Virtue: A Knight World Novel (Fireborn Wolves Book 2) Read online

  “Do you want this body?” she asked, bending backward, her lips grazing his.

  “Not just your body, Nickie. I want your heart.” He yanked the amulet over her head in one lithe move, tearing out a clump of her hair in his haste. She screamed. But by the time she could react, he was across the room and backing toward the door, the amulet dangling from his grip. He looped it around his own neck.

  “You bastard,” she shrieked, coming at him. “Don’t you know that the amulet is useless unless I give you the power and the knowledge to use it?”

  “I figured as much, but I’m more interested in keeping it from you than using it myself.” He lowered his body, hands raised between them, ready to fight her if he had to. “If you’re going to take me down, you’re going to have to do it without magic.”

  Nickelova broke out in peals of laughter. “You fucking idiot. Do you know where the power of the amulet comes from? Dragon scale. And while I need it in my human form, scales are something I have all on my own.”

  As if she’d been hit by an ax, her skin split and her blood sprayed toward him only to be sucked back toward her shifting body. Gruesome round segments transformed into scales. She grew and changed in the most violent and grotesque transition he’d ever seen in a shifter. But as terrifying as the transition was, the end result almost knocked him on his ass.

  A full-sized adult dragon hissed at him as he stumbled backward out the door, terror gripping his chest like a vice. She was bigger, deadlier in this form than he’d ever imagined. Her razor-sharp teeth gnashed in his direction. No wonder her family colors were red and black. Her scales glinted like bloodstained obsidian.

  Scrambling out the door, he tore through the winding tunnel that led to the main chamber, thankful for his superhuman werewolf speed. The only advantage he had was the natural design of the passageway, which was narrow enough to slow the dragon down. It also served to partially conceal him from her slashing teeth.

  A whoosh like a fireplace bellow came from behind him. Oh shit! He sprinted faster. Fire, hot and blazing, sprayed against the wall behind him, singeing his back. When he emerged into the main chamber, he dodged behind a large stalactite and desperately searched for something to use as a weapon.

  “Jason!” Selene called.

  He searched behind the invisible force field that capped her cell, finally finding her tucked into the far corner of the alcove. She’d chiseled a hole the size of her head in the section of stone at the far edge. “I’m sorry,” he yelled. “I love you, Selene. It was the only thing I could think of.” He pointed to the amulet hanging uselessly around his neck.

  Nickelova cleared the stairwell, her claws clicking on the stone, sounding eerily similar to the click-clack of her high heels.

  “Crap, she’s big,” Selene muttered, eyes wide.

  “And breathes fire,” Jason whispered back. “Got any ideas?”

  The tapping claws stopped and the rushing of air started again. Jason pulled his shoulders in, trying to make himself as small as possible behind the stone formation.

  Selene’s gaze darted to the dragon and back to Jason. “Catch.” She tossed a long, sharp bone through the hole. It skidded to a stop near his feet. He bent over to pick it up only to abandon that idea when fire blasted between them.

  Head tucked under his arms, Jason avoided the worst of the flames, but still the smell of burning hair had him slapping out a spark near his temple.

  “She stops moving when she blows,” Selene said. “She’s like a statue.”

  So that’s what had given him the head start earlier. His werewolf speed was only part of his advantage. When she’d tried to fry him in the corridor, she’d had to stop to do so.

  The flames abated and the clicking talons resumed. Selene jumped out from behind the stone and clapped her hands. “Hey you, hot mess! Yeah you, bitch. Over here!” She waved her hands. The dragon roared, advancing on Selene.

  Jason rushed from his hiding place, sweeping the bone into his hand and skidding across the floor under the dragon. The dirt and grit bloodied his hip. He looked up from his place between her legs, the dragon huffing in air again, her chest glowing crimson as she readied another blast of flames. With all his strength, he thrust the bone between the scales along her breast.

  And failed at breaking her skin. A single scale popped off her torso and clattered beside him. The dragon, otherwise impervious to the sharp length of bone, bellowed a Jurassic Park worthy roar that reverberated through the cavern. He stabbed twice in the exposed spot, horrified when the point bounced off the leathery skin. The dragon turned a tight circle, trying to reposition its slashing jaws to reach him.

