Breath of Fire (Rena Drake) Read online

  I grabbed a loose black caftan and a pair of matching slippers out of the trunk for Calista, and I used the intercom to contact Erik.

  “Calista’s here,” I said.

  “What?” Erik’s voice held surprise and a little bit of suspicion. “Does Alasdair know?”

  “She said he knows she’s here, but I don’t know if he was expecting her. She just kind of appeared out of nowhere.”

  Erik grunted. “Do you need me?”

  “Yes. We’re in the study. And on your way find Alasdair and bring him along.” I disconnected and left the room so I wouldn’t have to hear his response. I wasn’t quite ready to deal with Alasdair, and Calista being here wasn’t going to improve his mood.

  Calista hadn’t bothered to wrap herself in one of the numerous blankets that were placed around the room. She stood at the bar, naked as a baby, drinking another whiskey, and I rolled my eyes before I could control it. None of the Ancients had problems with nudity. I, however, still wasn’t used to it, even after all these centuries.

  “I brought you some of your old things,” I said.

  She held out her hand without looking at me, and I placed the clothes in it. “This place hasn’t changed much,” she said. “I still hate it.” She slipped the caftan over her head and knocked back the rest of the whiskey like it was water. She walked over to a club chair angled next to the fireplace, sat down and pulled on the slippers. “Bring me another whiskey, Rena. It’s cold out.”

  I did as I was told. I wasn’t sure how I should act with Calista, or why she was even there. I felt a kind of responsibility toward her that people of my race don’t often have—caused by the human in me, no doubt. We’re predators by nature. Solitary creatures who stay within our immediate family circle forever. There’s loyalty toward the clan, as long as it doesn’t interfere with our basic wants or needs.

  I never had a mother growing up. I didn’t know my biological mother’s name or what happened to her (though I’d always suspected Alasdair killed her), but my earliest memories were of Calista. She was the one who raised me and schooled me. She and Erik had been the only two people I’d had much contact with when I was a newling—and Calista only spent the time with me because it was her duty to find and train the next Enforcer, just like I was doing with Cal. Since the ability of Enforcer was contained to only our clan, it wasn’t difficult to find those who had the power. When we had our yearly gathering, everyone’s powers were observed for any signs of rare Drakán abilities—especially the ability of mind control.

  “Alasdair is angry with you,” Calista said. “I can feel the heat of his rage at your defiance. You smell of human.”

  I kept my face blank of emotion as I reached out with my senses to see if she spoke the truth. It took all my control not to flinch at the scalding burn of his anger.

  “I did what was right,” I said. “The Drakán children were my concern, and they were being poorly treated. Our clan needs their strength.”

  “Don’t lie to me, Rena. The pity you feel for all of them reeks from your pores. If you keep defying your father he will eventually let go of his control completely and convince the Council to lift the ban on our safety. If that happens, he will kill you. And he’ll have just cause.”

  “I will continue to do what I see fit, Aunt Calista. I know exactly what I am, no thanks to you, and I’ll keep damning you all to the Realm of the Dead until we change our ways and become a thriving society. We’re as good as dead if we continue on the same path.”

  Her eyes darkened in anger, and I waited for her attack, but she stayed seated. There was no point at being angry with Calista. She’d dumped this job on me and left without a goodbye for her own self-preservation. I understood exactly how she’d felt. Living with Alasdair wasn’t easy. Sometimes I wished I could move out and just disappear—live a life of solitude with the possessions I held most dear, much like Calista was doing—but until our antiquated laws were changed or Alasdair was killed, I was stuck here. Besides, my human conscience wouldn’t let me leave Cal unprepared to face misbehaving dragons like Calista had done with me.

  “Open the drapes. The rain soothes me,” she said.

  “What are you doing here, Calista?” I asked tiredly. “You know what? Never mind. I don’t have time to deal with this. I’ve got to get out of here.”

  “You will deal with this. And you will listen carefully. Now open the damned drapes.”

