Firefighter Sea Dragon (Fire & Rescue Shifters Book 4) Read online

  She knew that angular, heavy-browed face with its wide, brutal jaw. She’d only seen him once before, for a brief moment, but those rough-hewn features were unmistakable.

  She’d met that grey, chilling stare once before…looking out from her father’s window, the day before the fire.

  The day before he’d died.

  Her attacker hesitated for a moment, looking back over his shoulder as if he’d heard something. Neridia didn’t pause to see what had caught his attention. Throwing the last book at him, she dashed out the door. He didn’t follow, but she was hardly going to stop to find out why.

  Intent only on escaping, she didn’t notice the wet, slippery puddle at the top of the stairs until it was too late. She cried out as her bare foot slid out from under her, nearly sending her tumbling. She only managed to save herself from breaking her neck by grabbing hold of the bannister. As it was, she landed badly on her ankle, twisting it.

  “John, John!” she sobbed in pain and terror. Where was he?

  *NERIDIA!* His mental roar filled her head.

  She sobbed out loud again, this time in relief. She could feel every muscle in his legs burning as he sprinted flat-out to reach her. In only a few moments, he would be at her side.

  Something wet trickled over her hand. The puddle she’d slipped in was spreading, fed by a trickling stream running impossibly up the stairs. A harsh, chemical reek filled the air.

  Gasoline?

  There was a soft scraping sound, and a light flared in the darkness at the bottom of the stairs. A face leered up at her, lit from below by the flickering match. It wasn’t the intruder from her bedroom, but a different man—leaner, wirier, but with the same brutal cast to his features.

  “Die, monkey scum,” he hissed, and flicked the match into the gasoline.

  *JOHN!*

  John’s pounding heart lurched at Neridia’s mental scream of pure terror. He exploded into his true form, tearing away the roof of the house even as fire exploded through the lower level.

  *I have you!* He snatched her up just in time, lifting her out in one forepaw a second before the flames could reach her.

  Fire licked around his other foreleg, braced in the smashed, burning rubble of the staircase. He recoiled as heat gnawed at the thin, unprotected webbing between his long toes. Awkward as ever on land, he shuffled backward, trying to extricate himself from the ruins of the house.

  “Look out!” Neridia yelled.

  He roared in pain as burning liquid hit his flank. The stuff clung, roasting his flesh even through his armored scales. A moment later, a second burst of agony lit up his shoulder.

  He was under attack. But where was it coming from?

  Blindly, he lashed out with his tail, and was rewarded with an abruptly cut-off scream as he smashed someone into the side of the burning building. But it was clear he faced more than one opponent—yet another jet of fire shot through the darkness, missing his muzzle by mere inches.

  The blazing inferno turned the night into a confusion of stark orange light and dancing shadows. His vision was adapted for the dimness of the ocean; this stabbing blaze seared his sensitive eyes as painfully as the smoldering oil still clinging to his hide.

  He coiled protectively around Neridia, shielding her from the fiery blasts with his own body as he desperately searched for a way out. He had the advantage of strength, but his very size crippled him on land. He made an excessively easy target to hit.

  Neridia pounded her fist against the side of his claw. He couldn’t even feel the tiny impact, but her urgency poured down their mate bond. “Shift! Before they burn you alive!”

  *One moment!* he replied telepathically, clenching his teeth in pain as another gout of fire lashed his flank.

  Despite the smoke swirling in the air, he breathed deeply, filling his mighty lungs to full capacity. Then, at the top of his voice, he sang.

  It was not his finest work. The circumstances were hardly conducive to the reflective, calm state of mind required for truly great poetry. But what it lacked in finesse, it made up for in passion, and in desperation. And, of course, in volume.

  And, in volume, the rain answered.

  It fell like a hammer blow, shocking and brutal. Every cloud in the sky gladly came at his call, pouring out their hearts in the name of the Empress. The blazing house spat and fought against the downpour. Flame ran in rivers as still-burning oil was washed away.

