse. I followed her out,

shekeptherselfinfrontofmeahalfapaceandtomyright.Herheadturningeverywhichway at all corridorintersectionsandopendoors.Thewayherrighthanddidn'tseem to swingas shewalkedkept me glancing at herholsteredgun. This lass isaserious professional. Oddly,it was keeping me moreaware of my ownsurroundings,aswell.

She led me to a typical

dark 'company issue' SUV.Then we were on the road.My head snapped up to therooftops. She lookedoveratme.“WhatisitMyra?”

I shrugged. “Nothing, Ijustfeellikethereareeyesonus and I just thought I sawamovement in the shadows.Just jumpy from the attackandimaginingthings.”

She shook her head andreplied, “No, I saw it too.But don't worry we have

otheragentsflankingus.”She drove a seemingly

random path that evenbacktracked a couple timesbefore driving into a two cargarage at a little brickbuildingnearCherryCreek.Inoticed Maggie was in theother spot as the automaticgaragedoorclosed.

Quinn waited for me tograb some clothes and myiPad from my car, then ledme through a door into a

fairlyblandapartment.“Stayhere,” she said as she lookedin all the rooms beforereturning. “Ok, it's all clear.Take the room at the end ofthe hall, do not open thecurtains. I'll take the firstroom. There are agents onthe street. Get some sleep,you'llneedit.”

I squinted. “MissDemandingmuch?JustwhenI was startin' to think youwere human.” She had that

slightly amused smile againonherface.

I prepared for the nightthen headed for the backroom, she was still in theliving roompeeking betweenthe drapes as she spokequietly on her cell. I mustsay,Ireallyfeltsafewithherthere.

IremindedmyselftocallMaandDainthemorningtoletthemknowI'mok.Idon'twant them finding out about

the attack through the grapevine. I was asleep withinmoments of my head hittingmypillow.

Chapter 5 –ScrollsI had a bad dream,

reliving the attack. My eyessnapped open, and I realizeditwasmorning. I shook thebaddreamfrommyhead,andI stretched in the bed. I hadalmost forgottenhowgood itfelttosleepinaproperbed.Irealizedmysidedidn'tacheatall as I unwrapped my ribs,thebruisingwasgone.

This bedroom reeked, Idon't remember it smellingthis bad last night. I sighedand got up everything wasbathedinthatpurplishred.

I heard Quinn in theliving room already, shewaswhispering into her phone.Shite, I could hear herarguing with someone, itsounded personal, but Icouldn'tshutoffmyhearing.I looked into the makeupmirror sitting on top of the

dresserandgasped.My eyes were red and

oval shaped with black slitswhere I should have pupils!The shockcaused the slits towiden slightly more for asecond. A semitransparentmembrane wiped quicklyacrossmyeyes. I juststaredinto the mirror, trying toblock out Quinn's argumentwith what I guess was herboyfriend. “No... you knewthis about my job when we

first started dating... no... no,thisishowitwillalwaysbe...don't be like that... what?WellthenIchoosethejob,itis important! I... no... fine.Just know that you wereimportant to me too. Yes...ok, I'll get my stuff the nexttimeI'mintown.”

What a jerk, didn't heknow she was saving lives?She may be infuriating, butshe deserves more thandumpingheronthephone. I

clenchedmy fist,my irewasrising. Then some flickeringgot my attention. I lookeddown, andmy armswere onfire!Igaveasurprisedyelp.Ididn'tfeeltheheatfromtheblueandyellowflamesatall,and my nightshirt wasn'tburning.

A moment later thebedroomdoorburstopen,andQuinnwasthere,gundrawn.She must have heard myyelp. She tookeverything in

at once, and her arm falteredwith thegunabit. Thensheslowlyholstered thegunas Istood there, staring at myarmsthatlookedliketheyhada thick sheath of fire aroundthem, ending in two clawshapedapparitions.

Beneath the flames, myfingers had long claw-likefingernails that shimmeredlike polishedmetal. I lookedbetween them and Quinn asshe approached slowly

holding her arms up and herface turned slightly away.“AreyouokMyra? Damn Ican'tgetmuchcloser,theheatissearing.”

Ishookmyhead. “I... Idon't rightly know. I had abaddream,andIwakeuplikethis.”

She nodded. “Ok,maybejustcalmdownalittleand concentrate on theflame?Makeitgoaway?”

I held up my hand and

concentrated on the flame, itflared a little. I... felt theflame? A wisp jumped upfrommyhand. I lookedatitand willed it, and it movedaround. I held up my otherhandandmade the fire jumpbetweenmyhands.Thiswasimpossible.. it was...amazing. I glanced at astunnedQuinn. Oh, right. Iconcentrated and the flamesjustvanished.

I looked at my hands,

they looked like I had clawson theendsofmy fingers. Iconcentrated and watchedthosedangerouslookingnailsretractbackintome.Ilookedat her with a nervous smile.“Jaysus!What'shappeningtomeQuinn?”

She was shaking herheadasshesteppeduptomeandgentlygrabbedoneofmyhands to examine it. Herscent filled my nose. Itwasn't unpleasant at all. In

fact, it sort of... I blushed.Such thoughts Myra! Hervoice knockedmeout ofmythoughts. “I don't knowMyra.Didithurt?”

Ishookmyhead.“Inaryevenfeltit.Isthat...wasthatlike elemental control overfire?Thisisimpossible.”

Shehadaslygrinonherface. “Those awesome eyeswouldbegtodiffer.”

Ispunbackatthemirrorand saw those red animal

eyes. Iconcentrated,andtheworldbecamelesssharptoallmysenses. Myeyesbecametheirnormalsparklinggreen.But then I was suddenlyafraid. “What are you goingto do? Report this? Ohlordy, I'm going to bedissected on a tablesomewhere in Area 51!” Ibacked away from her,reclaiming my hand as myown.

She lookedalmosthurt.

“No, Myra. Who wouldbelieve me anyway? Lastthing I want is a psycheevaluation.”

Ilookedatherandhungmyhead. “I'm sorryQuinn.I... overheard yourconversation, I didn't knowhowtoshutoffmehearing.”

Shenoddedoncewithanunreadable expression thenlefttheroom,callingoutoverhershoulder inacoldvoice.“Ifyoustillinsistongoingto

workonthescrollstoday,weshouldgetgoingsoon.”Thenshe was off into the livingroomonthephonewithsomeother agents informing themofourimpendingmovement.Did I just pissheroff? WhydidIcare?

I took a shower and gotready. Another agent camein, and stoodat thedoor andQuinn took her own showerand prepped for the day.When she came out of her

room, the other agentdiscretely left. Sheesh, theymust have a protocol foreverything.

I quickly called myparentstofillthemin.Ihadtohold thephoneaway frommeasMagothermadon. Ihanded the phone to Quinn.“Sorry. Me Ma wants aword.”

I hung my head inembarrassment as she “yesma'am” and “no ma'am”-ed

and, “Of course, ma'am. Itwasnicespeakingwithyou.”She hung up and handedmethephonewithagrin.

I shook my head.“Sorry.”

She laughed, itwas oddcomingfromMissIce.“Iseewhere your hair triggertemper comes from.Shewasnicethough.”

Ichuckled. “Nice? Weare speaking of me Maright?”

She chuckled a little.Much better than the coldshoulder from earlier. Sheinformed the other agents“Firebrand” was on themove. I squintedather, andshe shrugged with a slightsmirk. Thenwewent to thegarageandintotheSUV.

Onourrandomizedrouteto the museum, she broughtus through a drive thru forbreakfast and coffee. It wascomical, really. Matching

SUVs magically appeared infront and behind us as weordered.Theydisappearedasquickly as they had arrivedthe moment we were on theroad again. We ate as shedrove.Thenminuteslaterwewere pulling up to themuseum. I dug the parkingpermitfrommypurseandputit on the dashboard, and sheled me into the museum.Whenwereachedsecuritywestoppedtogetherabadgefor

thedoors.I looked at her in

amusement as we rode theelevator down to thebasement.“JusthowlongamIgoingtobechaperoned?”

Hercoldvoicewasback.“Untilwegetthebastard.”

I went into the cleanroom, James was alreadythere.Quinnstoodoutsidebythe observation windowcommunicatingwithsomeoneon her cell as her keen eyes

swept the area. I saw Meicoming down the corridorfrom the elevator with threecups of coffee. She stutterstepped when she sawQuinn. I could hear her sayover the speakers, “Oh, Iforgot about you Agent.Umm you want a coffee?”She lifted the tray slightly toher.

Quinn just smiledpolitely. “No,but thankyoufortheofferDoctor.”

Mei smiled at her.“Mei.”

Quinn tilted her head inacknowledgment.“Mei.”

Thensheplacedthetrayontheoutsideworktableandcameintothecleanroomandsuited up. James looked ather.“Thatwasniceofyoutoofferyourcoffeetoher.”

Mei snorted. “It wasn'tthat nice, I was offering heryours.”

I was grinning at their

antics as Mei said, “Sincewhendid theFBIstarthiringhottiesanyway?”

Quinn spoke from theobservation window, “YouareawarethatIcanhearyououtherearen'tyou?”

Mei shot her a playfulgrin.“Ofcourse,whydoyouthinkIsaidit?”

I shookmy head, tryingto conceal a smile. “That'llbe enough of that now. Wehave work to do ya know.”

Then we all started goingover the scrolls again.“James, this faded rune. Isthat for elemental? I had athought this morning...” IglancedquicklyatQuinnthenback. “We saw the samewhen it mentioned dragonsbefore. Were the druidslinkingdragons toelementalsIwonder?”

He nodded looking atthe surrounding snippets.“That would fit into the

contextofthisscroll.Itistoofaded and damaged to becertain,buttheupstroketheredoes look indicative of it.But this dot above thestroke...Idon'tknow.”

Dotabovethe...myeyeswent wide and I startedtoward the door quicklysheddingmy gear. Mei wasrightonmyheels,andQuinnflankedusassoonaswewereoutof theroom. Mei lookedat me. “What is it Myra?

You have that epiphany lookonyourfaceagain.”

Ispoke toheraswegotto the elevator. “It may benothing Mei. Just a hunch,something James saidsounded familiar. We wentquicklytotheaccesscorridorbehind theFireStoneexhibitthat was almost completed,and badged into the glassfrontedspace.Iwalkeduptothe druid stone and ran myhand along it then stabbed a

finger at a rune. “There! IknewIhadseenit.”

Meilookedatitthenmein wonder. There was theelemental symbol with a dotover it. Mei was quicklywritingdownthepassage,butwe were getting pretty goodat understanding druidwritingsnow.Thedotwasanaccent to mean 'original' onallothersymbols itwasusedon. So this stone was amarker foretelling the return

of the original elementals.The previous interpretationwas that they were awaitingthe return to nature. Theymistook elemental forelements, thus their 'nature'translation. Butnowwehadanotherpiecetothepuzzle.

Iwasonthemoveagainwith my two shadows, wemade our way back down tothecleanroom.Iwasalmostgiddy. One piece at a timeweweregettingit!AsIwas

gearing up I excitedly spoketoJames,“Thatisthesymbolfortheoriginalelementals!”

He glanced at me thenthe scroll and startedgrinning. My pulse waspoundingasIexcitedlymademy way back to the scrolls.Then I gasped. “What didyou do James? We aren'tsupposed to do anythingphysically to the scrolls!” Iwas almost panicking. Butthere,clearastheday,Icould

read the scrolls as the fadedpigmentsvirtuallyjumpedoffthe page. I could see theentiretyofthewritings.Shite,the Dublin team is sure totake them from us now andmaybepresscharges!

He tilted his head. “Ididn't do anything, what areyou... Jesus! Myra, youreyes!”

IlookedathimandthentoMeiwhowasstaringatmenow.Quinnwastryingtoget

into the room, but her badgewouldn't allow it. She wassaying, “Concentrate Myra.Willthemaway.”

Ilookedovertowardthedoorwhereshewas trying toenter. “No! They knownow. I can read the scrolls!If I go back to normal, we'lllosethisopportunity!”

I glanced at Mei andJameswhowerestaringatmenow. “Please don't bealarmed. I'll explain

everything... I give ya meword. Just right now I needpaper!Ineedtowritethisalldownbeforeitfades!”

James was in motion,not tearing his eyes frommeas he retrieved a pen and atablet of paper. Mei wassmiling. “They are beautifulMyra. What... what areyou?”

Itookadeepshudderingbreath, which I found was amistake as all of the smells

and scents around meassaulted my olfactory. Icould smell Mei's shampooand soap, James'antiperspirant, the stale smellof the scrolls and somethingcoppery, like... blood? “Ireally don't know what kindof freak Iam,but I think theanswer is in the scrolls.Please,let'sgetthisalldown,Idon'tknowhowlongI'llbelike this.” She laid a handgently on my arm and

nodded.Quinnwastalkingonthe

phoneandmovingbacktotheobservationwindow.“Ineedthe cameras in this areadeactivated and the securityfootage secured. My eyesonly.What?Idon'tcare,justdoitNOW.”

I glanced at her inapology. She justgavemeaslight nod, and I startedcopying everything I saw onthe scrolls now. By the end

ofthehourIhaditallwrittendown and I had realized thatone of the pigments musthave been blood, that waswhatIwassmelling.Wehadvirtually everything exceptwhere pieces were torn off.Nowweknewthateachscrollhadadifferentpurpose.Onedetailedthedragons.AnotheronethestoryofSaintGeorgeand the fall of the dragonsandsomethingabout theFireStone.Thethirdwasdateda

year after the first two andspoke of the Fire Stone andthe discovery of SaintGeorge's'ultimate'betrayalofCaragh.

It would take us just afew days to translateeverything. I looked at theothers who didn't seembothered by my eyes at allnow. “The other threescrolls!”

James was alreadypulling them up on the big

screen.Nothing...“Ican'tseea feckin thing. I mustactuallyhavetohavetheminfront of me.” I wasfrustrated. Mei and Jameswere suddenly backing awayfromme.

Quinn was speakingforcefully over the speakers.“Myra. Don't lose focus.Calmyouremotions.Lookatyourself.”

I looked down and myarmsandlegswereaflamein

fiery claws, then to my co-workers. I blushed andsheepishly said, “Sorry.” Iwilledtheflamesaway.Thistimeitwasmucheasier. Myshoes had holes in the frontwith metallic claws pokingthrough. Shite! I'll ruin allmyclothesbythetimethisisall over. I willed them andtheclawsonmyhandsaway.

Ilookedoutthewindowat a concerned looking FBIagent and mouthed, “Thank

you Quinn.” She gave analmostimperceptiblenod.

I looked at Mei andJames. They lookednervous. “I'm sorry 'boutthat. I'm not used tocontrollin' it yet.” I didn'twant them afraid of me. Iglanced out the door. “Let'shave our coffee and calmdownaweebit.IpromiseI'llbeexplainin'everythingwhenIunderstanditmyself.”

They followed me out.

ImmediatelyIwasawareofascent that felt like safety,security? IglancedoverandrealizeditwasQuinn'sscent.I instinctively moved closerto her, and she stoodprotectively between me andthecorridorbeyond.Ismiledbashfullyather.

Then I concentrated onmysenses.

Itisstrange,butImissedthe heightened senses themoment they faded. I could

experience the world at alevel I had never knownbefore. Now everythingseemed muted. I glancedthrough the glass door at thescrolls and saw them asbefore,fadedandincomplete.

James was just lookingat me in curiosity, but Mei'shands were shaking. Hervoicewassmall.“How...”

I shrugged. “I don'tknow. I think it was meaccidentwiththeshard.”

Mei lost her grip on thecup with her shaky hands Icouldn't get past James fastenough to catch it though Iwas close, my speed andreflexes were almostlightning fast now. We alljust stared as the empty cuphit the floor. And there,hovering inmidair, just pastmy fingertips was the coffeeitself, pulsating in acoalescingblob.

I stared at it, and the

shock of it made me loseconcentration and the coffeesplashedallovertheground.I bent and grabbed the cupthen looked at the mess. Iconcentrated, and the coffeeleapt back into the air andtheninto thecup. Iplacediton the table as itmightburstin flame... then stared at myhands then the threestandingaroundmewhowere staring,dumbstruck.

Mei grinned nervously.

“You'reasuperheroMyra.”Iwasshakingmyhead.

“No.I'mafreak.Weneedtotranslate the scrolls. Maybetheycantellushowtogetmebacktonormal.”

James looked as if hewas thinking. I tilted myhead at him in question. Heplaced his security badge onthe table. “Can you movethat?” I concentrated andthen shook my head at himwhen nothing happened.

Thenheglanced at the cup Ihad placed on the table.“And that?” I concentrated,anditmovedtowardme.

He was smiling.“Coooool...”

I squinted at the crypticman.“Wellareyougonnabesharingwithus?”

He nodded lookingaround at us. “Don't yousee? The fire, the...” Hemotioned at the coffee.“Water.”

My eyeswidened. “Ohme lord in heaven. I'man...elemental? Andwhyarenoneofyourunninginfear?”

Meinervously,shruggedand said, “Well you are ourfriends Myra. That and weare researchers. This isunprecedented!”

James was apparentlylost in his own world as hejust kept talking with a sillysmileonhis long face. “Butthe odd thing is that all the

myths about elementals isthattheycaneffectonlyone.It is a nature magic thing.Fire, water, earth, and wind.Youaredoingtwo!”

I lookedatMei, andweshared agrin at this. Then Ipanicked a little. “You can'tbetellin'anyoneaboutthis!Idon't want to be poked andproddedanddissected!”

Mei was shaking herheadwitha lookofalarmonher face. “Of course not

Myra.”My question apparently

snapped James out of his'researchermode' andhewasfirst to speak. “Wewouldn'tdo that to you Myra. Ofcourse, we'll be quiet. Buthave you... tested the extentofthemanifestation?”

Ishookmyhead,Iwasabit curiousmyself. “No, butI'mwantingtogetridofit,sowebestbebacktowork.”

We streamed back into

the clean room then to ourstations and begin thearduoustaskoftranslatingthewritings. I kept glancing atthe observation window.Quinn was ever vigilant,standingguardlikeasentinelas she watched us and thecorridor.Ismiledinside.

It was around three inthe afternoon when Henrycalleddownandaskedtoseeme. Jaysus, we were soengrossedinourworkthatwe

hadmissedlunch.ItoldhimI'dberightup.

We left my fellowresearchers to their task andmade our way up to Henry'soffice. His smile falteredwhen Quinn poked her headin first then stood aside so Icould walk in. She took apositionbesidethedoorintheroom.

I closed the door andlookedathim,“WhatcanIdoforyouboss?”

Heshookhisheadwithagrin. “Stop calling me thatfor one. I just wanted tomake sure you are ok afterlastnight's...excitement.”

I nodded at him with awry grin. “None the worseforwear.We'vebeenmakinghuge strides down in theclean room. I think we aredays away from having ascomplete of a translation aswecan.”

He shifted in his chair,

hiseyessmilingatme.“Youintellectualsalwayscaremoreabout your work thanyourselves.Youneedtoslowdownabit.”

I shookmyhead. “Heynow,I'mgoingtobepointingout again that you are adoctortoo.”

He grinned whilesquinting an eye. “Yeah,that's always going to comebackandbitemeisn'tit?”

I nodded once as if it

wasGod's honest truth. “AslongasIamworkin'hereandas long as you pull theintellectualcard.”

He surrendered. “I'mbeginningtoseethat.”

We turned at the mutedsound of Quinn's phonevibrating. She turned awayfrom us a bit and answered.“Trask... what? No...when?” Alarm iswritten onherandbeforeIknewit, thatweird blink occurred I was

listeningin.The man on the other

endwas saying, “Therewerefour of them. Three agentswere killed, and we foundMillerwithhishearttornout.The primary assailant wasfavoringhisleftarm,wegotagood look at him though.Agent Danvers ripped hismask off before the bastardkilled him with that damnknife. We took one of themdown.”

Myattentionwas pulledaway from the conversationwhen a familiar spicy scenthitmynose.Ilookedovertowhere it was coming from.The paperweight. Then myblood ran cold. Iconcentrated, and my sensessnapped back to normal as Iblurtedout, “ItwasReginaldBlaine,Quinn!”

Her eyes snapped overtome,andshespokeintothephone. “I'll contact you

soon. Something came uphere. Send me everythingyouhaveontheincident.”

She was lookingbetween me and Henry whohad now turned his attentionfrom Quinn to me withconfusiononhisface.

Iwasstillinalittlebitofshockatmyrealization.

Quinn had my arm,gentlyguidingmeoutintothecorridor while looking backat Henry and saying, “Sorry

sir,asecurityissuejustcameup, I'm going to have toborrowDoctorO'Connell forabit.” Shepulledmealong,leaving a stunned Henrywatchingusgo.

Chapter 6 –ThrallsAs soon as we were in

theelevatorshe turned tomeand asked. “What do youmean it was ReginaldBlaine?”

I was hyperventilating.Shelookedmedirectlyintheeyes with concern on herface. “Myra! Listen to me.Pull yourself together, wedon't need you going all

'flame on' in here. Look atme.”

Her silvery, steel greyeyes held me. There wasnothingbutstrengthinthem.They promised safety justlike her scent had. I againinstinctively steppedcloser. Itook long deep breaths,calming myself. She wastilting her head and smiling.“Thereyougo.”

I nodded that I was oknow and she tilted her head

the other direction to promptme. I started to explain, “Ican'tbelieveIwasattractedtothe bastard! It was Blainewho attacked me andprobablykilledDoctorMillerin New York...” I shut uprealizingIjustletherknowIwas listening in on herconversation.

I smiled apologetically.“I can't really control it yet.I'msorryQuinn.”

She actually smiled as

she shook her head thenprompted.“It'sok.Butwhydo you think it was thisBlaineguy?”

Iblushed,“Well,Icouldsmell him.” I looked up ather. “He's a privateantiquities collector fromLondon.HehadcometoseemeinHenry'sofficetheotherday.Hehadthismuskysmellthat had a hint of spices orherbs or something. Ismelleditonmyattackertoo,

IthoughtitwasfamiliarbutIcouldn't place it at the time.AndIhurthisleftarminthefight.Theotheragentsaidhewasfavoringit.”

“But just now, inHenry's office when I was...ummm... eavesdropping onyou. I could smell it on thepaperweight he hadaccidentally dropped.” Ithought about that for asecond,andthensnappedmyeyesbacktoher.“Ithink...I

think he knows aboutme. Ithinkhewastestingmewhenhe dropped the paperweight.Butwhy?”

She was nodding nowwith a hint of anger towardthe man in her eyes.“Probably for the samereason we hadn't assignedmen to you right away. Hewasn't sure. All the rest ofthevictimsweremale.”

Thatmade sense. “Thefeckinbastard!”

She was on her phonehaving an APB sent out forReginald Blaine and callingfor protection duty backup.The agents in New YorkverifiedBlainewasoneoftheattackers after looking up apictureofhim.Quinnlookedatmewith a serious look onher face. “We need to getyoutothesafehouse.”

I shook my head. “Ineedtogetmework.Iknowthe answers are in there

somewhere.” She noddedandledmebackdowntomycolleagues.

Quinn reminded themnottotellanyoneaboutwhathappened todayas Igatheredcopies of all our research.Thenshespiritedmeawaytothecar.Onthewayback,onanother randompath, IswearI caught movement fromaboveagain.“Quinn.”Isaidandshenoddedindicatingshecaught it too. I concentrated

and the world washhighlightedinpurplishred.

FromtimetotimeIsawa shadowy shape jumping...almostflying,fromrooftoptorooftop. “There are at leasttwo.Aretheytrackingus?”

She was on the phonecalling for helicopter aerialsupport. I heard the chopperapproaching long before wecould see it. Then theshadows disappeared, Ioffhandedly said, “I think

thatscaredthemoff.”Theblockwasswarming

with black SUVs when wearrived back at the safehouse. Quinn pulled us intothe garage and shut thegarage door before we bothsighed in relief. She lookedover and pointed at her eyesand whispered, “Your eyesMyra.”

I grinned in apology.“Right!” Thenallmysensesdeadened again. This was

almost a letdown as I reallydid find myself preferringthem enhanced now. Mylord, am I really anelemental?

She was still looking atme, studying me. She mustthink I'm a freak. But thenshe smiled,probably the firstgenuine smile I've seen fromher.Ilikedit.Shetiltedherheadtowardthedoorintotheapartment. “Let's get youinside. I can't keep you a

secret much longer if youkeep manifesting... whateveritisinpublic.”

I squintedaswegotoutof the car. “You haven'twritten up like ninety fivedifferentreportsonityet?”

She shook her head.“No.I...itwouldn't...I'djusthate toseeyoubeingstudiedlike an animal is all.” Thenher cold facadewas back. Iliked the glimpse inside thatshehadjustaffordedme.

We walked into theapartment and I was a littlestartled to see two men insuits standing inside. One ofthem gave a single nod toQuinn and said, “AgentTrask. We've swept theapartment.Thereareshootersonroofsnorthandsouth.Wehaveaperimeterset.”

She nodded and replied,“Understood.Iwantamanateach entrance. I haveFirebrand.” Then without a

word, one man went out thefront door, the other out thegarage door, following herorders.Was she the 'agent incharge' orwhatever they callit? I watch too muchtelevision.