  “Hey!” Selene yelled, tossing another bone through the hole she’d made in her cell. It was enough to distract the dragon for a split second, long enough for Jason to race from between its legs and around the room. There was no good place to hide but he flattened himself against the wall beside Alex’s glass coffin.

  Selene held up a meaty, rotting bone. “Come on. You want a snack? Come and get me!”

  Nickelova struck at Selene, her snout bouncing off her own magical barrier. Jason’s eyebrows shot up. Nickelova’s dragon was not unlike his wolf. She was in there, for sure, but she didn’t have the same human consciousness.

  Selene waved the bone while the dragon scratched against her own magic, then sniffed the edges of Selene’s cell, finding the hole she’d chiseled. Uh oh. The dragon dug its talons in, scratching and scraping at the opening until its snout could almost fit through the damn thing. If Jason didn’t do something, Selene’s might be the next set of bones on the pile.

  Jason looked at the amulet around his neck, trying to will it to work. Nothing. He was on his own. “Hey, bitch! Anyone tell you that red makes you look bloated?” He waved his bone at the dragon. It worked. She turned from her Selene-under-glass dinner and stalked toward him, her wings flattening against her back.

  Nickelova’s reptile eyes locked on Jason and she froze. He watched her neck undulate with rapid swallows, the space around her heart reddening with heat.

  “Fuck me!” Jason ducked and ran just as the fire rained against the wall he’d been pressed against. Red heat swallowed Alex’s suspended body. A sharp crack marked a break in the barrier containing him, and Alex poured from the capsule onto the cave floor, slapping the rock like a dead fish. He did not move.

  “Jason! This way. Climb through the hole,” Selene yelled, pointing at the opening to her cell. He ran for it, just as the fire stopped and the dragon’s wings pumped in an effort to pursue him. Nickelova’s dragon stepped over Alex’s body as if she didn’t even see him.

  Jason dug his fingers into a crag above the hole and thrust his legs through, but his shoulders caught on the uneven surface. “Fuck, what a time to regret gaining the weight back!” He reached his arms out, trying his best to collapse his shoulders.

  Selene yanked on his hips and jabbed at the stone around his shoulders. The dragon eyed him, jaws open. If Jason didn’t move, he’d have an upside-down, bent-backward view of his own death. He pushed against the stone, returning the way he’d come, and whirled to face the dragon’s teeth.

  “Stop, Nickelova,” a low voice rasped from the center of the cave. The dragon’s head whipped around.

  Alex glistened in the firelight, his long, dirty-blond curls wet and clinging to his shoulders. “Yeah, it’s me.”

  The dragon roared. Nickelova seemed confused about the reunion. She scratched at the floor and sniffed the air around Alex. He held up his hands toward her.

  “Throw me the amulet, Jason,” Alex said. “I’ll free you. Nickelova’s confused because I’m covered in her magic. She can’t smell what I am. But as soon as I’m dry, I’m dragon fodder and so are you.”

  “Don’t trust him,” Selene said.

  “Be reasonable, Jason. If she kills both of us, she’ll simply find another wolf to do her bidding. She’s always called the shots. She doesn’t need me to bring her plan to fruiti
on and she doesn’t need you. I know how to use the amulet. I can save us both.”

  “Bullshit. You’ve never cared for anyone but yourself,” Jason snapped.

  Alex’s eyes drifted to him. “What about you? Do you care about that girl behind you? You may not trust me, but I promise you, the amulet is our only hope of survival, and I’m the only one of the three of us who knows how to use it.”

  “And you promise to help us?” Jason said, eyeing the dragon.

  The dragon snorted, a low growl rumbling behind the red and black glint of her scales.

  “I promise. For the love of the goddess, our blood is my priority. We are both werewolves. We can work out our differences. Give me a chance to prove to you I’ve changed.”

  Alex couldn’t be trusted. He was in league with the dragon, likely planning to give her the amulet in exchange for his own life. But as Selene crawled out of her prison behind him, Jason knew he couldn’t save her on his own.