  I fumed silently as I walked to the heavy red drapes and pulled them aside. Grey, watery morning light barely penetrated the gloom of the study. It wasn’t a room I spent a lot of time in, being much more suited to Alasdair’s tastes than mine—the furniture was large and ornate, the fabrics lush and expensive, the paintings fussy. A stone fireplace dominated one entire wall. There were no family heirlooms or mementos. Alasdair didn’t believe in them.

  In addition to the bloodshed that had happened between Alasdair and Calista, there had also been futures predicted. She’d scared the hell out of Alasdair with her visions, even though he would never admit it, and he’d wounded her badly in retaliation. I knew her coming here meant circumstances were dire. And despite her proclamation of only caring about her hoard, she must still feel some loyalty to her clan or she wouldn’t be here. I took a calming breath and prayed to the gods for patience.

  Tension was high—mine and Calista’s—with the promise of Alasdair’s arrival. Awareness suddenly filled my body, and the fine hairs at the nape of my neck stood on end. The fire in the hearth disappeared to red embers, and the chill in the room was immediate. Alasdair always did like to make an entrance.

  “Show yourself, Alasdair,” I called out.

  He appeared in the chair across from Calista. His legs were crossed and a tumbler of whiskey was held loosely in his hand—a man who looked to the world as if he didn’t have a care. His expression was pleasant unless you looked in his eyes—they were red-rimmed, his fire smoldering just behind them—a sure sign of his anger. And then he looked at me, and I knew I’d be lucky to leave the room in one piece.

  Erik came into the room the normal way and bowed over Calista’s hand before taking his place beside me at the hearth. He put himself between me and Alasdair and squeezed my hand in silent apology for his earlier behavior.

  My father was a handsome man. To humans who could only see the surface he appeared to be in his early forties. His hair was jet black and silvered at the temples. His body was lean and muscled, and his eyes like grey storm clouds—so much like mine it sometimes hurt to look at them. He never wanted for the attention of women, but despite the many who’d shared his bed, Erik and I were his only offspring.

  “Why have you darkened my door, Calista?” he asked. “Shall I punish you for returning to my home at the same time I punish Rena for freeing my potential mate? I’ve always enjoyed spilling your blood, though not as much as I enjoy spilling Rena’s.”

  I felt a hot breeze pass in front of my body and a quick slash of pain. The left sleeve of my shirt was in tatters and blood splattered steadily to the floor. Speed was one of Alasdair’s gifts. He was impossible to visually track, and it was why no one had ever been able to defeat him in a duel. I could tell from the bloodlust in his eyes that he was toying with me.

  Calista ignored his taunt and licked her lips at the blood that pooled at my feet. My expression stayed blank, and I didn’t move a muscle, not wanting to tempt the beasts in the room by showing weakness.

  Alasdair stood against the far wall, his posture relaxed and his gaze taunting. His hand had transformed into sharp talons, and my blood coated the knifelike claws. The hot breeze passed by me again, and I couldn’t help the growl of pain that escaped from my lips. I looked down my body and saw the damage to my thigh. The skin hung in tatters, and the sheen of bone glimmered white between the pink of useless muscles.

  “Leave her be for now, Alasdair,” Calista commanded. “There is time for play later. I am here for a purpose.”

  Alasdair didn’t take h
is eyes off me. “We are not finished, Rena. You will pay for what you’ve done. And don’t think to try to escape my wrath. I will just hunt you down, though the chase does make things more interesting.” He moved in the blink of an eye and sat back across from Calista. The tumbler of whiskey back in his now-human hand. “Tell us why the hell you’re here, Calista, and then get out of my lair.”

  Calista kept her gaze steady on me. “I know who you’re hunting, Rena. I’ve seen them.”