She looked over andtherewasasinglesuitcase inthe middle of the livingroom. She smiled, “Good,mystuffarrived.”

She dug around in itwhileIsatatthelittlerickety

kitchen table and startedpulling my research out andmyiPadtogetbacktowork.I pulled up FaceTime andcalledMei. The clean roombloomed on the screen withMei's nose and part of hersmile.“Myra!”

I almost giggled. “Mei,youdon'tneedtobeeatin'thecamerayousillybetty. Let'sgettoworkshallwe?”

She pulled back with acuteblushonherface.“You

got it Myra.” Then shecaught me up on what littlethey were able to piecetogether while I was beingwhiskedaway.

Quinn joinedmewith agovernment issue laptoplooking device. She wasgathering all the intel shecould about the New Yorkincident and Blaine. At onepoint she paused andinterrupted me. “Myra,pleasetakealookatthis.We

caught the other three ofBlaine's accomplices. Theywerejustaveragecitizens.Amailman,agarbagecollector,andabarista.Allofthemaredenying knowledge of theassaultornot thinking itwasreal. They seem confusedanddisoriented.Theonethatouragentstookdown,DanielSimms, was an accountantandfatheroftwo.Wefoundthis mark on his forehead,apparentlywritteninblood.I

thought it sort of looked likesomeof the symbolsyouaretranslating.”

I looked at the picturethenlookedawayasthecolordrained from my face at thebloodymess.Sheputahandon my shoulder and gentlysqueezed. “Jarring I know,butthisisimportantMyra.”

Itookadeepbreaththenlookedoverandlookedattheman's forehead. Then Ileaned closer to the screen.

“Itisdefinitelyarune.ButIdon'trecognizethisparticularone.Itissimilarto'property',thatwouldbeitsroot,butseethis tick down here? I don'tknowhowthatchangesit.”

I drew it on a piece ofpaperthenlookedatmyiPadandsaid,“James.”Isawhimby his workstation pouringover our notes. I almostsmiled at his obliviousnessthen said loudly, “James!”He almost fell off his chair

and I heard an amused noisecomingfromQuinn.

He scurried over to thecamera.“YesMyra?”

Iheldupthepapertothecamera. I simply asked,“Property?”

Heshookhishead.“No,that is the accent for fleshorhuman. That makes thiseither slave, or thrall.” Hiseyes lit up. “Oh!” He wastyping something on aconsole.Thenhelookedup.

“It was used extensively inthe arcane writings ofMorgan la Fay. Here it is.Yes, thatwas supposedly therune to bind someone to herwill. To make them herthralls.”

I smiled at hisenthusiasm. “ThanksJames.”Henoddedandgavea little wave and wanderedbacktohisworkstation.

I lookedover atQuinn.“Could Blaine have

somehow... enchanted thosepeople into doing hisbidding?”

She looked at me andsquinted her eyes. “Youmean like, hypnotism ormagic? Come on Myra,you're an educated womanyou don't believe in thatmumbojumbodoyou?”

Ishruggedwithamatteroffactlookonmyface.“Upuntil just recently I didn'tbelieve in elementals either.

I've studied myths andlegends for quite some timeand find most of them arebasedonaspecteroftruth.”

She smirked a little atmy argument. “Fair point.”Webothwentbacktowork.

At the time, I wasconcentrating on the mostcomplete scroll with theinformationaboutthedrakon.IdubbedthisonetheDragonScroll. I was confused inareas, they kept referring to

the drakon individuals asmen. James had confirmedthatitreferredtomenandnot'male'. So dragons werehuman? Not fire breathingwinged lizards? Wedetermined that the dragonswere what the druids werecalling the originalelementals.Iwonderedaboutthedruidstoneforetellingthereturn of the originalelementals.Ilookeddownatmyhands. Then I shookoff

that line of thinking. So theDrakonwerearace?

Therewere threegroupsof dragons. The Irish clan,the British clan, and theEuropean clan in theGermanic regions. The onlyfemales of the Drakon raceseemed to be the queen ofeachclan.

Theyweresworntohelpthe humans of their regionswiththeirelementalmagic.Itseemed that each Drakon

could manifest his power inthe form of one of theelements. Though it wasrumored the queens couldsometimesusemorethanone,thoughitwasneverwitnessedbythedruids.

The Drakon werepseudo-immortal. Neveraging, but could still beinjuredorkilled ifyoucouldget through their... what thedruids referred to as livingchain mail. They healed

quickly. Therewas also talkof some sort of bondsbetweenDrakon and humansthat I didn't understand yet.One was something aboutrebirth as elementals... wasthis how new Drakon weremade, or simply elementals?And theotherwas the 'bloodtie'. Which made no sensebecause it was incomplete.Part of the scroll had eitherbeen torn off in that area orrotted trough. But it was

something about them being'the same' or 'as one'. Thatwas thebestMeiandIcouldcome up with. Jamesconcurred.

“Raughhh!”Ispatoutinfrustration and slapped thetable.

Quinn chuckled. “Easythere sparky. Though I'mkind of partial to youimpressive temper... you'llneed to get a rein on it untilyoucancontrolyourpower.”

I chuckled and put theflaming claw around myhand,out.

At some point,mankindhad turned against thebenevolent dragons and theDrakon would manifest theirelements into great wingedserpents to battle against theattacking humans. TheEuropean and British clanswere eventually wiped outbut the Irish clan stood fordecades against the

onslaught. The druidsrecorded everything as aneutralparty.

ThenSaintGeorgecameto the land of Eire to talkpeace. That is where thisscroll ended. I pushed backfromthe tableandstretched.IlookedatQuinn.“Idon'tseewhere any of the info fromtheDragonScrollcanhelpusunderstand why Blaine isgoingallpsycho.I'llstartontheSaintGeorgescrollnow.

There has to be somethingthat can give us a clue hereya'know.”

Shesatback too. Iwasimpressed with herdetermination as well. Shewasdedicatedtobringingtheperson responsible forkillingheragentsandtheresearchersto justice. I saw the barelyconcealedrageinhereyes, itdid not bode well for whatthat meant for Blaine whenshe caught up with the

bastard.She asked, “Sowhy are

all thepeopleaffectedby theshards, researchers andintellectualslikeyourself?”

Ishrugged,“Wearetheonlyoneswithaccesstothemat themoment. Itseemsthatonly a few people aresusceptible to the shocksandthe... gift... the shards arecursinguswith.”

She shook her headslowly at me with a small

grin. “Wecoulddiscuss thismore, but first, you workedthroughlunchanditisalmostpast dinner time too. Youneed to eat to keep up yourstrength.”

She was mothering mebutIsomehowdidn'tmind.Iknowitisirrational,butIfeltsafe around her. I glancedawaywithalittleblushwhenshe stretched, she lookedbetterthananyFBIagenthadany right to. I'm still

apparently girl crushing onher. I stole a quick glance.Then nodded. “You'reprobablyright.”

She looked at me withan unreadable expression.Whywasshealwaysstudyingme.Icouldfeeltheburnofablushonmycheeks.Thensheasked, “Chinese?” I noddedand stood up to stretch mylegs then wandered over tothe couch as she contactedher fellow agents and

instructed them to bringChinesefood.

I pulled up the news asQuinn joined me on thecouch.TherewasareportofDoctorMiller and some FBIagents being killed in a'terrorist attack' at thenaturalhistory museum in NewYork. I shuddered andQuinn's warm hand was onmyarm.Shefeltlikesafety.She said softly, “That isn'tgoing to happen to you

Myra. He'll have to comethrough me.” I leaned intoher a bit to bump shouldersand we watched the rest ofthenews.

An agent arrived withourfoodandrelievedtheoneat the garage door. I saw adifferentoneatthefrontdooras the other man left. Ilooked at the chestnut hairedwoman beside me. “You'vebeen with me for almosttwentyfourhours.Aren'tyou

goingtodoashiftchange?”She shot a cute wink at

meandasked,“Tryingtogetridofme?”

I shook my head andreplied quickly, “No, no, ofcoursenot.”

She grinned. “I'm byyour side until we get thismurdering bastard.” Thissomehow made me feelbetter. I smiled at her thenwe dug into the food. Icouldn'tbelievehowhungryI

was. We stole from eachothers containers andwashedit downwith coffee. Icouldliveoffofcaffeine.

We sat and talked afterthe meal. Just getting toknow each other. She wasfascinating. I found out thatshe was pulled out of thespecial forces to join theFBI'sInterpoljointtaskforceto hunt down violentinternational fugitives thatcross over into the United

States.Her parents are retired

down in NewMexico. Andthe breakup I overheard waswith a woman, not a man.They had been dating only acouple months but the bettycouldn't handle that Quinnwas constantly flying out onassignments. This all madeQuinn lookmore... desirable,tome? Imean, sure I foundherattractive,butthatwasallwasn'tit?Itiltedmyhead.I

could see myself withsomeone as strong as her.“Herloss,theeejit.”

She gave a sad smile.“ThanksMyra.”Therewasaknock at the door and shestood. “We shouldget somesleep,anotherlongdayaheadof us tomorrow.” Shechecked the peephole with ahand on her weapon at herhip then moved her handaway and opened the door.Theman just took a position

bythedoorandsheturnedtome and motioned her headtowardthebedrooms.

We took turns gettingreadyforthenight.NowthatI'm noticing her more, Iblushed at how good shelooked in the form fittingwhitetanktopandshortsshewent to bed in. Damn herarmsand legsweremuscularand tone. I was grinning atthatwhile Igot intomyownbedandquicklyfellasleep.

---Iwokewithastarttothe

sound of glass shattering,shouting, and the sounds offighting and gunfire. It wasbright as day when I lookedaround in a panic. Then Irealizeditwasstillthemiddleof the night,my senseswerejust expanded. It soundedlike a war zone down thehall. I was starting tohyperventilate.

I jumpedwhenmydoor

burst open and Quinn wasthere with her gun in hand,still in her night clothes. Irelaxedalittleasherscenthitme. There was that smell Iassociatedwithsafetyagain.

She tilted her head atwhat was probably my lookofterrorandshegaveaquicksmile.“Comeon,weneedtogo, now!” I stood and shegrabbed my arm and pulledmebehindherandplacedmyhandfirmlyonhershoulder.

“Keep behind me and keepcontact so I know you arethere.”

Then we were on themove directly into the chaosof the fighting at the end ofthe hall. The sound of hergun firing startled me as aman thatwas charging downthehallwasblowntothesideby the impact of her rounds.We hit the living room andthere were three agentsfightingsixorsevenmenand

women. The front windowwas smashed in and thedrapestorndown.

Quinn fired twice andtookdownawomanwhowasabout to hit an agent frombehind as we got to thegaragedoor.Itwaskickedinbeforewecouldopenitandalarge man dove on Quinnyelling. “Wemust bring herto the meeting place!” Sherolledtothegroundwithhimand wound up on top,

straddling him and shedelivered a few startlinglypowerful blows to his facethenshegrabbedhisheadandtwisted violently. I couldhear the sickening crunch asshesnappedhisneck.

The room was lightingup with a flickering and Irealizedthatmostofmybodywasonfire.Iwilledittostopand Quinn was suddenlystanding between me and awomanthatwasdivingatme

in my distraction. Quinnleaptupintotheairandspunwithher leg strikingout in aroundhouse kick. It sent thewoman tumbling to theground. I noticed the runemark on the woman'sforehead and on the otherattackers.

Anagentwentdownandtwo attackers dove on him.Thereweretwogunshotsandtheagentwentstill.Theroarof rage that erupted from

Quinn snapped my attentionback to her. Her facewas amask of rage as she threwherselfontothetwomenwhohadjustkilledhercomrade.

In a fury of fists andpowerful kicks she knockedthem back, pressing herattack as the last of themenweretakendownbytheotheragents. She rolled onto theground,cominguptoherfeetwithapistolandsheemptiedthemagazineintothetwo.

That's when I saw it. Icouldactuallyseethepathofthelaserconnectedtothedotswinging toward Quinn. Iwas screamingQuinn's nameand I was moving before Irealized it as it swung uptoward her chest. I flungmyself into her just as thehigh powered round rippedacross my arm and her leftbicep. I couldn't believe therelief thatfloodedtroughme,knowing I had moved her

aside enough to prevent herdeath.

We rolled onto theground and I wound up ontop of her with our facesinchesapart. Iheardanothershot outside then an all clearcameovertheradiofromoneof the agents. I looked atQuinn in relief. We werebothpanting.Icouldfeelherhotbreathonmyface.Lordybe,shewasbeautiful.

Oureyeswerelockedon

eachother,Iglanceddownatherlips.Thensheclearedherthroatwithalittlesmile.Oh!“Oh! I'm sorry.” I quicklygot off of her, still staring ather lipsasotheragentscameswarmingin.

I was blushing harderthan I ever had. Then shewhispered, “Your eyes.”Oh.Iconcentratedanditwassuddenlyverydark.Shewastouchingherinjuredarmthenher eyes swung back to my

injury. She grabbedmy armwith her hand that was nowcovered in her own blood.“You're bleeding! You'rehurt!” I flinched at the painof her touching my arm butthen a huge warmth spreadtrough me, almost as ifsomething flowed outbetweenus.Hereyesdilatedinsurprise.

She shrugged off themen thatwere trying to lookatherarmandkeptherhand

over my wound. Shewhispered,“Ineedtogetyouintothebathroom,staybymyside!” I stood with Quinnstill covering my wound,leading me toward the hall.Shecalledtothemen,“Ineedto check her for injuries.” Ishot a questioning look ather.SheshookherheadonceinwarningandIjustfollowedherintothebathroom.

As soon as the doorclosed she uttered, “Shit!” I

somehow could feel herconcern in my head. Ifollowed her gaze as shereleasedmyarm. Therewasa large patch of gold tippedred scales around the impactsite. It looked like a singlescale had been torn off andthat is where my blood wascomingfrom.

She ran a finger lightlyalongthescales.Ohmylordthat was almost seductive.She looked at me and tilted

her head with an odd shysmile. “Were you just...never mind.” Then shelooked closer at the scales.“They'rebeautiful. And theysomehow deflected a highpoweredround.Thebleedinghas stopped. Can youmakethemgoaway?”

I tried but nothinghappened. “No. But if it isliketheothernight, theywillfadeontheirown.”

Thenshelookeddirectly

intomyeyes.“Thanks.Thatwasabravething,andaverystupid thing that you justdid.”

My temper flared.“There'll benoneof thatyouinfuriating woman! Youdon'tneedtobegettin'yerselfkilled to prove a point! I'vesort ofbeengrowing fondofyou. Twould be a shame tocut that short.” Now I wasblushing. And I could feelher amazement and

amusement. I squinted ather. “Hey, don't be gettingsmugnow.” I paused, Iwasimaginingit,right?

She looked at me likeshewanted to ask a questionabut just shook her head.“Comewithme.Youneedanewshirttocoverthese.”

I looked at her stillbleedingarm.Icouldfeelanache in my other arm,approximately where herinjurywas.“Thatcanwaitya

know. You'vebeenshotyoustubbornox.”

IhavenocluewhyIdidit, but I instinctively laid ahand over her wound andgasped inpainasamatchingwound opened on my leftarm. Blood was flowingfreely. I tookmyhandawayfrom her wound and therewas nothing but smooth skinand lots of surface blood. Iwas a little dizzy, but reliefflowed through me that she

was ok now. I laid a handtenderly on her cheek andleaned forward, touching myforeheadonhersandIsmiledas I looked into her eyes.“There.Goodasnew.”Thentheworldwent dark as I felther catching me as Icollapsed.

Chapter 7 –Caragh,QueenoftheDragonsI was drifting in a

comfortable sleep. I don'tknow how long I hadslumbered.Ifoundmyselfina pleasant dream of ameadow with towering treesringing it, a creek babbledalongbesideme.Isatupandlooked to the sky. I was

greeted by themost amazingsightIhaveeverlaidmyeyeson.

A beautiful dragon ofblue and yellow flamegracefully glided down onwings of fire tomy side andlanded gently. The flamesfaded, revealing possibly themost beautiful woman I hadever seen.Her eyeswere redwith long black slits and hersmile, framed by an unrulymaneof redhair,wasoneof

excitementandgreeting.Istood inshock in front

of this magnificent woman.She reached out a hand andlaiditonmycheek.Iwantedto lean into thecontact. Shesmiled sweetly as her redeyesbecamesparklinggreen.“Greetings child. It is timefor the awakening.” Shetilted her head as she lookedatme.Shelookedsurprised.“Hasittrulybeensolong?”

I looked at her in

confusion. “What do youmean?Whoareyou?”

Shesmiledagain.“IamCaragh, Queen of theDragons. We went intohiding as humans so verylong ago. But your beinghere means the awakeninghas begun. The Drakon cannowwalkamongmenagain.You are my child. And thenew queen. There can beonly one female per clan.”Then she looked sad. “The

Eire are the last clan of theDrakon. It is up to you toshepherd them in this newtime, and to protecthumankind.”

Istaredather inshock.“I'm...I'ma...dragon?”

She laughed in mirth.“Ofcourseyouare.Ourkindhas apparently slept for farlonger that I could haveimagined.”

It was then that Irealized we were both

speakingtheOldIrish.When I went to ask her

to explain more, she justsmiledandsaid, “Iwillvisitagain. Right now your soulbond is worried about you.Gotoher.”

I could hear Quinn'svoice calling my name fromfarawayasCaraghburstintoa majestic flaming dragonagain and took to the sky asthe dream faded. “Come onyou impulsive, hard headed,

Irishtemperedwoman!WakeupMyra.”

Iwoke up inmy bed inthesafehousewithabandageon my left arm and a newshirton. Mybrastrapswerecutting into my shoulders.My head was in Quinn's lapand Icould tasteherconcernin my mind. Dear lord inheaven she is beautiful. Ireachedahandupandcuppedhercheek. Sheleanedintoitand closed her eyes. Then

she suddenly shook her headand looked atme. “Are youprojecting your...” Shepaused. “Nevermind. Gladyoucouldjointheparty.Weneedtogetmoving.Thesafehouse has sort of beencompromisedyouknow.”

I grinned at her andlookedatmyarm.Sheshookher head and I knew heranswer before she said it. Isort of felt the relief in her.“It is already healing but I

bandaged it so the otheragentsdon't see. I told themit was a minor graze.” Shepaused and looked at mefondly. “You healed me...and took the injury uponyourself.”

I nodded and stood. Inoticed she was in her 'hotagent'garbalready. I lookedat myself and gave a shygrin. “Umm, who changedmyclothes?”

She blushed a little and

thenstraightenedup.“Idid.Don't worry, you don't haveanythingIdon't.”Shepausedthen added comically,“Except scales.” Oh mylord.Ibarelystoppedmyselffromsnortingatthat.

I scolded her with myeyes, though I was greatlyamused, and she hesitatedagain. “I'm probably losingit,butareyoulaughing?”

I tilted my head. “IguessIam.”Werewefeeling

each other? She was myprotector, I knew inmy soulnowmore than ever that sheequated to safety for me.Thenwebothchosetoignoreitandmadeourwayout intothemessofagentsandcrimescene investigators. Quinnbent down for a second andpocketed something then ledmeintothegarage.Themaindoor had been bent andforced open. That explainstheattackerfromthegarage.

We got into the SUVand proceeded to back outand travel in a randomizedroute to who knows where.We were flanked by othervehicles and I saw ahelicopter zig zagging overthe city. I looked back andsaw all my research and mybag of clothing were in thebackseat.

I looked at myprotector.“IsawherQuinn.In a dream. I saw Caragh.

She said... she said I was adragon.”

She tilted her head andlookedatmethenbackattheroad. She was digesting theinformation. We arrived atanother safe house, this timeontheoutskirtsofthecity.Itwas a small, charming littlehouse with an attachedgarage. We pulled into thegarage and the door closedthensheturnedtolookatmeapologetically. “Homesweet

home. I'm sorry, but wewon't be leaving here untilthis is all comes to aconclusion. We can't riskhaving you out in the openagain where they can trackourmovements.”

Iunderstood,butIdidn'tlikeit. WhywasIlockedupandthebadguywasouttheresomewhere, free. Thethought barely got out whenQuinn said, “We'll get him.You won't be penned up

long.” Then she paused.“You didn't actually say...”Thensheshookherheadandledthewayintothelittletwobedroom house. Curtainswere drawn over everywindowlikethelastplace.

I could feel her intensemood. She was laserfocused. It had to be myimagination. I chancedlooking stupid. “Since theattack tonight. Have youfelt... I don't know, it sounds

stupid. But have you feltmore... in tune with me? Iswear I can feel yourmoods.” I paused. “Nevermind,Isoundridiculous.”

She shook her head asshe swept the rooms with ahand on the weapon at herhip. “Actually I have. Andsome of your moods havebeen ummm... contradictoryto the situation at times. Isthis an elemental or dragonthing?”

I shrugged. “I don'tknow.” Then my minddrifted to what I had readearlier on the scrolls. Theblood tie? I rememberedQuinn'sbloodyhandcoveringmy bleeding arm. Is thiswhatitmeantby'thesame'or'as one', did we somehowcreatethisbloodtie?

She turned around andsaid by force of habit.“Clear.” Then she tilted herhead.“Bloodtie?Explain.”

Iblinkedather.“Ididn'tsay that out loud.” Then Iadded. “In the scrolls, itreferred to a special bondbetween a dragon and ahuman. But there wereportions of the writingsmissing. The gist of it wastheywouldbe'asone.'Shite,are we somehow bonded toeachothernow?Caraghsaidsomething about a soulbond.”

She rolled her eyes

humorously.“Justgreat,nowwillIexperienceyourtemperinthreedimensions?”

Why the cheeky...“There'll be none of thatnonsensenow.” The tasteofheramusementwasdivineasIchastisedher.

The sunwas coming upand none of us could sleep.We settled in at the diningroomtableandpulledoutourresearch and hunkered downto work when Quinn got a

call. Whenshehung,upsheinformed me that there havebeen three more reports ofshard shock incidents acrossthe globe in the past coupledays.OneinStockholm,oneinPrague,andoneinLondon.

TherewasalsoabizarrereportoftheRussianmilitaryaccidentally killing aprofessor at LomonosovUniversity in Moscow. Thesoldiers reported a largestone, winged lizard going

berserkinthelibraryandtheyopened fire on it and took itdown in a maelstrom ofautomatic weapons fire.When they checked on thebody, they only found thebullet riddled corpse of theprofessor they must have hitbymistake.Thecreaturehadseeminglyescaped.

I cringed. That's howhumans are, they seesomething they don'tunderstand so they kill it.

The poor professor wasprobably just freaking outwhen the dragon abilitiesmanifestedthemselves.

She informed me thatInterpolwas taking the otherthree into protective custodyuntil we could stop Blaineand they were currentlyraiding Blaine's house andbusinessesinLondon.

Iwas really getting intothe translation of the secondscroll by mid morning.

Quinn forced me to stop forbreakfast. I tried to protest,butsheassaultedmewithherconcern for me through ourstrange link. I squinted myeyes at her for cheating andusing our newly discoveredlink that way, and I couldtaste her delightfulamusementasweate.

I had to go to thebathroom to adjust the strapsofmy bra, itwas getting toouncomfortable. I looked in

the mirror and stopped for asecond. Were my breastsbigger? Probably justa littleextra fat from how badly Ihave been eating since IarrivedinDenver. ButIstillsmiledalittleatwhatIsaw.Iwasn'tquiteasflatasaboardright now. My A cupsseemed to be flirting at theedgeofaBcupnow.

Then we went back towork.Itseemsthescrollwasa first hand account of Saint

George'speacemissiontothedragons of the Eire. Duringthe talks. Marauderscontinually attacked thedragons. Killing them one ata time. Georgehadcomeupwithaplantokeepthepeacewiththeleaderoftheoriginalelementals,Caragh,QueenoftheDragons.

They seemed to havebeen developing a romanticrelationshipduring this time.That solidified for me my

supposition that the Drakonwerehumaninform,

Itwas thedragonmagicthat the humans feared. Ifthat were gone, then theywould have no reason toattack. Some sort ofenchantment was formed byan oath of the blood. Somehuman blood and dragonblood were needed. Theessence of dragon magicwould be locked away in astone... the Fire Stone.

Leaving the dragons ashuman and no longer aperceivedthreattohumanity.ThenSaintGeorgecouldtakeCaragh's hand in marriagewhenshebecamehuman.

Once humanity hadgrown, to be able to acceptthe dragons and the magicthey wield to protect theland... there would be anawakening. That resonatedwiththedreamIhad,Caraghspoke of the awakening. I

was starting to think mydreamwasactuallyreal. ButI also wondered if this wasreallysupposedtobethetimeof the awakening. Mankindwould be evenmore adverseto dragons and actual magicthaninthepast.Idoubtmancould ever co-exist withanother race that theyperceivedasdangerous.

I wonder if it was theaccidental breaking of theFire Stone that has brought

forth the prematureawakening.

Around lunch, Quinnguilted me into taking abreak. I was about tocomplain, but she waslooking too damn cute withthat little smirk on her face.Whoa, did she just blush?Mmmm that tastesgood. Shepushedmetowardthecouch.“Hey, enoughof that kindofthinking. Lunch is on theway.”

Aswewaited,shepulledup a news station on thetelevision. Finally, the nightcaught up with me and Inodded off while we waitedforthefood.