  And then the dragon stilled, its throat swallowing and its chest glowing red with burgeoning flames. “Jason! I’ve been locked in a jar for months. I’ll never outrun her. If you want to make it out of here alive, you’d best throw me that damned amulet!”

  On impulse, Jason removed the amulet from his neck and tossed it to Alex.

  “No!” Selene yelled from behind him. “What are you doing?”

  Chapter 25

  Flashing a wicked grin, Alex snatched the amulet from the air and looped it around his neck. The dragon’s mouth opened and fire raged toward him. Pulse. The flames flowed around Alex as if he were safely locked inside an asbestos bubble.

  When the dragon ran out of juice, Alex was left standing among whiffs of steam that curled from the floor. A deep, psychotic laugh echoed through the chamber. “Oh, my dear Nickelova, you have always been full of hot air.”

  The amulet pulsed again and Jason stared in disgust as the dragon was skinned alive. In a wave of angry screams, blood and gore and the break of bones, the reptile was transformed back into a woman. Nickelova lay helpless and naked at his feet, weeping in pain.

  “You thought you could replace me.” Alex spat in her face. “You fucking bitch.” His foot connected with her ribs.

  “You were weak. I thought you might die. I needed help to continue our plan,” she whimpered.

  He snorted. “Our. Plan. Key words, Nickelova. Do you know I could see and hear everything in that pickle jar you locked me inside? Don’t lie to me. You wanted Jason from the start. Enjoyed his company a little too much when you were doing my dirty work at Hunt Club.” He gripped a fistful of her hair and pulled her head off the ground only to slam it back into the floor.

  “Hey!” Jason yelled. “If you’re going to kill her, do it.” He couldn’t stand to watch him beat her, no matter what she’d done.

  Nickelova’s lips parted. “See? He’s more of a man than you’ll ever be.”

  Alex shook his head. “Ever since we were kids, all the ladies loved Jason. And who are you, sweetheart?” he said to Selene. “Flavor of the month?”

  “Don’t talk to her.” Jason glared at him. “Don’t even look at her.”

  “I’m a fair man,” Alex said, his steely eyes flashing in the firelight like a madman’s. “A man of my word. I told you I’d help you slay the dragon in exchange for the amulet, and here I am making good. Just one more thing to do.” The amulet pulsed and Alex plunged his hand straight into Nickelova’s chest.

  For the rest of his life, Jason would remember the scream. Nickelova’s mouth opened and a high-pitched shriek erupted from her lips, with an edge that seemed to slice right through him.

  “By the goddess,” Selene murmured. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her turn away, unable to watch the horror happening before them.

  Alex squeezed and pulled, the tear of flesh and crack of bone making Jason feel almost as ill as the painful gurgle that came from Nickelova’s parted lips. The svelte blonde turned her face toward Jason and held out one hand in a plea for help.

  “Please,” she begged. But there was nothing Jason could do, even if he’d wanted to help the woman who’d threatened his pack, his love, and his life.

  Alex tore Nickelova’s heart from her chest, sending her toppling to the floor, writhing in pain. As he raised the heart above his head, blood ran in rivulets down his arm. The heart was not the soft, beating organ of a human, but a sparkling jewel, a gigantic red ruby that glinted between Alex’s fingers in the firelight. A bright pulse at the center beat with a steady rhythm.

  The wound in Nickelova’s chest would have been fatal in any other creature, but not in a dragon fae.

  “Look,” Selene said, grabbing his hand.

  The hole in Nickelova’s chest filled, flesh knitting together magically. The bleeding stopped. The wound transformed from bright red to pale pink. Whimpering, she crawled away from Alex, curling into a ball against the far wall.

  Alex’s eyes fell on Jason and Selene. “I could kill you. With the smallest effort, I could shatter you like glass. But I’m a man of my word.” He pointed at Nickelova. “She’s mortal now. Kill her or leave her to die, I don’t care. I don’t need her anymore. But this makes us even. And next time I see you, Jason, all bets are off.”