  I raised my brows in confusion. “Yes, I believe I just dispatched some of them in the garden. What I need is their Master. I’ve already decided to ask the Council for a warrant of execution. They’ve killed too many humans. And if I keep hunting the minions, then there will only be more to take their place. The Master is my priority. But now I have a separate problem. The FBI has become suspicious. I was questioned this morning.”

  My arm was numb from the damage, and I was losing a lot of blood. I’d have to take at least a vial full of dragon tears to heal enough to hunt.

  “You have no idea what you’ve been dealing with,” Calista said. “Your investigation has only skimmed the surface of what these Drakán are capable of. You’ve only been focusing on the humans they have butchered because those are the visions you’ve seen, and your humanity closes off your senses to the rest of it. But these Drakán have a vast hunger, and they’ll keep hunting your humans and laughing at you as you continue to clean up their messes. It takes many victims to feed an army of this size.”

  “An army?” I asked as dread filled me.

  “Yes. The humans are inconsequential. This is what you always fail to remember. The Drakán remains you found last night are not the first to have been found. The ashes of dozens of our people have surfaced over the past two months—different clans from different parts of the world.”

  “I didn’t know,” I said.

  “No, you wouldn’t have seen as I have. Your powers are strong, but you’re hampered by your lack of knowledge of the other clans, and your lack of connections to them. That is your father’s fault for keeping you secluded here. He is the only one who could grant you permission to meet the other Archos. If you met them face-to-face, your visions would encompass all of the Drakán and not just our clan. And then we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

  Alasdair growled, but I could understand his anger at being provoked. I could also understand Calista’s view. An Enforcer’s powers had everything to do with connections. I had visions and was able to keep track of the members of our clan because I’d met them all—a little over two thousand at the last gathering. We’d be minus three at the next one since Alasdair had killed Marcos and I’d freed his children from the Drakán bond.

  Calista went on. “It is also the fault of the Council that other clans are ignorant to what is happening. Not even they are fully aware of what is going on under their noses. The clans know only of their own losses. All the while, the Council keeps their heads buried in the sand and hoards their power, avoiding each other and the knowledge they could share because of the hatred that existed between their fathers.”

  I took a chance to look at my father. His face was hard and impassive, but his anger was growing hotter.

  “So how do I find them?” I asked Calista. “I’m ready to begin hunting.”

  “Patience, Rena. I haven’t told you the rest.” The whiplash of her voice almost made me flinch, but I continued to hold myself still.

  “I said remains had been found, but there are hundreds of our people who are simply missing. This is what I’ve seen in my vision. What I’ve come to tell you.”

  “Missing? I don’t understand,” I said.

  Calista and Alasdair shared a look filled with knowledge—secret knowledge—and silent words passed between brother and sister I couldn’t interpret. A warm wind rushed through the room. My father’s rage was a palpable thing, thick and heavy as it lashed against my skin.

  “Why didn’t you tell me, Rena?” Alasdair asked. “I would have gone to the Council if you’d told me this group of Drakán was drawing attention to themselves sooner. Before they started kidnapping Drakán and killing them. It could be too late for us all now.”

  He had me by the throat before I could blink and pressed against the hard stone of the fireplace. “Answer me!” he roared. The stone crumbled beneath my back, and the heat of the flames licked against my legs. Blisters bubbled, but I ignored the discomfort. I had to focus on Alasdair—on living.

  The room passed by me in a blur as my body was flung in the opposite direction. Plaster and sheetrock turned to dust as my body went through the wall. I hit the marble floor with a jarring thud, but the momentum of his force pushed me another twenty feet or so, tunneling a path of crumbled stone in my wake.

  I lay dazed for a minute before crawling to my hands and knees. The damage to my body was so severe the pain wasn’t registering yet. I willed myself to my feet and only had to steady myself against the wall for a moment. The bloody handprint I left on the wall was a stark reminder of the violence I came from. I was Drakán. Not human. And I needed to remember it.

  A curl of smoke escaped Alasdair’s nostril as I faced him down. I couldn’t defeat my father in strength. There was no point in trying. I’d been in this position before.