Iwasonamountaintop,looking down over a cliff tothevalleybelow.“Jaysus!”Ibackpedaled and fellunceremoniouslyonmyarse.My lord. I'm terrified ofheights,thiswasanightmare.

A chuckling beside me

made me snap my headtoward its source. Throughmy panic I was shocked toseeCaraghsittingbesideme,pickingsomewildflowersoutof the grass covering theground. “Why are you soafraid?” She stood andoffered her hand to me andhelped me stand. She justsmiled as she was weavingthe flowers together in aband.

Ilookedather.Making

surenottolookdownintothevalley.Ipushedherquestionaside. “Do you know whatBlaine is after? What is abloodtie?Isitthissoulbondyouwerespeakingof.?”

She chuckled again, herred dragon eyes changed togreenhumaneyes.“Somanyquestions. I do not know ofthisBlaine.Butthebloodtie,surely you know of it if youpledgedyourself toyoursoulbond.”

I squinted at her. “Ididn't pledge myself toanyone.”

She looked confused.“Butthebloodtieonlyworksifthefeelingsalreadyexistonboth ends. You are nowone.”

I had no clue what shewas talking about and Iclenched my fists with myarms firmly at my side tocontrol my temper. I felt acrinkle in the dress I was

apparently wearing now. Igrabbedapieceofpaperfromthe sash that was tied at mywaist. It was a picture ofReginald Blaine, but he wasdressed in some sort ofarmor.

I held it out to her tosee. “This is ReginaldBlaine, he is killing peoplewho have started anawakening. We don't knowwhat he is after, but it hassomethingtodowiththeFire

Stone.”Her eyes went wide in

alarm and recognition as sheblurtedout. “Getaway fromhim! You are in danger!”She placed the crown offlowers that she had justwoven, on my head. “Youare now the Queen of theDragons!Fly!Commandtheskies!” Then shepushedmeoffthecliff.

I woke with a start andQuinn was standing in front

of me with her weapondrawn, her eyes darting allaround the room. I smiledand reached up and placed ahand on her arm. “It's okQuinn it was just a baddream.”

She hesitated and thenrelaxed. I smiled at herprotectivenessovermeassheholsteredherweaponandsatback down beside me. Shewhispered hoarsely, “Youwereterrified.”

Iloweredmyhead.“I'msorry.”ThenIbrightened.“Isaw Caragh again. Sherecognized Blaine and said Iwas in great danger. That'sone for me 'duh' pile. Butthen she threwmeoff a cliffand told me to fly. I'mterrified of heights, I don'tknowwhyshewouldbedoin'thattame.”

Quinn was comfortingme in my mind and sheplaced a hand lightly on my

arm.Webothjumpedalittleattheknockatthedoor.Shegrinned, I got the impressionshe was telling me “Youreyes.” I realized thateverything was enhancedsince I had woke up. “Oh.Sorry.” I grinned and myworld became smaller. Shesqueezed my armreassuringly thenwent to thedoor.

She checked thepeephole, and as always her

hand was on her weaponwhen she did so then sheopenedthedoorandacceptedthebagof food fromanotheragent.Sheclosedandlockedthe door and grinned at me.“Burgers.”

I snorted. After all ofthisisoverI'mgoingtohaveto start eating better. Iglanced apologetically downtomynewgirls,Iwouldmissthem when I lost this extraweightIwasgaining.

I looked up and Quinnwas looking at me with acrooked smile and a playfulglow in her mind. “They doseemalittlebiggerthanwhenIfirstmetyou.”

Icouldfeeltheburnofablush making its way downmy neck. “There'll be noneofthatnowyousurlywench.And keep out of me head.There's food to be eaten.”Sheopenedthebagandthrewa french fry atme. Which I

deftly caught without eventhinking about it. I grinnedandpoppeditintomymouth.Thenwesatdowntoeat.

Our conversationsduring lunch were extremelyodd, tasting each othersfeelings and moods as thetopicsprogressed.Shefinallystoppedandasked.“Isthis...permanent?”

I chuckled. “Like I'd beknowing any more than youonthesubject?”Shegrinned

and I got the distinctimpressionshewasblowingaraspberry at me. “Oh, nowthat's real mature AgentTrask.”

She acted innocent asshewent to take anotherbiteofburger.“Surely,Ihavenoclue what you are talkingabout Doctor O'Connell.” Igrinned and ate, feeling awarmglowaroundher Iwasgetting quite comfortablewith.

Wesatbackdowntodoour respective work back atthe table. Quinn wascoordinating with theBureau. They were nothaving any luck finding howBlaine was getting around.They suspected privatelychartered planes. The manwas using all cash since hewasn't leaving an electronicfootprinttotrack.

The surviving attackersfrom last night claimed to

have no memory of whathappenedorvaguedreamlikerecollections.Theywerejustaverage people with no linkto each other. They hadstrengthandfightingskilllastnightthatwerebeyondanyoftheir backgrounds. Neitherdidanyoftheotherdeadmenandwomenfromtheattack.

I had finished with thesecond scroll. Apparently ittook the blood of a dragonand the blood of a human to

seal the dragon spirits awayintheFireStone. SoCaraghand Saint George performedthespell.Bindingthemtothestone.

But then somethinghorrendous happened. Thedruidsfoundthebodiesofallof the newly human dragonsinthecavesoftheDrakonthenext morning, includingCaragh's, and the Fire Stonehad vanished. Saint Georgewasheartbrokenandreturned

to England to inform peopleofthedeathofthelastofthedragons.

I was reflecting uponhow sad it was that loversweretornapartlikethatwhenmy iPad started chirping avideo call. It was Mei, Ismiled and I looked at thetimeasIacceptedthecall.Itwas after hours at themuseum.

I opened my mouth togreetMeiwhenmybloodran

cold.Meiwasstandingtherewithathrallrunemarkonherforehead, holding a knife toher own throat. She wassmiling though like nothingwas going on. “Hi Myra,Reggie says he wants topropose a trade to you.”Quinn was suddenly besideme, making a call on herphone.

I was freaking out buttrying to be calm. “Mei.Please,puttheknifedown.”

In her normal cheerfulvoiceshesaid,“OhIcan'tdothat.HesaidIwassupposedtokillmyself in frontofyouif you didn't agree to meethimforthetrade.”

She seemedoblivious towhat shewasactually sayingand doing, acting like thiswas just a normalconversation. She slowlystartedmovingtheknifeandIcould see blood starting tocoattheblade.

I shouted, “No! Stop!Ok! What does he want?Whatisthistrade?”

She stopped and said,“He'll trade me for you andthe new shard from the FireStone that showedup today.He needs your heart.” Sheheld up a little box in herotherhandwithalittlesmile.“Hehashalfofitalready.”

I could hear Quinnquietlytellingherteamtogetto themuseum and to detain

Meiandtobegentle.Shite, shite, shite!

“Fine! I'll do it... just putdowntheknife.”

She shook her head.“Not until he has you. Justget to Steamboat Springsbeforemidnightforyournextset of instructions. ComealoneorIhavetokillmyself,he'llknowifyoudon't”Thenshecuttheconnection.Iwasbarelyawareoftheflickeringof flames aroundmeandmy

heightenedsenses.I whispered, “Oh me

lord.”Istartedcrying.Quinnwas instantly there huggingme and soothing my mind.HerscenttoldmeIwassafe,butIwassoterrifiedforMei.

Then I realized I wasafire and touching Quinn. Iyanked back so I didn't burnher,butsheheldon,soothingme.“Shhhh...it'sok.Idon'tfeel them.” I looked at herthrough my tears. She was

right. The flames weren'taffectingherthoughthefloorwas smoldering where Istood.

I concentrated and theflames died out. Then Iwhimpered, “Quinn, he hasMei.”

She nodded. “Iunderstand. Wecan't letyoumeet with Blaine. It is toodangerous.”

What!? They weregoingtoletMeidie?Iyelled

“NO!”Myfistcamedownonthe table, splintering its topand snapping a leg. Ouritems tumbled to the groundinaclatter. Almost instantlytwo agents were inside withweaponsdrawn.Icaughttheimpression of her saying“Your eyes.” and I willedaway my senses before themen could see. Quinn juststood between me and themwithahand ina fistpointingback at them, an apparent

'hold' signal. They holsteredtheir weapons and retreatedbackoutthedoor.

She was soothing mymind with hers, and shespoke,“Ican't letyouMyra.He'll kill you.” I nodded.ButIcouldn'tletMeidie.

Itriedtoshieldmymindfrommyprotector. I angrilysaid, “Fine. I'm going tobed. I don'twant to seeyouright now.” I pushed awayfrom her and stomped into

myroomandlockedthedoor.I pulled out my phone

andthecardBlainehadgivenme the first time we met. Ilooked at the door, trying toshieldmythoughtsandmadethecall.

Chapter 8 –ElementalFuryI was able to bend the

securitybarson thebedroomwindow just enough tosqueeze out. My strengthseemed to be getting greateras time progressed. I couldsee like it was daylightoutsideand Icould smell thethe FBI agents patrolling theperimeter. That made itchild's play to slip out

between them. Ihad leftmycellphone in the room so Icouldn'tbetracked.

I felt guilty for runningout on Quinn, but I couldn'tlet Mei die. I left the cardwith Reginald's cell numberon the bed beside my phonefor Quinn. I wish I hadremembered I had thatyesterday, maybe they couldhave tracked Blaine andstopped him before he couldgettoMei.

Hehadexpectedmycalland as I thought, SteamboatSpringswasjustarusefortheFBI. Hewanted tomeetmeat a pumping station at theChatfield Reservoir. It wasthewatersupplyforthecity.The closer I got to mydestination,theangrierIgot.How dare him use aninnocentwomantogettome?

Iwaswithinsightofthereservoirwhen theportionofmymind that was connected

toQuinnwentfromaconcernfor me and for Mei to analmost panic and anger atme.Ismiledfondly.Shejustfound out I ditched her. Aquestionwaspoundinginmyhead. Like she was askingmewhere Iwas. I just triedprojecting serenity andreassurance to her that I didnotfeel.

Then I saw her. Meiwasjustcalmlystandingonaplatform overlooking the

water of the reservoir, withthatdamnknife toherneck.She smiled andwaved tomewhen I stepped out of theshadows. About twentythralls stepped out frombehind some structuresbetweenus.

IcalledoutasImarchedtoward themwith confidenceI didn't feel. I was on thevergeofhyperventilatingandit was all I could do to stopmyself from shaking.

“Blaine!Showyourself!”He seemingly stepped

out of nowhere and stoodbeside Mei. He looked tohave more grey in his hairand little crows feet at thecorners of his eyes. Hewasholding a gnarled woodenstaff that even from here Icould see was covered inrunes similar to those fromtheMorganlaFaywritings.

From what I rememberaboutthemythofherpowers

were that they were theopposite of druids, whosemagics were those of natureand life. Hers weresomething darker, theyoriginatedindeath.

His thralls startedmoving toward me. In aninstant, my entire body wascovered in orange, blue, andyellowflame.Icouldfeelmyclaws extend. “You saidmeforher!Lethergo!”

He put his hand out to

her and she handed him theknife but stayed by his side.The thralls charged at me.On instinct, I growled andflame erupted from me.Before it struck the men,Blaine slammed the base ofthestaffon thegroundandahuge wave grew instantlybehind him in the reservoirand the water streakedforward to intercept myflame.Inahissingsteam,myflamesdiedasIwasdrenched

in theonslaughtofwaterandit knocked me tumblingacross the ground. I wasinstantlyonmyfeetagain. Ifelt Quinn's urgency double.She knew the battle hadbegun.

The thralls were soakedand I saw the runes onmostof them had washed off.They looked confused andstartedrunningaway.Onlyacouple remained with themark.So, themarkgiveshim

the control, and it can beremoved.

Blaine laughed as hetorehisshirtopen,showingaclawshapedburnscaronhischest. “You've alreadyshown me you were a fireelemental.” He tapped hisstaff. “Making it easy tocounter with a waterelemental staff.” He was sosmug and sure of himself.Thenhisfaceturneddark.“Ihave the shard, now I need

yourheart.”Hislipwentintoa snarl as he startedwalkingtowardmewithaknife.

Iwatchedasthedistancebetween him and Meiincreased while I formulateda plan. He needed to becloser.Ichidedhim.“You'relookin' a wee bit worse forwear since our last meeting.Why are ye needin' the FireStone and the hearts ofdragons.”

He smirked. “So you

realize what you are now?Youhavewhatbelongstomeand I intend on taking itback.” That was cryptic, Ihadnothingofhis.

Hewasfarenoughnow.I curled my lip back in asnarl. “You're making amistake, forgetting what Iam.”

Hesmirked.“Adragon?I've killedmore that you canimagine.”

Iburst intoflamesagain

and hissed, “No! A Queendragon!”

He instantly struck thestaff on the ground andanother huge wave cametoward me. I raised a handand it stopped in mid air. Icould feel it, I could feel thenaturepowerinthewater,theenergyflowingthroughitlikeit was an extension of me.Just as I could feel the fire,and something else.Something huge, what was

it? The very ground aroundme?Iwasanearthelementalaswell?

Igrinnedattheshockonhis face as the wave split, asmallpartofitdrenchingMeiand the remaining thralls,removingthebloodyrunesontheir foreheads. The restformed into a fanged waterserpent that slammed intoBlaine, sending him crashingthrough a wall of a storagebuilding.

I grabbed the staff hehad dropped and I burned itintoashinmyflaminghand.I was now charging full tiltwith my enhanced speedtoward a confused andterrifiedlookingMei.Iheardan explosion behind me andturnedmyheadtoseetherestofthethewallofthebuildingI threw Reginald into hadbeen disintegrated. He stoodthere, bloodied and enraged,raising some sort of gnarled

twigtowardmeashechantedsomething.

Iputoutmyflamesas Ireached Mei and slammedinto her, knocking us bothinto the reservoir as a sicklyenergy went blasting pastwhere Mei once stood. Icould feel the fetid rot andperversion of the mysticalenergyasitpassed.

As we hit the water, Igrabbedherandpulledhertome and willed the water to

help. A swirling vortex ofwaterformedintoawhipthatencircled our waists anddraggedusacrossthesurfaceatincrediblespeeds.

Afterwehadcrossedthereservoir, I had the waterdeposit us on the shore. Agasping,pantingand terrifiedlooking Mei looked at me.“What'shappeningMyra?”

Iwas so tired and I justgasped out. “It's ok nowMei... you're ok now...” I

looked around. My eyesightsharpened to see Blainewatching us from far acrossthewater.Hestartedrunningfor a vehicle. “We need toget out of here.” I was soexhausted, but I was willingmyselftomove.Evenso,shewas slower thanme andwasslowingusdown.

I gave her a crookedsmile.“I'llbeapologizingforthisupfrontnow.”Igrabbedher and threw her over my

shoulder like a sack ofpotatoesandranasfastasmyaugmentedspeedandstrengthcouldprovide.

She was trying to talkover the jarring of myrunning. “What... is...going... on... Myra? I had...theworst...nightmare.”

Ishookmyhead.“Twasno nightmare. Blaine got toyou and he made you athrall.” I heard her gasp atthatandcouldfeelhercrying

now. Shite. I'm a feckininsensitiveeejit.

I got us to somebuildings and had to set herdown.Icollapsedbesideherpanting and gasping for air.Then she swung her head atme. “You're... you're adragon?”

I shrugged. “It appearsso. Through no fault of meown,mindyou.”

Mybodywasscreamingat me to sleep. I couldn't

believehowexhaustedIfelt.All of that elemental magichad drained me. Yes, I hadresigned myself to admittingthat it was magic. But wecouldn't afford to rest. Hewas on hisway. I looked atthe building. I'm a fool! Ipunched the window and itshattered, scales appearedacross my hand where Ishould have been cut by theglass.

IhelpedMeiinsideandI

followed and grabbed thephoneon thedesk. IneededQuinn,Ineededhersafety.Iwasabouttodial911whenacouple black SUVs camescreeching up to thebuilding.IcouldfeelQuinn'spanic and anger and concernasshealmostdoveoutofthelead vehicle. Agents flowedout of the vehicles withweaponsdrawn.

Ipokedmyheadoutthebrokenwindowandtheflood

of relief from Quinn flowedthrough me as she camerunning up to the building.Shekickedthedooropenandran inside. Before Iknew it,she had yanked me into ahug. “Don't ever do that tome ever again you stupidwoman!”

I smiled at her throughmy fatigue. “But ye foundme somehow.” I glancedback.“IgotMei,yaknow.”

Quinn put her forehead

against mine. “Yes, youdid.” I could feel her hotbreath onmy face, smell herscentofsafety.IstaredatherlipsasIbaskedintheconcernand compassion she wasfeedingmeoverourlink.Mylast thought was that I justwanted to kiss her, then Icollapsed as the world wentblack.

----I was walking down a

cobblestone path toward a

great cavern in amountainside.Iglancedoverand Caragh was walkingbeside me with her handsclaspedbehindherback.Shelooked smug. “What?” Iaskedplayfully.

She grinned. “I knewyour soul tasted familiar.You trulyaremychild. It ismy spirit inside you.When Isaw you take on Georgios,wieldingmultiple elements, Iknew. But you still hold

back, you must embraceyourself. Let the dragon outorhewillwin.”

I looked at her. “YousawmefightingBlaine?”

She nodded and tappedmychest.“Fromwithin.Hisname is not Blaine it isGeorgios of Lydda. Theymade him a saint for histreachery?”

I was getting moreconfused by the second.“Reginald Blaine is Saint

George? How is thatpossible? Whatdidhedo tothe dragons? I thought youandhewereinlove.”

Her face got dark. “Iwas in love. Let's talk nomore of that vileman.” Weentered the cavern and therewere hundreds of people anda small medieval lookingvillageinside.

She smiled at me.“Welcome home QueenMyra.Yourchildrenwaitfor

you.” There was a warmfeeling of love radiatingthroughout the cavern. Ismiled.

My eyes fluttered openasIawoke.Quinnwassittingabovemewithherfaceclosetomine.Iwasonthebed.Icould feel her reprimandbuilding inmyheadasmuchas her relief. I squinted aneye.“Hi?”

She squinted back.“Don't you hi me! Do you

have any idea how recklessand foolhardy that was! Youhadmeworried todeathyoubullheadedwoman!Thatwasastupidthingyoudid.”

Inodded,lookingdown.Then she continued, whileraisingmy eyes tomeet herswith a finger on my chin.“Andbraveandselfless.Maifilledmein.Butthatdoesn’tmake you any lessinfuriating!”

Inoddedlikeaweegirl,

staring at her lips as shereprimandedme. Theywerejust soooo.... She paused.“Noneofthatnow.I'mtryingto staymad at you. And becareful, one of these times Imayjusttakeyouuponit.”

Ohmylord!Iwasreallyblushinghardnow. I lookedatmyhand,itwaswrappedingauze.Isquintedmyeyeatitin confusion. She chuckled.“Someof the sexiest scales Iever did see are living under

there. Don't let the otheragents see.” She shot aplayful wink at me and theheatfrommyblushdoubled.Thetrollop!

Iwas so uncomfortable,mybrawasalmostcuttingthecirculationinmyshoulders.Iblushed again and reachedunder my shirt and took mybraoff.Quinngrinnedabit.I'm glad this is feckinamusingtoher.

She tilted her head.

“You ready to go out to seetheothers?”

I crinkled my nose.“Others?”

She grabbed my handthenpaused. I lovedthefeelof it inmine. Sheseemedtochange her mind and movedher hand to my elbowinstead. I could feel herreluctance to release myhand,thatmademeinternallysmilefondlyather.

She led me to the door

saying. “Thank you forleavingthecardwithBlaine'snumber. We were able totrackyou to theReservoir. Icould... feelyou, fromthere.He's discarded the phonenow.” Then she opened thedoor and led me into theliving room of yet anothersafehouse. It lookedtobeahigh end hotel suite. Therewerethreeotheragentsintheroom aswell asHenry,Mei,andJames.

I smiled as I looked atJames. The dense blokefinallywentandgothimselfaclue. His arm wasprotectivelyaroundMei,whohadabandageoverthecutonher neck. Mei shot me aknowing and happy smile asshe squeezed in closer toJames.

IglancedatQuinn,whoonly said, “Can't have thebastard using anyone elsefromyour team against you.

Your parents have agentsassigned to theminSeattle.”IrelaxedalittleknowingshewaslookingoutforeveryoneIcaredabout.

Henry spoke up,“Please,cansomeoneexplaintomewhat we are all doinghere?”

Oneoftheagentslookedat Quinn and she turned toHenry. “A man, ReginaldBlaine has made an attempton Doctor O'Connell's life

and drugged and kidnappedDoctor Kamia in an attemptto get to Doctor O'Connell.So until we capture him, weneed to keep her team inprotective custody so thatBlaine doesn't try somethingsimilar.” Henry was almostinshockovertherevelation.

I nodded, it was allbasically the truth. All sheleft out were the little factsabout magic and dragonsreallyexisting.Sheshotmea

reproving glance formy lineofthinking. Igrinnedalittlein response. Her speech wasfor Henry and the otheragents since James and Meiknowaboutme.

Then Quinn addressedtheotheragents.“Whydon'tyou guys secure the corridorandgetHenry situated inhisroom. I need to debrief theothersbefore theygo to theirrooms.” I grinned again.VerysmoothQuinn.

Chapter 9 –BloodTieAfter Henry left we all

satdowninthecouchesintheseating area. Mei cuddledinto James in one as Quinnsatbesidemeintheother.Itdidn'tescapemyattentiontheway she sat. Subtly andslightlyforwardonthecouch,positioning her body ever soslightly between me and theothers. Even now she was

protecting me whether sheknewitornot.

Before Quinn couldspeak, Mei spoke meekly,“Thank you Myra. I wasstuck in that nightmare andcouldn'tdoanythingaboutit.It was terrifying because Icouldn't tell if itwere realornot. You really kickedBlaine's ass though. I didn'tknow you could do all ofthat!”

I blushed. “I didn't

knowme-self. And don't beblowin' it all out ofproportion. I didn't kick hisarse, Iwas just runnin' awayinstyle.”

She snorted. “Yeah,becauseofme.”

Quinn was on hercellphone as we spoke andher facewentwhite. I couldfeel the suddenapprehension. I looked atQuinn as James asked,“Would someone explain to

me what happened, I'm onlygettingbitsandpieceshere.”

Quinn replied, “I don'tthink we can keep thingsquiet much longer.” Shegrabbedthetelevisionremoteand changed to a local newsstationthatwasinthemiddleofareport.

The anchorman wassaying,“Theexplosionslitupthe night sky. We got somegrainyfootagefromthepumphouse security cameras. We

don't know if this is a hoaxbut the footage isunbelievable.”

The black and whitesecurity footage startedplaying. You could seeMeistandingontheplatformwiththe knife to her own throat.You couldn't quite make outher face but of course weknew it was her. Then shewaved at someone offcamera. A moment later Istepped into the field of

view. Again, it was toograinytoseeitwasme.

There was no sound. Iwatchedsilentlyasthethrallspouredoutofhidingbetweenme and Mei then I wasyelling somethingandBlaineseemed to fold out of spacebesideMei.Iwatchedasthethralls charged and I burstinto flames. Thevisageof awingless dragon of flameenvelopedmybodyinstantly.Theforceofitsmanifestation

knockedoversteeldrumsandcratesnearby.

I seemed to spew flamefrommy fire serpent'smouthtoward my attackers. Icouldn't pull my eyes fromthe screen as Blaine's waterattack killed my flamingapparitionandknockedmetotheground.ButIrolledtomyfeetgracefully.

Iappearedtobetauntinghimasheapproachedme,thecameragotagoodshotathis

face, and even though itwasgrainy,itwasrecognizableashim.

Again Iburst into flamebut more violently this timeas some of the nearby cratesexploded. Blaine's secondwater attack stopped as Iraised my flaming claw.Then I made a splittingmotionwithmyarmsandpartof the wave hit Mei and thelast two thralls. The waterserpentIformedwasmajestic

on the video as it slammedinto Reginald and drove himthroughthewall.

Iwas almost a blur as Ihurled myself toward Mei,extinguishing my flames asenergy lanced out from thetwig a battered Blaine washolding.Itmissedusbymeremilliseconds as I knockedMeiandmyselfintothewaterbelow.

They played the videofor a few seconds longer as

Blaineranup to theplatformandlookedtobescreaminginfrustration. Then the anchorwas back, prattling on aboutthe local police beinghinderedintheirinvestigationbyfederalinvestigators.Andhow this may be a militaryexperimentgonewrong.

Quinnshotthetelevisionoffandwewereallsilentforaminute.Iwasanxiousafterwatching that. What thehellwas I thinking? I finally

uttered,“Feck.”James was shaking his

headwithanamazedsmileashe looked between the blankTV screen and me. Quinnstarted nodding and said,“Holy shit Myra. That wassort of amazing. How didyou know you could do allthat?”

I shrugged as I blushedprofusely. “Idi'n't, itwasallinstinct.”

She smiled at me and I

could sense her warmfeelings.Shepowereduphercomputeronthecoffeetable.“Well,Iwastryingtokeepallof this fromthebureaubut itispointlessnow.”