  Water slicked his scaled hide, soothing the pain of his burns. But more importantly than that, it ran over everything. Nothing could hide from it.

  Here! sang the rain as it found his attackers, each individual raindrop a tiny, triumphant note as it struck their flesh. Here! Here! Here!

  Now he knew where they were. There were ten of them, though two were already crumpled and dead. The eight remaining were spread out around him. They’d evidently been closing in, but the unexpected assault of the rain had shattered their formation.

  John took advantage of their momentary distraction to shift back to human form. He caught Neridia in one hand, drawing his sword with the other. “Can you run?” he shouted over the din of the downpour.

  “I twisted my ankle.” She clung to his side, struggling to stay upright on her injured foot. “What’s happening? Who are they?”

  He very much wanted to know the answer to that question himself. With the rain’s assistance, John located the nearest one—a man crouching behind Neridia’s vehicle, separated from the main group.

  John squeezed Neridia’s hand, silently sending her a mental image of his plan down their mate bond. She nodded in understanding. She moved behind him, holding onto the straps of his scabbard for support. Together, as quickly and silently as they could, they circled the vehicle, relying on the torrential rain to hide their movements.

  As he crept up behind the lurking man, John saw that he had one hand outstretched. Liquid fuel gathered in a floating ball over the man’s palm, running out of the open cap of the car’s tank.

  A hiss of disbelief escaped John’s throat. Only one group had the power to manipulate oil in that way…and they were meant to be dead.

  The Brotherhood of Extinction!

  They were an outlawed cult of plesiosaur shifters, who mourned their long-extinct kin and were filled with hatred for the humans that had inherited the world. They had an affinity for fossil fuels, thanks to their own prehistoric nature, and could manipulate oil the same way he himself could manipulate water. They were assassins and arsonists, happy to whore their skills out to the highest bidder…especially if it gave them the chance to spread destruction and chaos on land.

  The Sea Council had finally authorized the Order of the First Water to exterminate them several years ago, on the advice of the Knight-Commander. John had gladly assisted in wiping the ocean clean of the honorless pond scum.

  Evidently the Order of the First Water had missed some.

  The plesiosaur shifter whipped round, eyes widening as he caught sight of them. He ignited the oil and flung it, but John dodged, spinning Neridia safely out of the way. Before the assassin could launch another fireball, John was on him. His blade passed through the plesiosaur shifter’s neck with barely a hint of resistance.

  Neridia cried out as the body dropped, blood mingling with the mud. But there was no time to comfort her—they’d attracted attention. Six jets of fire lit up the rain, homing in on their position. John pulled Neridia down, covering her with his own body as the fireballs hit the car. Heat washed over his back as the vehicle ignited.

  The remaining seven assassins were closing in fast, moving through the rain as smoothly as sharks. Tugging Neridia up again, John desperately tried to keep his armored form between her and the circling assassins, every sense alert for the next attack.

  The odds were very bad. The Brotherhood of Extinction were vicious beasts who fought without honor, stopping to any low trick to ensure victory. Even without Neridia to protect, he would have been hard-pressed to take down this many of them sing
le-handed. Hampered by the need to shield her, he was badly outmatched.

  *My brothers, assist me!* he called out reflexively in his mind. But his fellow firefighters were too far away to reach telepathically. And even if they had been closer…they thought he had returned to the sea. They would not be listening for his call.

  He could not seek refuge in the lake; with Neridia still unable to shift, they would be even more at a disadvantage there. He would be constrained to stay on the surface while the assassins would be free to harry him in their agile plesiosaur forms.

  I must rush them, he decided grimly. Force them all to focus their fire on me, and endure long enough to slay them all.

  Neridia’s fingers dug into his arm as she sensed his intention down the mate bond. “John, no!”

  He pushed her forcefully away, toward the ditch that ran alongside the road. “Hide! Find what cover you can!”

  He spun on his heel, sword poised and ready. At his command, the rain lifted around him. The fierce light from the blazing car backlit his form, highlighting every edge of his pale armor. He was as exposed as a pearl in an opened oyster.