  “That’s enough, Alasdair. Don’t damage her too much. She is of need to us,” Calista said.

  Alasdair broke eye contact and began pacing like a caged tiger. “Explain yourself, Rena,” he demanded.

  “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t see a need for it before now. You’ve never cared about what happens to the humans. You barely care and provide for your own people. Your father and the Council created the laws we live by. Even now that you and the other Archos make up the new Council, you still uphold the laws of old. And because of this, I’ve been doing my job half blind. I didn’t know of the other Drakán being killed. And that oversight lies at your feet.”

  “Don’t push me with accusations, Rena. You have an obligation to inform me when you feel we are in danger. If Drakán are dying then we are most definitely in danger.”

  “I can’t predict the future, Alasdair. That’s Calista’s talent. My visions have shown only the human kills, with the exception of the vision I had last night. And I have no idea why I saw her in my vision when we’d had no previous connection. The only conclusion I can come to is I saw her because one of our own was responsible for her death.”

  “I’d know if one of our own was the traitor,” he hissed. “They are mine.”

  I didn’t have to say the words, “Unless you’re the ones behind the attack,” but by his darkening expression he was able to read the declaration quite clearly from my face. Alasdair and Calista were the only two Drakán I’d met who had that much power, but surely I would’ve recognized their scents at the kill sites.

  “I’ve been tracking these Drakán the last two months,” I said. “But their hunger hasn’t dissipated. The kills are more violent. These predators play with their prey, using torture to prolong the death instead of showing mercy. They were close last night—only miles from here—but none of us sensed them. Not even you, Alasdair. I don’t know how that’s possible. The Master’s power must be great to hide from us all.”

  The condescension dripped like syrup from my lips, and he absorbed the verbal accusation without flinching. Alasdair stared at me with hatred flashing in his eyes as he walked toward me. I prepared myself for another attack. I’d been goading him on purpose. I always did, looking for the slightest hesitation in the invisible protection around his mind. It would only take once for me to get inside and destroy him completely.

  “I will call the Council together and share this news. Whoever is behind this must be stopped. And you must be the one to stop them, Rena.”

  I could tell by the gleam in Alasdair’s eyes that he hoped the Master behind these Drakán murders would kill me as well. It would be a lot easier to have someone else do the dirty work for him.

 
“How is Rena to stop what she isn’t allowed to see?” Erik asked boldly. “You are sending her to her death without the proper preparation. She needs to meet with the Council herself.”

  Before I could blink, Erik was on the floor of the study, his throat slashed to ribbons as his blood poured like thick wine onto the Persian rug. His eyes were wild with panic as the instinct to breathe like a human took over all logic and reason. But Erik calmed as he remembered he wasn’t human, and therefore didn’t need to breathe like one.

  I knew better than to try to help him, or I’d end up back on the floor. The flesh at his throat was already knitting itself back together.

  “You will get your wish, Alasdair,” I said calmly. “I’ll hunt for the Master until I find him. But I won’t be tied down by Council laws once I have him in my grasp. The warrant of execution doesn’t need a name attached to it. Only that I be able to kill any and all responsible for the death of the Drakán I found, and any other deaths that occur during my search. You and the other Archos can’t hoard all of the power all the time. I have the right to kill just as you do. More of a right, actually. And you never know. Whoever this Master is could be after you next.”

  Alasdair gave me a hard look. “I’ll get your warrant on your terms this once, Rena. But you’d better be damned sure you have all the guilty parties responsible. I will not have any more shame brought to our clan. If there is, I will punish you until you’re begging for death. Enforcer or no.”

  Alasdair’s skin flowed like liquid and his muscles elongated as his dragon form fought to escape his human body. His blood-red scales rippled like rubies, and his teeth gnashed together with enough force to bite a human in two. He launched himself in the air with his powerful haunches and flew through the front window into the rain. The house trembled with his rage, and his roar rumbled across the sky like thunder.