I was frightened. “Idon't want to become agovernmentlabrat!”

She was nodding. “Iknow,andI'lldoeverythingIcan tomakesure thatdoesn'thappen.”

Shepulledupafewfiles

on me including securityvideo of my first encounterwith the shard and sheforwarded them to thebureau. She looked at meapologetically. “I'll professthattherewassomuchgoingon that I didn't have time tofile the reports. Maybe thisway I can keep myassignment and protect youthroughwhatever is about tocome.

Mei was looking at

Quinn in an accusatorymanner. “They wouldn'twouldthey?”

My protector justshrugged as she pulled up acouple new case files fromInterpol and skimmed them.“Ireallyhavenoclue.Butitseems the others aremanifesting too and Interpolcan't keep a lid on it. Thewhole world is about toknow.Anditlooksliketherehave been seven more shard

incidents in the past twodays.InterpolisconfiscatingtheFireStonefromDublinaswe speak to contain the'outbreak'.”

She squinted at thereports. “It seems that thereare only two types ofmanifestation.Waterorrock,nofire.”

I nodded. “Caraghimplied in a dream, and thescrolls also implied that anelemental can only control

one element and that only aQueen dragon could wieldmorethanone.”

Meiwasexcitedatthat.“You're a Queen dragonMyra?”

I caught her excitement,forgetting my fear overdiscovery.“IguessIam.”

I took the gauze offmyhand and absently scratchedat the few remaining scales.James was instantly by myside. “They look just like

scales.”I nodded. “They are

toughassteeltoo.Theyseemto protect my skin fromharm.”

Heasked,“Whatistheircomposition?” I grinned, hewasinresearchermode.

I sighed because I wascurious too. “I do na know.Theyfadeafteratimebacktoskinsowemayneverbeabletostudythem.”

Quinn cleared her

throat. “Thatmay not be ashard as you think.” Shereached into her pocket andpulled out a glistening, goldtipped red scale that wasaboutthesizeofafingernail.“Whenyoulostascaletothathigh power sniper round Igathered it from the safehousebefore thecrimesceneteamarrived.”

Shehandedit tomeandI looked at it. It felt soft asthe petal of a flower, but it

didn't bend when I tried toflex it. James tiltedhisheadto me in permission and Ihandedittohimandhesaid,“It's soft.” Then he went toflex it as I tried and hedroppeditquickly. “Ouch!”Bloodwas dripping from hisfingers. “And apparently assharpasarazorblade.Therewas no give in it. It feelsorganic though, or maybepurecarbon?”

I looked at his hand.

“LemmeseeifIcan'tbedoin'something for that.” I tookhis hand and covered hiswound like I did for Quinnandconcentrated,butnothinghappened. I looked to myprotector.“Itisn'tworking.”

She looked at me andJames,thenshepickedupthescale and poked her fingerwith it. She grinned like anidiotandofferedherfingertome.Itookitinmyhandandmy finger started bleeding.

She wiped the blood off ofhers to display her healedfinger.

I sucked on my bloodyfinger to stop the bleeding.“Don't be expectin'me to behealingallyerlittlebooboosnow Quinn.” Mei's chucklewasalmostagiggleatthat.

Quinn tilted her head.“Thebloodtie?”

I shrugged and said,“Now how would I beknowin' that? It sounds as

goodananswerasany.”Her suddenly playful

mood was assaulting mymind. I couldn't stop mysmile as I tried to reprimandher. “We're facing someseriousshiteandyerallaboutthe nonsense.” She gavemeamentalraspberry.

James was still in hisresearcher mode as Mei wasputting a bandage on hisfinger from the first aid kitshe had retrieved from the

kitchen. “Wasn't there somementionofaBloodTieintheDragonScroll?”

I nodded. “Yes it wassome sort ofbondbetweenadragon and a human. Thatmadethemeitherthesameoras one. Caragh called it asoulbondinmydreams.”

Hewaspullingupsomeof my notes and went overthem. “You missed thepossessivehere.”Hepointedat the translation. “It is

alluding to something aboutthat only if the blood andheart are true, the dragon ispledged to the human forlife. Sharing power andsomethingthatiscutoff.Theorphanedpassageendsin'theheart'.”

He tilted his head, Iknew he was theorizingsomethingmorethathedidn'tfeel comfortable withsharing. Instead, he asked,“Youtwosharedblood?”We

nodded.Hesaid,“Wellthen,itappearsthebloodandheartwere 'true' since itapparentlyworkedbetweenyoutwo.”

Mei asked, “Is it justhealing? It said somethingaboutpowers.”

Quinn and I looked ateach other, reluctant to sayanythingyetaboutourabilityto sense and share ourfeelings and rudimentaryword impressions. Weinternally agreed, and shared

awarmthbetweenusthenshesaid,“Justthehealing.”

After the warmth shehad just projected, it took allmywillpower not to snuggleinwithheronthecouch.Wealldiscussedtheeventsofthenightandhowtohandlethemonce the FBI got all theinformation.

We all agreed that wewouldonlyadmittowhatwasvisibleinthesecurityfootagefromthecleanroomandfrom

the pumping station andnothing more. Quinnprompted, “Myra will be ablack hole to themotherwise.”Weallrespondedintheaffirmative.

I pulled her aside.“Withholding informationcouldcostyouyourjob.”

She shrugged andradiated safety to me. “Iswore I would protect you.I've sort of become fond ofyour irrational

hardheadedness.”Shewas really trying to

getmyireup!We bid the others

goodnight and their agentscollected them to bring themto their own rooms.Apparently the FBI used thisentire floor as one of theirsafehavens.

ThenQuinn'sfaceturnedserious. “Ok, what weren'tyoutellingeveryone.”Damnthislink.

I shrugged. “Well, Idon't know fer sure yet.Caragh is convinced thatBlaine and Saint George areoneandthesame.”

She squinted at me.“Impossible, he'd have to bealmost two thousand yearsoldthen.”

I widened my eyes andtilted my head. “But just afew weeks ago we all knewas a certainty thatmagic anddragons weren't real, now

didn't we? They are justfolkloreandlegend,nowhereI am, how ironic, I'm one ofthe very legends I amresearching.”

Shechuckledandshotacrooked smile that had meneedingtofanmyface.“Fairpoint.Butifitishim,whatisheafter?”

I shrugged again, myshouldershavebeengettingaworkout lately witheverythingIdon'tknowbeing

asked. “I haven't a clue.SomethingIhave,hetoldme,belongs to him. What is it?He took the shard and couldhave justaseasilycompelledMeitobringhimthescrollsifthatiswhatheisafter.”

Shenodded. “Well let'sget some sleep. Maybe wecan look at this with fresheyesinthemorning.”

I agreed and she wentand tappedat thedoorof thesuiteandafemaleagentcame

in and tookapostbeside thedoor as we went to ourrooms. I was too beat toclean up. But I hovered atQuinn's door for a fewmoments.Ijustwantedtobein there with her, it wasalmost overwhelming. Shesaid through thedoor,“Stoptempting me.” I giggled andmovedontomyroom.

IwenttosleepwithbothQuinn and dragons on mymind.

Chapter10–TheThirdScrollIn the morning, I

smelled terrible! I needed ashower. The room stank tohigh heaven, almost like alocker room with the scentsof so many people, but Icould also smell Quinn'sscent, it made me feel safeand almost aroused. Ishuffled into the privatebathroom in my room and

lookedintothemirror.I almost giggled at my

reflection.Thosered,dragoneyes looked almost seductiveon me with my face framedby my unruly red locks. IconcentratedandinaninstantI was standing in the dark.Oh.Iturnedonthebathroomlight.Ah,there'smyfamiliargreen eyes! The changesweregettingeasierandeasier,almost like second naturenow.

I showered and thenfoughtwithmyhair.WhenI'tried'toputmybraon...Oh,me lord! I had real breastsnow! Not my 'almost'breasts, and not just from alittle weight gain. I had arack! They must bebordering on C cup now. Iknow that's not too large buton my small frame theylookedthatway.

This is the first sideeffect of this whole dragon

shite that I approve of, wellthetwins,andmyeyesight.Ichuckled, I'm going to haveto get new bras. I admiredmynewlookinthemirror.Inoticedmyabswereshowingthroughmynormalsoft layerof baby fat, I looked tonedand feminine. I smiledknowing I'd have to gowithoutabrauntilIcouldgetsomethatfit.

I got dressed andwandered out to the living

room area of the suite. IknewQuinnwas already outthere, I could feel herpresence. She turned as Iwalked in. Ohmy... I couldfeelsomethingnewfromher.Well,notreallynewbutmorepronounced now. It wasdoing interesting things tome.

Sheblushedslightlyandchuckled then said, “WellhellothereChestyO'Shay.”

I waved her comment

off as I sat at the table withourresearchlaidout.“I'llbehavin'noneofthatnowAgentTrask.”ThoughIdidsitupalittle straighter to show offmynewassetsabit.

She closed her eyes andshook her head. “Oh, thethings you do to me DoctorO'Connell.”

I smiled inwardly tomyselfandgrabbedaprintoutof the third scroll. I glancedather, shewas stillwatching

me. “Let's see if we can'tfigure out what Blaine istalkin' about. See what Isupposedlytookfromhim.”

Sheshookherheadwitha grin. “Breakfast first lady,you need to keep yourstrength up, especially afteryour stunt last night.” Shestillwasn't overme sneakingoffonher.

I looked downsheepishlyinembarrassment.“I'msorryQuinn.”

She grinned back.“That's theworst part of it, I'know'youreallyare.”

I threw a pen at her,whichsheeasilydodged,thenshe pointed to the seatingarea.Itriedhardnottosmileand act dejected as I obeyedandsaid,“YesMother.”AsItrudgedovertositdown.

A minute later Mei andJameswere escorted into theroom. I cocked an eyebrowat Quinn. She smiled. “I

thought things would gofasterifyouhadyourteamtohelp.”

I grinned at her insightand said, “Indeed theywould.”

We all said our goodmornings and before wecould discuss much, a cartwithbreakfast for thefourofuswaswheeledin.

I couldn't believe howhungry I was. I hadn'tthought about itmuchuntil I

tookmy first bite of eggs. Ifinished everyone's leftoversfrom their plates as wediscussed life in general,avoiding discussing ourcurrent predicament byunspoken agreement. Plentyof time for that afterbreakfast. I looked aroundand was disappointed thattherewasnomorefood.

I heard a small chucklecoming from thatinfuriatingly enticing agent

besideme.Quinnsmiledandcalled for another breakfastfor me. The others werelooking atme incredulously.I just shrugged inembarrassment.

Mei decided I hadn'tbeenembarrassedenoughandsaid. “Love the newadditions.”

I shook a fist at her.“Well, it seemsmebodyhasgrown more toned andmuscular,aswell. Themore

I use the dragon power, themore it is affectingme bodyitseems.”

James was lookinganywherebutatme.Atleasthe had the common sense tobe embarrassed about thetopictoo.Meigiggled.“Youdon't seem too torn up aboutit.”

I mocked an indignantlook. “That'll be just aboutenoughof thatnow. I'm justplayin' the hand I'm dealt.”

Thesmile I couldn't fightoffbetrayedme.

After my secondbreakfast,Iwasfeelingmuchbetter. Quinnwasjusttryingto get my temper flaring asshe said, “Ok, now thatMyra's head is out of thetrough, let's see if we can'tfigure out what Blaine isreally after. Myra says heaccused her of havingsomethingofhis.”Isenthera promise of pain across our

link.Wasthatalittlesmirk?Thetrollop!

Meishookherheadwithapainedlookonherface.“Iremember him sayingsomethinglikethat.”

The third scroll, as wethought,cameayearaftertheothers.Itdetaileddiscoveriesby the druid order thatuncovered the ultimatebetrayal of the dragons anddeception perpetrated bySaint George. It seems they

weresuspiciousoftheeventsand of mankind turning onthe benevolent Drakon whohad only aided and protectedhumansuptillthen.

They spoke of the fourDrakonclans. TheFireClanof Ireland, theWaterClanofBritain, the Earth Clan fromtheGermanic region, and thelost Wind Clan of Norway,who had disappeared ahundredyearsearlier.

How they had

discovered that itwaspeopleunder Georgios of Lyddahimself, who had incited thehuman populations near thethree remaining clans. Theyfabricatedevidenceofdragonattacks and fake tales ofvillages being reduced torubbleintheirwake.

George had led histroopsto“save”thepeopleofthe regions with dragonpopulations. The druidsfound that he was collecting

every magical relic he couldget his hands on. He hadevenkilledtheQueensoftheWater and Earth clanshimself.

It seemed he waswarehousingmagicitemsandkilling any who practicedmagic. They suspected hewas after the power andwanted to be theonlyone tobeabletowieldit.

He had captured andtortured many druids along

thewaytolearnthesecretsofthe magic of nature and theflesh.Somehadturnedtohiscause. But he was stilllookingforsomething.

Part of the scroll wasmissing in this area, but itappeared tobeeluding to thefact that his attempts to turnthe people of Ireland againstthe Fire Clan met limitedsuccess. Themajorityof thepeople stood with the clanand professed their

benevolence. And Caraghwas many times morepowerful than any of theother Queens. George knewhewouldhavetocomeatthisclandifferently.

Quinn interrupted usaround one in the afternoon.“Ok, you egg-headed lot.Time to eat lunch.” James,Mei and I all opened ourmouths to protest, but sheheld up a hand to stop us.“You'llbenogoodtoanyone

if you don't keep yourstrength up. And sometimestaking a break from the datacan help you find a newperspectivetoattackitwith.”

We all grudgingly sat,like schoolchildren beingscolded by their instructor.But Imust say, the foodwasgreat. I ate more thannormal,butnothinglikeIdidat breakfast. Wewere aboutfinishedwhenQuinn's phonerang.Shesteppedawayfrom

us and spoke in hushedtones. I wanted so bad toeavesdrop with my dragonsenses, but I held myselfback. The apprehension Icould feel rolling off of herwasenough.

“Shit.”Weallheardhersayasshehungup. I turnedto her and she was grabbingthe television remote. Sheswitched to a news report.TherewasawaterdragonontherooftopsofTrinidadbeing

perused by men in militaryuniforms. They wereshootingatit!

Iwasenragedandstoodquickly. “Feck! Why aretheyshootingathim?Isthatalways the answer?! Killwhatyoudon'tunderstand?!”

Quinn was suddenly infrontofmeholdingmyarms,her face flickering in theflames.“Myra.Youneedtocalmyourself.”

Shite! I willed my

flamesaway.MeiandJameswere hiding behind a couchshieldingthemselvesfromtheheat. I looked at themsheepishly. “Sorry. I got awee bit upset. I knoweventually, it is going to bemetheyarehuntinglikethat.Likeananimal.”

Mei walked over andhugged me. “Not if we canhelp it.” James was noddinginsupport.

Then Mei pulled back

and looked at Quinn. “Theflames... they didn't botheryou. You walked up to herand... held her, calmed her.You'renotburned.”

Quinn shruggedsheepishly. “Blood tie.”Then she turned back to thenews report as the dragondove into the ocean anddisappeared. “Butmore andmoreincidentsareoccurring.This 'awakening' isinevitable.Weonlyknowof

the reported incidents of ashardshockingsomeone.Wedon't know how many wentunreported.Interpolistryingto do damage control andlocate any and put them inprotective custody. Thesecretisout.”

I looked at her,my fearwas escalating. “What doesthatmeanforme?AmItobecaged like an animal?Dissected?”

Sheplacedahandgently

onmyarm.“NotifI...”Shelooked around. “IfWE haveanything to say about it.Besides they need you, andyour team, to find out whatBlaine's ultimate goal is.”Her scent and her mindcalmed me and gave me asenseofsafetyandsecurity.Iinstinctively stepped in andhugged her arm to me, notwanting to let go. I realizedwhatIwasdoingandblushedprofusely but didn't let go.

Shegavemeasoftsmileandmouthed “Your eyes.” Igrinned at her then waslooking at her through myhumaneyes.

Aftera fewminutes,weallwentbacktowork.

We pieced togetherGeorge'splantomakeCaraghto trust him and fall in lovewith him. He refused theblood tie many times withher, professing that hisreligion would only allow

him to be betrothed if shewere human. This ultimatedeception prevented Caraghof knowing he really didn'tlove her when the blood tiefailed. And it planted theseed for his next phase. Toachieve his real goal. TheimmortalityoftheDrakon.

He hired localmercenaries to continuallyattack the dragons while hewas there. To speak out atlocalvillagestospreadunrest

about the Drakon people.Thenasitallcametoahead,heproposedtoCaraghthat iftheDrakonwerehuman,thenthey could live in harmonywiththemuntilsuchtimethathumanswereready to live inwiththeDrakonraceagain.

He had tortured druidsof the order that wrote thesescrolls and knew of thebinding ritual. That wouldseal away the Drakon magicand tie it to the flesh. A

protector that would be thecaretakerofthevesseluntilitwastimeforanawakeningofthe magic. As long as themagic was in the vessel, theprotectorwouldlive.

I paused. This was allabout power andimmortality. But that stilldidn't explain what I 'took'fromhim.Meiwasgettingalittle suspicious and keptlooking atme the furtherweprogressed into the

translation. Finally, shespoke, “Is there somethingyou aren't sharing with usMyra?”

I hung my head and Icould feel Quinn reassuringme.“Yes.IbelieveBlaineisactually Georgios of Lydda.Caraghtoldmeinadream.”

Mei looked hurt I didn'tsharebefore. Shewordlesslywent back to translating. Ilaidahandonhershoulderinapology.Shelookedatme,I

could see her anger but itsoftened and she gave ma alittlesmile.Ismiledbackandwe started studying thewritingsagain.

She mumbled. “Thatmeans he did gainimmortality.Hesucceeded.”

I shookmyhead. “But,as we know about thedragons... It isn't trueimmortality, he can still beinjured and killed. He willjustliveforeveraslongashe

can stay alive.” I chuckled.“Whatacontradiction.”

James corrected me,holdingupafinger.“No,justuntil the awakening.” I wasshocked. Why didn't I seethis before? I shook thethought aside. I'll not bejumpingtoconclusionsuntilIhaveallthefacts.

There were someportionsmissing.Butthelastof the scroll told of Georgeconvincing Caragh of his

plan.Itwouldprotectthelastof the Drakon and wouldallow the two of them to bemarriedundertheeyesofhischurch. She agreed and theritual took place. The BloodStone was cast and the lastQueenof theDrakon cut herhand and bled upon the orb.Then they tied theorb to thechosenprotector,George.Hecuthishandandbledontotheorbandinabrilliantflashalldragon spirits were locked

into the stone. Leaving theDrakonashuman.

Then the ultimatebetrayal happened. Georgeand his men immediatelykilled every last “human”Drakon. He looked into theweeping eyes of Caragh anddrove a dagger through herheart. Then he buried theBlood Stone where nonewould ever find it, allowinghim to live for ever. Therewere additions to the scroll

for a couple hundred yearsfromdruidsof theorderwhotriedtoseekoutthestone.

George and his alliesswept across the globe,wiping out any magic usersthey could find as theywerethe only thingGeorge fearednow. He continued towarehouse any scrap ofmagic items or writings,trying to leave the worlddevoid of all magic but his.The druid order was wiped

out except a few survivorsthatwentintohiding.

There was one magicwielder, the Dark One, whoused the magic of death andthe flesh instead of naturewho had more power thanhim,hehidfromheruntilshesuccumbed to old age on theIsleofAvalon.Notevenherdarkmagiccouldgivehertheseemingly immortal lifespanof the dragons. Georgeswooped in and took all that

remained of her magicartifactsandherwritings.

The very last of thescrollwastornoff.Ilookedat everyone. “So there wehave it. The bastard wantsnothingmorethanpowerandto live forever. That leavesus right back where westartedyaknow.”Inoticeditwasgettingdarkoutside,howlonghadwebeenworking?

Quinn was grinning.“No,itgivesusouranswer.”

James was nodding inagreement with a knowingsmile on his long face. Oh,hecanbejustasfrustratingasQuinnattimes.

I balled upmyhands infists.Consciouslypreventingmy fire form frommanifesting as my temperrose. “Well,don'tbekeepin'italltoyourselves!WhatisitthatItookfromtheman?”

Quinn snickered. “WellMiss Hot Head, let me

doublecheck something,yousaiditseemedthatmoregreyhair and wrinkles wereshowing on him on yoursecondencounter?”Inoddedasshepulledupsomethingonthe internet. Itwasapictureof a youngerBlaine, perhapsfrom ten years ago. Sheasked,“Isthishowhelookedwhenyoufirstmethim?”

I shookmy head. “No,he was five or ten yearsolder. He had some grey on

histemplesandinhisbeard.”James exchanged a grin

withAgentMcHottie.Quinnthen just said, “Then it issimple. ThatwasaphotoofBlaine from last year. He isaging... and by the sound ofit,quiterapidly.Sowhatyoutook from him, is hisimmortality. Theawakening.Asmoredragonsawaken,itistakingmoreofitaway from him. Rememberthescrollsaid thatas longas

the magic was in the vessel,theprotectorwouldlive?”

Myeyeswentwide.“Ofcourse! But... it's throughnofault of me own.” Then Itiltedmy head in confusion.“But how will the hearts ofthedragonshelphimifallofthemagicgetsreleased?”

Meiwaslookingbackatthe scroll. “Maybehe thinksyouwillrecastthebindingtotheBloodStone?”

I shookmy head. “No,

hekeepstryin'takillme.Hewants me heart, too, thebastard.” I huffed. “I'm notdoneusin' itme-self,soheisoutofluckthereyaknow.”

Quin snorted andsnickered. I could feel herappreciation for my temperflowing from her and...attraction? I looked at herandbitmylowerlip.

Mei was in deepthought. “Well if he hasstockpiled all the world's

magic over the years,maybehehasfoundanotherway?”

I nodded. “That's themostlikelyscenario.”

ThenJamesasked.“So,you two...” he paused,“You'relikemarriednow?”

We looked at him. Hepointed at the scrolltranslations. “Well,according to the third scroll,the blood tie equated tobetrothal. Which puts theDragonScrollwritingsofthe

BloodTieintocontext.That'swhat the possessive wasaboutinthere.”

Then he added. “Andboth reference that the bloodtie wouldn't work unless thefeelingswerealreadythere.”

I chuckled. “Now yertalkin'nonsense. I admit I'mattractedtoQuinnandhaveawee girl crush on her butmarried?” Why did theconcept exciteme somuch?I looked over at Quinn, who

was blushing. Shite! I mustbe broadcasting on allfrequenciestoher.

Mei saw our mutualblush-fest and changed thetopic. Bless her little heart.“So. How do we stop thebastard? I owe him and Iwant to see him go down.”Feisty!GoMei.

Quinn nodded at herappreciatively. “Myra's redhair rubbing off on you?You've already given us the

informationweneed.Nowitisamatterof timebeforewetakehimdown.”

She was about to saymore when about sevenagents with automatic riflesand FBI flack jackets andfour men with Interpol flackjackets walked in with twomen who didn't have thesignature dark suits of theother agents. Quinn steppedbetweenthemandus.“What'sgoingonhere?”

Chapter 11 -AssaultA large man in a grey

suit stepped up to her andflashed his badge. “DeputyDirector EthanDanes.AgentQuinn, you are relieved ofduty for dereliction andwillfully withholdingevidence.”

Hewasholdinghishandout and Quinn hesitated andslowly handed him her

badge. He lookedexpectantlyather.Sheshookherhead.“Theweaponismyown.” One of the armoredmengrabbedherarm.

I stepped forward.“Leave her alone!” Therewere suddenly ten automaticrifles pointing at me. I putmyhandsup.

Danessteppeduptome.“Doctor O'Connell, I'll beassigned to you now. Untilwe can apprehend Blaine.

Then we will need to...”Therewasanominouspause.“Debriefyou.”

The othermanwho hadacheapsuitonwasgatheringall our research from thetable. James jumped to stophim, but a couple of the gunbarrelsturnedtowardhimandhebackedoff.

The other man washolding all the papers to hischest and as he walked pastmehepaused,lookingmeup

and down. “I can't wait tostudy you.” That chilledmetothebone.Thenhewasoutthedoor.

I was getting so angry,scared and frustrated. I hadtostopmyselffromchanging.“Sowhat,amIyourprisonernow?Idid'nadoanything!”

Theman smiled, I thinkhe thought it was soothing.“No, you are in protectivecustody.”

I looked around at the

weapons pointed at me. “Idon't feel fecking protectedrightnow.”

He looked around andmadealoweringmotionwithhis hand. Everyone loweredtheir guns. Then I said, “SoI'm free to go after you getBlaine?”

He shook his head. “Itisn't quite as simple as thatanymore.”

I spat at him infrustration, “So I AM a

prisoner. I may not soundlike it, but I'm an AmericancitizenandIknowmerights!You can't detainme. Iwantmelawyer.”

The arse-hole lookedamused. “Well, first thing iskeepingyousafeuntilwegetBlaine.” He looked back attheAgentsholdingQuinnandmotionedhisheadtowardthedoor and they startedmarchingherout.

Iblurtedout.“Youcan't

take her! Apparently youknow what I am. We'rebondedandifshegetstoofaraway we will both die!” Iliedthroughmyteeth.