  “Primitive throwbacks!” He hurled the taunt into the night, contempt and derision clear in every note. “I shall send you to join your pathetic kin in the oblivion of extinction!”

  As he had hoped, his insults maddened the Brotherhood. Hissing in outrage, they closed in on him, flinging blazing balls of crude oil.

  He dodged and spun, fighting for his life, for her life. His sword cut down one, two, three—but the last deliberately clawed his way up the blade even as he died, fouling John’s backstroke. In the two seconds it took him to free his weapon, the remaining four had regrouped.

  The assassins raised their hands, uttering an ugly, guttural chant. A great wave of crude oil swirled up before them, drawn from the tanks strapped to their backs. John sprinted toward them—but too late.

  One of the plesiosaur shifters tossed a lit match. John flung up an arm in futile reflex, shielding his face as the towering wall of fire roared over him.

  The hungry flames flowed around him like water parting around a rock. The inferno swirled barely inches from his skin, yet he could not even feel its heat.

  *My apologies for the abrupt intrusion,* said a familiar cool, calm voice in his head.

  Blinking, John looked up. A large, bird-like shape hovered over him, wings spread protectively, every feather burning brighter than the firestorm raging all around.

  *I do not wish to imply that you need aid,* Fire Commander Ash continued, as politely as if this was a mere social call. *But if you permit it, we would very much appreciate the honor of sharing this battle with you.*

  Dumbfounded, John could only incline his head in wordless assent.

  The Phoenix turned incandescent eyes on the Brotherhood of Extinction. Shock was clear in the assassins’ pale faces. One broke and fled, but the remaining three stepped up their chant, pushing with their hands as they tried to force the fire to obey them.

  The Fire Commander’s eyes flared white-hot. The fire doubled back, embracing the plesiosaur shifters in their own blaze. They didn’t even have time to scream before they were nothing more than drifting ashes.

  John hesitated, torn between chasing down the last fleeing assassin and running to Neridia’s side. His dilemma was resolved by two more winged forms swooping down out of the sky.

  *We’ll take care of your mate,* Griff sent to him. The golden griffin spread protective wings in front of Neridia. Hugh slid off his back, hastening to support her. *You get the last one!*

  *This way!* Chase was already pursuing the fleeing assassin, his black hooves flashing over the stony ground. *He’s heading for the water. Cut him off, Dai!*

  “Do not kill him!” John shouted, as Dai—in red dragon form—came hurtling out of the sky like a thunderbolt. “I want him alive! I want to know who sent them!”

  Dai rumbled acknowledgment. Opening his huge jaws, he breathed out a blast of fire, trying to cut off the assassin’s escape route—but with a final, desperate burst of speed, the plesiosaur shifter dodged around the leaping flames. John cursed as the assassin plunged into the lake, form blurring into a long-necked, finned shape.

  John splashed into the water himself, intent on pursuing the assassin in his own true form—but the lake swirled urgently around his legs, current grasping his ankles like hands trying to hold him back.

  *What are you waiting for?* Chase demanded, cantering up to him. The pegasus spread his wings, preparing to launch himself after the fleeing plesiosaur. *Hurry, he’s getting away!*

  “Wait!” John caught a handful of the pegasus’s long black mane, stopping him from taking off. “The water is warning us away. Something is lurking in wait.”

  The plesiosaur shifter was already nearing the middle of the lake, swimming for its life. Suddenly it thrashed, its paddle-like fins flailing at the water as if attempting to climb out of it.

  Dai landed behind them with a thump, spines bristling and teeth bared. *What the-?* he began.

  With a last despairing shriek, the plesiosaur vanished backward under the water, still struggling. Blood swirled on the surface of the lake.

  The dark, triangular shape of a shark’s fin emerged, rising up.

  And up.

  And up.

  *I have an idea.* Chase’s usually swift, boisterous mental tone was subdued as the monstrous fin sank silently back into the depths once more. *Let’s not go into the water.*

  Chapter 15

  “But how did you know to come?” Neridia asked Hugh as he examined her ankle.