  Alex headed for the mouth of the cave. Jason followed at a distance until both of them were staring out through the blowing snow. “It’s almost nightfall,” Alex said into the wind, not bothering to turn and look at Jason. “I wouldn’t dally if I were you. If your wolf runs straight down the mountain, he might make the portal before it closes. Her mountain is in Siberia. The only reason you’re here is because her magic transported you here. And I’m about to leave with her magic.”

  “You need to give us time to get out,” Jason said. “I don’t know the way. I’m not sure my wolf will know how to reach the portal.”

  Alex flashed a patronizing smile over his shoulder. “Sounds like you have a problem.” The amulet pulsed, and he was gone.

  Jason ran back into the main chamber and took Selene’s hand. “We’ve got to go. The portal is closing.”

  “You’ll never make it,” Nickelova rasped, laughing in a way that seemed painful. “If you leave now you’ll freeze to death before you reach the portal, and if you wait until you shift, you’ll never make it before it closes.”

  Jason and Selene glanced toward each other and then at the slight, curled form leaning against the wall. Jason strode to her side and held out his hand. “Help us get out of here and I’ll see you come to no harm.”

  Nickelova smiled sadly. “You are such a fucking hero, you know that?” She said the word hero like it was a curse. “I am not leaving this cave. And neither are you.”

  He grabbed her throat.

  “Go ahead. Squeeze. What’s one more death on your already tarnished soul?” She chuckled.

  Selene’s hand landed on his arm. “She’s not worth it. She’ll never make it out alive.”

  His grip tightened. He needed to kill her; it was too dangerous to leave her alive. But he couldn’t do it in front of Selene, not with her looking at him like that. He released her neck and thought fast. Taking Selene’s hand, he ran toward the passageway and descended to the bedroom where Nickelova had taken him before. “There must be a closet. She must have had gear for Alex, even if she had none for herself.”

  “Here!” Selene rummaged behind the folding screen. There was an entire set of brand new men’s gear. Jason started dressing. Selene dug out yoga pants and a sweater that bagged on her less curvy figure, then donned a pair of snow pants. Jason handed her a puffy white parka.

  “The zipper’s broken,” Selene said.

  “I don’t imagine she had cause to use it often.”

  “It’s good enough.” She shrugged into it. “There’s nothing else.” Hat, gloves, and boots later, they made their way toward the cave exit.

  “You’re not going to like this, but I need to kill her,” Jason said. “Alex can control her now that he has her heart. I
t’s not safe leaving her alive.”

  Selene raised her eyebrows. “What? Do you know this for sure?”

  “Yes—what the fuck?” Jason balked as they turned the corner into the main chamber. A body-shaped cocoon had appeared where they’d left Nickelova.

  “Dear goddess”—Selene’s eyes went wide—“she’s mummifying herself.”

  Through a silvery membrane, Jason could see Nickelova clinging to the dragon scale he’d plucked from her chest with his bone weapon. The same material the amulet was made of. Nickelova’s eyes were closed and silver plates were shingling themselves over her from the feet up. Why hadn’t he killed her when he had the chance?

  Selene removed her glove and knocked her knuckles against the shell forming around the woman. The resulting ring of hollow metal filled the chamber. She glanced toward Jason. “What do we do?”

  “We try to make it to the portal. Come on. We don’t have much time.”

  As the sun sank in the arctic-blue sky, Selene followed Jason out of the mouth of the cave and into the burgeoning storm. They worked their way down the first drop, Jason helping her when her smaller body couldn’t reach between handholds and footholds. The climb was nearly vertical, and she struggled to find her grip on the mountain in her boots and gloves. Struggled, until after thirty minutes of grueling effort, her grip failed. At the same time as she heard Jason call out, she dropped, skimming the icy stone and bumping down the side of the mountain.

  “Ow! Ahhh!” Her insulated pants ripped and her shoulder smacked against a sharp crag. Sticky, warm blood oozed from the wound, but the ride didn’t stop. Not until she slapped the side of the mountain where the slope leveled off with a back-cracking thump.

  “Selene. Selene, are you all right?”

  She could hardly hear Jason through the blowing wind. It was a painfully long time before he reached her and in those minutes, she concentrated on her breathing. In and out. The pain eventually numbed with the cold.