Hehesitatedasecond.IknewhethoughtIwaslying,but he held a hand up andtheystoppedat thedoor. HelookedoveratMeiandJamesand squinted his eyes. “Isthis trueDoctorReid,DoctorKamia?”

Mei stepped forward.

“Yes they accidentallycreatedaBloodTie.”

James nodded. “Thereare references to the BloodTie in the scrolls.” Hepointedatthedoorwheretheweasel man had gone withourresearch.

HeturnedandwalkedtothedoorandlookedQuinninthe eyes before he reacheddown and took her sidearmout of its holster. “I thinkyou are all blowing smoke.

But I can't take the chance.”Hemotionedhisheadtowardus.“OverthereTrask.”

Quinnwalkedovertousand I grabbed onto her armhugging up to her side. Thearmedmenwereallarrangedalong the wall and relaxed.JamespulledMeiprotectivelybesidehimasDanessatdownat the table. “Now. Whydon't you fill me in? Whathaveyouallbeenhidingfromus?”

The room seemed toexplodeintotheshatteringofglasswhenwhat appeared tobe two stone gargoylessmashed through them,tearing down the closeddrapes.Thedoorwaskickedopen before anyone couldreact and thralls startedpouringintotheroom.

Quinn pulledme behindher and automatic weaponsfire almost deafened me asmenwere being shredded by

the gargoyles. Quinn lookedbackandyelledatJamesandMei.“Getdown!”Herhandshottoheremptyholsterasagargoyle leapt right at usthrough the firestorm ofbullets. I heard her utter,“Shit”assheresignedherselfto the inevitable. But justasthe monster got to her, herfists exploded into flaminggranite.

I was instinctivelypushing as much fire and

earth magic into her as Icould. Her fist struck theoncoming Gargoyle and itstopped in it's tracks andshook its head from thepowerful blow. I could feelthe fury and satisfactionflowing from Quinn. Shesaid, “I canworkwith this.”As she grappled with thebeast.Throwingittothesidethen attacking it with atsunami of blows and kicks.Her feet were encased in

stone,aswell!IrealizedIwasseeingin

that purplish red haze. As Istood between the chaos andMei and James. The agentswere not faring well. Thistime the thralls seemed tohave some sort of magicalitems that were shreddingthrough the armedmen. Allthe thralls were chanting. Isaw them as the greaterthreat.

I was aware of the

flames around me, Iconcentrated on keeping theheat from radiating andinjuringpeople.Straybulletswerepainfullyricochetingoffof me as men were goingdown. I opened my mouthandgrowled.Flamesshotoutand engulfed one thrall afteranother.

I looked over as Quinnjumped into the air andlandedaspinningroundhousekick to the jaw of the

gargoyle, shattering its lowerjaw into stone dust. Sheflung herself onto its back,grabbing its front legs andstraining with all her might.Withagrinding,rockysoundthey snapped off and shethrew them to the side. Thegargoyle was floppingaround, trying fruitlessly togettome.Morethrallswerearriving. This was a lostcause.

Quinn lookedatme,her

hands and feet went back toflesh. I could feel her fiercedetermination to save me inmy head. “We need to getyou out of here. They areafteryou.Allthesemenwilldieifwestayhere!”

I nodded inunderstanding. She pointedat the wall that was sharedwith the corridor beyond. InoddedagainassheyelledatJamesandMeioverthenoiseof the battle. “Stay between

usatalltimes!”Then she gave me a

cocky smile and askedsarcastically, “My Queen?”I grinned at her. Ourplayfulness seemed so out ofplace when people weredyingall aroundus. I raisedmy hands and growledloudly.Aballofpyrotechnicfury blew through the walland into thecorridorbeyond.Engulfing thralls unfortunateenough to be standing there,

thenIputmyflamesout.Justaswestartedtoward

the door, we heard Dane'syell, “Trask!” Quinn turnedandDanes threwhersidearmback to her. “Keep hersafe!” He commanded anddoveontotwothralls.

Thenthefourofuswerediving through the smokingholeinthewallanddownthecorridor. The report fromQuinn's pistolwas inmy earas she plowed the road

through the seeminglyendless stream of thralls. Ifelt for them, knowing thatthey were just innocentscaught in George's sickgame. I glanced back to seethemfollowingus.Thatgaveme some hope that some ofthe agents back in the roomwouldsurvive.

We got to the parkinglevel andwe battled out to aSUV. Thenwewere on theroad. I glanced up asQuinn

drove.Icouldseeagargoylejumping or flying fromrooftop to rooftop, followingus. I pointed. My protectornodded, “I can see themthroughyoureyes.”Thatwasnew. “We need to getsomewhere away from thebuildings,with treecover, soit will have to follow us ontheground.”

We turned toward themountains. She lost thethrallsthatwerefollowingby

car,butwecouldn'tshakethegargoyle. Wedrove into themountainsand shepulledoffonto a dirt road. I put myhand on her shoulder andsaid,“Stophere.”asIlookedback.

She looked at me and Igrinned in malice. Sheunderstood and stopped thecar. WegotoutandshetoldMeiandJames. “Stay in thecar.”

I felt the flames climb

mybodyasIstrodeforward,Ireachedouttotheworld,tonature.Ifeltitallaroundmehere. It was almostseductive. I could feel anearby stream and I couldfeel the ground around melikeitwasalivingthing.

Then I saw it. Quinnwent to step between it andmyself. I smiled, itwas justaninstinctivethingforher.Isent the warmth of mythoughts toherand tiltedmy

head. She blushed andstepped back. The creaturechargedatusonallfours, itswingsfoldedbackbehindit.

It felt as though I wereasking a favor of the earthand two solid walls of stoneshot up on either side of thegargoyle as it rapidlyapproached, I slammed myhands together and the twowalls slammed together aswell, reducing the beast togravelanddust.

Quinn blinked thenlooked at me with shockappreciation and… Me lordwoman! Did that really turnher on? I blushed andshruggedandwegotback inthe vehicle. Mei justwhispered, “Holy shit.”James was nodding like heagreedwithherevaluationofwhat had just transpired. Ishruggedagain.

Quinnwastryinghardtosuppress the smile I could

feel inside her. She was...proud? Then she said, “Ok,let's get somewhere safe, getsome breathing room. Thenwe can figure out what todo.” We all nodded and shecontinued on the dirt roaduntilwecametoacabinbyastream. There were novehiclesandthecabinlookedtobeindisrepair.

We all stayed in thevehicle while my protectorcleared the building. We

went in and it was quitedusty, nobody had been herefor at least a year. Mei andJamescollapsedonthecouch,with him holding herprotectively.

I finally took a goodlookatQuinn. Her sidewasgougedandbleedingfromherfightwiththegargoylein thehotel. Her lower lip wasbleedingandshehadabruiseon her cheek. I quickly putmyhandonherside.

She tried to pull myhandaway,but Ihadalreadytaken on her wound. Thepain was almost blinding, Iknew I had a couple brokenribs then. But that wouldpass, at least she is ok. Shereprimandedme. “Youhavetostopdoingthat!I...Idon'tlikeseeingyouhurt.”

I shrugged, “I'll heal.You're...important...tome.”

Sheleanedinandkissedmegentlyonmylips.Ohme

lord, I'm floating on cloudnine.Itwasalmostelectric.Icraved her now... but...“Agent Trask.” I grinned ather.

She smiled back. “I'mnotassignedtoyouanymore,remember.”

I blushed and replied,“Oh. If that's the case,then...”ThenIleanedinandgaveheraquickkiss.Mylipwas bleeding now throughmysmugsmile,andherswas

goodasnew.“You sneaky little

wench!” Quinn said. I wasstartingtosway.

Mei laughed. “Get aroomyoutwo.”

My eyesight wasblurring as I grinnedsheepishlyatQuinn. “That...may not be... a bad idea. Imay have overdone it...again.” I said as I lostconsciousness.ThelastthingIcouldrememberwerewarm

arms catching me and afeeling of safety as her scentenvelopedme.

Chapter 12 –HidingWhenIwokeup,Ifelta

warm,strongarmaroundme.Isighedatthescentofsafetythat was assaulting me. Icouldfeelherwatchingmeasshe held me protectively toher on the bed. She nuzzledmy neck. I swear I almostorgasmed on the spot. I'mthinking this is more than agirl crush. I smiled at the

thoughtandsnuggledin.“There she is. The

impulsive, short temperedprodigalhasreturnedtous.”Icould feel her chuckling inmyhead.

I mocked her. “I'll behavin' none of that nowmissy.” I went to sit up, butthedullacheinmyribsmademetakeitslow.

She helpedme to sit upand sat in frontofmeon thebed. She ran a soft finger

across my lower lip. “Asgood as new.” The contactseemed more intense thannormal,veryseductive.ThenI realized I had my sensesopened up. I switched themoff and I felt half blindwithoutthemnow.Igrinnedat her. I was feeling quitebashful.

Quinn said with a tingeof humor, “You're making ahabitofpassingoutafteryougo all bad ass on the bad

guys.”She lightly touched my

side. My shirt was ruined,covered in dry blood andoddly enough, three or fourbulletholes.Ipulledmyshirtuptojustbelowmybosoms.Noneedingivin'MissHottieafreeshow...yet.

There was a sicklylooking, brown and yellowbruise where her injury hadbeen. The clawmarks weregoneandIcould tellmyribs

werewellintotheirmending.At this rate, I'd be fine bylunch. There were largepatches of scales across mychest where the bullets hadstruck. A few scales fell offof my shirt that wereprobably torn off by therounds that struck me. IpulledmyshirtbackdownasQuinn collected my scaleswithasmile.

The side of my faceached. Wait, was it mine?

No, it felt like Quinn. Ilooked at her and that bruiseonhercheekwas there. Heronly injury I didn't take onmyself. I smiled at her andcupped her cheeks with myhands. “If you weren't sofrustrating I'd say you werethemostbeautifulsightIeverdidsee.”

She blushed but thenpushed away suddenly,realizingmydeception.“Goddamn it Myra! Would you

stopdoingthat?!”Ichuckledat her as I placed a handgently on her now flawlesscheek again. The ache onminehaddoubled.

I shrugged. “I'm sorryQuinn. I really can't bear taseeyahurt.You're...sortof...important...tomenow.”

She put her hand onmine. “Right back at you.Just try to keep inmind,myinjuries are... well, mine.Ok? I don't need to seemy

painonyourface.”I nodded. “I'll keep it

under advisement. But thatdoesn't mean I'm gonna belistenin'.”

She shook her head.“Impulsive.”

“Shut yer yap.” Igrinned and kissed her.“There, that'll be shuttin' yaupnow.” Ialmostneededtofanmyselfaswellafter that.It was oddly erotic,experiencing the feelings

frombothsidesofakiss.I hopped off the bed,

avoiding her retaliation. Imade my way toward whatlooked like a bathroom. “Dowehavewaterhere? I smelllike the arse end of agargoyle.”

She chuckled. “Yes,James got the generatorworking this morning so wehavepowerandwater.”

I looked around andfoundabarofunopenedsoap

in the cabinet under the sinkand a towel in a sidecupboard, then started theshower. I wiped down themirror above the sink anddisrobed to take stock ofmyself.

It looked as thoughwhatever becoming a dragonwasdoingtomybody,itwasdone now. My new, toned,firmbodyhadn'tchangedanymore and the twins were thesame. The patches of scales

lookedalmostprettytome.Ismiled and turned to look atmy profile. Oh lord, I'mturnin' vain! I turned awayfrom the mirror inembarrassmentthengotintheshower.

After cleaning up, I feltmuchbetter. IdriedmyhairthebestIcouldwithatowel,got dressed in my bloodstained clothing then mademy way back into thebedroomtotrytofindabrush

to attempt to tame my fierymane.Nosuchluck.

I think I was imaginingthings, but I swear I smelledfreshlybakedbreaddownthehall.

I went into the mainroom and James and Quinnwere sitting around on thecouch and Mei was in thekitchen apparently wranglingupsomethingforustoeat. Iveeredofftohelpherandshehissed at me and pointed

towardthecouch.Quinn chuckled,

“Apparently, the kitchen ishers. We all tried, but shethreatened us with bodilyharm.”Withabitofhumor,Ibacked slowly away from anowgrinningMeiand joinedtheothersonthecouch.

Quinn grinned andstarted running her handthroughmyhair.“Thislooksnice.”

I shook my head. “It

lookslikeanestfromthepitsofhell.Butthankyou.”

Mei was calling out tous,“Thereisn'tmuchinherethat isn't past its expirationdate, but I was able toscrounge up enough for ameal. Unorthodox breakfastbut hey, this is sort of anunorthodoxsituation.”

She brought out awoodentraywithfourplates.On them were what lookedlikehandmadeflatbreadwith

refried beans and chilicovering them, and fourglassesofwater.Believeitornot, it tasted quite good. Ifinished up everyone'sleftovers and Mei retrievedthe pot with the remainingchili and scooped it ontomyplatewithachuckle.

I blushed inembarrassmentwhenIlookedaround to see everyonewatchingmeeat.Ishrugged.“IfIsurvivethis,mefoodbill

is going to go through theroof.”

Quinn went out to theSUVandcamebackinwithalaptop and connected anantennatoit.Thenlookedatthe window and pointed theantenna south. Then shepowered it up. I looked inalarm at her. She obviouslyfeltitassheturnedtomeandexplained. “Encryptedsatellite link. They can't getourlocationfromit.”

Then she started pullingup news reports fromDenver. By all, that's holy!There was no covering thisincident up since it occurredwhere hundreds of people inthe middle of downtownwitnessed thefirefighton thefourth floor and gargoylesflying and crashing throughthe hotel windows. Therewas one piece of footage ofourvehicle leaving the scenewith thralls in pursuit and a

gargoyleleapingfromrooftopto rooftop above us. Theywere reporting twenty threeFBIandInterpolagentsdead,sixtyone“terrorists”,andfivecivilians. Thirty moreterrorists were taken intocustody.

The reports varied fromelaboratehoaxes toproofofmagic, to the end of daysprophecies by religiousfanatics. This couldn't getmuchworse. I couldn't help

stressing over what this wasgoingtomeanformeonceitwas all over... if I livedthroughit.WouldIeverleada normal life again? Irealized it was silent in theroomandIlookedaroundandthey were all staring at mewith sympathetic looks ontheirfaces.

I shrugged. “Well,what'sdone isdone. Nousecryin' over spilled milk yaknow.”

Quinn had an intenselook on her face, her lipspursed.“Ineedtocheckin.Ihave to contact Danes.” Icould feel the apprehensionrollingoffofher.

Iputahandonherarm.“Wecan'tbesureifhe'sbeencompromised.Anyonecouldbeathrall.”

She nodded. “I'll do avideo call so we can see.”Then she pulled up a videoconference program, the FBI

sealcameupandshetypedinher credentials. She seemedtosighinreliefwhenamenucameupandasmallwindowin the corner of the screenhad livevideoofus. Iknewher relief was because theyhaven't locked her out of thesystemyet.James,Mei,andImoved out of the camera'sview.

Quinn clicked theDeputy Director's name. Abar started moving back and

forth across the screen with“connecting” blinking on thescreen. We sat like that foralmost ten minutes. Quinnwas just reaching over todisconnect when the screenflickered to life and batteredlookingDanes appearedwitha bandage covering his righteye and another along therightsideofhisface.“Trask,where the fuck are you? IsFirebrand safe? Wait don'tanswer the first.” We all

sighed in relief since he hadnorunemarkandwasstillanarsehole.

I moved beside Quinn.“Agent Trask got us tosafety. I'm sorry about yourmen.Wehadnoideahehadsuch things as gargoyles.Thralls were bad enough.”Then I had a sudden thoughtand said, “Doctor Arnett...Henry?”

He looked down for asecond, gathering his wits it

seems then addressed mewith an apologetic tone Ididn't think him capable of.“He's in Denver General incritical condition. His teamcouldn't get him out in timebefore they were overrun.The two agents gave theirlivesprotectinghim.”

MyeyesweretearingupandQuinnput ahandonmyshoulder and projectedwarmth and strength to methroughourlink.

Danes continued, “Theythink he'll pull through justfine.” Then he turned hisattention toQuinn. “The cityis crawling with thralls,gargoyles,andothercreatureswe are trying to identify,looking for you. The localpolicehavebeen toldhow todealwith thralls. They needto smudge or wipe off thatdamn mark. The peoplearen't even aware they arebeing controlled. We are

getting a lot of calls fromInterpol, the NSA, and awholelotofotheracronyms.The National Guard ismobilizing. We'll get intothat,firstIneedyoursitrep!”

WeleftQuinntopresentour current situation withDanes. Mei was still cryingafter we heard about Henry,and James was consolingher. I spoke softly, “He'sgonna pull through just fine.Henry'sgottoomuchworkto

do at the museum not to, yaknow. And he has ta keepour surly lot in line.” Shechuckled a little and wipedhertearsonherarm.

She said, “Who knewdragons were so nice?” Weall chuckled a little andwaitedforQuinn to finish. Ihelped Mei wash the disheswe had used and takeinventory of what little foodsupplies we had. We didn'teven have our purses, but

James had his wallet withthirty dollars cash and hisdebitcardthatwemostlikelywouldn't be able to use or itcouldbetraced.

We went through theentirecabin,Ifeltlikeathiefransacking someone else'sproperty like that. We cameup with some rope, somecandles and matches, ahatchet,acouplelongknives,and twohunting rifleswithabox of shells. James

deadpanned, “Notmuch, andwe don't need the matcheswith Sparky here.” Meiactually squeaked andcoveredhermouthashetiltedhisheadtowardme.Thatgotmechuckling.

I grinned at him. “Andthat's about enough of thatmister.”

Mei looked atme. “SoMyra. How did you knowyoucoulddoallofthat?”

I looked at her and

thought about it for amoment. “I really didn't.Almost anything I find me-selfdoin'thatisdragon-ish,itseems to be on instinct. Ithink Caragh's spirit issomehow guidin' me. I canjust feel nature around me,the water and the earth. Itwants to help us, I'm justaskin' favors of it and itresponds.”

She smiled at that.“Whatdoesitfeellike?”

I shrugged trying to putitintowords.“Idon'tknowifmewordscandoitjustice.Itisallaroundusand it feels...alive?Icanfeelthewaterinthewell and in the stream, itis so full of energy and justwants to be moving all thetime.Thegroundbelowusisstoicandnurturingandfullofsolid energy I can almosttaste. Me flames feel liketheyareinsideofmeburninglikeabeaconofstrengthIcan

tap into at any givenmoment. All of theseelementsfeellike...friends?”

I waved it away. “I'msoundin'likeaneejithere.”

She was shaking herhead. “No, actually youaren't. Now I'm feeling alittle jealous, it soundsamazing.”

I tilted my head andsmiled at her. Then shesquinted. “What about air?Isn'titanelement?Andthere

was apparently the fourthDrakonclanoftheWind.”

I shook my head, I hadalready asked this of myselfand had reached out to it tonoavail. “No, Imean, Icanfeelitsenergyaroundme,butI can't seem to communicatewithit.I'mawareofitbutwemust be on differentwavelengths.”

James prompted,“Maybe it has something todowiththelostclan.Maybe

something happened thatsevered the link between thewind and Drakon race?Damn, Iwishwe had all sixscrolls, maybe the answersareintheotherthreeorinthetorn off sections in theDragon Scroll.” I nodded inagreement.Allofthesewerequestions and thoughts thathavebeenrollingthroughmyownhead.

Quinn finished up andjoined us. She didn't look

happy as she spoke, “Oncethings get better organizedtheyaregoingtosendateamto 'protect' us. Things aregetting bad in Denver, themayor is having anyonewhodoesn't work in the city andhave relatives outside ofDenver, evacuate until thethreatsarehandled.”

Then shemotionedwithherhead to thedoor. “Sincewe are basically in hidingright now and all of your

research has beenconfiscated. Iwanted to testsomethingsout.”

Inoddedandthethreeofusfollowedhertotheporch.James and Mei sat in theporchswingandQuinncutelymotioned with her finger forme to follow her. I couldfollow this woman all dayeveryday.Shehadmestandin the dirt driveway as shewent to a pile of woodwaiting to be split for the

fireplace.Without warning, she

took a chunk of that woodand threw it at me with herfull strength. I caught iteasily, as she grinned at theresults.Sheplacedapieceonalargestumpthenflickedherhand down and her fist wascovered in granite and shestruck the wood with anincredible blow, splitting itdownthemiddle.

Then she put another

pieceon the stump lookedather hand and the graniteslowlycaughtfire.ThenwithmoreforcethanIwouldhavethought her capable of, shestruck the wood and itexploded into splinters. Shegrinned at me. “Apparentlyyour gift to me from ourbloodtie.”Shelookedatherotherhandandwatercameupfrom thegroundandcoveredher other fist. She triedstriking another piece of

wood and it didn't seem tohave any affect as shegrabbed her hand. “Motherfu....umm...Imean,ow!”

I giggled at her as I rantolookatherfist.Itwasredbut not really hurt. I couldfeelitinmyhand,Istilltookthestingaway.ThenIsaid,“Water is more for movingthings around en masse orinfiltrating and expandin'fromwithin.Enoughofitcanactasashield.”

I put a single finger onthe log she struck and askedthe water in it to congregatein the middle of the logplease, then asked it toexpandfromthere. Thenthelog split openwith thewaterpressure at its core. Igrinned, “Sometimes scienceand subtlety can be doin'more than brute force andviolence.”

Icouldfeelthewavesofamusement coming from her

as she said, “Showoff. Nowhowdo you know all of thatand how did you know youcoulddowhatyoujustdid?”

Iwinked at her. “Well,we were havin' this sameconversation in the cabinwhile you were talkin' yernonsense with Danes. It isinstinctual, like Caragh isguidin'mesomehowwithherknowledge.”

She nodded then put ahugelogonthestump.“Care

to seewhat theQueenof thedragonscanreallydo?”Thenshesteppedback.

I grinned and snappedmy arms downwardwithmyfingers spreadand instantly Iwas aflame. Wood from thepile was blown back and alarge log almost fell off thestump. I re-centered it thenjumped up into the air withmy fist cocked and camedown on a log, striking outwith my fist with all my

might like it was judgmentday! The log exploded intosplinters and my momentumcarried my fist through andthestumpsplinteredoutward.

Iwasshakenbythefuryof the blow and just stoodthere looking at my fistburiedinthestump.Itscaredthe hell out of me, theviolence of it all. I think Iwasstarting tohyperventilatewhen Quinn's face camethroughtheflames.Herscent

of safety soothingme as shehugged me, whispering “It'sokMyra.Igotyou.”

I took two deep breathsand smiled sheepishly to herand nodded. She put herforehead against mine andsmiled.Thenshesteppedoutof my flames. “What abouttheotherelements?Youjustdid water and fire. Howaboutearth?”

IshookmyheadasIputanother log on a different

stump. “Earth is nothing tobe playin' with. It hasmorepower than any because it isallaroundusthoughitdoesn'thave the rage of fire. Yousaw what it did to thatgargoyle last night.” Iclapped my hands togetherand two boulders explodedfrom the ground on eitherside of the stump andbasically turned the log andstumpintotoothpicksastheywere crushed between the

stones.She smiled as I went

back to mostly human. Iliked my expanded senses.Then she asked, “Spar withme awhile? I need to get ahandle on these powers youarefeedingme.

I nodded and saidweakly, “Oh me lord, you'regoing to kill me in theforest.” I heard a stifledlaugh from the porch. Isquintedoveratthecutelittle

Asian American perpetrator.“There'll be none of thatnow.” Mei stuck her tongueoutatme.Icouldn'tstopmysmile.

I lookedbackatQuinn.Ok,butyoubetterbetakin'iteasyonme.”

She started slow, myinstincts were kicking intofull gear as I dodged andblockedherblows. Shekeptspeedingupalittleatatime.Then she stopped. “This is

sparring.Thatmeansyoutryto hit me too, not just avoidme.”

She was playful. Inodded. “Well, I'mnotusedtohittingpeople.”

She snorted. “NowTHAT is amazing with yourhairtriggertemper.”

I squinted at her. “Nowyerjustprovokin'me.”

Istartedswingingather,she made it look almost tooeasy as she dodged it and

slapped my followup aside.She grabbed my arm as itwentpastandshetwistedmybody and straightened myarm and my wrist thenslammed my fist into herpalm. “Keep your wristsstraight, arm straight fromyour body, twist as youstrike. Put your body intoeachblow.”

I nodded and wecontinued, she just deflectedmost of my blows. As we

spedup, somestartedgettingthrough so I knew that washer limit. I still had somespeed. Then she startedslowlycounterattackingaftershe was satisfied. She keptspeedinguptoaboutthesamepoint. So that was hermaximum. We must havesparredforanhour.Shewaspanting and I was barelybreathinghard,andwesatontheporch.

James was shaking his

head as Mei went to get ussome water. James said,“You two were moving sofast.Icouldbarelyfollowit.”

Ishrugged.“Itwasn'ttoobad with Quinn holdingback. I guess she likes mebetter alive than dead.” Ibumpedhershoulder.

She squinted at me. “Iwasgoingallout in theend.Wereyouatyourlimit?”

I looked downbashfully. “Well, you were

getting' through me defensebut I had more speed andstrengthinreserve.”