  “You can thank Dai for that.” The white-haired paramedic jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the enormous red dragon who was working with John to put out the remaining fires. “Or more precisely, his grumpy, over-tired baby. He was walking around the hotel, trying to soothe the brat back to sleep, when he saw every cloud get sucked across the sky in this direction. He knew it had to be John’s doing.”

  *Good thing he woke us all up straight away.* Neridia started as Griff’s rolling Scottish voice spoke inside her mind. He was still in griffin form, holding one broad wing over both their heads to shelter them from the continuing drizzle. *We got here just in time. Whoever these thugs were, they were enough to give even John trouble.*

  “I think John recognized them,” Neridia said. “I guess they must come from the same place he does.”

  She flinched as both Hugh and the griffin stared at her. “What?”

  “You can hear him?” Hugh said, sounding startled.

  “Um, yes. In my head, the same way I can hear John. Why, is that wrong?”

  “Not wrong,” Hugh said, his ice-blue eyes narrowing thoughtfully. “But usually we can only communicate telepathically with other mythic shifters.”

  The griffin cocked his head, feathers raising with evident interest. *So I was right. Your father was the lost sea dragon Emperor, wasn’t he?*

  Neridia looked down at her knees. “That’s what John thinks. But whatever my dad might have been, I’m just human.”

  Hugh and Griff exchanged glances. “Hmm,” the paramedic said, not sounding entirely convinced. “Well, medically speaking, I can pass no judgment on what species you are, but I do know that you’ve badly sprained this ankle. Hold still.”

  He laid his hand on her ankle, skin to skin. Neridia caught her breath as a tingling warmth spread out from his touch.

  “How are you doing that?” she asked in amazement as the dull ache faded away to nothing.

  “With great annoyance and discomfort,” Hugh replied, through gritted teeth. His expression was set in a pained grimace, as though healing her was hurting him in some way. “Why do all my patients have to screw like bunnies before they get injured?”

  Embarrassment flooded up her face. “How did you-?”

  *Hugh doesn’t like to talk about himself,* Griff said telepathically. The griffin’s hooked beak fell open in an unmistakable smile. *But it seems congratu
lations are in order. You and John are mated?*

  Neridia squirmed, her blush deepening. “Um. Yes.”

  “So much for chastity,” Hugh muttered, without looking up from her ankle.

  The griffin buffeted the paramedic with his free wing. *Don’t mind him. He’s just cranky. We’re all delighted for you and John.*

  His warm mental tone conveyed his sincerity. Neridia looked away, her throat tightening. He was so obviously pleased for his friend, she couldn’t possibly tell him that she wasn’t sure she shared in his delight.

  In the lake, it had felt so natural, so right. But in the cold light of her burning home, the full impact of her hasty decision was finally hitting her.

  I’m joined to him forever, she thought as she watched John’s towering silhouette, backlit by sullen flames. No matter what. And he’s from a different world…

  A world full of monsters.

  He hadn’t flinched or hesitated in the face of the fire-wielding assassins. He’d cut them down with a practiced, ruthless efficiency, as if it was all in a day’s work. As if this sort of thing was normal in his world.

  And he wants me to join him in that world. Forever.

  Neridia hugged her knees, cold and numb. All she wanted at the moment was for everything to be back to normal. To be safe and secure in her own home, surrounded by her own familiar things.

  But that was something she could never have again.

  John was calling great streams of water out of the lake, directing them onto her house to douse the fire. The red dragon—Dai, Hugh had called him—stomped out smoldering patches with his huge taloned feet, apparently impervious to the flames. Chase, in pegasus form, flew in wide, sweeping circles above the fire, keeping watch for any further signs of attack. The final man, who John had briefly introduced as Fire Commander Ash, didn’t appear to be doing anything other than standing and watching, his hands behind his back.

  Despite the firefighters’ efforts, it was clear that there was no saving her home. The cottage was a roofless, blackened shell. One wall had completely collapsed, torn away by John’s raking talons in his haste to save her.