I feltwavesofpride forme rolling off of her. “Nexttime we'll add in kicks. Iwantyoutobeabletodefendyourselfifanythinghappens.Punching is just a small partof fighting.” Shewas in fullprotector mode again, it feltright. I nodded and oninstinctcuddledintoherside.She froze for a second then

smiled and draped an armaround me protectively. Icould seriously have lived inthatonemomentforever.

We drank the offeredwater and then Mei startedlunch.TopRamenandbakedbeans.Shemadesuretogiveme double what everyoneelse was eating. I feltembarrassed at that. Quinnsnuck a few extra bites ofhersontomyplate.

Itwasn't until I finished

eating that I realized whatQuinn was up to with thedemonstrations and thesparring.Shewasgivingmymagic a workout as well asmyself. This is thefirst timeIhaddone somuchwithmydragon abilities that I didn'tpass out afterward. Shewashavingmeexercisethemagicjustlikeshewouldmybody.The sneaky trollop! But Iapproved, it wouldn't do,getting exhausted in the

middleofanotherattack.Whenweweredoneand

wewashed thedishes,Quinnplugged the bureau’s laptopin to charge and we allcongregated around it to seethe news she startedstreamingonit.

After we got sick ofseeingtheterriblehappeningsinDenverwesatandchattedamongst ourselves about lifein general, keeping awayfromanytopicsofourcurrent

situation or anything dragon-y. We learned that Jamescollectedoldblackandwhitemoviesand thatMeiactuallywantedtobeachefwhenshewas younger until shediscovered her love offolklore.Mylovelyprotectorshared that she loved raftingwhenevershehadtimeoff.Isharedmy embarrassing lovefor comic books, especiallythose that had a mythologyandlegendsfeeltothem.

Then Quinn asked if Ifeltrestedenoughforanotherround. She put me throughthe wringer. It was moredifficult to counter her whenshecoulduseallher trainingagainst me. The only thingthatsavedmefrombecomingbruised and bloodied messwasmyspeed.Ihadtopushit to the limits tocompensateforheryearsoftraining.

Then she had mepractice doing various things

with my elemental magic.From fine control to apowerful force. We found IcouldcontroltwoatoncelikeIdidwhenIsavedMei. Butitseemedtobemylimit.ButI could feel something wasmissing I just couldn't seemtofigureitout.

Caragh's words echoedin my head. “But you stillholdback,youmustembraceyourself. Let the dragon outorhewillwin.”Whatdidshe

mean by holding back andlettingthedragonout?

It was dark when wefinished up. Mei gave ussome canned corn and morechiliandsomeflatbread.Myplate was heaped high.“That's all that's left unlessyou trust that can ofprocessed meat that doesn'tseem to have an expirationdate. We'regoing tohave todoasupplyrunsoonifwe'regoing to be here much

longer. James has thirtydollarscash,weshouldn'tusehisdebitcard. Myraandmypurseswereleftatthehotel.”

My chestnut hairedagentnodded. “I have aboutseventyonme.James,inthemorningyouandIneedtodoa quick run to thatconvenience store couplemilesaway.Youaretheleastrecognizableofus soyougoin. I'll stand guard at thecar.” James nodded at that

thenhe andMei turned in tothebedroomontheothersideofthecabin.

Quinn looked at me.“Tired?”Itwasn'taquestion,shewas just statingwhat shecouldfeelrollingoffme.Shegavemeawarmsmile.“Youdid good today, you shouldbeproud.”

I grinned. “I cheated,thedragonhelpedme.”

Shepulledmetomyfeetandwemadeourwaybackto

the other bedroom. I kickedmy shoes off and got underthe covers as she sat in therocker by the door. Iwasn'tabout to have any of thatnonsense and I just held theblanket open behind me andwaited until she caved.That'll show her who's morestubborn.

She got into the bedbehindmeanddrapedanarmprotectively over me. Isnuggled backward, pressing

our bodies together andsmiled to myself. Shewhispered. “Your eyesMy.You'vebeenlikethatallday.Notthatitisn'tsexy.”

I giggled and the roomwentdarkand theworldwasdeadened. Then I closedmyeyes and was asleep inminutes, listening to herstrong breathing. I dreamedof dragons, Quinn, andnature.

Chapter 13 –UltimatumI was standing in the

cavern. Caraghwasstandingbeside me as we lookedacross the village and thebodies of the Drakon layingslaughtered all around us. Irecognized one with a slitthroat and a wound to herchest as Caragh herself. Ilooked back up at her, shewas looking down at her

lifelessbody.I grabbed her hand

betweenmine.Shelookedupat me and gave me a sadsmile.“Ishouldhaveknown,should have sensed it. Hisrefusal to do the blood tieshould have toldme, butmyheart didn't listen. Hisfeelingswereadeception,notlikeyouandyoursoulbond.ButmaybeinsomesmallwayIhadsuspected,Ialwaysheldback and never showed him

more than my fire elementalabilities.”

I looked at her. “Itwasn'tyourfault.”

She shook her head.“Becauseofmyblindness,hehas kept the Drakon fromwalking the Earth forhundredsofyears.”Thenshelocked eyes with me. “DONOT let himdo this again!”She waved a hand at all thebodies. “Youhave to let theworld know that we are the

championsofmankind.”Ishookmyhead.“How

amIsupposedtodothat?”She smiled sweetly and

said, “Stop holding back, letthedragonout.” Like itwassimple.

She and the bodiesaroundus started to fadeandI asked quickly, “Have youbeen helping me with myabilities?”

Her smilewas gentle asshe replied, “Of course

daughter, that is the way oftheQueens.Iwillalwaysbeinside.”

ThenIwas leftstandingalone in thecavern. Iwouldnotletherdown,Iwouldfindaway!

I heard an echo ofCaragh's voice whispering,“She worries. Go to her.”Thenmyeyesflutteredopen.Quinn's voice behind mewhispered, “Good you areawake. Youwerehittingme

withwavesofwhatfeltlikeacross between a nightmareand...family?”

I turned back to look ather, still behindmewith thatprotective arm around me.“I'mguessin' thatwouldbeagood description of it.Caragh came to see meagain.” I smiled and shereturnedthesmilewithagrin.

I was suddenly acutelyaware of her body againstmine.IbitmylowerlipasI

heatedupinsomeinterestingplaces, her arousal struckmeat the same time, almostdoubling the feelings. Ipulledmyselfoutfromunderher arm and hopped out ofbed before I surrendered tothe wonderful temptation. Irushed to take a shower... acold shower... a really coldshower. I heard her utterfrombehindme,“Jesus!”

I felt a sense of pridethat I was effecting her the

sameway.ShecalledoutasIhopped under the cool sprayof water. “Hurry up, I'mgoing to need a cold showertoo, after that!” Igiggled. Ifelt so alive as I cleaned upforanotherdayofhiding.

Once everyone wasprepared for the day, Meigave us each the last of herflatbreads and some water.“Well, that's it until we getsupplies.”

My chestnut haired

protector looked at James.“That would be our subtlecue.Youuptothisdoctor?”

James nodded once andQuinn walked up to me andplacedahandonmycheek.Iclosed my eyes and leanedintoit.Shesaid,“Stayinside,awayfromthewindows,untilwe return. We shouldn't begonemorethatthirtyorfortyminutes. If we're not backwithin an hour, run. Don'tturn back, just run and keep

running. Understood?” Inoddedas Iwasassaultedbyherurgencyinmymind.

She smiled. “Good.”Then she looked at James.“Mountup.”

MeiandIspentthetimehuddled around Quinn'scomputer watching newsreports. The national guardhad arrived and they weren'tfaring toowell, the best theycould hope for wascontainment. Blaine still

hadn't shown his weasellyface,thecoward.

I kept glancing at thetime. After thirty minuteswent by and they hadn'treturned, I was gettinganxious.Icouldfeelatuginthe direction of theconvenience store, I knew ingeneral where Quinn was.After forty minutes I wasstarting to get afraid, I didn'twant to run without her bymyside. I reachedoutandI

couldseethedirtroad.DidIsee through her eyes? Withmy senses expanded, I couldhear the SUV approachingfrom almost a mile away. Ismiled, they were almost tothecabin.

I carefully peekedthrough the curtains to seethempullupnexttothecabinandhopoutwithafewplasticbags full of supplies. Meiand I went out to help bringstuff in. I whispered to

Quinn, “You had meworried.”Shesentmewavesof warmth and safety. Igrabbed her by the shirt andpulled her close to my faceand inhaled deeply. Ahhh....that'sthestuff!Irelaxedabitand we brought the suppliesin.

Mei looked at them,shakingherhead.“Youbothshop like a couple of men.All canned goods, preparedfoods,popandchips.”

I grinned and grabbed abagofchips,huggingittomybody.“Mine.”

Mei just laughed.“Good God, there's three ofthem!”

I helped her put thegroceries away as Jamesdefended himselfwith a grinon his long face. “It was aconvenience store,what kindof food did you expect us tofindthere?”

She chuckled. “Well at

least there is a loaf of breadandsomelunchmeat.”

I put my hand on thechips in position to openthem. I looked around ateveryone pleading forpermission with my eyes.Mei shook her head. “Goaheadgarbagegut. Wecan'tblame you for your newmetabolism.”

I nodded as I openedthem and started munchingon the delectable artificial

cheese flavorednachochips.Mmmmmm. “Thank you.I'm so hungry all the timenow. I could eat an entirecowme-self.” The smile onQuinns face as she watchedmemakeapigofmyselfwaspriceless. I looked downsheepishly and offered thebagaround tomycomrades.I could feel her laughinginside as she took a singlechipbetweentwofingersandnibbled on it. She is sooo

gonnapayforthat!Once we were situated,

Quinnbroughtusoutsideandshe had me attacking a treewiththestrikesandkicksshehad taught me yesterday,withoutmydragon.Thensheturned to JamesandMeiandcrooked her finger with afiendishgrin.

She started showingthem simple techniques tobreak a hold. And a coupledirty fighting techniques to

incapacitate an attacker togive them a chance toescape. Once she wassatisfied they got it she hadthem practice on each otherand she turned her evil grinonme.

One of her fists eruptedinto stone and the other inflame as she charged at mewith a smile. I grinned andmoments later I was in mypseudo-dragon mode.Blocking and kicking and

dodging.SheknockedmetothegroundandIgrinnedandthegroundbelowherheavedup and knocked her on hercutemuscularbutt.

Shegrinned. “Notbad.I didn't expect that.” Shespun up on her hands andpivoted her body in a flash,kickingout. Ibarelygotmyarmsupintimetodeflecttheroundhousekick.

Igrinnedather. “Rightbackatyou.”

We continued that wayuntil the area around uslooked like a war zone andMeiwalked between the twoof us. We both stopped inmid strike. She had amischievous grin on her faceas she said, “Come on youtwo.I'vecalledyoutwiceforlunch. Now don't make meangry.”

I started giggling andextinguished my flames. Quinn extinguished one

flaming fist and the stone onthe other one crumbledaway. She comically said,“Yesmother.”

Wefollowedherinandthe tablewas set. I snorted.The little impcertainlyhadasense of humor. There werethree plates with hamsandwiches, chips and bakedbeanswereonthetable.Thefourth had three sandwiches,a bowl of baked beans, asimplyhugemoundofchips,

andtwocolas.To my embarrassment

andall of their amusement, Iate it all. Desert too whenMeiproducedHostess cherrypies. They all lookedamused. I squinted at themand snapped, “The crow'scurseonyouall!”

Quinn shot the puppydogs at me, looking allinnocent. “Even me?”Shite!NowwhythehelldoIfind me-self blushing? “No

not you, but the smilin'doctors two there.” I pointedatmyevilcolleagues.Quinngrinned like the cat who atethecanaryattheothertwo.Ibumpedhershoulder.“NoneofthatnoworI'llbeaddin'yatomelist.”

Werelaxed in the livingroom where Quinnannounced toourgroans thatwe'd resume our sparring onthe hour. The computerstarted chirping and Quinn

picked it up. “Incomingvideo call,” she said as shelooked around at us, and westepped out of frame. SheAcceptedthecall.“Trask.”

Danes was quick tospeak. “Trask, we need tomove Firebrand to theIcebox.Blainehasresurfacedand he has taken over thestate capitol buildingdowntown. His forces andthatenergyshithe'sthrowingaround is makingmincemeat

of the Guard and our ownassets It's like a goddamnwar zone! He's given anultimatum. I'll be damned ifwe are going to give himwhathewants. Youneed totransfer control of her to thetransportteam.”

Quinn tried to talkquieter, but I could hear itplain as day, worry wasrolling off of her in hugewaves. “The Icebox? No!Besidesshecan'tflytoSouth

Dakota,itterrifiesher!”Danes snapped at her.

“Then knock her the fuckout!Youaretalkingasifyouhave a choice here Trask!Don't make the mistake ofdisobeying a direct order.You're already treading onthin ice, this may cost youyour badge. One asset hasalready escaped Interpolcustody, we're not losingFirebrand, so it's to theIcebox!”

My protector wasenraged now. “Sir, with allduerespect,youcantakemybadgeand shove it firmlyupyour ass! We are in thebusiness of protectingcivilians, not imprisoningthemagainsttheirwill!”

He was starting torespondforcefully,“SHEisn'tacivilian! ITisa...”Shecutthe transmission. Thecomputer was almostinstantlychirpingagain. She

ignored it then slowly turnedaround to look at us. Herfacewaspale. “IthinkIjustquit my job and broke adozenlawsatthesametime.”

James and Mei had alookofprideontheirfaces.Iput a hand on her cheek andsmiledather as I said, “Youcantakemybadgeandshoveit firmly up your ass? Nowyer soundin' just a wee bitlikeme-self.MehonestIrishisrubbin'offonya.”

She actually smiled alittle at that. Then I assuredher.“Itisawholenewworldnow ya know. Magic is realand I think this is going tochangeawholelotofthings.I don't think they'll bespendin'alotoftimepressin'anycharges.”

The chirping finallystopped. Quinnhadhereyesclosed, I got the distinctimpression she was asking,“WhatdidIjustdo?”

I kept speaking whileshe absorbed herpredicament. “There's noway they'd be getting'me onno flying tin can deathtrap!I'd probably panic and go alldragon on their arses if theytried. And what is theIcebox?”

Shegotcoldandserioussuddenly. “It is a place thatpeople who need to bedisappearedgo.OnceyougototheIceboxyounevercome

back out. Think of it as ablackholewherewesendtheworstoftheworst.”

That chilled me to thebone. They wanted to sendme there? To 'disappear'me?“Thatdoesn'tsoundlikeaplaceI'llbewantingtogo.”

James spokeup. “WhatwastheInterpolassethewastalkingabout?”

Quinn looked at him.“They had some others in'protective' custody that have

developed dragon abilities, Ican only imagine he wastalkingaboutoneofthem.”

Then I rememberedsomething.“Theultimatum!”

Quinnquicklypulledupa news feed. Parts ofdowntown were burning andwe could see small battlesbeing waged againstgargoyles andother creaturesagainst the military. Therewere men in heavy cloakswith gnarled branches

throwing sickly lookingenergy into the troops, aswell. It was appalling towatch.Somanygoodpeopledying... for me. I was whatSaintGeorgewanted.

The anchor was on,describingthesceneandhowmore and more of theseapparent magic wielders andcreatureswerearrivingbythehour. Then he reported onthe ultimatum Blaine wasissuing. Thescreenswitched

to the steps of the capitolbuilding. About threesquareblocks seemed covered in ashimmering energy domewith hundreds of troops andcivilians trapped inside. Itlooked likenoweaponswereeven putting a dent in thebarrier.Iflinchedwhenwhatcouldonlyhavebeenacruisemissile impacted it in anexplosionoffireandfury. Itdidn'tscratchit.

Blainewasthereholding

a soldier by the throat. Theman was dying and rottingbefore our eyes as a pendantaroundBlaine'sneckglowed.

The sight was almostenough for me to puke, myanxiety was rising. But thethingthatstruckmemostwasthatBlainelookedtobeinhislate fifties now with silverhair and more pronouncedwrinkling on his skin. Theother dragons awakeningmust be taking his long life

awayfromhimabitatatime.He glared at the camera

which veered away and youcould see the cameraman'sfeethotfootingitoutofthere.Reginaldspoke,“Ifyouwantto live, point that camera atme now!” The man slowedthen turned and raised thecamerabacktowardBlaine.

George looked so sicklywith hollow cheeks, his grinwas blood chilling he lookedto be bordering on madness

ashespoke,“Asyouandtheworld now know, magic isindeed real and I am itsmaster! Your pathetic lifewillneverbethesame.Bringme Myra O'Connell bymidnight or I will killeveryone within the ChronosDome, then systematicallykilleveryoneleftinDenver.”Heheldupapictureofme.

Oh my lord, noweveryone will be hunting forme!Thenhecontinued,“My

disciples are poised aroundthe globe to unleash themagics of death and decayuntil I get what is rightfullymine! Bring me MyraO'Connell so I can pull herheart from her chest and Iwill leave this place. Bringme the dragon! You haveuntilmidnight!”

Hehelduphishandandchanted. The ring on hisfinger glowed and thecameraman screamed in pain

and the camera fell to thegroundandwewereleftwithstatic.Thenwewerelookingatthenewsroomandavisiblyshaken anchor as hecontinued reporting on thebattlesaroundthecity.

I stood and startedwalking toward the door asQuinnshutoffthecomputer.Shestoodandfollowed.Meiran in front of me andblockedthedoor.“Wheredoyouthinkyouaregoing?”

Iwas crying now. “Allthosepeople... thoseinnocentpeople, they are dyingbecauseofmeMei!Ihavetogofacehim.”

She hissed at me,“Bullshit! Those people, allthose people are dead,because of Blaine! I wasalmost one of those people.You don't need to die at thewhimofamadman!”

I was shaking my headather,Iwasmoreafraidthan

Ihadeverbeeninmylifebutalso more determined. “Ihave no plans to be dyin'now. But thishas toend. Itiseitherhimorme.Ican'tletanyone else be dyin' becauseofme.BecauseI'mhiding.”

Iwasgentlymovingherto the side. She looked atQuinn.“Can'tyoustopher?”

Quinn looked at Meithen to me. “No... DoctorKamia...Mei. Youcan't feelwhat it is doing to her. It is

tearing up her soul. I agreewithyou,butifshedoesn'tdothis, then nothing at allmatters anymore. You andJames stay here and videoconference with the FBI togetmenouthereafterwearegone.”

Meiwas crying too, shelooked back and James tookher by the shoulder and ledheraway.Hegaveeachofusasinglenod.ThenMeibrokeloose and hugged me and

Quinn then went back toJamesintears.Iputmyhandonthedoorknob,tookadeepbreath, taking in myprotector's scent... the smellof safety... the smell of theother half ofme, then turnedtheknobandwalkedout.

Chapter 14 –ShowdownQuinn was silent as we

drovebacktowardDenver.Icould feel her conflictingemotions. I looked at her.“I'm sorry... I just can't letanymoreinnocentsdie.”

She turned to me andcocked her head. “I know.Andatthismomentintime,Icouldn't be more proud ofanyonethanIamofyouright

now. But you aren't doingthis alone. I'll be by yourside.”

I almost started cryingagain.“I'dhaveyounoplaceelse.” We shared a gentlesmile then she turned herattention back to the road.Weproceededintothecity,insilence, watching the massexodus heading the otherway.Itwasodd,weweretheonlyvehicleheading into thetempest, it was almost

surreal.Thedeeperwewentinto

thecity themoredamagewewereseeing. Wegotup toablockademannedbyacoupleNational Guardsmen and aregular army lieutenant. Theregular walked up to thedriver's door. Quinn rolleddown the window and themansaid,“Ma'amyou'llhavetoturnaround.Theroadisn'tpassableandfightingiscloseby.”

Quinndidn'tsayaword.She just motioned her headover toward me. It took amoment but suddenly therewas recognition on his faceand he instantly drew hissidearm and started raising ittowardmeasheblurted,“Getout of the vehicle!” Theworldwassuddenlybathedinthe familiar purplish redQuinn laid her hand slowlyon the barrel of his weaponandlookeddirectlyathim.

“Settle down soldier.Whatinthehelldoyouthinksheisdoinghere?”Hervoicewas matter of fact though Icould feel a certain cold anddangerousundercurrenttothefeelings flowing from her.Thismanhadbetternotcrossher,that'sallIcansay.

I looked at theman andpleaded. “Please, I need togettothecapitolbeforemoreinnocentpeoplearekilled.”

He hesitated, then

looked toward the sounds offighting. He was undecidedonwhat todo thenhefinallyholstered his weapon. Hetook a deep breath and said,“You'll have to be on footfrom here.” He looked back.“Stenson!” One of theGuardsmen stood tall. “Getthese two as close to thatdamn shield as you can. Donotengage!”

The tall lanky manreplied instantly, “Yes sir!”

And stepped up to us as weexited the SUV and stoodnext to the lieutenant. Thenhis eyes went wide when hesawme.“You're...”

The lieutenant cut himoff sharply. “Stow itStenson! Get them to theshield!”

Themanstraightenedupagain and crisply responded,“Yessir!”

The then the lieutenantlooked at Quinn's weapon

then atme. He turned back.“Michaels! Give her yoursidearm.”

My chestnut manedcompanion gave him a slysmile.“Noneedsoldier.Shewon't need a weapon, she IStheweapon.”

Then she nodded atStenson and we werenavigating the wreckage ofdowntown Denver. About ablock later we weretraversing an alley when a

gargoyle came gliding downand landed in front of us. Itbellowed and charged andbefore Stenson could drawhis weapon, Quinn justcharged at the beast her fistsandfeeteruptingintoflaminggranite and she landed aseriesoflightningfastblows.

She dodged a coupleswipes from its front clawsthen she jumped and landedonitsback.Shecockedafistasittriedtobuckheroffand

then she landed ahorrendously powerful blowonthebackof itsneck.Withthesoundofgrindinggranite,its head fell one way as itsbody went the other. Sherode thebody to theground.Then she stood and with asnarl, snapped her handsdownward, spreading herfingers, and the fire andgraniteinstantlydisappeared.

Oh me lord, that was...arousing? I grinned at her

and the man beside me juststaredather,unmoving,untilhe shook himself out of itwhenshemotionedforhimtoleadtheway.

We hid behind adumpster when a patrol ofthralls went by then scurriedinto another alleyway. Icould see the glowing of theshield getting closer, thecloser to the capitol buildingwe got. I could taste theperversion in the magic.

Though itwasnotelemental,Icouldtellitwastwistedandwarped to Blaine's needsfromitsoriginalintent.

WegotuptoitandIlaidahandonit,itfeltsmoothasglass. My hand erupted inflameandIpushedagainstit.I could feel some give in itnowbutnotenough,soIfeltaround me and found water.A hydrant exploded and thewater came tome to help. Ihad it strike the shield, but

there was no effect. I let thewater seep down and felt itsjourneydownward.

Then after getting downthirty feet or so I felt ittrickling under in cracks inthe bedrock. I let the waterseepalongtheunevenbottomof the shield as it followedthe bedrock. That was myanswer, itwasconforming tothestonebelow.

I asked the earth to aidmeandthegroundinthearea

shook and there was a slightrumbling as the bedrockheaved up forming an archabove ground. No biggerthan a doorway, the shieldenergy followed the contoursofthegraniteleavinganopenaperture through it to theinsideoftheChronosDome.

Wewenttostepthrough,I turned to Stenson. “Thankyou.” I gave the surprisedman a quick hug then turnedawaytofindBlaine.

Quinn ran her handalong thegranitepassageherbrow furrowed in thoughtthen turned back to the manwho was about to return tohis post. “Wait. Stenson.”She paused as he turnedback. She motioned to thearchwayshewasstandingin.“You can use this to get thecivilians out! Don't letBlaine'sforcesfindit.”

The wonderfully evilsmile that bloomed on

Stenson's face told meeverything about his strongcharacter. He was instantlyon his radio, relaying hisintentionsandthecoordinatesof the archway to the othertroops in the area tohelpaidin evacuation. Thenwithouthesitationhe stepped throughinto the dome with us. Henodded at us and went onewayaswewenttheother.

I closed my eyes andtookadeepshudderingbreath

andmademywaytowardthecapitol building with theother half of myself at myside. It took us a while topick our way through,avoiding skirmishes andpatrols. Whenwe got to thegreen in front of the capitol,we peeked around the civiccenter.

There were groups ofcivilians and disarmedsoldiers lined up on theirknees near the capitol steps.

There had to be hundreds ofthem. There were gargoylesand what I could onlydescribe as golems standingmenacingly around them,keeping them in line, Therewere some of those robedmen we saw on the newsreport, bringing in moreprisoners with those gnarledbranchesintheirhands.

But what made mybloodruncoldlywasBlaine.Hewas there at the first row

of people, drawing the thrallrune on the prisoner'sforeheadswithhisownbloodfromacutonhis finger. Aseach one was marked, theystood thenwalkedcalmlyofftoward the sounds of theclosestbattle.

IrealizedIwascrying.IwenttostepintotheopenandQuinnheldmeback.Iturnedand glared at her. I pointedtoward what Blaine wasdoing and blurted out,

“Enough! Itendsnow! Onewayoranother!”

She looked at me, Icould feel all her conflictedemotions and her burningneed to protect me. ShenoddedonceandIdidn'tevenpullmyeyesfromherswhentheclosesthydrantsexplodedand I sent water rushingtoward the thrallshehad justmade. Drenching them.They looked confused andthen started running. They

didn'tgetfarbeforetheywerere-captured.

Blaine was yelling,“Show yourself dragonbitch!”

I stepped out into theopen, Quinn went the otherway.Makingherwaytowardtheprisoners.

I ran toward Blaine, ashis forcesconvergedonmeIdidn't hold back andtransformedwithallthefuryIcouldmuster. Theexplosion

of flames around meincinerated golems andreduced approachinggargoyles to rubble. It wasalmost comical as they wereblownawayfromme.

Now in my fire form IleaptthroughtheairasBlainewas backing up the steps. Ilanded between him and theprisoners. The impactofmylanding cracked the stepsunder me as I bellowed out,“You will harm no more

innocentpeople. Thehumanraceisundermyprotection!”

Isneered.“Nowtakemyheart if you can coward!” Iheard gunfire behindme andgrinned. Quinnhad engagedtheguards.

I charged at Blaine, hemurmuredan incantationandlightning lanced from hisgnarledbranchandstruckmyshoulder. I shrieked in painandsentablastoffiretowardhim. He dodged to the side

and pulled a staff from hisback with his free hand andstruckitsbaseontheground.Water from my previousattackblockedtheheatofmyflamesfromburninghim.Heput the twig in his belt andgrabbedastonefromapocketas I wrested control of thewater from him and it tooktheformofafangedserpent.

Ithrustmyhandandmywater serpent struck at him,but his rock glowed and the

treesintheparksnappedandtwisted into something dark.Icouldfeelnaturescreamingin pain. The twisted treetrunks blocked my waterattack.

He was laughing as hebacked up the steps. “YouarejustasstupidasthatbitchCaragh was. You've alreadyshown me you are both awater and fire elemental. Itshouldn'tbepossiblebutyouare. It was a simple matter

for me to find the rightmagics to combat that.Lightning and wood.Morgan's writings wereextensive on counteringelementals.”

I ran toward him, hemotioned and the tree trunksimpacted me, sending metumblingback.Abranchwassticking into my shoulderwhere the lightning hadblown away some of myscales that appeared instantly

toprotectmefromtheblast.It was a searing pain. Igrowled and the resultingpyre of flame reduced thetrunks to ashes andsmoldering and burningdebris.

I felt a new phantompain in my side. Quinn hadbeeninjuredinherfight.ButI felt her rage and herdetermination flowing intome so I knew it wasn'tserious.

I rolled to the side aslightning lanced at me fromthe top of the steps. Thesteps exploded into flyingshrapnel.Ifeltitricochetoffmy skin, letting me knowmore scales had appeared toprotectme,thoughIknowI'dbebruisedfromtheforceandpainoftheimpacts.

I rolled to my feet andBlaine disappeared into anarchway and through thedoors of the capitol. I

followed, not even slowingforthedoorsasIstruckthemand they were reduced tosplinters. Weexchangedfireand lightning as he keptretreating upwards. I had afewnewburnsonmybody,Iignored the searing pain as Ifollowed him through thedoortotheroof.

He was laughing at measIsteppedout.“Youreallyare a stupid one aren't youdoctor? I already told you

aboutthelightningandwood,yet you followme out here.Do you think I picked thecapitol building to confrontyoubychance?”

Ilookedathim,tryingtocalm my animalistic need todestroyhimand think. Thenmy eyes glanced quickly atthehuge,goldplateddomeofthebuildingthenbackathim.

He laughed again, itsounded like amadmanwhohad lost touch with reality.

“Yes, now you see it, thebiggest conductor available.His hand shot up with hisbranch and lightning lancedouttothedomeitglowedandreflected the power backtenfoldfromthedome.Thenhepushedhisarmtowardmeandallthatenergylancedoutatme.

I couldn't hear my ownscreamsasthewhitehotpainassaulted every inch of mybeing. It was exponentially

morepainthanwhentheFireStone shard had awakenedmydragonspirit.

The pain faded and Ifound myself lying on theedge of the roof, my flameswere gone but my flesh wassmoking. I glanced at mynow naked form,my clotheshad been incinerated. All Icouldseewasburntfleshanddragon scales covering everyinchofmybody.

I glanced down at the

battlebelow.Theheightwasterrifying, almost paralyzingme in fear, but I saw thatQuinnwaslayingwastetotheenemy below. I couldn't beprouder. I could see flamesflaringasshefoughtwithherelemental gifts from me. Ipushed the fear aside as Istaggered to my feet. Iwouldn'tletherdown.

Blaine walked up towhereIstood,swayingonmyfeet.Helookeddown.Then

his brow furrowed. “Bloodtie?WhyDoctorO'Connell,Ididn'tknowyouswungthatway.”

He put his stone away,keeping his lightning twigready as he grabbed hisknife. He looked at it andchuckled.“Youknow,thisistheexactsameknifeIusedtocutthatstupidbitch,Caragh'sthroat. Fitting itwill cutoutyourheart. Youshouldhaveseen the pathetic look of

betrayalinhereyesasthelifefaded from them. Howdoesit feel to be helpless?Nobody on the outside cancome save you because ofthis.” He tapped an amuletaroundhisneckthatglowed.

He swung the knife atmychestandIcaughthisarmmid strike and erupted intoflames againwith a sneer onmy face. Hewas screamingashis flesh sizzledundermyhand. I smirked, “I'll be

thankin' ya for theinformation.” I punched hischestwithmyotherhandandmymetallicclawscrackedtheamulet. The Chronos Domedissipatedalmost instantly. Iglared at my nemesis as Ikicked him in the chest,sending him tumbling andskidding along the roof fortwenty feet. Then I hissed,“Who's the stupid bitch nowyouweeworm?”

He looked up from

wherehelaycrumpledontheroof and grabbed his woodenchantment stone. Againand trees from below wereripped out by their roots,twisted unnaturally and wereflung up toward me. Isneered.“YouwanttoknowCaragh'struesecret?Queenscan wield all elements!” Iclenchedmyfistandwallsofgranite shot up from theground and blocked thegnarled trees hurtling toward

me. I hit him from behindwithablastofwater,sendingthe wood stone tumblingfrom his grasp along therooftop.

He stood shakily to hisfeet and glanced down atQuinn then smirked as hegrabbed what looked like abundleof leaves. “YouhavethesameweaknessasCaraghdid. Theway to defeat bothofyouis throughtheheart!”He tossed the leaves and

utteredastrangewordandhestepped into the leaves in theair and vanished. I lookedaround and saw him appeardown below, and raised hislightningtwigtowardQuinn.

I felt more rage than Ihad ever felt in my life. Icould hearCaragh inmy earsaying, “Let thedragonout.”I know that I had held backuntil this instant. Quinnwasintrouble!

I raised my head and

shrieked.Thebuildingshookas my wings errupted fromme.Thepowerwasimmenseand the entire rooftopexploded, the dome wasblown to bits. And I turnedmygazedowntoBlaine.

Thedragonhadarrived!

Chapter 15 –Dragon!I was exhausted, there

weresomany,butIwouldn'tlet them harm anothercivilian. The capturedsoldiers were fightingvaliantly now, but they werenomatchforthemagicorthebeasts.IheardandfeltMyrascream in pain. I looked upat the capitol building at theimmenselightningdisplay.

I could feel her searingpain as her flesh bubbled.MyGod!Iwasonthevergeof panic but then saw herstand. Her anger,determination, and fear werealmost overwhelming me.God, but she was aspectacularwoman!

Iredoubledmyefforts.Ihad taken to using waterattacks on thralls to smudgetheir rune marks. I hatedkilling people who didn't

havecontroloftheiractions.ButthegolemsandgargoylesI had no problems withreducing to rubble with myflaminggranitestrikes.

Those damn monks orwhatever theywerewere theworst, with their rangedattacks. I have already beenburned by a few close calls.The pain was wearing medownasmuchasthephysicalattacks. I smirked as I sawone pointing its branch at

me. They may be magicwielders, but lead poisoningis universal! I grabbed mysidearm and fired a tightgrouping of three into theman's chest. I didn't evenwatchtoseehisbodyfallasIdove onto one of the hugegolems that were attackingsoldiers.

I felt a certain smugvindication coming fromMyra and a scream fromBlaine.Thenamomentlater

that Chronos Domedissipated. I grinned at thefact that she had figured outhow to deactivate itsomehow. But the smile leftmy face as Blaine appearedthirtyfeet infrontofmeinaflurryofleaves.

He raised his branch atme. Iprepared to rolloutofthe way when I feltsomething huge from Myra.The rage and fury and herneedtoprotectmehitmeasa

solid wall of emotion. Shestarted to shriek and Blainelookedupathertoo.

That shriek turned intothedeafeninganimalisticroarofadragonasmyredheadedbeautyseemedtogrowinsizeashugewingsof flameburstfrom her. The top of thebuilding seemed to explodeas the enormous dragon offlameandfuryrearedupwithherwingsspreadmajesticallybehind her and she roared

with the flaming head of thedragon shooting a pyre offlame into the heavens. Itwas one of the most aweinspiring things I had everseen in my life. This wasMyra!Thiswasherdragon!

Blaineturnedbacktomeand I felt amoment of sheerterror from Myra as shecontemplated something. Ithit me, she was terrified ofheights.Butthenshejumpedoff the roof as Blaine

chanted,shewasflying!Theground around me explodedoutward at the impact of herlanding behind me and herhuge flamingwingswrappedaround me protectively,cocooningmeasthelightningstruck. But it's fury couldn'tmatch the new power of herflames.

Thegroundshookasmysweetdragon'svoicerumbledout, “You will not harmanyone else here! You will

notharmsomeoneprecioustome!Thesearemypeople,thehuman race is under myprotection,thisendshere!”

Her tailwrappedaroundme and gently, almostlovingly, lifting me andplacingmeasfarbackasshecould reach. Which, in hernew form was about twentyfeet back. Awall of graniterose between her and me. Iquickly and carefully lookedaround its edge to see her

squaringoffwithBlaine.He was throwing

lightning and then suddenlyabout a dozen gargoyles andgolems attacked Myra frombehind.Sheroaredinpainasa gargoyle landed on herback, clawing through theflames into her flesh wherethescaleshadbeendamaged,the ground shook as sheroared. The dragons headswungbackandthejawsandteeth of flame grasped the

gargoyle and crushed him togravel as her powerful jawssnappedshut.

Blaine was using morerelics from his pockets,hitting her with variousspells. I could feel hersearing pain. Then hermajestic wings startedflapping, her attackers werethrown back by the wind itgeneratedasshetookflight.Ifelt that odd terror from heragain but it suddenly turned

into elation as she spiraledaroundaboveherattackers.

Herdragon'sheadpulledback and opened its mouth.Then with another mightyroar Myra hit them with ablastofflamethatincineratedthe golems and reduced thegargoyles to molten slag.Blaine looked terrified. Hehad escaped most of it bypullingouthiswaterstaffandgetting a meager liquid wallbetween himself and the

hellfire coming down onhim. His skin was now alltwistedandburned.

Heraisedthestaffasshelanded and stalked towardhim,circlinghimonallfours,her tail flowing out behindherasshefoldedherwingstoherback.Hestartedtostrikethe staff on thegroundwhenher claw shot forward andsliced his forearm, cleanlyremoving his hand from hisbody. The staff clattered to

thegroundandMyrasteppedon it, reducing it tosmolderingash.

Thegroundshookashervoice rumbled, “You aremistakenaboutmeheartbein'me weakness you wee littleman. It is the source of mystrength.Caraghsaystogiveyou her regards SaintGeorge. May the devil takeyourlastshilling!”

She reared up on herhaunches and all of the

hydrantsintheareaexplodedandfangedwaterserpentshitBlaine from all sides as thedirtaroundhimheavedup ina huge mound, swallowinghim as the water turned themound into clay. She rearedupandgaveabellowingroarthat shook the buildingsaroundus,shatteringall theirwindows,asamightycolumnof flame leapt from hermouth, baking the mound ofclay. It went on with her

roaring for at least twentyseconds. Then she stoppedand her wings unfolded andshestartedflapping,spiralingup into the air and thenfolding her wings in andplummeting to earth as ameteordirectlyintothebakedmound,shatteringit.

What golems andgargoyles that were leftstartedwanderingoffwithouttheir master to control them.The thralls were all looking

aroundinconfusionandfear.Then it was almost silent.Myra turned her head slowlytoward me and my dragonpadded over to me and herhuge dragon head nuzzledme.Icouldn'tfightthesmileon my face as I stroked itbetween the eyesgently as itslowly faded. Then Myra,coveredinthosebeautifulredand gold dragon scales, wasstandingtherebeforemewithtearsonherface.

I'needed'toprotecther.Ipulledherintoahugasshesobbed intomy chest. Thenshe looked up. “He's gone.It's over.” I nodded at her.She looked back at all themilitary vehicles convergingon us. “What's to become ofmenow?”

Soldiersweregettingoutof the vehicles and startedhelping the stragglers. Icould hear some random firefrom time to time from any

remainingbattlesinthecity.Then I heard someone

clapping and turned to seeStenson, a little battered, butsmiling and clapping. Theother troops joined in andMyra buried her face in myshirt in embarrassment. Shefinally turned and snapped,“That'll be enough of thatnow. A surly bunch youlot!” There were somechuckles.

She turned to me and

stopped suddenly. Then shelooked over at the rubblefrom where she utterlydestroyedBlaine. Somethinghadcaughtherattention.Shewalkedoverandsquattedandpicked something up almostlovingly.

Ilookedtoseetheshardof the Fire Stone that BlainehadhadMei steal for him inMyra'shand.Sheranafingeralong it then looked at mewithexcitementandwonder.

“I can feel it now, it's aliveyaknow.” Then shemadeacoaxingmotionandthecolorseemedtobleedoutofitasashimmering red ball ofenergysatinherhand.Itwasmovinglikeitwasfulloflife.

Shesmiledatit.“Thereya go wee one. You're freenow. Now shoo, find yerbody.”

The energy rose fromherhandthenshotoffintothesky. Myra turned to me.

“Trapped for so manycenturies, now that dragonspiritcanbereunitedwithhisdescendantandliveagain.”

I tilted my head. Shealmost sounded like a proudmother.ThenIasked,“His?”

Shewinked atme. “Ofcourse. Don't be silly now.Alldragonsaremaleexceptaqueen.”

I chuckled and she hidher face in my shirt again,inhalingdeeply.Idon'tknow

why but I love it when shedoesthat.Itgivesherpeace.

A group of soldierscame up to us. The man infront was looking a littlesheepish.AshepulledoffhisshirtandhandedittoMyratocover her modesty. Shelooked bashful as she pulledit on. God she lookedspectacularwiththosescales!

Then the man spoke.“I'm sorry ladies. Ummm...but we're supposed to bring

youinwithus. TheFBIanda bunch of other officialsounding letters are wantingtoquestionyou.”

I was about to saysomethingwhenMyraspoke.“Well, feck them. If theywant to be speakin' to me,they can find me at DenverGeneral, checking on mefriend.”

He looked nervous.“What am I supposed to tellthem?ThatIletyougo?”

Isnortedandsaid to thebigman, “Just tell themshehityou.” Everyonechuckledatthatagesoldjoke.

He saluted us. “Yesma'am.CanIofferyouarideto Denver General?” Inoddedandhemotioned toaman standing at a Humvee.“Getthesetwoanywheretheywanttogo.”

The driver lookedaround.“Butourorders...”

He was interrupted by

hiscommander.“Idon'tgiveaGoddamnaboutourorderssoldier.Thesetwojustsavedthecityandprobablyawholelot more. Besides, do youwant to try toarguewithourdragon?” I could feel thewaves of embarrassmentrolling off of Myra when hesaid 'our' dragon. But Ilooked around, most of themen were in agreement. Igrinned, I guessMyra IS ourdragon.

Moments later we wereintheHumveewiththedrivernavigating the rubble. Thefurther from the capitol wegotthebettertheroadswere.

Every few seconds,Myra was putting her handson me and I could feelinjurieshealingandnewpaincoming from her. I keptpushing her hands away.“Stop it!” She would nod,thenjustquicklytakeanotherwound on herself with a

mischievous grin. “I saidstopMyra!”

She nodded and said,“Ok.” Then the damn impkissed me quickly and thedeep gash on my cheek wasgone and hers was nowbleedingafterIfoughtoffthearousal. The stubborn redheadedpixiewas laughingatmeontheinside!Grrr!

We crossed CherryCreek and you couldn't seeany evidence of what had

transpiredjustblocksawayaswe pulled into the hospitalparking lot. I nodded at theman as we dismounted.“ThanksPrivate.”

He nodded at us. “Noproblem... and ladies... thankyou.” Then he drove off asMyradraggedmebythehandtowardthehospitalentrance.

Chapter 16 –AftermathI noticed another cut on

the back of Quinn's neck aswewent into the hospital. Ireached up quickly with myhandandamoment later feltanewpainonthebackofmyneck where a phantom painwas earlier. “Myra!” Shesnapped.

I shrugged. “I'm sorryQuinn, but it is almost a

compulsion. I can't bear tosee you hurtin'.” Sheplayfully just pushed meforward down the hall,shakingherheadatme. Wechecked with the nurse'sstation and found out whichroom Henry was in.Everyone was just staring atme. I must be a sight, allbarefootinscaleswithnaughtbutashirton.

Iheardsomeonewhisperas we walked along, “The

dragon!” One doctor wasurging us to be checked out,seeingalltheblood.Iwavedhimoff,promisingwewouldafterwe saw thatHenrywasok. Iwas just now realizinghowexhaustedIwas.

I smiled as we walkedinto the room. Henry waspropped up on the bedwatching the television. Heglanced over at us and did aquickdoubletake.“Myra?”

Igrinned.“Theoneand

only. How ya be feelin'boss? I was worried aboutyousincethehotel.”

He was staring at me.Then he started smiling.“Stop calling me that. I'mfine, I'm just lucky I havesuch a hard head.” Heshowedthedraintubeleadingfromhis chest to a clear bagthat was half filled withbloody looking fluid.“UnfortunatelyIcan'tsaythesameformychest.Butafew

more days here and I'll begoodtogo.”

I was so relieved, and Isat next to him and went tolayahandonhisshoulderbutI saw my scales and pulledback. At least the skin wasslowly coming back inpatches, but I didn't want toscare him. He saw that andhis look softened. “It's fineMyra.”Ismiledandlaidmyhand on his shoulder andgavealittlesqueeze.

Then he looked me upanddownasthenursewalkedinto the room. Then heasked,“Howlong?”Heleftapregnantsilence.

Isighedandsaid,“Sincethe shard incident went andwoke up me dragon spirit.Wewantedtotellyoubutthelessthatknewthebetter.”

He cocked an eyebrow.“We?” He nudged his headtowardQuinn.

I sighed and shook my

head with an embarrassedsmile. “Well ya, me otherhalf there...” Ipaused.“AndMeiandJames.”

He chuckled. “Goddamn it, am I the lastpersontoknow?”

I returned his chuckleand tilted my head inthought. “Well, me parentsdon'tknow.”

Now he was chucklingin genuine amusement as heunmuted the television. “I'm

not so sure about thatanymoreMyra.”

The news anchor wasreporting,withfootageofthelast battle playing on thescreen.“Thesewerethefinalmoment when our dragon,Doctor Myra O'Connell,showed those that wouldthreatenharmontheinnocentpeopleofourcity,thatweareprotected by the Dragon ofDenver.”

I watched my dragon

erupt from me and my roarwith my wings swept wideand flames leapt into theheavens. “Oh, me lord! IsthatwhatIlooklike?!”Iwassmiling.

Quinn leaned down andwhispered into my ear,“You're so beautiful.” I felther genuine feelings flowingintome to reinforce it. Andsomething... more. Ok, Idon'tcarehowinfuriatingthiswomanis...thisotherpieceof

me,Iwantedher.Iwatchedareportonthe

battle and the start of thecleanup and investigations.My entire body ached frommy injuries. I heard acommotion in the hall andstood quickly, that was amistake as I murmured toQuinn, “I'm sorry Quinn, Imay have overdone things awee bit.” as consciousnessleftmewhenDeputyDirectorDanescamebursting into the

room.----Caragh was sitting on a

rock by our creek. Shesmiledatmethengotupandhuggedme as I approached.“You let the dragon free.Thank you for avenging ourclan Queen Myra of theEire.”

I blushed at the nameand sat down with her withour feet in the water andsaid, “I'm just glad it is

over.”She giggled at that and

turned tome. “Whatdoyoumean over? It has justbegun. People again knowthat there is magic in theworld. Youmust help guidethem and protect them fromtheevils thathavehiddenforagesfromGeorgios.Itisthecalling of the Drakon toprotect those who cannotstand for themselves. To bethechampionsofmankind.”

I stared at her, surely itis over. I sighed in defeat.“Oh,sonopressurethen?”

She hugged me as shechuckled. “Youwill do finechild.Calltotheotherswhenin need and theywill come.You are their queen. TherearenoneasnobleasDragonsoftheEire.”

She tilted her head.“Butnow,itistimeforyoutowake. Your soul bond calls.You could not have chosen

betterwithher.”She kissed my forehead

thensprangintotheskyashewings bloomed behind herandsheflewawayasIheardmy protector's voice calling.“ComeonMyra,youhavetowake up sometime. Wakeywakey.”

My eyes fluttered opentoseethebeautythatwasmysoul bond. I could feel thewarm welcome and reliefrolling off her in waves. “I

thought you were past thispassing out stuff.” Her grinwasimpetuous.

I couldn't stop fromsmilingathowwonderfulheramusement tasted. “Heynow, none of that now! Incaseyoumissed it. Iwent awee bit overboard protectin'that tight little arse of yoursya know.” I leaned in andhoveredmy lips amillimeterfrom hers. I could feel herhot breath on me, it was

divine. Then I smiled andpulled back just as she wentto close the gap. I chuckled.“Or have ya forgottenalready?”

She closed her eyes andshook her head, I could feelher arousal and frustration.“You... are going to pay forthatlater.”Ijustgrinnedandburied my face in her shirtandinhaleddeeply,lettingthescentofsafetyenvelopme.

IlookedatmyarmsasI

wenttositup,Quinnheldmedownfromsittingup,shakingher head as sheused thebedcontrols to raise me into apseudo-sitting position.Therewerejustafewpatchesof my shiny scales left andmy skin was bruised andburntinareas.

I looked around. Therewerethreeguardsat thedoorandIwasinahospitalgown.I had IVs hooked up tome.Therewerescalesaround the

needle. I lookedatQuinnatthehumorthatitbroughtintohermind.“What?”

She snorted. “Well,every time they tried to gettheneedle throughyourskin,more scales would grow andsnaptheneedle.Theyfinallyhad to bring in a drillwith adiamond bit to get your IVhookedup.”

Itwasmyturn tosnort.ThenIasked,“Howlong?”

She looked at her wrist

at an imaginary watch.“About eighteen hours.”Then she got serious and Icould feel the ghost of herworry.“Youhadsecondandthird degree burns on almostall your skin as it re-emerged. Thatbastardreallydid a number on you. Butyou have already healed theworst of it. Justminor burnsto go. They say that if youhealataconstantrate,bythistime tomorrow you will be

good as new.” I nodded,secretlyrelieved.

I glanced at the guards.“Where are they going to belocking me away? TheIcebox?”

She was radiatingamusement again. “Well,Danes was pushing to haveboth of us locked away andthrow out the key. But itseemslessandlesslikelythatwill be happening.Something... is making them

rethinkit.”I cocked my head and

shegrinned,“Wellafteryourparents arrived I figured outyour dragon fury is nothingcompared to yourmother's.”Her grin got larger, mostlikely bordering on the shiteating category. I snortedimagining my mother layinginto Danes. Then Quinncontinued with mirth in hervoice. “And your parentscalled every local, national,

andinternationalnewsstationthey could find and havebeen...wellhere...”

She grabbed a remoteand turned the television onthe wall on. She startedflipping channels. I keptseeingthefaceofmyMaandclips of my dragon and myparentsstandingtogetherwithareporter.Shefinallypickedachannel.MyMawasinthemiddle of a tirade. “Andthose [*beep*]-ing federal

bastards are wantin' ta spirither away to some [*beep*]-ing dank dungeonsomewhere. After she justsaved all the people in thecity.Sheriskeditallforyoupeople.She'sacitizenofthis[*beep*]-ing country! Nowshe'sgoingtoberewardedbybecomin' some grand[*beep*]-ing governmentexperiment? She's yourdragon! Each an' every oneof ya! She's the Dragon of

Denver!Shesworetoprotectmankind and this is how thegovernment is gonna treather? Remember, she's yourdragon! Are we going toallowthis[*beep**beep*]tohappen? Hand to theheavens, therewill behell topay if they takeyourdragon,your protector, MY daughterfromyou!”

Thereportercuttosomefootage of the dragon mestanding before Blaine

defiantly, lovingly wrappingQuinn inmy flamingwings.Thecamerawasjitteringwiththepowerofmyvoice,“Youwill not harm anyone elsehere! You will not harmsomeone precious to me!These are my people, thehuman race is under myprotection,thisendshere!”

She shut the televisionoff.“Sothereyouhaveit.”

Icouldn'tstopthegigglefrom escaping me. “That's

meMa.”ThenIgotserious.“But really Quinn, what's tobecomeofme?Tous?”

She shook her head.“I'm really not sure. SinceBlaine's death, magic usersand mythical creatures havebeen coming out of thewoodworkworldwide. Mostare bent on havoc, somearen't, but even those arebeing gunned down in thestreets.Itischaosuntilordercan be restored worldwide.

The Vice President andInterpol are talking about ushelping to maintain orderuntil it can be determinedhow magic can coexist in amodernworld.”

I scrunched up my facein disgust. “They want us tobetheheavies?”

She smiled at me. “Itold them you wouldn't likeit. But I think they areconvinced to come to acompromise with you. We

would be free agents to helpwhere you see fit, not them,we could turn down anyassignment. It beats theIcebox.”

Inoddedslowly.“Whataboutthewholesalemassacreof peaceful magic users andDrakon? Iwilldonothing ifa single dragon is hunteddownorrestrainedagain.OrImaybecomin'downonthewrong side of the line theyare drawin' in the sand ya

know.”She grinned. I could

feel her approval of my fireand also that it... Oh my,Agent Trask! I gave her aquickpeckonthelipsandsheblushed slightly and said.“Well, that's why this lot ishere to discuss things withyou. Now that your motherhas the public and humanrightsagenciesawareofyourpossible plight, I really don'tthink they would dare spirit

us away.' Then shewhispered in my ear, “Plusthey still believe we woulddieifwewereseparated.”

I giggled at that. Thenturnedtothedoorasabunchofsuitsmadetheirwayin. Isighed, thiswas not going tobefun,butIhadmyprotectoratmyside...withher,Icoulddo anything! I pushed myface intoher shirtand tookadeep, calming breath,surrendering to the safety it

promised.----It is hard to believe it

was only three months agothat I started this newadventureinmylife.Isoaredover the city, flying neverfailed to exhilarateme. It isalmost funny to me howflying and heights used toterrifymeso.Thefreedomisbeyond description. It wasalmost as amazing as beingwith Quinn. She finally

caved to her temptations onenight, her arousal wasoverwhelming me, and shepulled me into her room inournewapartmentandtamedthedragon.IamherDrakonand she is my protector andmylove.

Mykeeneyes swept thenight like it was daylight,patrolling and watching thestreets for any that wouldseektodomyhuman'sharm.I saw people on the streets

looking up and waving, Iwouldbreatheshortburstsoffire to acknowledge them. Ilanded on the spire theyhastily constructed on thetallestbuildinginthecityforme to perch upon, the'DragonSpire'.

I smiled as I saw thewater dragon, FranciscoDalton from Trinidad, flyingtoward his new home nearSteamboat Springs. He wasthefirstof threedragons that

have made it to Denver tojoin my Eire Dragon Clan.Theyalllookedtomeastheirqueen.

Mei has startedexhibiting signs of elementalfire ability. We believe oursharedexperiencescausedtheelementalrebirththatwereadof in the scrolls. She is notDrakon, but she is not trulyhuman now either. She andJames got engaged, I lookforward to their wedding in

April,sheaskedmetobehermaidofhonor.

Ma and Da moved toDenver. DagotapositionattheUniversityofDenverandMa started a bakery that sheshamefullycalledTheDenverDragon Bakery to me ownprotests. She fights formysticalandhumanrightsforany peaceful magic wielderor creature, people fear hertempermorethanmine.

As I swept thecitywith

mygaze,Ithoughtofall thatis happening in the world.All the allied nations havemade new laws andprocedures pertaining tomagic wielders. They wereprotected as long as theyfollowed the laws of thecountries they lived in. Orthey would be apprehendedlike any other criminal andbrought to justice. Thewholesaleslaughterofkillinganythingdifferenthas for the

most been abolished. Onrare occasions, Quinn and Iwouldbecalled to fly inandbring them to justice ifwrongdoers couldn't becontained and too manyinnocentswereatrisk.

Interpolwillbereleasingthe shards of the Fire Stoneinto my protection, as theyarestarting togo through theawakeningandflyingoffonebyonetofindtheirbodies.

Theoneunfortunateside

effect of all of this is thatDenver is the hotbed ofmystical and arcane activitybecause of the mystics andcreatures that seek myprotection as well as thosewhoseekpowerfornefariouspurposes that come tochallenge the Dragon ofDenver. I liftedmy head totheheavens,spreadmywingsmenacingly and let loose aroar that shook the city as Ishotapyreofflamesintothe

sky as a challenge andwarning to all that wouldthreatenmypeople.

Ifeltmymatecallingtome,Ileaptwithallmymightinto the air and startedspiralinghometoQuinnwithasmileonmyface.

I am Doctor MyraO'Connell,andIamDrakon!

EpilogueIpulledmyselfwithmy

onegoodarmtotheentranceof the cave overlooking thecity. My legs were all butuseless, they were broken inso many places and notmendingwell.Ilookeddowntoseethatbitchflyingaroundthe city below. She cannotget awaywith this, I'm SaintGeorge! I'vekilledhundredsofdragons!

I hesitated, but she wasso huge. None before herwieldedpowerlikethat. HerheartwiththeothersIhadherin the sack beside me couldmakemewholeagain. ThenIcouldstartover,gettheFireStone and seal myimmortality again. Now Iwas done with hiding, theworld knew of me now, Iwould rain down hell onEarth and shape it to mywhims. I just needed her

deadfirst.I ducked down as the

water dragon flew past. Itwas theonewho liveduponthe ridge by SteamboatSprings. Stupid to stayisolated from the clan. If Ihad the power, I'd add hishearttomybagtonight.

I looked at the burnedandblisteredstumpwheremyhand used to be. I took meweeks to build the snare onehanded to capture the crow.

But I have its heart andfeathersnow.Ilookedatmybelt where I had the snakeheadIjustobtainedtonight.Ijust needed to cut out itstongue and I can bring thatharlot witch back who canrestore my body enough formetotakeherpowerandtakedownO'Connell.

I wish I could do itwithouther,buteven today Istill haven't found all of herwritings. I pulled the string,

coilingitaroundmyarmwithmy one hand as the bagcontainingeverythingIwouldneed to startmy revengeslidslowly out of the depths ofthe cave I've been forced torotin.

I shuddered at thememory of the power of theQueen Dragon below. Howhad she wielded all theelements? The other twoQueens Ikilled in their sleepnever demonstrated that

ability.Weretheyhidingit?AndCaragh, could shedo it,as well? I guess I'll neverknowtheanswertothatsinceIneversawherdragonbeforeIsealedthemallbymybloodinto the Fire Stone. Then itwas an easy matter for meandmymentoslitthethroatsof all the weak humans theybecame. I savored thememoryofthelightgoingoutin Caragh's eyes. Did shereallythinkIcouldloveher?

ButMyra, would surelyhavekilledmeinthathorrificonslaughtofearth,water,andfire had her attack notweakened the ground belowmeand I fell into the sewersbelow. But not before sheshattered most of my bonesandburnedalmosteveryinchof my body. It took meweeks to claw my way outthroughthesewersthenuptothiscave.

I pulled a piece of the

human jawbone from thebag.Thiswasalwaysmyfailsafe. It tookme hundreds ofyears to locate the finalresting place of the witch.She thought itwould be safefrommeonthatGodforsakenisland, shehid itwell. But Ihad all the time in theworldbackthen.

Isetthejawbonebackinthe bag and started crawlingdown the mountain to theshallow grave a couple

hundred yards off. I had tobury it because the animalswere trying to eat it and thestench of decaying fleshwasmakingmesick.

I couldn't believe myluck when I clawedmy wayinto the girl's camp. Whatkindof idiotcampsalone. Itwasperfect,IwaswonderingwhereIwasgoingtofindthebodyof awoman toperformthis ritual. In my currentstate, it seemed almost

impossible.Butthelordshallprovide. I slit her throat assheslept.Ittookdaystodraghertomycave.

I started pushing off thestones I stacked on thegrave.ThenIclawedattheground with my bloodiedhand.Idustedofftherottingfetidfleshwithasmile.SoonIwouldbewholeagain.

I pulled the sack upbeside me and laid thejawbone on the corpse's

chest. Then grabbed thesnakeheadandplacedittheretoo. I held it downwithmystumpasIcut thetongueoutand threw the head off intothe woods. I placed thetongue into themouth of thedeadwomanandgot the restofthethingsIwouldneedfortheritual.Ihadtostripawaysome flesh on her foreheadbecause I couldn't drawon itanddrewthe thrall runewithmybloodontheskull.

This was fitting. Shewas the only one who couldrivalme, but now shewouldbe my puppet. I put thefeathers, crow's heart andotheritemsonthepileonherchest and arranged them inthe proper manner and withthe knife, cut the rune ofdeath and flesh into her toconnecttheitems.

Ithrewtheknifeasideinmyexcitement, thiswasit. Ilooked down to see the

dragon bitch flying belowland on that damned spirethey built for her. “Soon” Ihissedthenstartedthechant.The sky above me darkenedand theputrid smell ofdeathswirled around. Burningembers started risingupandswirledaroundthebody.

I scrambled back as thetwisted magics of death andthe flesh didmy bidding. Afewmomentslaterthecorpsesatupandgaspedforbreath.

Ihaddoneit! Shestoodandlooked around with halfrotted eyes and she stoppedwhenshe lookedatme. Herheadtiltedtothesideandhersnake's tongue shot out,tastingtheair.

Avoicefromthepitsofhellcroakedout, “Georgios?GeorgiosofLydda?”

I looked at the halfcorpse in front of me andlaughed. “That's rightMorgan. It is me and I am

nowyourmaster.Ineedyouto restore me to health so Icanreclaimmyimmortality.”

She pointed at me andlaughed. It was sickening.“It doesn't look as if youfaredmuch better thanme.”She looked at her rottinghands. “What makes youthink I would ever willinglyhelp a coward such asyourself? You couldn't takeme on so you stole thedragonsthatcouldhavegiven

me the immortality you seekso you could outlast me.Timebeatmeyoudidn't.”

She glanced at the citybelow then to me. “Howmuchtimehaspassed?Whatyearisthis?”

I smirked at her.“Welcome to the twenty firstcentury.” Then I hissed ather, “And don't you everspeak tome like that again!You want to know why Ithink you would willingly

help me? Well, that is thejoke.Youhavenowill,Iamyour master now! I havedrawnthethrallruneonyourforehead.

Her hand went partiallyup toward her forehead thenshedroppedittohersideandstarted laughing... almostmaniacally.Iwasenragedather outburst, none of theother thralls were thismouthy. “Shut your mouthwitch! Now restore my

flesh!”She stepped out of the

graveandlookeddownatmewith a sickening smile.Nodding her head andlooking down at herselfagain. Then to the city.“There are dragons in thistime?! You failed even inthat. But yes. Flesh willneedtoberestored.”

She motioned her handand my body flew up andagainst a tree. I was pinned

and couldn't move, shewalked up to me and tiltedher head like she wasexamining me. I spat out,“Do it now, I command...”ThenIfeltsearingpainasherhandshotoutandgrabbedmytongue and violently tore itoutofmymouthbeforeIwasfinished.

I wailed in pain, I wasevenmore terrifiednow thanduringMyra's final attackonme. I tried to sputter,

“How?” But it came out aguttural sound without mytongue.

She smiled and ran afingerdownmycheek. “I'massuming you are wonderinghow I can resist the thrallrune?Itissimpleyoufool.”She reached up andwiped itoff her exposed skull. Thenshethoughtforamoment.“Iguess you really wouldn'tknow would you? Since allof your magics were stolen

from others, you wield norealpowerofyourown.”

She laughed and hersnake tongue tasted the air.“Themagicofthefleshismyown, it does not conform tothe other magics norelementalandnaturemagics.Itisthearcane.Andassuch,itisboundtothosewhocraftit intoitsdarkshape. Otherscan use it, but it remainsboundtoitsmaster.”

She leaned in and I

could smell her rottingbreath. “I am its master, itdoesnotworkagainstme.”Icould almost feel her angerradiating fromher. My eyesdarted around in terror and Ilostcontrolofmybladder.

She laughedhystericallyat that. Shestumbledbackastep and bent over as shelaughed. Then she lookeddown at Myra on that spirefar below. “I tire of this, Ineed your flesh to complete

me so I can go claim thedragons below, to get theimmortality you let slipthrough your fingersGeorgios.”

Shegrinned.“I'mafraidthis is going to be quitepainful for you. But don'tworry, I'll leave your eyesand leave your remaininghusk life bonded to that tree,so that you canviewwhat isleft of yourself decomposeoverthetree'slifetime.Justa

hundredyearsorso.”Then she chanted

something and my fleshstarted dissolving as shestarted becoming whole Icouldn't help but watchthroughmyownscreamsandthe searing pain as shebecame that beautiful girl Ihad killed. I feltmyself fallto thegroundinaclatter likedried rawhide. Looking ather and the valley below.The pain would not leave.

For the first time inmy longlife,IwishedIwasdead.

She looked down at meas she stretched and sigheddeeply. “Thank you. I feelmarvelous now dear.” Shelooked at her arms and ranher hands along her sides.“Nice, very nice.” Then shespotted thegirl's purse in thegrave and retrieved it andfound her ID. “Hmm...Jackie Johnson. Eeeww Ilook so young. Oh well, at

least I'll have her lifetime toclaimthedragons.”

Then a roar echoedthrough the mountains andwe both looked down to seeMyra challenging all whodare as her flames shot upintotheclouds.

Morgan turned to me.“Well goodbye dear, enjoyyour existence. I have adragontoslay!”Shestoppedand picked up my bag andcocked an eyebrow, “Dragon

hearts? These could beuseful.” Thenshestartedoffdownthemountain.

Through the searingpain, I took solace in onesimple fact. Likeme, I wassure thatMorgan la Faywasseriously underestimating thepower of Doctor MyraO'Connell, Queen of theDragons.

Books in the Drakonseries...AwakeningBooks in the Music of theSouluniverse...(Allbooksarestandaloneandcanbereadinanyorder)MusicoftheSoulADeafeningWhisperDatingGameKaraokeQueenSilentBob

FiveFeetorLessBrokenSongSyncopatedRhythmShort Stories in the MusicoftheSouluniverse...Misadventures of VictoriaDavenport: OperationMatchmakerBooks in the ValkyrieChroniclesseries...ReturnoftheAsgardBloodlines

FolkvangrBooks in the Fractureseries...Fracture:Divergence

SampleChapterofMusicoftheSoul:Progeny(CominginApril2014)Chapter1-Arrival

This was so bloodyexciting, I couldn't believe Iwas actually here! I,SamanthaPrudenceRoth,hadsomehow been accepted intothe New York Academy ofArtonafullscholarship!

I remember when theacceptance letter came. I

must have squealed like abloody git for ten minuteswhenIreadit.ItwasoneofthefewtimesIhadeverseenmy mum cry. Most peopledon't think she is veryemotional, but they don'tknow her. Underneath thatstoic exterior swirls, moreemotion than most peoplecouldpossiblybear.

The look of awe thattwinkledinhereyeswasallIneed to know that she was

proud of me foraccomplishing sucha featonmyownmerits. If Ihad justaskedmyparents,theywouldhave paid for the college ofmy choice. But I wasdetermined tomakemy ownway and prove to myself Icould do it with my ownabilities rather than justbecausewecouldonlyaffordit.

Thecampuswassmallerthan others, but arguably,

some of the most artisticpeople of our age havespawnedfromthisprestigiousart institute. I think I readsomewhere that there wereless than two thousandstudentsherewithnoplansofeverexpanding.

I found out that myacceptancecamedowntothesketchstudyIhaddoneofthehomeless people of Seattle.My aunt Sandra... well sheisn't really my aunt, I don't

haveany real auntsbut thereis a select group of womenthat my parents know, that Ilove as my aunts. Anyway,Sandra runs the CallahanFoundation. Yes, THATCallahan Foundation. She'sbrillandisprobablythemostselflesspersonIknow.

She brought me aroundthecitythroughoutmysenioryear in high school,introducingmetosomeofthemost fascinating people I

haveevermet.Inmostcases,it was a tragedy thecircumstancesthathadlandedthem on the streets. Butsome,likeamannamedLeo,werealmostregalandselflessto a fault. He says he doesmore good living on thestreets now than he ever didpatrollingthembackwhenhewasapoliceofficer.

I had sketched thepeople as I saw them, not asthepublicseesthem.Ibound

my sketches and presentedthemtothecommittee.Iwaslate in my submissionbecause I just had to finishmysketchofLeotoincludeitin the study. They at firstsaid they would considermefor next year's enrollmentsince they had already filledall theseats for theyear,andthe competition was greaterthannormalthisyear.

Iwasallsettogototheartprogramat theUniversity

of Washington for myfreshman year, I had ascholarship offer there. Itwas my second choice so Icould still live athome. Butone of the recipients in NewYorkhaddeferred since theygot an offer at the RegencyArtCollegeinFrance.Idon'tblame theguy, itwasagreatopportunity. So theacceptance committee herereachedouttome!

Most of the other

students had already arrivedlast week to get settled inbefore classes starttomorrow. But since I justreceived an acceptance letterthree days ago, I didn't havethat luxury. My parentshelped me get everythingtogether and to take care ofeverything I needed to withtheUniversityofWashingtonand the scholarship I hadthere, then I was almostphysically thrown onto a

planethismorningsoIcouldstartthisnewexcitingchapterofmylife.

Sonow,here I stood, inthelargecourtyardlookingatthecampuswithmysuitcase.Ilookedatmyalmostantiquesuitcase lovingly, mumnamed it 'clunky' but shehasnevertoldmewhy. Igettheimpression it has somethingto do with that KaraokeQueen competition from allthose years ago. Uncle Tim

always smileswhenhe looksatittoo.Fine,he'snotreallymy uncle. Mum says she'llship the rest of the stuff I'llneedinthenextcoupledays.

Thereweresomeboothssetuponthelawnforcheck-in for freshmen, and otherbooths to sign-up for variousclubs. There was even amilitary recruiting booth setup. It had a picture of thatspectacularbad-asssoldieronthe frontof theirbooth,what

was her bloody name? Theone that has won so manymedals for her heroism?RobinMeyers!Thatwasit.

There wasn't a queue,most of the students hadalready been here close to aweek. A bloke stumbledbackwards like he waspushed,almostrightintome.A strong feminine alto voicerang out, “Now get the fuckoutofmysight!”

Theguyhissed,“Bitch!”

Then he made his wayquicklyfromthescene.Thenthe girl turned to a coupleother blokes who werewatching and took a single,lunging, menacing steptoward them. They leftquickly,aswell.

Finally, she turned tolookatafourthboyandtiltedherhead,almostlikeitwasaquestion, her eyes not ashard. He just nodded at herwith a look of relief on his

face. Shehadanalmostevilgrinonherfaceassheturnedtowalkaway.Shehesitatedamoment as her eyes sweptpastme.

By all that was holy, ifshe wasn't so much of anapparent bitch, she wouldhave takenmybloodybreathaway. She had anunconventional and hardbeauty, not a girly girlfemininity that so manyothershave.

She was tall, possiblyfive foot ten or eleven. Fewwomen were as tall as mymum.Thisgirlhadastrikingmaneof straightbrownhair.The things that stunned memostwereherambereyes.Solighttheyalmostglowedwithan orange tint, all I couldthink was that they lookedlikecat'seyes.

I felt the collywobblesfluttering around in mystomach as I took in her

feminine but slightly ruggedappearance. Shehadaslightfigure with not much in thebreast department, but theystill gave her a femininecurveunderherband t-shirt.I almost snorted, it was avintage Satin Thunder shirt.Her torn jeans looked almostpainted onto her shapelylegs. Her black conversesneakerscompletedthelook.

Her face... itwasoneofthose faces that made you

smile and not even knowwhy. Like a cute girl nextdoor combined with somedangerous and seductivequality.

She started movingagain and I realized I wasstaring at her as she left.Leaveittometofindsuchanabrasive bully attractive. Iput her onmy 'avoid' list. Iprefer a kind, intelligentpeopletohangaroundwith.

I stepped up to the

freshmanboothandsmiledatthecuteboythere.Wellhellothere! His name tag saidBrent,hehadsomestartlinglyprettygreeneyes.Musthavecome with that red mop ofhairhewasblessedwith.Hewas a gangly fellow, but Iprefer that sort of characterover traditional looks. Hewas a little older than me,probablyajuniororsenior.

I smiled at him and hegave a lopsided smile back.

“I'm supposed topickupmynew student welcome andorientation packet at thepavilions on the green. I'massuming that this is theplace.” I brushed my pinklock of hair out of my faceand over my shoulder withmy mass of blonde hair. Iknew I should have worn aponytailtoday.

Hegrinned.“Thisisthespot. He looked at the fewpackets left on the table.

Whatwasthename?”I felt like a git. “Oh,

yes,terriblysorry,myname.SamanthaRoth.”

He blushed a little andresponded, “Oh don't worryaboutit.Iloveyouraccent.”Hegrabbedawelcomepacketwith my name on it andhanded it to me. It neverceases to amaze me howmanypeople say that tome.They feel I have a Britishaccent when I speak, but in

London we just call ittalking.WemovedtoSeattlea little after my parentsretired from the musicbusiness. But I was oldenoughthatmyaccentsortofstuck. I like that because alotofpeoplesayIsoundlikemum.

I took a sly page out ofherbookandreplied,“Thankyou... and I don't have anaccent,youdo.”

He snorted cutely and

blushedatthat.Igrinned,hewas a shy one, that justcompounded his cuteness tome. Then he sat up straightlike he had forgottensomething.“Oh!YouareinSchubertHall,room301,itison the packet there. Wouldyoulikeastudentambassadorsenior to showyou thereandgive you a tour of thecampus?”

I smiled at him. “Thatwouldbebrill,Brent.”

He looked down at hisnametagthenbackatmeandhis grin doubled, then hemotionedtoagroupofyoungmen and women who werechatting nearby. A cutebrunettealmostboundedovertouswithanawesomesmileonherface.

Brent blushed at her.The shy ones are always soendearing! Then he said toher,“ThisisSamanthaRoth.Shejustarrivedandneedsan

ambassador to get hersituated.”

The young womanwinked at him playfully, I'msure just to get him to blushmore. I like this wickedwoman! “You got it Red.”Then she turned to me andputherhandout.“Pleasedtomeet you, Samantha. I'mJune Harris-West. You cancall me June or JW. WhatshouldIcallyou?Samantha,Sam, Sammie, Samster, the

Samulater, Sam-a-lam-a-ding-dong,orjustHank?”

I couldn't stop fromlaughing at the exuberantwoman, who reminded me alot of my aunt Amber. Shelooked oddly familiar tome,especially that glint of keenintelligencesparklinginthosechocolate brown eyes thatseemed to be taking ineverything at once. Brentspoke up, “Don't mind JWhere. She gives everyone

nicknames.”She just grinned. “Oh

admitit,you'regoingtomissme around here after Igraduatethisyear,Red.”

I chuckled again andshook her hand, “Well hithere June. Though I amquitefondofthatHankname,youcanjustcallmeSam.”

The way she heldherself... reminded me somuch of... oh! “June, youlooksomuchlikeMandy...”

She interrupted whilerolling her eyes. “Yes, yes,she's my mom. Enough ofthatHank, let'sshowyou thewonders of the Academy, orwhat passes for wondershere.”

I chuckled again, thiswoman was hilarious. I doremember my parents tellingme Mandy Harris had adaughter,butIhadnevermether on any of the trips wemade down to Vancouver,

Washington from Seattle. Istartedwalkingwithher,thenstopped and returned backquicklytothebooth.“ThankyouBrent.MaybeI'llseeyouaround campus or at a partysometime?”

His lopsided smile grewon his face and he justnodded and kept nodding asJune grabbed my elbow andguided me away and towardSchubert Hall. Shewhispered throughachuckle,

“Oh my, I think you justbrokethepoorboy,Sam.”

I smiled back at her.“What? He's bloody cutedon'tyouthink?”

She looked back andthen at me with aconspiratorialgrin.“YouandI are probably the only oneswhowouldadmit to that,butyeah, Red has somethingspecial.He'llmakesomegirlafinecatchoneday.”

She tilted her head then

said, “Anyone ever tell youthat you have an infectioussmile?”

Now it was my turn toblush.“Atimeortwo.”

“Ah ha! You're just asblush-y as Red! You'realmosttooeasy!”

Iretorted,“Iamnot!”She shook her head in

victory with a sly smile.“Whatever Hank. Let's goseeyourpersonalsliceofhellforthenextfouryearsofyour

life,shallwe?”

TableofContents

CopyrightPrologueChapter1–TheShardChapter2–WakingUpChapter3–ReginaldBlaineChapter4–Mugging!Chapter5–ScrollsChapter6–ThrallsChapter7–Caragh,Queenof

theDragonsChapter8–ElementalFuryChapter9–BloodTieChapter10–TheThirdScrollChapter11-AssaultChapter12–HidingChapter13–UltimatumChapter14–ShowdownChapter15–Dragon!Chapter16–AftermathBooksintheDrakonseries...Sample Chapter ofMusic of

theSoul:Progeny